Transcript Class #8 - 4/30/14

Philosophy 2030
Class #8
Tonight (4/30/14):
Return Midterm Exam.
Congratulations. Good job.
“Trying to Love Your Enemies”
Movie: High Noon
Discuss Chapter 6 – Deontology
in relation to the movie
Next Week (5/7/14):
Final Portfolio Due
From your portfolio tell your “best” story
to the class (5-10 minutes each)
Continue Discussion of Chapter 6.
“A pupil from whom nothing is ever
demanded which he cannot do, never
does all he can.”
It is, no doubt, a very laudable effort, in
modern teaching, to render as much as
possible of what the young are required
to learn, easy and interesting to
them. But when this principle is pushed
to the length of not requiring them, to
learn anything but what has been made
easy and interesting, one of the chief
objectives of education is sacrificed.”
J. S. Mill, Autobiography
Last Portfolio
Assignment
So How Then Should I Live?
· Discuss 2-3 imaginative “moments of your life”
(events that will likely happen to you in the
future but have not yet). In relation to these
events, discuss different points of view on
morality that we have discussed in this class.
Because of this class, will you evaluate
differently what is either 1) the right thing to do
or 2) what is necessary for you to do to act with
virtue in those moments? For each, write a
description of the circumstances that might
affect your choices and identify the relevant
moral guidelines that you will use.
Utilitarianism
The morality of an act
depends on
whether it has good
consequences. Intentions
are irrelevant to whether or
not an act is right!
•
Although it appears correct to some degree,
utilitarianism has many critics.
•
It seems not to account for the importance of
duties and obligations and intentions.
•
Consider the case of a man who attempts to
shoot his friend out of rage and jealousy and
misses and hits instead a sniper who is about to
shoot a rifle into a crowded mall. Did this man
act morally? If only consequences matter, we
would probably have to say that he did.
After we watch the
movie, we will discuss:
What are the Ethical issues or dilemmas?
Does Marshal Kane “do the right thing?”
Do anyone else “do the right thing?”
Why would John Wayne call this movie “un-American?”
Should we “do the right thing” in spite of negative
consequences?
Morality as Doing the Right Thing
•
Many argue against utilitarianism that what makes an action
moral is the intention under which it is done. A moral act is
done because it is the right thing to do.
•
But what is the right thing to do? Such a view can be
interpreted many ways and may even appear to beg the
question.
•
Is the right thing to do to follow the “golden rule which is
stated quite explicitly by many early Greek philosophers & in
the New Testament
-- Matthew 7:12: "So in everything, do to others
what you would have them do to you, for this sums
up the Law and the Prophets."
This principle exists in all the major religions: Judaism,
Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Jainism,
Confucianism, and Taoism.