Transcript Ethical Philosophies - Language Through Philosophy

Ethical Philosophies
James L. Johnson
September 29, 2008
Question: How to distinguish right from wrong?
Possible answers:
• I know it when I see it.
• Rules of thumb (e.g. "Do no harm.")
• Appeal to authority
• Ethical philosophies
Structures (principles) that facilitate reasoning
from a specific act to a judgment as to
its morality.
Objective
Introduce and compare four ethical philosophies
1. Utilitarianism
2. Duty-based
3. Contract-based
4. Character-based
(Deontological Ethics)
Utilitarianism
• Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
• Social utility measured by happiness produced
• Greatest good for the greatest number
• Granularity of application
each act
each rule
• Utilitarianism emphasizes consequences
Duty-based Ethics
• Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
• Duty (obligations) among humans
never consequences
• Categorical Imperative
Each human is an end-in-himself
never a means to a more distant goal
• Granularity of application
each act (consider all human agents)
each rule (insist on universal binding)
• Criticism: how to resolve conflicting moral duties
Contract-based Ethics
• Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
• Initial state of nature: free, but
"... life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
• Reason suggests a contract with a sovereign
surrender some absolute freedom
receive a system of laws and traditions
• Motivation for morality: self-interest
neither utilitarianism nor duty-based ethics offers
a motivation
• Criticism: minimalist ethics
Character-based Ethics
• Aristotle (384 - 322 BC)
• Emphasizes individual virtue (character)
• Question is no longer "What should I do?"
but, "What should I be?"
• Virtuous person seldom encounters acts where
deliberation is necessary
• Correct habits
• Criticism: conflicts among virtues;
virtuous person indifferent to consequences?
requires strong cultural context
Just Consequentialism
• Integrates utilitarian and deontological theories
• James Moor (1999)
• regulate conduct to (a) prevent unnecessary suffering and
(b) support societal duties
• rules should be impartial -- indifferent as which particular
person plays which role (veil of ignorance again)
• finally, when choosing among impartial rules,
consider just consequences
In Computer Science Context
1. Deliberate candidate policies from an impartial viewpoint.
Policy is ethical if it (a) causes no unnecessary harm and
(b) supports societal duties
2. Rank just policies identified in Step 1 by (a) weighing
consequences and (b) clarifying distinctions between
facts and principles
Summary
1. Utilitarianism
(maximize happiness)
2. Duty-based
(humans have special obligations)
3. Contract-based (negotiate responsibilities)
4. Character-based (become a virtuous person)
5. Just Consequentialism
(blend duty-based core with consideration of
just consequences)
Some final questions
•
Who performs the ethical analysis?
individual? elected representatives?
unelected representatives?
•
Is democracy utilitarian?
What theory justifies minority rights?
•
Does the categorical imperative extend to positive rights
e.g. Do I have a duty to feed my neighbor on a
continuing basis?
References
1.
Tavani, Herman T. Ethics & Technology, Wiley, 2004
2.
Mill, John Stuart. Utilitarianiam, Bobbs-Merrill, 1965
3.
Kant, Immanuel. Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals,
Translation by T. K. Abbott, Longman, 1965
4.
Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan, Collier Books, 1962
5.
Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics, Translation by M. Oswald
Bobbs-Merrill, 1962
6.
Moor, James H. "Reason, Relativity, and Responsibility in Computer Ethics,
Computers and Society, Vol. 28, No. 1, 1998