Transcript Document

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
CD5590
LECTURE 5
Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic
Department of Computer Science and
Engineering
Mälardalen University
2004
1
The Ethics of Character:
Virtues and Vices
Moral Reasoning and Gender
Based on: Lawrence M. Hinman, Ph.D.
Director, The Values Institute
University of San Diego
2
The Ethics of Character:
Virtues and Vices
3
Introduction
Concern for character
has flourished in the
West since the time of
Plato, whose early
dialogues explored
such virtues as
courage and piety*.
* fromhet
Plato (by Michaelangelo)
4
Two Moral Questions

The Question of Action:
– How ought I to act?

The Question of Character
– What kind of person ought I to be?

Our concern here is with the question of
character
5
An Analogy from the Criminal Justice
System
• As a country, we place our trust for just decisions
in the legal arena in two places:
– Laws, which provide the necessary rules
– People, who (as judge and jury) apply rules judiciously
• Similarly, ethics places its trust in:
– Theories, which provide rules for conduct
– Virtue, which provides the wisdom necessary for
applying rules in particular instances
6
Virtue





Strength of character
(habit)
Involving both feeling,
knowing and action
Seeks the mean
between excess and
deficiency relative to us
Dynamic balance
Secure desirable
behavior
Aristotle (by Michaelangelo)
7
Virtues and Spheres of Existence (1)
Sphere of
Existence
Attitude toward
self
Attitude toward
offenses of
others
Deficiency
Servility
Self-deprecation
servilitet, kryperi
brist på självaktning
Ignoring them
Being a Doormat
dörrmatta, strykpojke
Mean
Excess
Proper Self-Love Arrogance
Conceit inbilskhet
Proper Pride
Egoism
Self-Respect
Narcissism
motiverad egenkärlek
självkänsla; självaktning Vanity fåfänga
Revenge hämnd
Grudge avund agg,
Anger
ovilja, groll
Forgiveness
Resentment
Understanding
förtrytelse, harm,
förbittring
Attitude toward
good
deeds of
others
Suspicion misstro
Envy avund
Ignoring them
Attitude toward
our
own offenses
Regret,
Indifference
Remorse
Remorselessness
Making Amends
Downplaying
Self-Forgiveness
Attitude toward
our friends
Indifference
Gratitude
Admiration
beundran
Loyalty
Over
indebtedness
overdriven
tacksamhetsskuld
Toxic Guilt
Scrupulosity
Shame
Obsequiousness
inställsamhet
8
Virtues and Spheres of Existence (2)
Sphere of
Existence
Attitude toward
our
own good
deeds
Attitude toward
the
suffering of
others
Attitude toward
the
achievements
of others
Attitude toward
death
and danger
Attitude toward
our
own desires
Attitude toward
other people
Deficiency
Mean
Excess
Belittling
Disappointment
Sense of
Accomplishment
Humility
Selfrighteousness
känslolös, okänslig,
känslokall
Compassion
Pity
“Bleeding
Heart”
Self-satisfaction
Complacency
Admiration
Emulation
Callousness
självbelåtenhet,
egenkärlek
Competition
Cowardice
feghet, rädsla
Anhedonia
Exploitation
[ädel]tävlan; efterliknande,
Envy
efterbildande
Courage
Foolhardiness
Temperance
Moderation
Lust
Gluttony
Respect
Deferentiality
undfallande
dumdristighet
frosseri
9
Two Conceptions of Morality

In a simplified scheme, we can contrast
two approaches to the morality.
– Restrictive conception:
• Child vs. adult
• Comes from outside (usually parents).
• “Don’t touch that stove burner!”
• Rules and habit formation are central.
– Affirmative conception:
•
•
•
•
Adult vs. adult
Comes from within (self-directed).
“This is the kind of person I want to be”
Virtue-centered, often modeled on ideals.
10
The Purpose of Morality


Both of these conceptions of morality
are appropriate at different times in life.
Teenage years are the time when
people make the transition from the
adolescent conception of morality to the
adult conception.
11
Rightly-ordered Desires and the Goals of
Moral Education


Moral education may initially seek to
control unruly desires through rules, the
formation of habits, etc.
Ultimately, moral education aims at
forming and cultivating virtuous conduct.
12
Virtue As the Golden Mean

Strength of character (virtue), Aristotle
suggests, involves finding the proper
balance between two extremes.
– Excess: having too much of something.
– Deficiency: having too little of something.

Not mediocrity, but harmony and
balance.
13
Virtue and Habit


For Aristotle, virtue is something that is
practiced and thereby learned—it is
habit (hexis).
This has clear implications for moral
education, for Aristotle obviously thinks
that you can teach people to be
virtuous.
14
Courage

The strength of character necessary to
continue in the face of our fears
– Deficiency:
• Cowardice*, the inability to do what is necessary to have
those things in life which we need in order to flourish
• Too much fear
• Too little confidence
– Excess
• Too little fear
• Too much confidence
• Poor judgment about ends worth achieving
*feghet, rädsla
15
Nichomachean Ethics, 3.7
What is terrible is not the same for all men; but
we say there are things terrible even beyond
human strength. These, then, are terrible to
every one- at least to every sensible man; but
the terrible things that are not beyond human
strength differ in magnitude and degree, and so
too do the things that inspire confidence. Now
the brave man is as dauntless* as man may be.
*oförfärad
16
Nichomachean Ethics, 3.7
Therefore, while he will fear even the
things that are not beyond human
strength, he will face them as he ought
and as the rule directs, for honor's sake;
for this is the end of virtue. But it is
possible to fear these more, or less, and
again to fear things that are not terrible as
if they were.
17
EN, 2
Of the faults that are committed one
consists in fearing what one should not,
another in fearing as we should not,
another in fearing when we should not,
and so on; and so too with respect to the
things that inspire confidence.
18
EN, 3
Of those who go to excess he who
exceeds in fearlessness has no name (we
have said previously that many states of
character have no names), but he would
be a sort of madman or insensible person
if he feared nothing, neither earthquakes
nor the waves, as they say the Celts do
not..
19
EN, 3
… while the man who exceeds in confidence
about what really is terrible is rash. The rash*
man, however, is also thought to be boastful**
and only a pretender to courage.
At all events, as the brave man is with regard
to what is terrible, so the rash man wishes to
appear; and so he imitates him in situations
where he can.
*överilad, obetänksam, förhastad , överdådig, dumdristig
**skrytsam
20
EN, 5
The brave man, on the other hand, has
the opposite disposition; for confidence is
the mark of a hopeful disposition. The
coward, the rash man, and the brave
man, then, are concerned with the same
objects but are differently disposed
towards them; for the first two exceed and
fall short, …
*överilad, förhastad
21
EN, 5
…while the third holds the middle, which
is the right, position; and rash men are
precipitate*, and wish for dangers
beforehand but draw back when they are
in them, while brave men are keen in the
moment of action, but quiet beforehand.
*överilad, förhastad
22
Hercules (Heracles)
– A Role Model



Heracles in Greek mythology, was a hero
known for his strength and courage
The son of the god Zeus and a human
mother Alcmene
Hera, Zeus’ jealous wife, was determined to
kill Hercules, and after Hercules was born,
she sent two great serpents to kill him.
Hercules, while he was still a baby, strangled
the snakes.
23
Hercules (Heracles)
– A Role Model


Hercules conquered a tribe that had been
demanding money from Thebes. As a
reward, he was given the hand in marriage
of the Theben princess Megara and they
had three children.
Hera, still filled hatred of Hercules, sent
him into madness, which made him kill his
wife and children.
24
Hercules (Heracles)
– A Role Model


In horror and remorse at what he did,
Hercules was about to kill himself. But he was
told by the oracle at Delphi that he should
purge himself by becoming the servant of his
cousin Eurystheus, king of Mycenae.
Eurystheus, urged by Hera, planned as a
punishment the 12 impossible tasks, the
“Labors of Hercules.”
25
Hercules (Heracles)
– A Role Model


The first task was to kill the lion of Nemea,
a lion that could not be hurt by any weapon.
Hercules knocked out the lion with his club
first, then he strangled it to death. He wore
the skin of the lion as a cloak and the head
of the lion as a helmet, a trophy of his
adventure.
The second task was to kill the Hydra that
lived in a swamp in Lerna. The Hydra had
nine heads. One head was immortal and
when one of the others was chopped off,
two grew back in its place. ..
26
Hercules (Heracles)
– What can we learn?




The impossible deeds were defined by
gods.
Gods define “the rules of the game”
Gods show both virtues and vices. Hera
is jealous in a typical human way.
Gods do not hesitate to use intrigue to
fight humans
27
Hercules (Heracles)
– What can we learn?




Great hero Heracles could go mad at
times
He was however forgiven for his good
deeds sake (justice of compensation)
Heroic deeds were both to help other
people or to overcome ones own fear
and weakness
Courage was a typical male virtue
28
Courage as a contemporary virtue


Both children and adults need courage.
Without courage, we are unable to take
the risks necessary to achieve some of
the things we most value in life.
– Risk to ask someone out on a date.
– Risk to show genuine vulnerability.
– Risk to try an academically challenging
program.
29
Courage and the Unity of the Virtues

To have any single strength of character in
full measure, a person must have the other
ones as well.
– Courage without good judgment is blind, risking
without knowing what is worth the risk.
– Courage without perseverance* is short-lived, etc.
– Courage without a clear sense of your own
abilities is foolhardy.
*ihärdighet, uthållighet, ståndaktighet
30
Courage
Excess
Mean
Deficiency
Underestimates actual danger
Correctly estimates actual
danger
Overestimates actual danger
Overestimates own ability
Correctly estimates own
ability
Underestimates own ability
Undervalues means, what is
being placed at risk
Properly values means that
are being put at risk
Overvalues the means, what is
being placed at risk
Overvalues goal, what the risk
is being taken for
Properly values goal that is
being sought
Undervalues goal, what the risk
would be taken for
31
Issues of Courage




Fears, dangers, and rightly-ordered fears
Seeking out danger: mountain climbing
Courage and nonviolence: Gandhi
Courage and gender
– Women’s courage is often undervalued
– Men’s courage is tied to their gender identity
32
Compassion and Pity

Pity* looks down on the other.
– Consequently, no one wants to be the
object of pity.

Compassion** sees the suffering of the
other as something that could have
happened to us.
– Consequently, we welcome the
compassion of others when we are
suffering.
* ömkan **medlidande
33
Compassion




Etymology: to feel or suffer with…
Both cognitive and emotional
Leads to action
Contrast with pity
34
Compassion

Emotion is often necessary:
– to recognize the suffering of others
• emotional attunement
– part of the response to that suffering
• others often need to feel that you care

Compassion and gender
– Men’s compassion is often suppressed
– Women’s compassion is tied to their gender
identity
35
Cleverness and Wisdom

The clever person knows the best means to
any possible end.

The wise person knows which ends are worth
striving for.

Wisdom and gender
– Equally distributed
– Often expected from old men and women
36
Self-Love
Principal Characteristics
Characteristics of self-love
– Valuing yourself – from feelings of self-love
– Knowing yourself – a long, often arduous,
and never completed task
– Acting in ways that promote your genuine
flourishing
– Having feelings of care, appreciation, and
respect for others
37
Self-Love:
Deficiency
Deficiency
– Too little feeling: self-loathing
– Too little self-valuing: self-deprecating
– Too little self-knowledge: unwilling or
unable to look at one’s own motivations,
feelings, etc.
– Too little acting: not taking steps to insure
one’s own well-being
38
Self-Love:
Excess





Excesses of self-love take many forms:
arrogance, conceit, egoism, vanity, and
narcissism are but a few of the ways in which
we can err in this direction.
Too much caring: self-centeredness
Too much self-valuing: arrogance, conceit
Too much self-knowledge: narcissistic
Too much acting for self: selfishness
39
Forgiveness

This, too, is a virtue indispensable for human
flourishing
– In any long-term relationship (friendship, marriage,
etc.), each party will do things that must be
forgiven by the other.
– Long term relationships are necessary to human
flourishing.
– If we cannot forgive, we cannot have continuing
long term relationships
40
Forgiveness:
Excess and Deficiency

Excess: the person who forgives too easily
and too quickly
– may undervalue self
– may underestimate offense

Deficiency: the person who can never forgive
– may overestimate his or her own importance
– usually lives a life of bitterness and anger
41
Concluding Evaluation


Virtues are those strengths of character
that enable us to act according to ideals
of good and right
The virtuous person has practical
wisdom, the ability to know when and
how best to apply these various moral
perspectives.
42
Footnotes to Plato (and Aristotle)

"The safest general characterization of
the European philosophical tradition is
that it consists of a series of footnotes to
Plato."
Alfred North Whitehead,
the great 20th-century British philosopher
43
Moral Reasoning and
Gender
The Kohlberg-Gilligan Debate and
Beyond
44
An Introduction
Virtue Ethics: Freud on Femininity

“Thus, we attribute a larger amount of
narcissism to femininity, which also affects
women's choice of object, so that to be loved
is a stronger motive for them than to love.
The effect of penis-envy has a share, further,
in the physical vanity of women, since they
are bound to value their charms more highly
as a late compensation for their original
sexual inferiority.”
45
Virtue Ethics: Freud on Femininity

“It seems that women have made few
contributions to the discoveries and
inventions in the history of civilization;
there is, however, one technique which
they may have invented – that of
plaiting* and weaving.”
Freud, S. (1933). New introductory lectures on psychoanalysis. Lecture 33:
Femininity. Standard Edition, v. 22. pp. 136-157.
*fläta
46
Le Deuxième Sexe - The Second Sex
Simone de Beauvoir 1949

Woman as Other
– “For a long time I have
hesitated to write a book on
woman. The subject is
irritating, especially to
women; and it is not new.
Enough ink has been spilled
in quarrelling …”
Simone de Beauvoir
http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/beav.htm
47
Lawrence Kohlberg


American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg
(Harvard) studied under Swiss psychologist
and philosopher Jean Piaget (1965), who had
developmental approach to learning. Kohlberg
extended the approach to stages of moral
reasoning.
Using surveys, Kohlberg presented his
subjects with moral dilemmas and asked them
to evaluate the moral conflict. He was able to
prove that youth at various ages, as youth
proceed to adulthood, they are able to
progress up the moral development stages
presented,
Lawrence Kohlberg
(1927 - 1987)
48
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
LEVEL
STAGE
1
Obedience and Punishment
2
Individualism, Instrumentalism, and
Exchange
3
"Good boy/girl"
4
Law and Order
5
Social Contract
6
Principled Conscience
Pre-conventional
Conventional
Post-conventional
SOCIAL ORIENTATION
49
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development



Kohlberg believed that individuals could only
progress through these stages one stage at a time.
That is, they could not "jump" stages. Kohlberg's
ideas of moral development are based on the
premise that at birth, all humans are void of morals,
ethics, and honesty.
He identified the family as the first source of values
and moral development for an individual.
He believed that as one's intelligence and ability to
interact with others matures, so does one's patterns
of moral behavior.
50
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Preconventional Morality
– Stage 1: Punishment-Obedience Orientation
• Avoid (physical) punishment
• High school example: One middle school teacher
has latecomers do pushups (50 of them) in front
of the class.
51
Kohlberg’s Stages:
Preconventional Morality
– Stage 2: Personal Reward Orientation
• “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”
• High school example: A group of high school
students involved in a cooperative learning
activity get upset because one of their group
members is repeatedly absent and did not do
any work.
52
Kohlberg’s Stages:
Conventional Morality
– Stage 3: The “good boy/nice girl” Orientation
• "I am going to work harder in school so I won't let
you down because if you think I can make it then I
can make it"
– Stage 4: A “Law and Order” Orientation
• "Move carefully in the halls". This rule reinforces
the fundamental purpose of government to
protect the health and welfare of its citizens
53
Kohlberg’s Stages:
Post-conventional Morality
– Stage 5: Social Contract Orientation
• "Please remember that this is your room and
your class. The behavior and participation of
each person will shape the type of learning that
will occur. Since one person's behavior affects
everyone else, I request that everyone in the
class be responsible for classroom management.
To ensure that our rights are protected and
upheld, the following laws have been established
for this classroom..."
54
Kohlberg’s Stages:
Post-conventional Morality
– Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principle
Orientation
• An orientation toward universal ethical
principles of justice, reciprocity, equality, and
respect
• Examples: Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Martin
Luther King, Jr.
• "I will not tolerate any racial, ethnic, or sexual
slurs* in this classroom. In this room, everyone
is entitled to equal dignity as a human being.”
*nedsättande anmärkning
55
Kohlberg’s Method

Initially, Kohlberg administered his test to
people all over the world, being careful to
include all races, to include rural as well as
urban dwellers, etc.
– a Malaysian aboriginal village,
– villages in Turkey and the Yucatan, and
– urban populations in Mexico and the United States

There was only one thing he forgot:
– He only administered his dilemmas to males!
56
Gender and Kohlberg’s scale

When Kohlberg’s instrument was
administered on a large scale, it was
discovered that females often scored a
full stage below their male counterparts.
57
Gender and Kohlberg’s scale

Women are more likely to base their
explanations for moral dilemmas on concepts
such as caring and personal relationships.
These concepts are likely to be scored at the
stage three level. Men, on the other hand, are
more likely to base their decisions for moral
dilemmas on social contract or justice and
equity. Those concepts are likely to be scored
at stage five or six.
58
Carol Gilligan


University Professor of
Gender Studies,
Harvard University (1997present)
In a Different Voice:
Psychological Theory and
Women's Development,
book 1982.
Carol Gilligan,
1936 - present
59
Gilligan’s Initial Research


Gilligan began with an interest in moral
development as a teaching assistant for
Erik Erikson.
She was particularly interested in the
issue Kohlberg raised: why do some
individuals recognize a higher moral
law, while others simply are content to
obey the rules without question?
60
Gilligan’s Initial Research




Here initial research project was directed
toward draft resisters during the Vietnam war.
Nixon cancelled the draft just as her project
was getting started.
She switched to study women who had made
difficult moral choices about abortion.
Not originally concerned about gender issue.
61
Gilligan’s Critique
Introduction

In light of the differences between the
scores of males and females on the
Kohlberg scale, one could draw either of
two conclusions:
– females are less morally developed than
males, or
– Kohlberg’s framework is biased against
women.
62
Gilligan’s Critique
Introduction

Gilligan began to look more closely at the
responses she was receiving in her work,
and began to suspect that Kohlberg’s
framework did not illuminate the responses
she was encountering. It was like trying to
put round pegs* into square holes.
* pinne; sprint, tapp, plugg
63
Gilligan’s Concept of Voice

The metaphor of “voice” in her book In a
Different Voice
–
–
–
–
–
Concrete and specific
Allows harmony without imposing sameness
Not competitive or combative but collaborative
Combines both emotion and content
Voices may be described in a wide vocabulary that
has nothing to do with right or wrong, true or false
– Voices may be different without excluding one
another.
64
Differences between Men’s Moral Voices
and Women’s Moral Voices
Men
Women
Justice
Care
Rights
Responsibility
Treating everyone fairly and the same
Sensitive for everyone’s suffering
Apply rules impartially to everyone
Preserve specific emotional relation
Responsibility toward abstract codes
of conduct
Responsibility toward real individuals
65
Differences between Men’s and
Women’s View of the Self
Men
Women
Autonomy
Relatedness
Freedom
Interdependence
Independence
Emotional connectedness
Separateness
Responsiveness to needs of others
Hierarchy
Web of relationships
Rules guide interactions
Empathy and connectedness guide
interactions
Roles establish places in the
hierarchy
Roles are secondary to connections
66
Differences between Men’s and
Women’s View of Moral Safety
Men
Women
Sense of gender identity grounded in
initial act of separation from mother
Sense of gender identity grounded in
initial act of identification with mother
Threatened by anything that threatens
sense of separation
Threatened by anything that
undermines sense of identification
Being at the top of the hierarchy is
appealing
Experience top of hierarchy as
isolated and detached
67
Stages of Women’s Moral
Development

Concern for individual survival
– Transition from selfishness to
responsibility

Goodness equated with self-sacrifice
– Transition from self-sacrifice to giving
themselves permission to take care of
themselves
68
Stages of Women’s Moral
Development

Goodness seen as caring for both
self and others
– Inclusive, nonviolent
– Condemns exploitation and hurt
69
How do we understand Gilligan’s
claims?
First of all there are historical differences in
the roles of females and males.
– Females give birth to children
– Females traditionally take care of family
– Females traditionally dominate the private
sphere with close (short-range) relationships
– Females have developed perseverance and
patience
70
How do we understand Gilligan’s
claims?
Traditionally
– Males take care of the “foreign affairs”
– Males protect family from the outside threat
– Protective function is realized through groups
of males – military and other societal
organizations
– Males dominate official (public) sphere
– Males as a group have developed strength
71
How do we understand Gilligan’s
claims?
Plato: Meno
SOCRATES: (…) By the gods, Meno, be generous, and
tell me what you say that virtue is; (…)
MENO: (…) Let us take first the virtue of a man--he
should know how to administer the state, and in the
administration of it to benefit his friends and harm his
enemies; and he must also be careful not to suffer
harm himself. A woman's virtue, if you wish to know
about that, may also be easily described: her duty is
to order her house, and keep what is indoors, and
obey her husband. Every age, every condition of life,
young or old, male or female, bond or free, has a
different virtue (…)
72
How do we understand Gilligan’s
claims?


With the advent of industrial revolution, and
welfare state where all children are given
education, and physical strength has no
dominant role, women have entered the
public sphere traditionally dominated by
males.
Female professionals have encountered a
culture that was historically male territory. It
caused cultural shock.
73
How do we interpret Gilligan’s
claims?
Four possible positions about female
vs. male moral voices:
 Separate but equal
 Superiority thesis
 Integrationist thesis
 Diversity thesis
74
The Separate but Equal Thesis
Separate but equal: Men and women have
different but equally valuable moral voices
 Criticisms:
– Reinforces traditional stereotypes
– Hard to retain the “...but equal” part
– Suggests that men and women have nothing to
learn from one another, since each has its own
exclusive moral voice
– Devalues men with a “female voice” and women
with a “male voice”
75
The Superiority Thesis
Superiority thesis
– Women’s moral voices are superior

Criticisms
–
–
–
–
Equal rights for men and women?
Inversion of traditional claims of male superiority
Exclusionary
Demands that one side of the comparison be the
loser
76
The Integrationist Thesis
Integrationist thesis
– Only one moral voice, same for both men and
women
– Morality is androgynous

Criticisms
– Loses richness of diversity
– Tends to assimilation in practice, reducing other
voices to the voice of the powerful majority
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The Diversity Thesis
– Suggests that there are different moral
voices
– Sees this as a source of richness and
growth in the moral life
– External diversity
• Different individuals have different, sex-based moral
voices
• Males with female voices and females with male voices
are admitted
– Internal diversity
• Each of us have both masculine and feminine moral
voices within us
• Minimizes gender stereotyping
78
Exclusive Models of Internal Gender
Diversity

Traditionally, we have thought of gender
in exclusionary terms
– The more masculine a person is, the less
feminine that person is
– The more feminine a person is, the less
masculine that person is
79
Exclusive Models of Internal Gender
Diversity
In this model, which is the most common
traditional model, an increase in masculinity
is bought at the price of a decrease in
femininity, and vice versa.
80
Sandra Bem Scale
81
Sandra Bem Scale

Thinking about gender in Sandra Bem’s
framework allows us to to appreciate
both the feminine and the masculine
moral voices within each of us and to
avoid traditional stereotypes.
82
Conclusion
“The Show must go on” (Freddy Mercury)


Kohlberg – Gilligan controversy is but a
beginning of a long process of rethinking position of women in a postmodern society.
The end of industrialist era and the
emergency of new information
technology results in conditions that
even more favor female professionals.
83
Conclusion
“The Show must go on” (Freddy Mercury)

Two processes go on concurrently
– Females being a part of the public world for almost
a century gradually win strong positions and take
part in defining of the “rules of the game”. That
improves the conditions for new generations of
women professionals to come.
– Female as a part of scientific establishment
contribute with new insights in classical
scholarship that will in the long term radically
change our ideas (a critical mass of women is far
from achieved yet)
84
Conclusion
Contemporary Research


http://www.hope.edu/academic/psychology/33
5/webrep/moraldev.html Moral Development's
Development: Recent Research
http://www.duke.edu/jscope/paplutz.htm Rival
Traditions of Character Development:
Classical Moral Philosophy and
Contemporary Empirical Science
85
Concluding
Comments
86
World seen in different light
What if we could see in any wavelength of the electromagnetic
spectrum, from gamma-rays to radio waves? How would the
world appear to us?
87
Images of the sun
RADIO
INFRARED
ULTRAVIOLET
VISIBLE
X-RAY
88
Images of the moon
RADIO
INFRARED
ULTRAVIOLET
VISIBLE
X-RAY
89
Images of galaxy M81
RADIO
INFRARED
ULTRAVIOLET
VISIBLE
X-RAY
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/CHAMP/EDUCATION/PUBLIC/multiwavelengthphotos_pics.html
90
World as seen in the light of different
models

An example: one country has started war on
the other. What are the possible “optics” we
can use to analyze the problem from the
ethical point of view?

Virtue Ethics
– The leader of one country was very bad character.
Leader of the other was very good. Which one is
which depends usually on the side in the war.
91
World as seen in the light of different
models

Utilitarian Ethics
– The country have to be helped, pacified, civilized.
– The total benefit from the point of view of the one
who sets the rules and counts benefits is obvious.

Rights
– As a rule in a war human rights are violated. If you
focus on that aspect of the problem you may get
the different picture.
92
World as seen in the light of different
models

Duty
– In a war, defending your country/fighting for your
country is seen as a highest duty.

Egoism
– In egoist perspective war can be used to gain
huge benefits.

Feminist ethics
– Feminist claim wars are male business
93
World as seen in the light of different
models

Justice
– The distribution of wealth/natural resources can be
a central issue in a war and so also in ethical
analysis of it.

Divine Command
– Very often a war can be seen as a clash between
different religions. Each side fights with the divine
support. (So it was even in ancient Greece)
94