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Philosophy 162F Lecture 1 Notes A warning about philosophy. A common mistake in philosophy papers is to simply present facts. Facts are important, but the job of a philosophy paper is not to present facts. The job of presenting the facts is the job of the sciences or journalism. The job of a philosophy paper is to say why facts are important or how we should think about the facts are what we should do about the facts. Enron undoubtedly took part in some misleading business practices. Yet this in itself is not enough to say that Enron, or anyone who worked for Enron, or any of Enron's shareholders, did anything unethical. What is ethics? Morality - concern with the social practices defining right and wrong (Beauchamp and Bowie, 1) Ethical theory/moral philosophy - concern with the nature and justification of right actions (Beauchamp and Bowie, 1) Morality is a sociological, political and perhaps psychological concern. Ethical theory is a philosophical concern. We wish to understand the concepts of right and wrong and the way that we reason or should reason about them. As Beauchamp and Bowie point out, the task of investigating ethics involves, "attempts to introduce clarity, substance, and precision of argument into the domain of morality." Clarity, substance and precision of argument are something that you should consider when reading and writing philosophy. Philosophers write to clear something up, they write to show the consequences of an idea or a theory and they write to make an argument better or show where it might fail. When reading philosophy, the three tasks (clarity, substance, precision of argument) can be used to help identify the point of a writer. When picking a topic to write about, one can choose to make part of morality clearer, one can choose to add substance to a concept or one can try to make an argument or part of an argument better or show its flaws. Morality and Prudence An important distinction to make in ethical theory is that between moral rules and prudence. Prudence is general self-interest. Prudential Rules "Don't touch the stove." "Brush your teeth after meals." "Eat your vegetables." "Do all the readings for class before the class." Moral Rules "Don't pull your sister's hair." "Don't take money from your mother's pocketbook." "Share your toys." "Write a thank-you note to your Grandmother." Generally, we don't simply accept that something is morally correct because it is prudent. Morality and Law Just as moral rules cannot be simply identified with prudential rules, they cannot be simply identified with the rules found in law. The law and morality share a number of features. They are both concerned with the behaviour of individuals within society. Often the same sort of reasoning is used in order to justify moral positions and to justify laws. However, there are many examples of laws (past or present) that many feel are unjust. Additionally, there are areas that the law does not place restrictions that we might wish to restrict for moral reasons. Beauchamp and Bowie's example of this is the law in many jurisdictions that allows employers to fire employees at will, for no reason. We may wish to restrict the powers of employers in this respect for moral reasons. The Rule of Conscience Ethicists do not usually recommend that one simply follow one's conscience in regards to what is moral. For one thing, investigation may be required in order to determine just exactly what the ethical implications are of an action. More importantly, however, many things that are not common to all of our judgments can influence one's conscience. If we wish to investigate moral claims that apply to everyone, we must look to some form of reasoning about moral rules. Approaches to the Study of Morality Descriptive - describes a moral system Conceptual - investigates the meaning of key terms Prescriptive/normative - recommends a system of morality Applied ethics - the use of a normative approach for a particular ethical problem Relativism Cultural relativism - moral systems vary from place to place and cannot be understood outside of the culture in which they are located Ethical relativism - the normative position that cultures dictate what is right or wrong for people within that culture Philosophers tend to reject ethical relativism Relativism of judgments - when people differ in how to apply shared standards Relativism of standards - when people differ in what standards to apply Even if there really is a relativism of standards between two cultures, this may not mean that each culture is free to apply their standards. There may be some way to judge these standards. Resolving Moral Disagreements Obtaining objective information Definitional clarity Example-counterexample Analysis of Arguments and Positions The Problem of Egoism Egoism involves the claim that people only act prudentially. Psychological egoism - everyone is motivated to act in his or her perceived self-interest (Beauchamp and Bowie, 12) Ethical egoism - the only valid standard of conduct is the obligation to promote one's well-being above everyone else's (Beauchamp and Bowie, 14) Home.

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