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Philosophy 162F Lecture 2 Notes Normative Ethical Theory Relativism of judgments - when people differ in how to apply shared standards Relativism of standards - when people differ in what standards to apply Four elements involved in solving a moral disagreement (Beauchamp and Bowie, 10-12): Obtaining Objective Information Definitional Clarity Example-Counterexample Analysis Of Arguments And Positions  Utilitarianism  A consequentialist theory; it cares about the consequences of actions and not (directly) their motivations.  The Basic Utilitarian Position: "An action or practice is right if it leads to the best possible balance of good consequences over bad consequences for all the parties affected." (Beauchamp and Bowie, 17)  Example:  I have the choice of buying a large sundae for myself or buying three ice cream cones, one for myself and one for each of my brothers. Buying one large sundae produces one good event, thus producing one unit of utility. Buying three ice cream cones produces three good events, thus producing three units of utility. A very basic utilitarianism would say that we should buy the three ice cream cones.   First essential feature of utilitarianism: one should maximize utility and minimize negative utility. Second essential feature of utilitarianism: a theory of the nature of utility and negative utility. hedonistic utilitarian: one who believes that utility is pleasure and negative utility is pain pluralistic utilitarian: one who believes that there are a number of positive and negative utilities desire-fulfillment utilitarian: one who believes that utility is the satisfaction of the desires of individuals and negative utility is the frustration of these desires Third essential feature of utilitarianism: a theory of measuring and comparing utility and negative utility. Jeremy Bentham attempted to produce a hedonic calculus that would measure happiness and pain. Mill did not believe that all pleasures were equal. He believed that pleasures of the mind are superior to base pleasures. Mill suggested that we follow the opinion of experts in determining the worth of different pleasures. Some contemporary utilitarians attempt to derive the worth of different pursuits by the action of consumer choice. An important division of utilitarianism is that between act utilitarians and rule utilitarians. Act utilitarians advocate an adjudication of every act in order to consider the maximization of utility. Rules might be good in general, but they should not be followed all the time. Rule utilitarians stick with certain rules all the time; rules are not expendable depending upon the circumstance. Compromising moral rules, they claim, lessens the general effectiveness of these rules. Objections to Utilitarianism  1. Units of utility cannot me measured or are extremely difficult to measure.  Response: This is a pseudoproblem. People do make judgments of relative worth all the time. This is a problem that all ethical theories face. The difficulty is not insurmountable.  2. Utilitarianism ignores nonutilitarian factors that influence moral judgments.  E.g., justice and the tyranny of the majority.   Kantianism The basis of the ethical theory outlined by Immanuel Kant is respect for human beings. One cannot use human beings as a means to an end. The categorical imperative:  Treat people always as if they are ends in themselves, never merely as means to an end.  There are hypothetical imperatives, which tell one to do something in order to reach a certain goal.  E.g., turn the screw to clockwise if you want to tighten the screw. Another version of the same categorical imperative:  Do not act in any way that the maxim of your action cannot become a universal law.   To kite: to create worthless of postdated documents in order to exaggerate assets. (See page 25 in Beauchamp and Bowie.)   Objections to Kantianism  1. The theory is too rigid and narrow to handle real moral dilemmas. 2. Kant's theory does not consider the special relationships that we might have that create moral duties.   Rights Theories  Rights may be an important addition to ethical theories that must be treated differently that other elements of ethics. Rights that people have create obligations in others.  Negative obligations are those that require us to not interfere with an agent. Positive obligations are those that require that certain agents (people or institutions) provide certain benefits or services to others. These correspond to certain kinds of rights. Negative rights are liberties that one has to perform certain actions that should not be interfered with. Positive rights are benefits of services that one has a right to receive.   Virtue Ethics Virtue ethics, which descends primarily from Aristotle, holds that the primary role of ethics is to instill a good character in people. Beauchamp and Bowie refer to this as a motivational structure.   Feminist ethics and the ethics of care   What is feminism? Feminism may be viewed as a epistemological project that is divorced from politics, or it may be viewed as a political project that has ramifications for many areas of human practice. Beauchamp and Bowie identify three normative aspects of this latter form of feminism (33): the subordination, inequality, or oppression of women is wrong; its sources should be identified and remedied women deserve equal political and legal rights the experiences and perspectives of women are worthy of respect and should be taken seriously One feminist response to traditional ethical theories is the ethics of care. This ethics seeks to find a place for impartiality in ethics. Relationships are often formed without the choice of those involved. It is difficult to claim that mother and child both had a choice in entering into their relationship. It is also difficult to claim that they are equals. These facts undercut standard contract theory and universal rules that place emphasis upon free choices made between equals. The ethics of care suggests that there is something over and above standard moral rules that should be taken into account in order to properly act ethically.   The Case Method  The Case Method in Law  The case method in law is intended to try to identify the standard reasoning, r principles, applied in law through looking at the application of that reasoning in various cases. Of course, the reasoning applied in many cases is different from that of other cases. But this is still an important method of teaching law. Many cases are believed to be archetypal and are to be used as a guide for legal reasoning. The Case Method in Business Generally, cases are used in business education as a means to get students to begin actually thinking in a business application. In this way, it seeks to habituate rather than provide knowledge. This is somewhat like the approach that Aristotle advocates for instilling ethics. The Case Method in Ethics Cases in ethics are there in order to try to find the substance of ethical theories. One tries to see how the theories are applied and to see how one might modify them in order to improve them. The cases allow us a way to test ethical theories. Home.

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