GEC 008-CE42S4 ETHICS 7. Deliberately hurting other people requires justification.

The
default position in ethics is this: do no harm. It is sometimes
MODULE 1 morally acceptable to harm others, but there must be an
excellent reason for doing so or else the harmful behavior is
MORALITY
unjustified.
• being clear about the difference between conventional and
8. Equals ought to be treated equally. People who are alike in
critical morality;
all relevant respects should get similar treatment. When this
• distinguishing the different branches of moral philosophy fails to happen—when racist or sexist policies are enacted,
and their central questions; for instance—then something has gone wrong.
• identifying starting points for moral thinking; and 9. Self-interest isn’t the only ethical consideration. How well-off
• contrasting morality with other normative systems, including we are is important. But it isn’t the only thing of moral
religious ones. importance. Morality sometimes calls on us to set aside our
own interests for the sake of others.
CONVENTIONAL MORALITY 10. Agony is bad. Excruciating physical or emotional pain is bad.
• the system of widely accepted rules and principles, that It may sometimes be appropriate to cause such extreme
members of a culture or society use to govern their own suffering, but doing so requires a very powerful justification.
lives. 11. Might doesn’t make right. People in power can get away with
lots of things that the rest of us can’t. That doesn’t justify
CRITICAL MORALITY what they do. That a person can escape punishment is one
• does not have its origin in social agreements; thing—whether his actions are morally acceptable is
• is untainted by mistaken beliefs, irrationality, or popular another.
prejudices; and 12. Free and informed requests prevent rights violations. If, with
• can serve as the true standard for determining when eyes wide open and no one twisting your arm, you ask
conventional morality has got it right and when it has fallen someone to do something for you, and she does it, then your
into error. rights have not been violated— even if you end up hurt as a
result.
BASIC CONCEPTS
Moral Issue
MODULE 3
Moral Judgment
Moral Decision MORAL REASONING
• Our feelings may be irrational; they may be nothing but the
3 CORE AREAS OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY by-products of prejudice, selfishness, or cultural
1. Value Theory conditioning.
2. Normative Ethics • Thus, if we want to discover the truth, we must let our
3. Metaethics feelings be guided as much as possible by reason.
• The first thing is to get one’s facts straight. This is the
essence of morality
MODULE 2
MORAL STARTING POINTS THE REQUIREMENT OF IMPARTIALITY
1. Neither the law nor tradition is immune from moral criticism. • This is the idea that each individual’s interests are equally
The law does not have the final word on what is right and important; no one should get special treatment. At the same
wrong. Neither does tradition. Actions that are legal, or time, impartiality requires that we do not treat the members
customary, are sometimes morally mistaken. of particular groups as inferior, and thus it condemns forms
2. Everyone is morally fallible. Everyone has some mistaken of discrimination like sexism and racism.
ethical views, and no human being is wholly wise when it
comes to moral matters.
3. Friendship is valuable. Having friends is a good thing. THE MINIMUM CONCEPTION OF MORALITY
Friendships add value to your life. You are better off when • Morality is, at the very least, the effort to guide one’s conduct
there are people you care deeply about, and who care by reason—that is, to do what there are the best reasons for
deeply about you. doing—while giving equal weight to the interests of each
4. We are not obligated to do the impossible. Morality can individual affected by one’s decision.
demand only so much of us. Moral standards that are
impossible to meet are illegitimate. Morality must respect our THE CONSCIENTIOUS MORAL AGENT
limitations. • It is someone who is concerned impartially with the interests
5. Children bear less moral responsibility than adults. Moral of everyone affected by what he or she does; who carefully
responsibility assumes an ability on our part to understand sifts facts and examines their implications; who accepts
options, to make decisions in an informed way, and to let our principles of conduct only after scrutinizing them to make
decisions guide our behavior. The fewer of these abilities sure they are justified; who will “listen to reason” even when
you have, the less blameworthy you are for any harm you it means revising prior convictions; and who, finally, is willing
might cause. to act on these deliberations.
6. Justice is a very important moral good. Any moral theory that
treats justice as irrelevant is deeply suspect. It is important
that we get what we deserve, and that we are treated fairly.
REASON AND IMPARTIALITY ETHICAL RELATIVISM
• Moral judgments must be backed by good reasons; and • It is the view that ethical or moral values and beliefs are
second, morality requires the impartial consideration of each relative to the various individuals or societies that hold them.
individual’s interests. Thus, according to the ethical or moral relativists, there is no
objective right and wrong.
MODULE 4
SKEPTICISM
OTHER NORMATIVE SYSTEMS 1. Ethical Egoism
1. Law — Some immoral acts (like cheating on an exam) are o claims that each person ought to pursue his or her
not illegal. And some illegal acts (like voicing criticism own self-interest exclusively.
against a dictator) are not immoral. o Some people believe that we have no duties to
2. Etiquette - Good manners are not the same thing as morally others.
good conduct. o is the radical idea that the principle of self- interest
3. Self-interest accounts for all of one’s obligations.
4. Tradition o This is the morality of selfishness. It holds that our
only duty is to do what is best for ourselves. Other
MORALITY AND RELIGION people matter only insofar as they can benefit us.
The Divine Command Theory 2. Psychological Egoism
• The basic idea is that God decides what is right and wrong. o by contrast, asserts that each person does in fact
• Actions that God commands are morally required; actions pursue his or her own self- interest exclusively.
that God forbids are morally wrong; and all other actions are o makes a claim about human nature, or about the
permissible or merely morally neutral. way things are.
3. Ethical Altruism
MODULE 5 o Selflessness, actions for the benefit of others
DIFFERENT CULTURES HAVE DIFFERENT MORAL CODES Ayn Rand’s Argument
The Callatians, who lived in India, ate the bodies of their dead fathers.
• Ayn Rand regarded the “ethics of altruism” as a totally
The Greeks, of course, did not do that—the Greeks practiced
destructive idea - leads to a denial of the value of the
cremation and regarded the funeral pyre as the natural and fitting way
individual.
to dispose of the dead. The Eskimos lived in small settlements,
• It says to a person: Your life is merely something to be
separated by great distances, and their customs turned out to be very
sacrificed.
different from ours.

CULTURAL RELATIVISM
Different cultures have different moral codes. Thus, there are no
universal moral truths, the customs of diff. societies are all that exist.

1. Different societies have different moral codes; that a certain

action is right, then that action is right, at least within that
society.
2. There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one
society’s code as better than another’s. There are no moral
truths that hold for all people at all times.
3. The moral code of our own society has no special status; it
is but one among many.
4. It is arrogant for us to judge other cultures. We should always
be tolerant of them.
5. The moral code of a society determines what is right within
that society; that is, if the moral code of a society says it is.

THE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES ARGUMENT

1. Different cultures have different moral codes.
2. Therefore, there is no objective truth in morality.
3. Right and wrong are only matters of opinion, and opinions
vary from culture to culture.

WHAT FOLLOWS FROM CULTURAL RELATIVISM

1. We could no longer say that the customs of other societies
are morally inferior to our own.
2. We could no longer criticize the code of our own society.
3. The idea of moral progress is called into doubt.