Chapter Two : Approaches to Ethnics

2.1. Normative ethics

• Normative ethics seeks to set norms or standards for

conduct.
• The term is commonly used in reference to the
discussion of general theories about what one ought to
do, a central part of Western ethics since ancient times.
• The rise of logical positivism & emotivism in the
1930s, however, cast the logical status of normative
ethics into doubt.
• The subject was largely neglected until the 1960s,
when emotivism & linguistic analysis were both in
retreat & moral philosophers once again began to think
about how individuals ought to live.
 normative ethics cont…

• A crucial question of normative ethics is

whether actions are to be judged right or
wrong solely on the basis of their
consequences.
• Traditionally, theories that judge actions by
their consequences were called
“teleological/consequentialist” & theories that
judge actions by whether they accord with a
certain rule were called “deontological.”
 2.1.1. Teleological/ consequentialist ethics
• Teleological, originate from Greek telos, ‘end’, logos,
‘Science’, theory of morality that drives duty or moral
obligation from what is good or desirable as an end to be
achieved.
• It is opposed to deontological ethics, which holds that the
basic standards for an action’s being morally right are
independent of the good or evil generated.
• Unlike consequentialism, which judges actions by their
results, deontology doesn’t require weighing the costs &
benefits of a situation. This avoids subjectivity &
uncertainty b/c you only have to follow set rules.
• Following the rules makes deontology easy to apply. But it
also means disregarding the possible consequences of our
actions when determining what is right & what is wrong.
 2.1.1.1. Hedonism
• The word hedonism derives from the Greek word for
"delight" "pleasure",
• It is the pursuit of pleasure; sensual self-indulgence,
leisure-seeking.
• Ethical theory that pleasure is the highest good &
proper aim of human life.
• Argues seeking pleasure & avoiding suffering are the
only components of well-being.
• Ethical or evaluative hedonism claims that only
pleasure has worth or value & only pain or displeasure
has disvalue or the opposite of worth.
• Psychological or motivational hedonism claims that
only pleasure or pain motivates us.
 Hedonism cont…

• Ethical hedonism is the view that combines

hedonism with welfarist ethics, which claim
that what we should do depends exclusively on
what affects the well-being individuals.
• Ethical hedonism is said to have been started
by Aristippus of Cyrene, a student of Socrates.
He held the idea that pleasure is the highest
good.
• Opposite to hedonism, there is hedonophobia.
This is an extremely strong aversion to
hedonism.
 2.1.1.2. Ethical & psychological Egoism: Cyrenaicsm &
Epicureanism
• Ethical egoism is the normative ethical position that
moral agents ought to act in their own self-interest.
• Differs from rational egoism, which holds that it is
rational to act in one's self-interest.
• Actions whose consequences will benefit the doer can be
considered ethical in this sense-even if that is terrorism.
• Contrasts with ethical altruism, which holds that moral
agents have an obligation to help others.
• Egoism & altruism both contrast with ethical
utilitarianism, which holds that a moral agent should
treat one's self with no higher regard than one has for
others.
 ethical egoism cont…

• Ethical egoism does not, however, require

moral agents to harm the interests & well-
being of others when making moral
deliberation;
• Is often used as the philosophical basis for
support of right-libertarianism & individualist
anarchism- individuals should not coercively
prevent others from exercising freedom of
action.
 Ethical egoism cont..

Can be broadly divided into three categories: individual,

personal, & universal.
• An individual ethical egoist would hold that all
people should do whatever benefits "my" self-interest;
• A personal ethical egoist would hold that they should
act in their self-interest, but would make no claims
about what anyone else ought to do;
• A universal ethical egoist would argue that everyone
should act in ways that are in their self-interest.
• Ethical egoism differs from psychological egoism,
which claims that people can only act in their self-
interest.
 Psychological egoism

• Is the thesis that we are always deep down

motivated by what we perceive to be in our own
self-interest.
• Is merely an empirical claim about what kinds of
motives we have, not what they ought to be.
• While the ethical egoist claims that being self-
interested in this way is moral, the psychological
egoist merely holds that this is how we are.
• Can be seen as a background assumption of
several other disciplines, such as psychology &
economics.
 psychological Egoism cont…
• Evidence from biology, neuroscience, &
psychology has stimulated a lively interdisciplinary
dialogue.
• Psychological Egoism is exemplified in the kinds
of descriptions we sometimes give of people’s
actions in terms of hidden, ulterior motives.
The view philosophers’ label “psychological egoism”
has certain key features.
• Psychological Egoism: All of our ultimate desires
are egoistic.
• Psychological Altruism: Some of our ultimate
desires are altruistic.
 psychological Egoism cont…

• We ultimately only care about our own welfare, but this

needn’t always amount to selfishness.
• One’s desire is egoistic if it concerns the benefit of oneself &
not anyone else.
• One’s desire is altruistic if it concerns the benefit of at least
someone other than oneself.
• The reason for the focus on ultimate desires is that
psychological egoists don’t deny that we often have desires
that are altruistic.
• They do claim, however, that all such altruistic desires
ultimately depend on an egoistic desire that is more basic.
• We must draw a common philosophical distinction b/n
desires that are for a means to an end & desires for an end in
itself.
 psychological Egoism cont…

• Instrumental desires are those desires one has

for something as a means for something
else-“extrinsic desires”
• Ultimate desires are those desires one has for
something as an end in itself, not as a means to
something else- “intrinsic desires”.
• Desires for pleasure & the avoidance of pain
are paradigmatic ultimate desires, since people
often desire these as ends in themselves, not as
a mere means to anything else.
 psychological egoism cont…

• There are two important aspects to highlight

regarding how psychological egoism &
altruism relate to one another.
• 1st, psychological egoism makes a stronger,
universal claim that all of our ultimate desires
are egoistic, while psychological altruism
merely makes the weaker claim that some of
our ultimate desires are altruistic.
• 2nd, the positions in the debate are not exactly
the denial of one another, provided there are
desires that are neither altruistic nor egoistic.
 Psychological egoism cont…

• Psychological egoism is an empirical claim;

however, considerations from biology provide
only one route to addressing the egoism-
altruism debate empirically. Another, perhaps
more direct, approach is to examine empirical
work on the mind itself.
• Psychological egoism describes human nature
as being wholly self-centered self-motivated.
• The second variant of egoism is normative in
that it stipulates the agent ought to promote the
self above other values.
 Conditional Egoism
• Conditional Egoism - is the theory that egoism is
morally acceptable or right if it leads to morally
acceptable ends.
• Self-interested behavior can be accepted &
applauded if it leads to the betterment of society
as a whole; the ultimate test rests not on acting
self-interestedly but on whether society is
improved as a result.
• A famous example of this kind of thinking is from
Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, in which
Smith outlines the public benefits resulting from
self-interested behavior.
 Conditional Egoism cont…

• Smith writes: “It is not from the benevolence

of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we
expect our dinner, but from their regard to
their own interest. We address ourselves, not to
their humanity but to their self-love, & never
talk to them of our own necessities but of their
advantages” (Wealth of Nations, I.ii.2).
 Psychological altruism

• Psychological altruism is the view that

sometimes we can have ultimately altruistic
motives.
• Bentham, after all, suggests that ordinary
experience shows that we are ultimately
motivated to gain pleasure or avoid pain
Cyrenaicsm & Epicureanism on Ethical & psychological Egoism
• Ethical hedonism is said to have been started by
Aristippus of Cyrene, a student of Socrates.
• He held the idea that pleasure is the highest good.
• For its part, hedonistic ethical egoism is the idea
that all people have the right to do everything in
their power to achieve the greatest amount of
pleasure possible to them.
• It is also the idea that every person's pleasure
should far surpass their amount of pain.
• The Cyrenaics were an ultra-hedonist Greek school
of philosophy founded in the 4th C.BC, supposedly
by Aristippus of Cyrene.
 Cyrenaicsm cont…

• The school was so called after Cyrene, the birthplace of

Aristippus. It was one of the earliest Socratic schools.
• The Cyrenaics taught that the only intrinsic good is
pleasure, which meant not just the absence of pain, but
positively enjoyable momentary sensations.
• They recognize the value of social obligation, & that
pleasure could be gained from altruism.
• The Cyrenaics were known for their skeptical theory of
knowledge. They reduced logic to a basic doctrine
concerning the criterion of truth.
• They thought that we can know with certainty our
immediate sense-experiences but can know nothing about
the nature of the objects that cause these sensations (for
instance, that the honey is sweet).
 Cyrenaicism cont…
• All knowledge is immediate sensation. These sensations
are motions which are purely subjective, & are painful,
indifferent or pleasant, according as they are violent,
tranquil or gentle.
• They are entirely individual & can in no way be
described as constituting absolute objective knowledge.
Feeling, therefore, is the only possible criterion of
knowledge & of conduct.
• Cyrenaicism deduces a single, universal aim for all
people which is pleasure.
• Socrates had spoken of the higher pleasures of the
intellect; the Cyrenaics denied the validity of this
distinction & said that bodily pleasures, being more
simple & more intense, were preferable.
 Cyrenaicism cont…

• Regard should be paid to law & custom, b/c

even though these things have no intrinsic
value on their own, violating them will lead to
unpleasant penalties being imposed by others.
• The Cyrenaics believed in the hedonistic value
of social obligation & altruistic behavior.
• The school died out within a century, & was
replaced by Epicureanism.
 Epicureanism

• Is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of

Epicurus (c. 341–c. 270 BC), founded around 307 BC.
• Epicurus was an atomic materialist, following in the
steps of Democritus & Leucippus.
• His materialism led him to a general stance against
superstition or the idea of divine intervention.
• Following Aristippus- Epicurus believed that the
greatest good was to seek modest, sustainable "pleasure"
in the form of a state of tranquility & freedom from fear
& absence of bodily pain through knowledge of the
workings of the world & the limits of our desires.
• The combination of these two states is supposed to
constitute happiness in its highest form.
 Epicureanism cont…

• Although Epicureanism is a form of hedonism,

insofar as it declares pleasure as the sole intrinsic
good, its conception of absence of pain as the
greatest pleasure & its advocacy of a simple life
make it different from "hedonism" as it is
commonly understood.
• The highest pleasure was obtained by knowledge,
friendship & living a virtuous & temperate life.
• He lauded the enjoyment of simple pleasures, by
which he meant abstaining from bodily desires,
such as sex & appetites, verging on asceticism.
 Epicureanism cont…

• Epicurus did not articulate a broad system of

social ethics that has survived but had a unique
version of the Golden Rule.
• It is impossible to live a pleasant life without
living wisely & well & justly, & it is
impossible to live wisely & well & justly
without living a pleasant life.
• Epicureanism was originally a challenge to
Platonism, though later it became the main
opponent of Stoicism.
 2.1.1.3. Social Hedonism: Utilitarianism
• It is an ethical theory holding that the proper course of
action is the one that maximizes the overall good of the
society.
• It is one form of consequentialism- that the moral worth
of an action is determined by its resulting outcome.
• An action is right if & only if it results in the greatest
good for the greatest number.
• The most influential contributors to this theory are
considered to be the 18th and 19th C. British
philosophers Jeremy Bentham &John Stuart Mill.
• Though consistent in their pursuit of happiness,
Bentham & Mill's versions of hedonism differ.
 Social Hedonism/Utilitarianism cont…

There are two somewhat basic schools of thought on

hedonism:
• Bentham defends a quantitative approach.
• Essentially, he believed the value of pleasure to be
its intensity multiplied by its duration - so it was
not just the number of pleasures, but their intensity
& how long they lasted that must be taken into
account.
• Mill argues a qualitative approach.
• He believed that there can be different levels of
pleasure - higher quality pleasure is better than
lower quality pleasure.
 contemporary hedonist

• Michel Onfray- defines hedonism "as an

introspective attitude to life based on taking
pleasure yourself & pleasuring others, without
harming yourself or anyone else".
• The Abolitionist Society is a transhumanist
group calling for the abolition of suffering in
all sentient life through the use of advanced
biotechnology.
• Their core philosophy is negative
utilitarianism.
 Social Hedonism cont…

• An action is right if & only if it results in the

greatest pleasure for the greatest number (of
people?). (Here “good” is specified as
pleasure. J. Bentham & J.S. Mill were this
sort of Utilitarian.)
• Morality requires that one value everyone’s
welfare, not just one’s own. Utilitarianism
implies it may be morally necessary to
sacrifice one’s own self-interest for the good
of others in some circumstances.
 Social Hedonism/Utilitarianism cont…

• Social Hedonism/Utilitarianism suggests a cost

benefits analysis where pleasure/pain is the "coin
of the realm.”
• Utilitarianism is, in one way, the most idealistic
of all ethical theories: it takes for granted that
people will be motivated to work for the general
good.
• Utilitarian thinking helped bring about & justify
the welfare state. (Karl Marx's political theory
was a reaction to the same social inequities.)
 Social Hedonism & Utilitarianism cont…

Note: there is a minor difference b/n Social

Hedonism & Utilitarianism.

Criticism
• Critics of hedonism have objected to its
exclusive concentration on pleasure as
valuable.
 Social Hedonism & Utilitarianism cont…

Islamic criticisms
• In Islam, one of the main duties of a Muslim is
to conquer his ego, self, passions, desires & to
be free from it.
• Certain joys of life are permissible provided
they do not lead to excess or evildoing that may
bring harm. It is understood that everyone takes
their passion as their idol, Islam calls these idols
& worship of other than Allah so there has to be
a means of controlling these nafs.