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Deontology: Respect for Persons

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Upcoming Due Dates

5/23: DB#3 Due (start of class)

5/27: Quiz #4 Due (8am)

6/3: Case Analysis (Draft)

6/6: Bonus Quiz Due (optional)

6/10: Case Analysis (Final)

48-hour grace period applies

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Tips for Case Analysis

1. Read & Follow Assignment Instructions

2. This is an opportunity for you to show what you know.(a) Explain in your own words

(b) Cite your sources

3. Write in multiple drafts

4. Address any issues from your previous work

5. Proofread your work

6. Now is the time to draw conclusions!

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Moral Theories (individual application of theory) Utilitarianism

Virtue ethics

deontology

Individual Analyses

what you (as an individual) think, based on your groupsapplication of theories

Group Conclusion

what your group decides, together, based on discussionof your individual analyses

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More Moral Tests

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Creative Middle Way

There may be some situations in which differentmoral values or duties come into conflict with oneanother.

For example, say you promised to meet a friend at aspecific time. You have just enough time to make it.But as you drive, you come across the scene of an

accident. You can help, but then youll definitely belate. Do you honor your promise or help theaccident victim?

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Creative Middle Way

Assuming that the meeting is something like

dinnerand no real harm is done by being

latethe need to offer assistance is the higherpriority.

When priorities come into conflict it is oftendifficult to DO what is right. But it is not so

difficult to KNOW what is right.

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Creative Middle Way

Resolution in which all the conflicting demands are atleast partially met.

For example, suppose youre an engineer working fora company that uses a chemical process that isdangerous and polluting. You have an obligation tothe company, but you also have an obligation to thepublic. It may be that there is some other process

that could be used which would be cleaner and,perhaps, cheaper in the long run than the dirtierchemical process being used. Such an approachwould be a creative middle way.

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Creative Middle Way

In finding a creative middle way, it is oftenhelpful to consider a range of options and

then pick the one that could best meet the

conflicting obligations and duties.

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Existentialist Ethics

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Existentialism

Like the termphilosophy,

there is probably no non-

controversial way todefine existentialism.

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Common Theme

Existentialists can be theists or atheists, but

their founding principle is generally taken to

be that existence precedes essence(orsubjectivity must be the starting point).

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An Example Based on Sartre

A desk is an object which has been made by anartisan whose inspiration came from a concept. Hereferred to the concept of what a desk is and knownmethods of production. Hence, the desk is at oncean object produced in a certain way, for a specificpurpose. The objects essence precedes its

existence.

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God as the creator

When we conceive of God as the Creator, He isgenerally thought to be a superior sort of

artisan. So the concept of humans appeared

in Gods mind before He created them.

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But what if there is no God?

In the 18th century, thephilosophesdiscarded

the idea of God. According to the atheistic

existentialists, if God does not exist, then

there is at least one being whom existence

precedes essencea being who exists before

he can be defined by any concept, and thatthis being is man.

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Existence Precedes Essence

Existence precedes essence means that, firstof all, man exists, turns up, appears on the

scene, and only afterwards, defines himself.

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At first, man is nothing.

Only afterwards, will he

be something and he

himself will have made

him what he will be.

There is no human

nature, since there is no

god to conceive it.

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Man is what he makes of himself

This is also what others have [derogatively]called subjectivity. But Sartre sees his view asdemonstrating that humans have greaterdignity than a rock.

Man is at the start a plan which is aware of

itself, rather than being a patch of moss.

Man will be what he will have planned to be.

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Acts Affirm

In fact, in creating the man that we want tobe, there is not a single one of our acts whichdoes not at the same time create an image ofman as we think he ought to be. To choose tobe this or that is to affirm at the same timethe value of what we choose, because we can

never choose evil. We always choose thegood, and nothing can be good for us withoutbeing good for all.

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One for All

When we say that man chooses his own self,we mean that every one of us does likewise.

And in making that choice, that person also

chooses for all men.

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I AM Responsible!

If we grant that we exist and fashion our image atone and the same time, the image is valid foreverybody and for our whole age. Our responsibilitythus involves all of humanity.

For example, if I want to marry, to have childreneven if this matter depends solely on my own

circumstances or passion or wish, I am involving all ofhumanity in monogamy and not merely myself.Therefore, I am responsible for myself and foreverybody else.

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Common Existentialist Terms:

Anguish

Forlornness

Despair

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Anguish

the man who involves himself and who

realizes that he is not only the person hechooses to be, but also a law-maker who is, at

the same time, choosing for all mankind as

well as himself, cannot help escape the feeling

of his total and deep responsibility.

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Not more Anguish?

The anguish is much like the feeling of the

military leader who sends his soldiers into

battle, knowing that some will not return.

Those who are not anxious are simply fleeingfrom this feeling.

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Know Thyself

For every man, everything happens as if all

mankind had its eyes fixed on him and were

guiding itself by what he does. And every man

ought to ask himself:

Am I really the kind of man who has theright to act in such a way that humanity

might guide itself by my actions?

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VII. Existentialist Ethics

1. Identify the moral issue under consideration.

2. Note available options.

3. Ask this question for each available option: Would I want all ofhumanity to accept my example as an endorsement and

standard of morally correct behavior?

4. Any answer of no to an option, would negate that option asa morally permissible choice.

5. An answer of yes to an option is inconclusive, as it maysimply mean that the subject doesnt care about theconsequences of his or her actions.

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Forlornness

God does not exist and we have to face theconsequences of this. If there is no god that

created us, there was also no god to set forth

rules for human conduct.

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Huh?

Another example: Ss brother killed in war, so

S wants to avenge his death and help fellow

citizens. But Ss mother needed S to carry on.The only way for S to determine the value of

his affection is to perform an act which

confirms and defines it. But since that

affection is required to justify the act, S is

caught in a vicious circle.

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Despair

we shall confine ourselves to reckoning only

with what depends upon our will, or on the

ensemble of probabilities which make ouraction possible. . . Given that man is free and

there is no human nature to depend on, I

cannot count on men whom I do not know by

relying on human goodness. We must limit

ourselves to what we see.

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Virtue Ethics

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Consider

The friend who visits

you in the hospital

because he or she is:

A good Utilitarian.

A good Kantian.

Good men

don't need

rules.Today isnot the day to

find out why I

have so many

of them.

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Morality of Actions or Persons?

We assess the not only the morality of actions,

but also the morality of persons.

Persons are described as good, decent,

immoral, corrupt, etc.

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Dispositions and Attitudes

Rather than focus on what a person does, one

might look at the desires, attitudes, and

dispositions of a person.

For example, how do we view the sort ofperson who would take candy from a baby?

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Consider

The case of the ex-convict...

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Turning to Virtue

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Possessing Virtue

According to the Greeks, to have virtue was to

have the quality of excellence.

This term might be applied to objects, such as

tools. It might also be applied to persons (e.g,a virtuoso violinist).

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A Virtuous Person

So, what would it mean to be a virtuous

person?

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Aristotles Virtue Ethics

from Nichomachean Ethics

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Happiness

Happiness consists in doing well or living well.

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Persons

To really know what doing well or living wellconsists in, we need to know the function of a

person.

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Function of Persons

The function of man is activity of soul in

accordance with reason.

How does Aristotle arrive at this? He looks at

what makes humans different from otherentities.

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Function of Persons

The function is not simply life, as other things

are alive.

The function is not sensation, for other beings

experience sensations, too.

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Function of Persons

. . . it is the active life of the rational part of

mans being.

By active life, he refers to some kind of

activity.

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Two Senses of Rational

1. possessing and exercising reason and

intelligence

2. obedient to reason (i.e., actually following

through deliberations referred to in #1)

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Virtue

Virtue is partly intellectual and partly moral.

Intellectual virtue is originated and fostered

mainly by teaching.

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Virtue

Moral virtue is the outcome of practice or

habit. Hence, its not implanted in us by

nature. (Otherwise, it could not betransformed by habit.)

MV imply a right attitude toward pleasuresand pains.

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Just Do It!

It is by doing just acts that one becomes just.

By doing brave acts, one becomes brave.

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Implications

It is our duty, therefore, to keep a certaincharacter in our activities, since our moral

states depend on the differences in our

activities.

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Implications

It is also important to have the right trainingearly on, as this is when we will begin to make

associations between pleasure and pain.

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Deeds

Deeds are called just and temperate whenthey are such that a just and temperate

person would do them [because they are just

or temperate].

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Dont Just Theorize

Theorizing about the good is not the same as

performing it. It would be the moralequivalent of seeing doctors and receiving

advice, but then failing to put the advice into

practice.

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V. Virtue Ethics: Moral Exemplar

1. Identify moral issue under consideration.

2. Note available options.

3. Identify a moral exemplar (i.e., morally virtuous person who may serve as anexample).

4. Ask what the moral exemplar would do, given the available options.

(a) If the moral exemplar faced a situation like the one youre considering the decisionshould be easy.

(b1) If the moral exemplar did *not* face a situation like the one youre considering, thingsare a little more complicated. You may identify some noteworthy behavior of the moralexemplar.

(b2) Then, based on the behavior of the moral exemplar you have noted, extrapolate todetermine what the moral exemplar *would have* done.

The behavior the moral exemplar engaged in OR would have engaged in is the

morally correct thing to do.

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Moral Mean

Virtue is a state of deliberate moral purpose,

consisting in a mean relative to ourselves.

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Moral Mean

The mean is between two vices (excess and

deficiency), as determined by reason.

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No Mean?

In some cases there is no mean (e.g., malice

and adultery OR temperance and courage).

For example, the actions may be intrinsically

wicked.

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Epistemic Problems

Since we have trouble finding the mean, itmay be advisable to steer clear of evil and

avoid situations which put is in a difficult

position.