Chapter 5_Introduction to Ethics - Ethical Theories.pdf

Introduction to Ethics

1. HUM4229
Society,EthicsandTechnology
IntroductiontoEthics:EthicalTheories
Hemayet Hossain Soikat
DepartmentofEEE
AhsanullahUniversityofScience andTechnology

2. Ethicsis
philosophy
abranchof
thataddresses
questionsaboutmorals,i.e.
questionsaboutwhatisgood
andbad,rightandwrong,
justandunjust.
What
is
Ethics?
Adisciplinedealing withwhat
isgoodandbadandwith
moraldutyandobligation.

3. Anengineerwith
ethicsisapersonwho
isexpectedtopossess
themoralintegrity
withrichethical values.
3

4. Ethicaltheoriesattempttoorganize
andexplaincommonethicalopinions.
Theyprovideaframeworkformoral
andlegaldecision-making,intendedto
beacceptabletoallmembersofsome
society.Theseareappliedconsistently
todeterminewhetheranactionis
rightorwrong.
ETHICALTHEORIES
4

5. Subjective
Relativism
CulturalRelativism
DivineCommand
Theory
ActUtilitarianism
RuleUtilitarianismKantianism
ETHICAL
THOERIES
5

6. •Therearenouniversalmoralnormsof
rightandwrong
SubjectiveRelativism
6
•Allpersonsdeciderightandwrongfor
themselves
•Example:TheAbortiondebate,
Stealing,etc.

7. Unpleasant
debatesare
avoided.
ProsofSubjectiveRelativism
1 3 54
7
2
People can
make their
owndecision.
Well meaning
peoplecanhave
opposite
opinions.
Flexibility in
makingdecisions.
Opposing views
donotneedtobe
reconciled.

8. ConsofSubjectiveRelativism
3
8
2
What is right and
what you do, those
twoaspectsarenot
clearlydrawn.
1
Nomoraldistinction
betweentheaction
ofdifferentpeople.
4
Tolerance becomes
meaningless.
Ethicaldecisions
don’thavetobe
basedonreason.

9. •Theseguidelinesvariesfromplaceto
place andfromtimetotime.
CulturalRelativism
9
•Aparticularactionmayberightin
onesocietyatonetimeandwrongin
othersocietyoratanothertime.
•Whatisrightorwrongdependsona
societiesactualmoralguidelines.

10. 2
ProsofCulturalRelativism
3
10
Different social contexts
demand different moral
guidelines.
1
One society should
not judge another by
itsown standards.
Theactualbehaviorofa
societyreflectsitsvalues
betterthanwhatitsays.

11. 3 4
Societies do,
infact,share
certain core
values.
2
Many practices are
acceptable does not
mean any cultural
practiceisacceptable
(many/anyfallacy)
1
Thereareno
guidelines for
reconciliationbetween
culturesinconflict.
ConsofCulturalRelativism
11
Cultural relativism
can be vague and
subject to different
interpretations.

12. •Holy booksrevealsgod’swill,shouldbe
usedasdecisionmakingguides.
DivineCommandTheory
12
•Goodactions:
thosealigned withGod’swill.
•Badactions:
thosecontrarytoGod’swill.

13. We owe obedience to
God,ourcreator.
1 2 3
13
ProsofDivineCommandTheory
Godisallgoodand
allknowing.
God is the
ultimateauthority.

14. ChallengesofDivineCommandTheory
1 3 54
14
2
Differing
interpretationsof
whatGod’slaw
reallyis.
In a multicultural and
secular society, it’s
unrealistic to adopt a
religionbasedmorality.
Some moral
problems are not
mentionedinthe
holybooks.
Equating“good”
with “God” is
“false
equivalence”
Notbasedon
reason

15. Utilitarianism
15
•JeremyBenthamandJohn StuartMill
•Morality of an action has nothing to do with intent,
focuseson the consequences
•An action is good if it benefits someone;
Anactionisbadifitharmssomeone
•Utility:tendencyofanobjecttoproducehappiness
orpreventunhappinessforanindividualora
community.
Happiness = advantage = benefit = good = pleasure
Unhappiness= disadvantage=cost=evil=pain

16. ActUtilitarianism
16
•BasedonthePrincipleofUtility,Alsoknownas
GreatestHappinessPrinciple
•Anactionisright(orwrong)totheextentthatit
increases(ordecreases)thetotalhappinessofthe
affectedparties.
•Happinessmayhavemanydefinitions such as:
advantage,benefit,good,orpleasure
•Addupchange inhappinessofallaffected beings
Sum>0,actionisgood
Sum<0,actionisbad

17. •Apharmaceuticalcompanyreleasingadrugthathas
beengovernmentallyapprovedwithknownsideeffects
becausethedrugisabletohelpmorepeoplethanare
botheredbytheminorsideeffects.
•Customerswhoflyinfirstorbusinessclasspayamuch
higherratethanthoseineconomyseats,buttheyalso
getmoreamenities.However,thehigherpricespaidfor
businessorfirstclassseatshelptoeasetheairline’s
financialburdencreatedbymakingroomforeconomy
classseats.
ActUtilitarianism
Examples
17

18. ProsofActUtilitarianism
Itfocuseson
happiness.
Flexibilityandsensitivity
tocircumstances.
1
18
2

19. ConsofActUtilitarianism
Theboundariesof
an evaluation are
notclear.
.
Not practical to
calculateforevery
moraldecision.
1
19
32
Itissusceptible
totheproblemof
“moralluck”.

20. •Statemayreplaceacurvystretchofhighway
•Newhighwaysegment1mileshorter
•150houseswouldhavetoberemoved
•Somewildlifehabitatwouldbedestroyed
HIGHWAYROUTE
SCENERIO
20
Costs
•$20milliontocompensatehomeowners
•$10milliontoconstructnewhighway
•Lostwildlifehabitatworth$1million
Benefits
•$39millionsavingsin automobiledrivingcosts
Conclusion????

21. 21

22. •Weoughttoadopt moralrules which,iffollowedby
everyone, will lead to the greatest increase in total
happiness
RuleUtilitarianism
22
•Arule isrighttotheextentthatitincreasesthe total
happinessof theaffectedparties
•The Greatest Happiness Principle is applied to moral
rules

23. ProsofRuleUtilitarianism
1 3 54
23
2
Calculating the
total happiness is
easierthaninAct
Utilitarianism.
Not every moral
decision requires the
utilitariancalculations.
It’seasiertoresolve
conflictingrules.
It overrides
“moralluck”.
It appeals to a
largecrosssection
ofsociety.

24. Itignores theunjust
distribution of good
consequences.
ConsofRuleUtilitarianism
1
24
2
Weareforced to usethesamescale
or measure for all evaluations even if
the consequences are completely
different.

25. DifferencebetweenActandRuleUtilitarianism
1
2
Actutilitarianismisthebeliefthatan
actionbecomesmorallyrightwhenit
producesthegreatestgoodforthe
greatestnumberofpeople.
Ruleutilitarianismisthebeliefthatthe
moralcorrectnessofanactiondepends
onthecorrectnessoftherulesthatallows
ittoachievethegreatestgood.
Actutilitarianismisthebeliefthatitis
alrighttobreakaruleaslongasitbrings
agreatergood.
Ruleutilitarianismisabeliefthatevenifa
rulecannotbringagreatergood,breaking
itwillnoteither.
Ruleutilitarianismseekstobenefitmost
peoplebutthroughthefairestandmost
justmeansavailable.
Actutilitarianismseekstobenefitmost
people,withoutconsiderationofjustice
orthesocietalconstraintssuchaslaws.
3
25

26. Kantianism
26
•People’swillsshouldbebasedonmoralrules,thatis
universalizable-mustapplyto allpeopleatalltime
•ImmanuelKant(1724–1804) aGermanphilosopher
•Ethicalphilosophyclaimingthatmotives&universalrules
areimportantaspectsinjudgingwhatisrightorwrong
•Thereforeit’simportant that ouractions arebasedon
appropriate moralrules.
•TodeterminewhenamoralruleisappropriateKant
proposedtwoCategoricalImperatives

27. CategoricalImperative
Whatisanimperative?
Animperativeisacommand.
So,"Payyourtaxes!"isanimperative,asare"Don'tkillinnocentpeople!"
Whatisancategoricalimperative?
Thesecommandunconditionally.Binduswithoutconsideringwhatoutdesiresmay
be.Amoral directivethatbinds all rationalbeingsnomatterwhat.
Example:“Don’tcheatonyourtaxes.”Evenifyouwanttocheatanddoingsowould
serveyourinterests,youmaynot cheat.
27

28. FirstFormulation
of Categorical
Imperative
28
•Actonlyfrommoralrulesthatyoucanatthesametime
universalize.
•Forexample,ifyouexpectotherpeopletokeeptheir
promises,thenyouareobligatedtokeepyourown
promises.
•Ifyouactonamoralrulethatwouldcauseproblemsif
everyonefolloweditthen youractionsarenotmoral

29. Second
Formulationof
Categorical
Imperative
29
•Actsothatyoualwaystreatbothyourselfandother
peopleasendsinthemselves,andneveronlyasameans
toanend.
✓Ifyouusepeopleforyourownbenefitthatisnot
moral

30. ProsofKantianism
Itproducesuniversal
moralguidelines.
Allpeoplearemoralequals
and deserve to be treated
similarly.
1
It’s rational, i.e. people can use
logic to determine if the reason
for theiractionsmeetoneofthe
CategoricalImperatives.
.
2 3
30

31. ConsofKantianism
Sometimes a
singleruleisnot
enough.
Thereisnowayto
resolveaconflict
betweenrules.
It allows no
exceptionstomoral
rules.
1
31
32

32. PLAGIARISM
SCENERIO
•Carla
•Singlemother
•Worksfulltime
•Takestwoeveningcourses/semester
•History class
•Requiresmoreworkthannormal
•Carla earningan“A”onallwork sofar
•Carladoesn’thavetimetowritefinal
report
•Carlapurchasesreportandsubmitsit
as herownwork
KantianEvaluation
UsingFirstandSecondFormulation???
32

33. DifferencebetweenUtilitarianism&Kantianism
1
2
Aform ofnon consequentialismAformofconsequentialism
Anactisrightifitsdoneoutof asenseof
moralobligation
Anactisrightifithasgood
consequences
Morality is fundamentally about the
consequences of our actions, specifically,
about the amount of happiness (or
unhappiness)wecauseintheworld
Morality is fundamentally about what
goesoninside us,specificallyaboutthe
reasons (intentions)wehaveforacting,
notabouttheresults(consequences)
3
KantianismUtilitarianism
33