2. What is ethics?

  3. The word ethics comes from the Greek word ethos, and refers to the general habits, customs, and mores of a particular community, culture, or nation. In philosophy, ethics is defined as the systematic reflection on what is moral and expresses the opinions, decisions and actions with which people express what they think is good or right. There are two basic approaches to the study of ethics:


  5. • Descriptive ethics describes existing moral systems and is “scientific” in the sense that it is factual and makes judgments that are true or false. In other words, it is about the moral and ethical views that people actually have.

  6. • Normative ethics on the other hand is a branch of ethics that actually asserts moral judgments about what is ethically good or bad, right or wrong, and therefore contains explicit (or sometimes implicit) value judgments about human nature and one’s place in the world and society.

  7. (We will be concerned with both approaches to ethics in this class. On the one had, we will study the ethical views and moral values of various philosophers and try to describe or understand their views as best as we can. But we will also need to think critically about the ethos they are prescribing and whether we think their views are actually reasonable, good, and worth abiding by.)


Three characteristics of Normative Ethics: Values, Norms, and Virtues

  1. 1.Moral values are matters/convictions that are worth striving for in general. Examples include: justice, happiness, charity and so on. An important distinction that you should be aware of when thinking about moral values is the distinction between intrinsic values and instrumental values. Intrinsic values are valued in themselves—they are worth striving for apart from any consequences, future benefits, or extraneous effects they may bring. Instrumental values, on the other hand, are valuable because of what they bring us in terms of consequences, future benefits, or extraneous effects. They are more of a means to an end and only contribute intrinsic values. For example, if you want to earn lots of money so that you can share it with your friends and family and help needy people in the world, then both the earning of the money (your job or however you get the money) and the money itself are only instrumental values, while the values of sharing and helping others are intrinsic values.

  2. 2.Moral norms are rules that prescribe what actions are required, permitted or forbidden. Some norms are so important and so prescriptive that they are turned into laws—such as those against murder, torture, theft, and so on. Normative values are meant to prescribe human behavior and are the means that are used in order to attain moral values.

  3. 3.Moral virtues are character traits that make someone a good person and allow him or her to lead a good life, such as the virtues of honesty, courage, loyalty, creativity, humor, and so on. While moral virtues look similar to moral values, they are actually different. Virtues are character traits or qualities that one develops throughout the process of life, whereas moral values are ideals one strives to attain.

Moral Relativism and Absolutism

  1. Before describing the main ethical theories that we’ll be studying throughout the semester, we first need to look at two extremes positions relating to normative ethics: relativism and absolutism. Normative relativism claims that all moral points of view are relative. The morals of one person are not necessarily equal to the morals of another person, and because people and cultures are different there is no underlying moral system or universal norm. Relativism might even go so far as to say that we really can’t make judgments between ethical views and that the morals of one person or culture are no better or worse than the morals of any other person or culture. Because relativism holds that all moral values are pretty much equal, it follows that there’s not much use in discussing normative ethics at all—and probably a waste of time taking an ethics class that will try to distinguish between better and worse ethical values.


  3. Moral absolutism (sometimes referred to as “universalism”), on the other hand, claims that there is a system of norms or values that is universally applicable to everyone, everywhere, and at all times. Moral Absolutism makes few if any exceptions (since a rule is a rule, after all) and claims that a person is moral if they live and behave according to moral laws.



Important Ethical Theories to Know for our Class


  1. Deontology and Kantian Ethics

  2.    Many philosophers of ethics think it’s important to distinguish between a person choosing a course of action and the action itself, as well as the intention of the person when he or she chose that course of action and any consequences that follow from that action. Thus, philosophical ethics distinguishes between the

  3. action, the actor, the intention, and the consequences. If we focus primarily on the action itself—apart from the intentions of the actor or the consequences that follow the action--then we come close to what is known as deontological ethics (from Greek δέον, deon, "obligation, duty"; and -λογία, -logia). In deontology (or duty ethics) the focus is on whether an action abides by moral rules and norms. An action is morally right if it is in agreement with moral rules and norms and morally wrong if it deviates from them.

  4.    The philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) developed the most famous deontological theory and claimed that individual autonomy, rationality, and free-will are central to any coherent moral system. According to Kant, we should choose a moral system from our own individual free-will--and then obey it. But Kant didn’t think we should choose just any moral system. Rather, we should choose a moral system that is both rational and universalizable; in other words, we should choose moral principles that we will (or wish) everyone else should adopt as well. Kant called this the “categorical imperative” and formulated it in two ways. The first formulation is the universality principle and goes as such: “Act only on that maxim which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” The second formulation is the reciprocity principle and goes like this: “Act as to treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end, never as means only.” Kant believed that categorical imperatives like these were rational because we could will (or wish) that everyone adopted the same imperatives without running into any self-defeating contradictions. The same would not be true for killing or lying, for example since Kant argued that we could not really will everyone to go around killing or lying all of time since we would actually be willing them to lie and kill us as well.


  6. Utilitarianism or Consequentialism

  7.    Philosophers such as Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806 –1873) disagreed with Kant and argued that it’s better to focus on the consequences of actions rather than disconnecting them from the moral values that produce such actions. For Bentham and Mill, the end of any moral system should result in the creation of an overall well-functioning, pleasant, and happy society, and the best moral system is the one that produces this end result. Whereas Kant thought that we should not be concerned with consequences and focus exclusively on whether our actions conform to universal principles, Bentham and Mill argued that we need to focus on the fruits of action and see whether they produce more or less pleasure and happiness in the world.

  8.    Utilitarian ethics is therefore based on the ability to predict the consequences of our actions, and claims that an action is morally right if it results in more pleasure and happiness, and wrong if it gives rise to more pain and unhappiness. In other words, the choice that yields the greatest benefit to the most people is the ethically correct choice.


  10. Virtue ethics

  11.    Virtue ethics is most commonly associated with Aristotle (384-322 BCE), and more recently with philosophers such as Aladair MacIntyre, and judges a person by his character rather than by an action that may deviate from his normal behavior. It takes the person's morals, reputation and motivation into account when rating an unusual and irregular behavior that is considered unethical. For instance, if a person plagiarized a passage that was later detected by a peer, the peer who knows the person well will understand the person's character and will be able to judge the friend. If the plagiarizer normally follows the rules and has good standing amongst his colleagues, the peer who encounters the plagiarized passage may be able to judge his friend more leniently. Perhaps the researcher had a late night and simply forgot to credit his or her source appropriately. Conversely, a person who has a reputation for scientific misconduct is more likely to be judged harshly for plagiarizing because of his consistent past of unethical behavior.

  12.    Whereas deontology emphasizes following rules or “doing one’s duty” and consequentialism emphasizes the results that follow from particular actions, virtue ethics emphasizes character traits such as courage, honesty, wisdom, tolerance, and so on, and claims that morality is about cultivating such virtues on a daily basis. Virtue ethics defines the morally superior life as eudaimonia, which translates from the Greek as “human flourishing” or “living well.”


  14. Buddhist Ethics

  15.    Buddhist ethics stem from the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha (563-483 BCE) and are governed by examining whether a certain action—related either to the body, speech, or mind of a particular person—is harmful to oneself or to others. The moral values of actions (karma) depend more on the intentions of the actor than the action itself, and entails less feelings of guilt than its Judeo-Christian counterpart. Buddhism is similar to virtue ethics in that it focuses on the cultivation of virtues—such as compassion—which arise from learning how to control the mind and how to “skillfully” guide one’s behavior and actions. However, because Buddhism sees the “self” as fundamentally inter-related and social, the virtues cannot be reduced solely to the internal, personal characteristics of an individual.

  16.    Moral conduct for Buddhists differs according to whether it applies to the laity or to the Sangha (Buddhist monastics). A lay Buddhist should cultivate good conduct by training in the "Five Precepts," which entails avoiding killing, lying, stealing, sexual misconduct, and intoxicating substances that harm the mind. Members of the Buddhist Sangha, on the other hand, adopt 227 to 253 precepts depending on the school or tradition for Bhikkhus (monks) and between 290 and 354 precepts depending on the school or tradition for Bhikkhunis (nuns). Since most Buddhists don’t believe in God, the precepts are not divine commandments that entail punishment if one breaks them, and nor are they universal prescriptions that one should follow as a matter of duty. Rather, the precepts for both the laity and monastics are more like training manuals or exercise routines that one uses to discipline the mind and body. The ability to control the mind and body leads to a state of peace and tranquility, according to Buddhism, and allows one to refrain from engaging in “unwholesome” actions.


  18. Confucian Ethics

  19.    Confucian ethics is based on three important Chinese concepts: lǐ, Yì, and Rén. Before Confucius (551–479 BCE) developed his ethical views, the idea of lǐ (“proper ritual”) referred to religious rites and to the maintenance of social and political institutions. Confucius redefined lǐ, arguing that it flowed not from heaven but from humanity. He redefined lǐ to refer to all actions and daily rituals that a person engages in—both social and personal.

  20.   Yì is usually translated as “righteousness” and is connected to one’s social actions. While acting out of self-interest is not necessarily bad for Confucius, a genuine moral person privileges social relationships and reciprocity over self-interest. One example of living by yì is the traditional Chinese ethical value of respecting your parents, taking care of them when they are old, and mourning them for three years after their death. Given that they dedicated themselves to you for a large portion of your life—the “righteous” thing to do would be to reciprocate as much as possible.  

  21.   Rén is usually translated as “human heartedness.” Confucius’ moral system was based upon empathy and an understanding of others rather than divinely ordained rules, and the idea of Rén is similar to the Golden Rule in that you should always treat your inferiors just as you would want your superiors to treat you. Rén combines lǐ and Yì so that one acts in harmony with others. It is a distinctly social virtue, and thus quite different from the type of virtue ethics that refers specifically to personal excellence.


  23. Daoist Ethics

  24.    Daoist ethic stem from the teachings of Laozi (or Lao Tzu) and Zhuangzi (or Chuang Tzu) who both lived in China sometime between the 4th and 5th centuries BCE. Laozi and Zhuangzi developed ethical views similar to Confucius by emphasizing harmonious conduct, but they expanded the idea of harmony to include the natural environment as well. In their view, ethics is not limited to social and human interactions but includes our interactions with everything in the world—from trees, plants, and rivers to humans, animals and other life forms. Daoism describes virtue as a fluid and dynamic response to nature rather than a dominating or controlling approach, and claims that wu-wei--or “effortless action”—is one of the highest virtues in life. Wu-wei embodies the view that since the universe already flows in a natural and harmonious way--without any external effort whatsoever—it is therefore counterproductive for us to try and control it or inflict our will upon the world. This only disrupts the natural process of the Dao and pushes us further away from finding the virtue, integrity, and power (the “de”) of life. Thus, the goal of Daoist ethics entails aligning oneself to the natural flow and rhythm of the universe, and the point is not if someone acts—but how they act.

  25.    The three basic virtues in Daoism—the “Three Treasures”—are compassion, moderation and humility. Taoist compassion is expressed as gentleness, tenderness, and kindness, and means treating everything in life like a mother treats her child. The metaphor of  the “uncarved block” expresses the virtue of moderation and refers to the economic simplicity of nature that never wastes anything. The virtue of humility expresses a sense of vulnerability, praise, and awe in the face of nature and allows one to reduce the ego’s desire to dominate and control its surroundings.

  26.  


Basic Terms in Ethical and Moral Theory