Why Be Ethical?/You are what You Do pp. 5-21 and 23-39

The Capacity to Act (Freedom) Aristotle’s teleological view  We have a natural desire and sense of purpose to do good (pp. 11-14). Kant’s deontological view  We have and obligation to do good (pp. 14-17). Levinas’s relational theory of ethics  We are called to good by encountering the other (pp.17-20). What makes us capable of responding in an ethical manner?

Despite being predisposed to act a certain way because of genetics, we also have the capacity to make choices. We have the capacity to be an agent (someone who is able to initiate things and is able to change the world). Actions are what make us human – human actions are the building blocks of who we are and who we become.

Freedom is the human potential, the capacity and the power to act Freedom is the human potential, the capacity and the power to act. Action is the realization of that power. Ethics examines your capacity as an individual to make things happen in your world, in your relationships and even within yourself. The morality of human acts depends on: (1) the object chosen; (2) the end in view or the intention; (3) the circumstances of the action.

The Conceptual Framework of Human Action: Who? - the agent What? - the action Why? – the motive How? – with what means? Under what circumstances? With or against whom? With what outcomes?

Human Freedom The capacity to choose and to act. I am free because I have possibilities and a capacity to act (or not act) on these possibilities. Not all philosophers agree on how to explain the human ability to initiate an action. The intention or primary cause is usually not visible. Intending to doing something is not the same as actually doing it.

Traditionally, the capacity to act intentionally has been identified as a spiritual/transcendent quality. If someone states their intentions to marry, it is a real commitment even though it cannot be detected by any of the senses. Some philosophers and paradigms believe that free will itself is an illusion – humans are part of a physical and material world and nothing in them reaches beyond the material and into the spiritual world.

Naturalism The movement has roots in the ideas of 18th century philosopher and empiricist David Hume (he challenged the principle of causality – it is not found innate in thought but through experience). The material universe is a unified system where everything is shaped by physical, chemical, psychological, social, biological and environmental processes. Humans are simply part of the material universe, which is one grand chain of cause and effect.

With the sequencing of the human genome, naturalism believes we have the blueprint for humanity – this notion challenges the notion of the “free” self. If this theory is held to be true, then our promises and commitments don’t come from intention but instead from genetic predisposition. Naturalism denies the possibility of ethics and morality.

How can you be responsible for your actions if what you do is a natural, physical process over which you have no control? According to Augustine, in our understanding of law, guilt can only be assigned to a human agent acting freely.

Naturalism and A.I. The concept of artificial intelligence is very much in- line with the philosophy of naturalism (reduces intention to a process that can be programmed). Computers and modern forms of A.I. today can only model an aspect of intelligence and not act as a whole intelligence system. Neural networks of humans can be replicated in computer programs but this is far from human intelligence.

Religious Determinism Freedom, as a human capacity, is also attacked in other philosophies and theologies. Some churches within Christianity have denied human freedom, based on the belief that God’s foreknowledge and will have predetermined everything in the world, including our individual actions.

Most Christians believe in the concept of providence, which is God’ influence upon events and actions. Some Christians, such as John Calvin (French Protestant reformer from 1500’s), believe that our salvation or damnation has been predestined and therefore there is no freedom or ethics (predestination takes away the human capacity to act freely).

Catholic teaching maintains that human freedom and God’s providence don’t conflict. God has a foreknowledge of what will happen, but we are actively acting in the present and are free to choose our actions. God gives us the gift of salvation, God’s initiative of love. This love/salvation requires us to cooperate and choose to be good (act freely). It also gives us the grace to cooperate and choose to be good (theological virtues).

Social Determinism Similar to naturalism, this paradigm suggests that our behaviours are determined by outside influences – like the influence of others around you: Parents, culture, race, social background, personal history, gender religion etc. Sigmund Freud believed that human behaviour is often driven by unconscious impulses based on repressed memories and desires.

Freud believed that these repressed experiences exert a constant pressure on our conscious mind. They emerge as images and symbols in our dreams, and odd patterns in our behaviour. Freud also believed humans had 2 determining instincts: life (linked to love, sex and eros) and death (thanatos). Freud believed we have a personal taskmaster that imposes guilt and shame to control our actions (superego, influences by parents and society).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQWBnwu1oZs Do you see your self as an agent who is free to act, or are you just another piece in a grand chain of cause and effect?