PHIL 2 Philosophy: Ethics in Contemporary Society Week 4 Topic Outlines

Week 4, PHIL24.2 Week 4 Moral Implications of Lying, Cheating, Breaking Promises, and Stealing – Chap. 11 Morality, Marriage, and Human Sexuality – Chap. 12

Week 4, PHIL24.3 Topics 1 & 2: Moral Implications of Lying, Cheating, Breaking Promises, Stealing Lying, cheating, breaking promises, and stealing Significance of these moral issues Arguments for and against these moral issues Analyzing if an action taken is considered moral or immoral Applying Humanitarian Ethics to moral problems

Week 4, PHIL24.4 Lying, Cheating, Breaking Promises, and Stealing Lying: intentionally deceiving or giving a wrong impression White lie Lie of commission Lie of omission Cheating: deceiving by trickery or fraud, swindling, misleading

Week 4, PHIL24.5 Lying, Cheating, Breaking Promises, and Stealing (continued) Breaking a Promise: failing to carry out or acting contrary to or otherwise violating a vow Stealing: taking something without right or permission, generally surreptitiously

Week 4, PHIL24.6 Significance of These Moral Issues These issues affect human relationships and self-worth. They provide unfair advantages to some. They can hurt people emotionally and physically.

Week 4, PHIL24.7 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues Lying For: Defense of the innocent, including self National security Trade secrets in business “Little white lies”

Week 4, PHIL24.8 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Lying Against: Dupes and deprives others Causes distrust in human relationships Begets other lies Gives unfair advantage or power to liar Destroys liar’s power when discovered

Week 4, PHIL24.9 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Cheating For: Surviving and winning in a dog-eat-dog world Everybody does it As long as you don’t get caught…

Week 4, PHIL24.10 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Cheating Against: It’s unfair and unjust to others Can cause harm when done to falsify qualifications Successful cheaters can become lazy

Week 4, PHIL24.11 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Breaking Promises For: When circumstances change When there are moral conflicts When it’s a trivial issue When unusual situations justify it No promise is sacred

Week 4, PHIL24.12 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Breaking Promises Against: Destroys personal relationships Domino theory Affect people’s life choices Destroys general social trust Brings about loss of personal integrity

Week 4, PHIL24.13 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Stealing For: Balances our corrupt economic system Justified in crucial emergency situations Provides thrills and adventure Recoups profits made by large institutions and organization As long as you don’t get caught… Military and government secrets

Week 4, PHIL24.14 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Stealing Against: Violates another’s property rights Causes breakdown of trust Invades privacy Domino argument Causes material loss to victims Affects thief’s self-image Engenders fear and social breakdown

Week 4, PHIL24.15 Analyzing If an Action Taken Is Considered Moral or Immoral Case studies Lying Cheating Breaking promises Stealing

Week 4, PHIL24.16 Applying Humanitarian Ethics to Moral Problems Lying generally is immoral without strong justification. Cheating is primarily a violation of the Principle of Justice or Fairness and should be avoided unless such an act would prevent harm to someone.

Week 4, PHIL24.17 Applying Humanitarian Ethics to Moral Problems (continued) Breaking promises is acceptable only to save someone from harm or death; no promise is too trivial to keep. Stealing violates the principles of Justice, Honesty and Individual Freedom; it is immoral unless strong justification exists.

Week 4, PHIL24.18 Topics 3 & 4: Morality, Marriage, and Human Sexuality Public, societal, and private aspects of human sexuality Moral issues involved in sexuality Arguments for and against these moral issues Determining if actions taken are considered moral or immoral Applying Humanitarian Ethics to the moral problems of human sexuality

Week 4, PHIL24.19 Public, Societal, and Private Aspects of Human Sexuality Public aspects of human sexuality are concerned with how matters of sex overtly affect others. The governing principles of morality here are life, goodness, and justice.

Week 4, PHIL24.20 Public, Societal, and Private Aspects of Human Sexuality (cont.) Private aspect is concerned with sexual relations between or among consenting adults. The governing principles here are goodness, justice, freedom, and honesty.

Week 4, PHIL24.21 Moral Issues Involved in Sexuality Private aspects Procreation, or a necessary evil Personal freedom to enjoy pleasure Expression of love or like

Week 4, PHIL24.22 Moral Issues Involved in Sexuality (continued) Public aspects Sexual activity that brings harm, such as rape, molestation, unwilling sadism Pornography Unnatural activities Adultery, premarital sex Prostitution Non-monogamous marriage

Week 4, PHIL24.23 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues Premarital sex For: Old moral traditions are no longer applicable. Abstinence is not acceptable. Proper precautions can eliminate most concerns about disease and pregnancy. Promiscuity does not necessarily result, but even if it does, the people are consenting adults.

Week 4, PHIL24.24 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Premarital sex For: There is much less ostracism today over illegitimate children. Premarital sex lets people gain sexual experience and test compatibility before marriage. Premarital sex is a private, not public, matter.

Week 4, PHIL24.25 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Premarital sex Against: It undermines traditional morality and family values. It fosters promiscuity. It fosters social diseases and AIDS. It can be detrimental to the children born of such a relationship. It fosters guilt and ostracism. It is prohibited in the Bible.

Week 4, PHIL24.26 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Adultery For: Individuals are free to do what they want in their own private sex lives. What spouses don’t know won’t hurt them. Marriages generally should not be broken up because of the harm to financial security and the children. Sex outside of marriage is just another lifestyle.

Week 4, PHIL24.27 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Adultery Against: It violates traditional family values and the most intimate contract between two people. It involves lying, cheating, and infidelity. It can destroy the marriage relationship. It brings the danger of social disease to an innocent person.

Week 4, PHIL24.28 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Masturbation For: It is perfectly normal, both biologically and psychologically. It causes no ill effects. It is the best way of learning about sex and our own bodies. It is the safest form of sexual activity.

Week 4, PHIL24.29 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Masturbation Against: It is an abuse of one’s sexuality, which is a gift from God. It causes people to become preoccupied with sex and can lead to other sexual violations of morality, such as fornication, adultery, and pornography.

Week 4, PHIL24.30 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Pornography For: Consenting adults can view, read or listen to anything they wish. There is no proof that pornography is degrading or will destroy our moral fabric. It is not degrading and exploitative, but rather it is exciting and pleasurable.

Week 4, PHIL24.31 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Pornography Against: It is humanly degrading and as it becomes widespread it will destroy the moral fabric of our civilization. It can involve actual sex crimes. It degrades human sexuality in general and women in particular. It encourages trafficking in sex, rape, child molestation, sadism, and other perversions

Week 4, PHIL24.32 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Prostitution For: It is a safe release in a sexual repressive society. It is a victimless crime that both parties enter into freely. If there were social acceptance and governmental control, the criminal and social disease aspects would be eliminated.

Week 4, PHIL24.33 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Prostitution Against: Extramarital and commercialized sex is immoral from the conservative point of view. Prostitution causes crime and degradation. It spreads social diseases and AIDS.

Week 4, PHIL24.34 Arguments For and Against These Moral Issues (continued) Sexual perversion, or “unnatural” activity For: As long as a sex act is performed between or among freely consenting adults, it is a private matter and should be considered moral. Against: The only sex act that isn’t perverted is intercourse between a man and a woman in the missionary position.

Week 4, PHIL24.35 Determining If Actions Taken Are Considered Moral or Immoral Case studies: Premarital sex Homosexuality Cohabitation Adultery Pornography

Week 4, PHIL24.36 Applying Humanitarian Ethics to the Moral Problems of Human Sexuality In matters of private sexuality, individual freedom should be the guiding principle as long as the rights of the people immediately involved in the relationship are also observed. Private sexual matters should not be legislated against.

Week 4, PHIL24.37 Week 4 Thiroux, Jacques P. Ethics – Theory and Practice, 8th ed. Chapters 11-12