What Would a Satisfactory Moral Theory Look Like? PHIL 2525 Lec 23

Derek Parfit Some people believe that there cannot be progress in Ethics, since everything has already been said... I believe the opposite..

13.1 Morality without Hubris Timothy Vermeulen 2002

“Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for

Carl Sagan 1934 - 1996

Carl Sagan’s Cosmic Time Charts Pre December Dates (approximate, of course) January 1 Big Bang May 1 Origin of the Milky Way September 9 Origin of the Solar System September 14 Formation of the Earth September 25 Origin of life on Earth October 2 Formation of the oldest rocks known on Earth October 9 Date of oldest fossils (bacteria and blue-green algae November 1 Invention of sex (by micro-organisms) November 12 Oldest fossil photosynthetic plants November 15 Eukaryotes (first cells with nuclei) flourish From The Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan If the age of the earth from its origin to the present time is imagined as equivalent to a single day, then man appeared less than a minute before midnight at the day's end. In the life of the earth we are a very new experiment Only for the last 5000 years or so has man left written records. Records which help us know those early people Not always accurate picture Accident of preservation Not always most important Archaeologists can’t know for certain Function Importance Representativeness Joke about it has religious or cult significance It must be a cult object

December

“The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.” David Hume (1711-1776)

Charles Darwin

We are rational beings... We consider options We weigh consequences We choose to behave one way rather than another We articulate the reasons for our choices

Ethical Egoism: prescriptive Psychological Egoism: descriptive

Rachels says that psychological egoism is not true...

13.2 Treating People as They Deserve... Remember Kant’s ‘respect for persons’ If we don’t adjust our actions to reflect our judgments of others’ actions we may be denying their status as free agents... But...

13.3 Multiple-Strategies Utilitarianism Our lives will go better if...we love our children, enjoy our friends, take pride in our work, keep our promises.....

13.4 The Moral Community

The Trolley Problem...

Harvard’s Moral Sense Test

Bertrand Russell If when a man writes a poem or commits a murder, the bodily movements involved in his act result solely from physical causes, it would seem absurd to put up a statue to him in the one case and to hang him in the other.

Decisions…

Decisions… Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; ………. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Carl Jung… Without freedom there can be no morality.

Challenges to the existence of free will The challenge from Logic The challenge from Theology The challenge from Science

Daniel Dennett: Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting Nature has played a devious trick on us. Dennett’s book suggests we should grin and bear it.