AOK Crash Course Ethics

Ethics Defined Ethics – plural noun 1 the moral principles governing or influencing conduct. 2 the branch of knowledge concerned with moral principles. Both ‘ethics’ and ‘morality’ are derived from words that originally meant ‘custom’.

Ethics is the study of morals

Previously… Ethics morals

Previously… Ethics morals

TOK… Ethics Morals Morals Morals

Convictions and Parsimony Define good. Define bad.

Are there any objective ethical rules Are there any objective ethical rules? Or does every moral judgement depend on the circumstances?

Ethical Absolutism Implies there are definite rights and wrongs that apply all over the world and for all people

Ethical Absolutism Implies that all people should be judged by a “higher uniting ethical code”

Ethical Absolutism Implies if people do not live up to the code they should be punished

Ethical Absolutism Implies all people around the world should be judged and coerced into living by the standard—and only then will they live an ethically correct life

Ethical/Moral Relativism There is no real wrong or right answer

Ethical/Moral Relativism Ethics are created by cultures in which the ethics apply.

Ethical/Moral Relativism One culture cannot judge what is right or wrong in another culture… …because they cannot understand the other culture well enough.

Ethical/Moral Relativism It is impossible for one culture to justify imposing its ethical standards upon another culture. Cultural and ethical imperialism only leads to misunderstanding, agitation, and oftentimes, open hostility.

Convictions and Parsimony II Can there be any good or bad if there is no absolute power which describes what is good and what is bad?

Cultural Imperialism When one culture imposes its values on other cultures…

Does relativism imply tolerance? Imagine we meet a new civilization… let’s call them the One-Eyed Thugs. The One-Eyed Thugs impose their values on other cultures.

Does relativism imply tolerance? “In our culture it is OK to impose our values on other people, and you have no right to impose your value that you-shouldn’t-impose-your-values-on-other-people on us!”

Does relativism imply tolerance? What the One-Eyed Thugs are saying is… while tolerance may be a value in your culture, it is not a value in their culture.

Does relativism imply tolerance? A relativist has to accept the One-Eyed Thug’s culture and values… even if they do not align with the value of tolerance in the relativist’s culture. Ergo… universal tolerance is not consistent with moral relativism.

Complications with relativism

Self-Interest Theory Can we ever be truly altruistic? If we are all always selfish, does selfish even keep its definition?

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) The Leviathan (lev-eye-eth-en) Human nature and the need for a strong government to curb man’s inherently selfish nature.

Just as a sea monster lurks beneath the tranquil surface of the water, so does something also equally as dangerous and terrible lurk beneath the seemingly calm surface of makind’s civilization.

Hobbes’s The Leviathan The sea monster metaphor applies both to the individual and the society. Consider where we see the potential for human selfishness within individuals… Consider where we see the potential for human selfishness within societies…

Social Contracts If humans are be nature selfish, why have we not destroyed ourselves? Hobbes suggests that humans recognize that to reach our long-term goals, we must make short-term sacrifices. E.g. We will not rob our neighbor to attain immediate wealth because if this were acceptable behavior, we would continuously be afraid the neighbor would come steal our money. Therefore we enter a social contract.

The Evolutionary Argument Has the rise in capitalism and industrialization made us more selfish? And therefore further ethical constraints are necessary? To what extent can this be true if empathy and selfishness are considered to be equal in terms of biological inheritance?

Hidden Benefits Argument If we capitulate to the ethics of our society, are we rewarded? Is the reward enough to stimulate and mediate ethical behavior in a society?

Fear of Punishment Argument Is it merely the fear of punishment that keeps us in line and prevents “wrong” doing? Consider the changes in people’s actions when they know they can or cannot be caught.

How do we study ethics?

Where is the study of ethics applied?

Scope and applications What is the social function of ethics? How many different forms does it encompass (eg normative ethics, meta-ethics, descriptive ethics, etc.)? What are their separate aims? To what extent is ethics influenced by the society and culture in which it is pursued? How important is ethics?

Concepts and language How do we use language to express the knowledge found within ethics? To what extent does this differ according to different forms of ethics? Are there any central concepts for which we need specific language before approaching ethics?

Methodology Which ways of knowing do we use in order to connect with, and understand, ethics? Which ways of knowing do the ethical experts themselves use in order to study ethics and communicate their understanding of it?

Historical development How has our understanding and perception of ethics changed over time? How has the role of ethics within society developed? To what extent has the nature of ethics (for example, the different forms of human sciences) changed? What relationship does today’s ethics have with those of the past? (to paraphrase Newton, do they ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’?)

Links to personal knowledge To what extent are you involved with ethics? How is your perception of the world, and your position it in, affected by ethics?