Introduction to Philosophy Lecture 15 Ethics #1 (Intro.) By David Kelsey

Ethics Ethics: the systematic investigation into the nature of morality. –Morality is the code of conduct or system of principles that a person or persons follow as guidelines for their actions. –The morality of a society… When we study morality we study it’s concepts. Some include: –Good & Bad –Right & wrong –Prescription & Prohibition –Permissibility & impermissibility

What morality isn’t? Some related concepts that we don’t study when we study Morality: Religion: –Religion: stories, supernatural beings –A guide to conduct vs. more than this… Etiquette: –a part of morality –applies to less ‘serious’ actions Law: –Rules, penalties and officials –morality and law overlap…

Non-moral and immoral The word ‘moral’: has 2 distinct meanings. Vs. Non-Moral: –non-moral: not having to do with morality Vs. Immoral: –Immoral: wrong In this class we will use moral in the sense that is opposed to non-moral.

Moral claims Moral claim (also called moral judgments): –non-factual claims that assert that some moral property such as Rightness is instantiated in some object or action or event. –A property: a way that something can be. –A moral property is any way that something can be morally. Examples: –Examples of moral claims:

Moral Arguments A moral argument is one which asserts as its conclusion a moral claim. –Abortion example…

Deriving Moral Value Judgments Inferring a value claim: We cannot derive or infer a value claim from merely factual claims. –Elliot’s father example: we might argue that Elliot’s father depends upon Elliot so Elliot ought to take care of his father. –The problem: we are deriving a value claim, that Elliot should take care of his father. Support from value: So if we are trying to infer a value claim, at least one of the supporting propositions must be a value claim. –So to justifiably infer that Elliot should take care of his father from Elliot’s father depends upon Elliot we need something that links the 2 claims –For example…

Critiquing moral reasoning What if we come across a moral argument we disagree with? –If you agree with the facts –yet you disagree with the conclusion –you must try to show the moral principle false. Showing a moral principle false: how do you show a moral principle false? –You simply find a counterexample to it… Abortion is unnatural example…

A note about Relativism Moral relativism: A very popular view in ethics is moral relativism. –This says: What is right or wrong depends upon and is determined by one’s group or culture. Confusion: often times, the following 2 claims are confused: –1. What is believed to be right and wrong may differ from group to group, society to society, or culture to culture. –2. What is right and wrong may differ from group to group, society to society, or culture to culture. Problems with MR: So what’s wrong with moral relativism? –True and False… –No correct answers… –Settling Disagreements.. –It is counterintuitive…

Ethics: it’s three areas The Discipline of Ethics can be divided into three sub-disciplines, which together comprise it wholly. They are: –Normative Ethics –Applied Ethics –Meta-ethics

Normative Ethics Normative Ethics: –This is second order ethics –Here we aim to find the answer to the question: “What ought I do?” –Here we also aim to construct general guidelines for the making of a moral judgment.

Applied Ethics Applied Ethics: –First order ethics –Here we look to specific cases in which we must determine what the right action or the permissible action is. –Here we make moral judgments.

Meta-ethics –Third order ethics –The study of the nature of moral judgments.

Normative ethics Normative Ethics: aims to provide a set of guidelines for making moral judgments. In this class we will look at three such sets of guidelines. They are: –Utilitarianism We will look at the theory of John Stuart Mill –Deontology We will look at Immanuel Kant’s theory –Virtue Theory We will look at the theory put forth by Aristotle