1. The
Moral Hand
Stijn Bruers
Ghent University

2. Ethics and meta-ethics
Ethics: which acts are good?
Formulate ethical principles
Ethical system
Meta-ethics: which ethical principles and systems are good?
Meta-ethical guidelines

3. Overview The meta-ethical hand: which ethical systems are good?
5 guidelines to construct a coherent ethical system
5 principles of anti-arbitrariness (uniformity)
The moral (ethical) hand: which acts are good?
5 basic principles of a coherent ethical system
5 principles of anti-dicrimination (equality)

4. The meta-ethical hand: scientific theories
A good scientific theory has
Universal laws (no arbitrary exceptions)
Best fit most reliable experimental data
Mutual consistency and completeness
Clarity (no ambiguity)
Parsimony, simplicity
Science versus pseudo-science

5. The meta-ethical hand: metaphor of the crossword puzzle
Given description (yellow box) = moral intuition or value
White box = particular situation
Letter = final moral judgment about acts (all things considered)
Word = ethical principle
2) Correspondence with basic information
3) Consistency and completeness
4) Clarity (no ambiguity)
5) Parsimony
1) The same word

6. The meta-ethical hand The thumb: uniformity
Not: “Who or what gets all rights?”
But: “Which rights should we give to everything and everyone?”
The forefinger: compatibility and agreement with basic information (moral intuitions)
The middle finger: completeness and internal consistency
We can eat someone (e.g. a pig)
We cannot eat someone else (e.g. a dog or mentally disabled human)
We cannot discriminate
The ring finger: clarity
The little finger: parsimony

7. The meta-ethical hand: moral illusions
Moral illusion = obstinate moral intuition that is inconsistent with a coherent system of mutually supporting judgments and ethical principles A B
Three intuitions (spontaneous judgments)
1: A<B
2: length of measure stick remains constant -> A=B
3: erase arrowheads -> A=B

8. The meta-ethical hand: moral illusions

9. The meta-ethical hand: moral illusions
Moral value of black person
Moral value of white person
(Morally) irrelevant properties (e.g. skin color)

10. The meta-ethical hand: moral illusions
Intuition 1: racism (white > black)
Intuition 2: translation method (empathy)
Intuition 3: deletion method (erasing irrelevant properties)
1 versus ?
-> Racism is a moral illusion
-> Speciesism?

11. kingdom (animals)
phylum (chordates and vertebrates)
class (mammals)
infraclass (eutheria)
order (primates)
suborder (dry-nosed primates)
infraorder (simians)
superfamily (Hominoidea)
family (great apes)
genus (Homo)
species (Homo sapiens)
subspecies (Homo sapiens sapiens)
ethnic group (whites)

12. Common vertebrate ancestor
Australopithecus
Our common ancestor
Your grandfather
Your mother
You
Chicken

13. Ring species
All species are connected through time like populations of a ring species are spatially connected.
Is the accidental death of intermediates morally relevant?

14. The five meta-ethical fingers
Uniformity
Correspondence with basic information
Concistency and completeness
Anti arbitrariness
Clarity
Parsimony

15. We should all construct our own coherent ethical system using the meta-ethical hand
When coherent systems are different: take a “democratic average”
Incoherent systems are not allowed in this democratic procedure

16. The moral hand

17. The thumb: rule universalism
You must follow the rules that everyone (who is capable, rational and informed) must follow in all morally similar situations. You may follow only the rules that everyone (who is capable, rational and informed) may follow in all morally similar situations. We should give the good example, even if others don’t. What counts as similar situations?

19. Rule 1: eat nothing
Rule 2: eat kid
Rule 3: eat pig
Rule 4: eat carrot

20. Lifetime well-being=
The value you would ascribe when you would live and experience the complete life of someone
How much you prefer to live this life
A function of all positive feelings that are the result of the satisfaction of preferences, of everything wanted by the individual (subtracted by negative feelings of dissatisfaction)

21. Distribution of lifetime well-being? Situation 1 (choose rule 1):
person A: 100% (maximum well-being)
person B: 10% (barely worth living)
Situation 2 (choose rule 2):
person A: 50%
person B: 50%
Situation 3 (choose rule 3):
person A: 11%
person B: 11%
2 > 1 > 3

22. Trade-off between equality and efficiency

23. The forefinger: justice and the value of lifetime well-being
Increase the lifetime well-being of everyone (all beings alive in the present and the future), whereby improvements of the worst-off positions (the worst sufferers, the beings who have the worst lives) have a strong (but not absolute) priority.

24. Trolley dilemma 1

25. Trolley dilemma 2

26. The middle finger: the mere means principle and the basic right to bodily autonomy.
Never use someone’s body as merely a means to someone else’s ends, because that violates the right to bodily autonomy.
The two words “mere means” refer to two conditions:
if in order to reach an end you force someone to do or undergo something that the being does not want, and
if the body of that individual is necessary as a means for that end,
then you are not allowed to treat that being in that way.

27. Right to bodily autonomy
Do not use someone’s body against their will
You own your body. No-one else can claim your body against your will
Equally applies to everyone and everything (no arbitrary exceptions)
A strong right, but not absolute (what if a million would die if…?)

28. Transplantation dilemma
DEAD

29. Predation dilemma
DEAD
DEAD

30. Biodiversity =
The value of an ecosystem
The diversity of life forms that are the direct result of natural evolution
Cfr. lifetime well-being as the value of a sentient being: the collection of positive feelings that are the result of preference satisfaction
Naturalness=
Behavior that is the direct consequence of natural evolution, and contributes to biodiversity
Cfr. consciousness of a sentient being

31. Natural: a direct consequence of spontaneous evolution
Normal: frequent
Necessary: important for the survival of sentient beings
3-N conditions
A normal, necessary and natural behavior is related to biodiversity just as an intense, positive and conscious experience is related to well-being.
The valuable biodiversity would drastically decrease if a behavior that is natural, normal and necessary would be universally prohibited

32. The ring finger: naturalness and the value of biodiversity.
If a behavior is natural, normal and necessary, it is permissible (even if it violates rights and well-being), because a lot of biodiversity depends on that behavior
Everyone is equally allowed to do natural, normal and necessary behavior
Permissible:
Predation
Moving (killing insects)
Procreation

33. Burning house dilemma

34. The little finger: tolerated partiality and the value of personal relationship
When helping others, you are allowed to be a bit partial in favor of your loved ones (with whom you have a personal relation), as long as you are prepared to tolerate similar levels of partiality of everyone else.

35. The five moral fingers Anti discrimination (equality)
Rule universalism
Justice and well-being
(priority for the worst-off)
Mere means principle
(right to bodily autonomy)
Anti discrimination
(equality)
Biodiversity
(natural, normal and necessary)
Tolerated partiality
(personal relations)

36. Principles of equality
The thumb: the formal principle of impartiality. We should treat all equals equally in all equal situations. We should not look at arbitrary characteristics linked to individuals.
This is a formal principle, because it does not say how we should treat someone.

37. Principles of equality
The forefinger: prioritarian equality of lifetime well-being (the principle of priority for the worst-off). If total lifetime well-being is the same in situations A and B, then the situation which has the most equal distribution of well-being is the best.

38. Principles of equality
The middle finger: basic right equality. All beings get an equal claim to the basic right not to be used as merely a means to someone else’s ends.

39. Principles of equality
The ring finger: naturalistic behavioral fairness. All beings have an equal right to a behavior that is both natural, normal and necessary (i.e. a behavior that contributes to biodiversity).
E.g. if the zebra is allowed to eat in order to survive, a lion is allowed to do so as well (even if it means eating the zebra).

40. Principles of equality
The little finger: tolerated choice equality. If you choose to help individual X instead of individual Y, and if you tolerate that someone else chooses to help Y instead of X, then X and Y have a tolerated choice equality (even if X is emotionally more important for you than Y).

41. Application to animal rights and veganism
The forefinger
Compare loss of lifetime well-being
Livestock animals and captured fish
Humans who are no longer allowed to eat animal products
Livestock animals and captured fish are worse-off than vegan humans.

42. Application to animal rights and veganism
The middle finger:
Animals for consumption:
Their bodies are used for meat, eggs, milk, leather,…
They are forced to do or undergo things against their will.
Violates the mere means principle.

43. Application to animal rights and veganism
The ring finger
Well-planned vegan diets are not unhealthy (according to the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics)
Vegan farming is possible
Animal products are not necessary for humans
Biodiversity will not decrease when we would stop consuming animal products
The value of biodiversity cannot be invoked to justify the consumption of animal products

44. Application to animal rights and veganism
The little finger:
We would never tolerate the degree of partiality that is required to justify livestock farming and fishing.
Tolerated partiality cannot be invoked to justify the consumption of animal products.

45. Application to animal rights and veganism
The thumb
Veganism is a good moral rule
give the good example, even when other people continue consuming animal products.

46. Questions?