1. Ethic and Morals
Deciding what is right?

2. Metaphysics Rationalists: Empiricists: Objective Reality
Knowledge is finding all properties of an object (Plato’s forms)
One reality, we need to find it
We are born with the ability to reason
Empiricists:
Subjective reality- senses tell us
Knowledge is sensing/experiences
Multiple reality, we need an impression it
We are born a “blank Slate”

3. Moral Reasoning Making ethical decisions Competing forces
Doing what is right for the right reasons
Competing forces
Individual– Moral Compass
Moral values: most important
What you think is good and what cost to you
More reaon: Evidence? Justification?
Society- Social Contract
Moral sentiment: Common views or opinions
Rules to live in a given society
More emotional: Acceptance? Comfort?

4. Moral Values Leaned moral values Means vs. Ends
What do you do when no one is watching?
What would you do if there were NO consequences?
Leaned moral values
When do you stop and change
Seek justification over approval
Means vs. Ends
We want to be “good” (own sake)
Good as an Ends (not to get something)
Foundation of Moral Compass
Makes our character

5. Morals and Critical Thinking Nothing New
Emotional intelligence
Become aware of our values
Empathy
Know and respect other people’s options/values
Open minded to other morals
Always question other options
Best solution at the time?
Flexible to change?
Goal: Avoid moral tragedy
Let influences trump moral compass
Act against what we know is right
Regret our decisions

6. Individual Ethic and Morals
Steps to our Moral Compass

7. Moral Development- Preconventional
Morality is based off of you, what you were taught or learned from others Disregard OTHER different morality than your own
Morals are based on means to individual goals
Morality is based on feeling good (emotion)
Morals driven to avoid punishment and personal gain
Self centered
Usually moral compass has little or no outside justification
Based totally on moral values and not sentiment
Egotistical
What I think is right is right ME
You

8. Moral Development- Conventional
Expect others moral code, but don’t defend your moral code. A need to fit in trumps maorallity.
Please others whom you deem important
Morality is based on fitting in and feeling comfort (emotion)
Maintain good relationships at all costs
Peer Pressure, family and friends
Others’ needs are more important
Maintain social norms
May lead to moral tragedy
My reputation drives my moral compass
Based totally on moral sentiment and not moral values
You ME

9. Moral Development-Postconventional
Moral reasoning and social conventions must be justified with moral compass. Not one size fits all.
Use moral compass and question the outcome of each ethical situation AND the process by which you find a solution
Moral sentiment and moral values are well balanced
Allow reason to balance emotion.
Me and You

10. Four Results of a good moral compass
See that everyone's basic rights need to be safeguarded (freedom)
What are these basic right?
Social contract must be fair to all (laws)
Need to change and be flexible to suit most (majority)
Recognize the need to balance individual needs and societal needs
When do we sacrifice individual needs (freedoms) for the good of society (laws)?
Need to reason through ethical dilemmas

11. History of Ethic
Big Division

12. Metaphysics- reality Socrates: Rationalists: Empiricists: Rousseau:
Discovering objective truth. Properties of objects created by gods.
Rationalists:
Knowledge come from absolute objective truth
Empiricists:
Knowledge comes from differing subjective experience.
Rousseau:
Knowledge comes from society agreement of beliefs
Kant:
Two worlds objective (we can’t know) and subjective (our perspective)
Knowledge comes from understanding connection

13. Big Camps Relativism: (subjective right)
create morality in context of our surrounding; furthermore, different groups of people ought have different moral standards for evaluating acts of right and wrong.
Universalism: (objective right)
morality is give to us and we need to live up to those rights and responsibilities. Groups of people need to live up to the moral code decided on by an outside entity (natural science, God, judge)

14. -Socratic (Plato, Aristotle)
Socrates, 400 BC, ethic becomes education, and teaching
Reason becomes virtue
Virtue becomes truth and morality
No person wants to be bad
just lack of knowledge on how to be good
Thus morality becomes an objective, universal truth and each person must discover by being taught ethics

15. -Christianity Christian Rule, 65 AD God rules are the 10 commandments
Virtue becomes following these rules
Bible gives you in guidance how to live in the natural world
Jesus is the Human God
We will be judged by how well we lived up to God’s laws on the “day of reckoning”
Be rewarded by entry into heaven

16. -Descartes Descartes, 1500s
Man is not a servant of God, but should act in a Godly way.
Virtue becomes a decided action
Even if the outcome is bad, the process by which you get there is good and virtuous
God is the ultimate virtue, not demanded by his law but discovered by man
Man has freewill, must decide to be good
Virtue becomes acting on our best judgment and the right use of free will.

17. Rousseau, 1700
People are born with compassion and naturally will continue to have it, but it is suppressed
People are taught injustice and tyranny from others
This forces people away from their true nature of freedom, justice and self contentment.
As we grow (smarter) we build our conscience and we learn by ourselves to respect social justice over all else.
Not by the teaching of others, but by self realization
General Will:
When we learn to form morality on the rules that are “general in application and universal in scope.”

18. Rousseau "man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains," – Social Contract
We are born with moral instincts (the self), but this lacks moral reasoning (good of all).
We deceive ourselves about how moral we are because we start to believe our morality is the overall good.
As we grow and learn we build our, Amore Propre, or proper love, (balanced self-love vs. love of justice for all).
Justice becomes equal to being moral. Justice when you compare yourself to the rest of society
“the right of the strongest” is not justice need to try to balance between the individual and civil authorities.

19. Kant’s Categorical Imperative Universal Duty
“Always act in such a way that the maxim of your action can be willed as a universal law of humanity.”
--Immanuel Kant
Through reason we come up with maxims, or our rules

20. - Kant Categorical Imperative
You have a personal duty to be good. There is one right. You are commanded to do this.
Three Qualities
Universality:
Can I rationally will that everyone act as I propose to act?
Overall good:
Does my action respect the goals of all human beings rather than merely using them for my own purposes?
Treat morality as an ENDS:
Do it for the good of itself and results don’t matter

21. Kant’s Virtue
Morality must be based on the categorical imperative because morality is such that you are commanded by it, and is such that you cannot opt out of it or claim that it does not apply to you.
You create the maxims (rules)
They cannot be changed just to suite your greed or needs as a means to an end.
Cannot be used to be rewarded
Cannot be used to manipulate results

22. Social Contract Ethics

23. Subjectivism Personal opinion or feeling dictates moral code
What feels right is right.
Problems (Emotion is key)
May exploits to suit own needs
Insanity conclusions
Hurt others if it FEELS right
Rape people
Kill babies

24. Culturalism
Public opinion and societal norms develop own personal moral code.
Socially approved customs and rules
Problems (acceptance is key)
Peer pressure
Do what the group says
Slavery
Hate crimes
Nazism

25. Utilitarianism The best consequences for all
Group happiness is the goal
Greatest amount of happiness and the least pain for the greatest number
Utilitarian calculus: determines course of action by giving the factors to the action.
Problems:
Only looks at
consequences
Group Happiness
is all that matters

26. Deontology Duty based Ethics Problems Obligated moral code
no matter what the consequences
We have duties to do right
“The Path” becomes important
Problems
Absolutes: lying is always wrong?
Two maxims oppose each other
Lying is always wrong and hurting someone's feelings is always wrong?

27. Libertarianism- Rights Based
Every individual possess inalienable (cannot be divorced) rights
Moral rights, not legal
For example a right to eat, may mean steal
We respect all these rights in all people
Limited government– manage conflict
Free Speech vs. Inflict harm
Stealing to feed children

28. Libertarianism- foundation of our Constitution
A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government…
- Thomas Jefferson

29. Moral Argument Moral arguments have two premise:
Prescriptive (moral) premise: What ought to be the case
Descriptive (factual) premise: What is the case
A conclusion: Either prescriptive and descriptive are same or different
To be moral, I ought to be kind to everyone
I am not kind to everyone
Therefore, I am not moral.