1. Issues in Ethics-1 Descriptive morality Normative ethics
which moral principles are defensible
which actions are genuinely good or bad

2. Issues in Ethics-2 Relationship to religion Divine command theory
Plato's Euthyphro
Evaluating ethical issues
actions
motives
consequences
character

3. Why Be Moral?-1 Glaucon's question again
Why does society need morality?
Why should I be moral?
Hobbes
Morality and law protect society
Motivation for individual?

4. Why Be Moral?-2 Religious answers Because God commands it
Out of love for God
Plato: self-interest in keeping spiritual health
“Because it's right”

5. Theories of Ethics-1 Ethical relativism Subjective ethical relativism
Conventional ethical relativism
Ethical objectivism
Ethical egoism

6. Theories of Ethics-2 Utilitarianism Kantian ethics Virtue ethics
Feminist ethics

7. Ethical Relativism Action relativism Moral principles relativism
Subjectivism: right or wrong is only individual opinion
Sophists
Jean-Paul Sartre

8. Conventionalism Defined: Morality is relative to each society
Herodotus
Ruth Benedict: Anthropology and the Abnormal
John Ladd
Diversity thesis
Dependency thesis

9. Ethical Objectivism
Defined: Certain moral principles are universal and objective
Absolutism: principles can never be overridden
Problems with relativism
Is there a core morality?

10. Ethical Egoism
Defined: people should always do what is in their self-interest
Psychological egoism
Altruism
Types of ethical egoism
personal
individual
universal

11. Arguments for Universal Ethical Egoism-1
Selfishness versus self-interest
Argument 1: Psychological egoism
Bishop Butler
Argument 2: Egoism leads to the best society
Adam Smith

12. Arguments for Universal Ethical Egoism-2
Argument 3: Egoism Is the ultimate ethical principle
Ayn Rand's Objectivism
The Virtue of Selfishness
Egoism and the conflict of interests

13. Utilitarianism
Defined: the right action is that which produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number
Consequentialism, or teleological ethics
morality of an act depends on the desirability of its consequences
utilitarianism is most common form

14. Bentham’s Utilitarianism
Psychological hedonism
Ethical hedonism
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
A calculus of pleasures and pain

15. Mill’s Utilitarianism
Qualitative and quantitative hedonism
Pleasures can differ in quality and amount
Utilitarianism is a form of objectivism, not relativism

16. The Consequences of Consequentialism
Norcross: Comparing Harms: Headaches and Human Lives
“Lives for convenience”
Act-utilitarianism
An action is right if its result is more happiness than any other alternative
Rule-utilitarianism
An action is right if it is required by a rule that would result in more happiness

17. Themes of Kantian Ethics
Irrelevance of consequences in determining moral rightness
Importance of consistency
Irreducible dignity and worth of every person
Necessity of having moral absolutes

18. Kantian Ethics Deontological ethics nonconsequentalist
judgment of moral rightness based on the intrinsic moral value of the act itself
Good will
motivating force in all morality

19. Two Imperatives Hypothetical imperative
what means to use to achieve an end
Categorical imperative
not dependent on prior conditions or subjective desires
has no qualifications
universalizable
reversible

20. Absolute Duties Prima facie duty
morally binding unless in conflict with more important duty
fidelity, reparation, gratitude, justice, beneficence, self-improvement, nonmaleficence
Actual duty
duty obligated to perform after circumstances are considered

21. Virtue Ethics Arete Virtue The problems with the utilitarian view
The problems with the Kantian view

22. The Positive Case for Virtue Ethics-1
1. Virtues are necessary conditions for human flourishing and well-being
2. Moral rules are inadequate unless they are grounded in a virtue-based ethics
3. Judgments about character are more fundamental than judgments about the rightness or wrongness of conduct

23. The Positive Case for Virtue Ethics-2
4. Virtue ethics is more comprehensive, because it deals with the whole person and not simply the person in so far as he or she performs an action
5. The key to morality is found in the character of moral role models

24. Aristotle Eudaimonia Nicomachean Ethics Intellectual and moral virtues
Doctrine of the mean

25. The Virtues in Confucian Thought
Doctrine of the mean
Analects
Characteristics of the superior person

26. Feminist Ethics-1 Care-focused Gilligan’s In a Different Voice
Ethics of justice
Ethics of care
Maternal, care-focused ethics (Held, Ruddick)

27. Feminist Ethics-2
Power-focused
Friedman’s Liberating Care