1. What Would a Satisfactory Moral Theory Look Like?
PHIL 2525
Lec 22

2. Derek Parfit
Some people believe that there cannot be progress in Ethics, since everything has already been said... I believe the opposite..

3. 13.1 Morality without Hubris
Timothy Vermeulen 2002

4. “Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for
From Andrea del Sarto (The Faultless Painter) a long poem by Browning.

5. Carl Sagan

6. Carl Sagan’s Cosmic Time Charts Pre December Dates (approximate, of course)
January 1 Big Bang May 1 Origin of the Milky Way September 9 Origin of the Solar System September 14 Formation of the Earth September 25 Origin of life on Earth October 2 Formation of the oldest rocks known on Earth October 9 Date of oldest fossils (bacteria and blue-green algae November 1 Invention of sex (by micro-organisms) November 12 Oldest fossil photosynthetic plants November 15 Eukaryotes (first cells with nuclei) flourish
From The Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan
If the age of the earth from its origin to the present time is imagined as equivalent to a single day, then man appeared less than a minute before midnight at the day's end.
In the life of the earth we are a very new experiment
Only for the last 5000 years or so has man left written records.
Records which help us know those early people
Not always accurate picture
Accident of preservation
Not always most important
Archaeologists can’t know for certain
Function
Importance
Representativeness
Joke about it has religious or cult significance
It must be a cult object

7. December

8. “The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.” David Hume ( )

9. Charles Darwin

10. What does it mean to ‘imagine’ morality?
Steven Pinker’s list of inherited moral concerns:
Harm
Fairness
Community
Authority
Purity

11. What does it mean to ‘imagine’ morality?
Steven Pinker’s list of inherited moral concerns:
Harm
Fairness
Community
Authority
Purity

12. We are rational beings... We consider options We weigh consequences
We choose to behave one way rather than another
We can articulate the reasons for our choices

13. We are rational beings...
Consistency (not making an exception of yourself, or your group, or your gender, or your nationality…)
Impartiality (taking everyone’s interests into account…)

14. Ethical Egoism: prescriptive
Psychological Egoism: descriptive

15. Rachels says that psychological egoism is not true
Rachels says that psychological egoism is not true...we do not always act only for our own self interest.

16. P 175: Pleasing theoretical fit...
A) What reason requires: impartiality
B) What social living requires: the golden rule
C) Our natural inclination: concern for others
Suggests that morality is natural for us...

17. 13.2 Treating People as They Deserve...
Remember Kant’s ‘respect for persons’
If we don’t adjust our actions to reflect our judgments of others’ actions we may be denying their status as free agents...
But...

18. Bertrand Russell
If when a man writes a poem or commits a murder, the bodily movements involved in his act result solely from physical causes, it would seem absurd to put up a statue to him in the one case and to hang him in the other.

19. Challenges to the existence of free will
The challenge from Logic
The challenge from Theology
The challenge from Science

20. Daniel Dennett: Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting
Nature has played a devious trick on us.
Dennett’s book suggests we should grin and bear it.

21. If we treat others badly when they’ve treated us badly…
Are we just letting ourselves off easy?
or…
Are we respecting them as free agents?
Are we teaching them something?
and…
is that patronizing?

22. 13.3 Reasons to ignore impartiality
Our lives will go better if...we love our children, enjoy our friends, take pride in our work, keep our promises.....

23. 13.3 Reasons to ignore impartiality

24. 13.4 Multiple-Strategies Utilitarianism
Human welfare as a moral standard...
Keep your promises (but not always)
Refrain from hurting people (but not always)
Never tell a lie (except sometimes)
Never put yourself first (except sometimes)

25. 13.4 Multiple-Strategies Utilitarianism
Acting in accordance with your BEST PLAN...
Think about personalizing it:
Motives
Virtues
Decision-making strategies

26. The Moral Community
Everyone and everything that can suffer and prefers not to is part of our moral community. Near and far. Present and future.

27. Justice and Fairness
The Natural Lottery... Looks, brains, family status How fair is that?

28. Conclusion(s)

29. The Trolley Problem... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WB3Q5EF4Sg

30. Neuroethics and the Trolley Problem. http://www. youtube. com/watch
Neurobiology and social science study how humans develop moral awareness

31. Harvard’s Moral Sense Test

32. One Nurse’s Story... “Mercy...please just let me go.”
“Murderer!...God help patients who get you for a nurse!”

33. The Ethics of Erasing a Bad Memory
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

34. Marc Hauser on Moral Minds
Neuroethics and neuroanthropology

35. Barry Schwartz on Practical Wisdom
Jonathan Haidt o
Egg raffle in England
Free will Waking Life