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The view that all men are selfish in everything that they do, that is, the only motive for which anyone ever acts is self-interest |
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| Normative view of how men ought to act. |
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| The Divine Command Theory |
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| God is the decider of whether an act is moral or immoral. |
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| Metaphysics Objective Reality |
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Reality exists as an objective absolute-facts are facts, independent of men’s feelings, wishes, hopes or fears |
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is man’s only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival |
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| Man is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, this pursuit of his own rational self-interest and his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life. |
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| A system where men deal with one another, as trades by free voluntary exchange for mutual benefit. |
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| Focuses on the consequences of an action, determines the moral value of that action in terms of whether the consequences are good or bad. “Ends justify the means” |
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Focus on the intention behind the action and determine the moral value of that action in terms of whether the intention is to follow one’s duty. |
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| Considers only the results or consequences of the single act |
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| considers the consequences that result of following a rule of conduct |
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| “pleasure-seeking” every decision that we make is seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. |
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1. Intensity: How intense is the pleasurable experience?
2. Duration: How long does the experience and the pleasure it brings last?
3. Purity: The chance it has of being followed by sensations of the same kind
4. Certainty: Is there a risk that the pleasure brought about from the experience might be less than expected?
5. Propinquity: Is the pleasure easily accessible or is it distant? |
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John Stewart Mill (1806-1873): Rule Utilitarian |
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-Knowledge and education are fundamental to Mill’s concept of the Greatest-Happiness principle
-Greatest-Happiness principle: That which is right, provides the greatest amount of good for the most people |
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Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832): Act Utilitarian |
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-Pain and pleasure points out what we should do and what we will do.
-The principal of utility recognizes that people’s standards of right and wrong are subjective
-What gives us the greatest pleasure gives us the greatest happiness
-What gives the greatest happiness for all involved is good. |
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| Action is morally right if the consequences are favorable to others, whether or not that includes the agent |
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| Action is morally right if the consequences are favorable to the most people, whether or not that includes agent |
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-to possess moral worth is more important than to possess any talent of the mind or body
-acting morally means to act for no other reason than to do what’s right
-focuses on the intentions (deontological)
-Individual reasoning > Universal Law > Duty
-Should (ex. suicide, lying, stealing etc.) be raised to a universal law? No. Then it's not okay to do
-Morality brings the freedom to act according to rational principles
-we lie when we say something we know is false |
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act as to treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end withal, never as a means only.
-Kant's view |
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-Story in which Gyges finds a ring after a cave splits open, this ring has the power to make the wearer invisible
-Gyges uses the ring to sneak into the palace, seduce the queen and kill the king
-Glaucon says given the ability all people would do the same as Gyges |
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-Socrates says that there are three classes Admins>Guardians>Craftsmen
-You have to do the same in society that you do in the soul, you must balance out parts
-Admins and Guardians can’t own any private property, even their child are raised communally. Therefore, they won’t rule in their self interest because they have no self interest.
-Only Craftsmen can own private property. |
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-Glaucon says “justice is a compromise between what I’d do to you if I could, but I don’t want you to do if you could”
-Distinction between right and wrong is arbitrary
-Believes that all people are self interested
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| State of Nature Theory (Thomas Hobbes) |
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A condition in which we live, in which there are no laws, no government, no police force, nothing to govern how we act towards each other. In a state of nature we are all equal, because we are all capable of killing each other. A ruthless state, everybody is looking out for their own survival. It’s a state of high anxiety. State of war, every man against every man.
-Therefore, we enter into a social contract with each other which means we agree to lay down our arms and give our individual power to one individual who will be the king. This person must maintain law and order.
-The good of society depends on the particular agreement or contract that each society has; there is no definite right or wrong. |
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| an approach to ethics which emphasizes the character of the moral agent, rather than rules or consequences, as the key element of ethical thinking |
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The belief that while there may be more than one right answer, there aren't unlimited answers
-Falls in between Objectivism and Relativism
-Error, Ignorance, Misjudgement, Wishful Thinking, Self-Deception and Confusion my give people wrong answers |
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the view that all beliefs, customs and ethics are relative to the individual within his own social context. ‘Right’ and ‘Wrong’ are culture-specific
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| any evaluations that I make with my own assumptions |
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| The Notion of Cultural Paradigm |
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Whatever culture we are a part of defines our culture for us
-Paradigm Change example: Industrial Revolution, Technological Revolution |
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| The point of view that one’s own culture is the measurement for other cultures. |
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| the position that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect objective and/or universal moral truths, but instead make claims relative to social, cultural, historical or person circumstances. |
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| The stoics hold that emotions like fear or envy either were, or arose from, false judgments and that the sage-the person who attained moral and intellectual perfection-would not undergo them. |
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