Part A Terms 02 10 2015 1 Act Utilitarianism pg 7 Utilitarianism an idea that human welfare or happiness that alone is intrinsically valuable and that the wrongness or rightness of actions depends on the affect of others happiness taking into account long and short term effects of the action Moral status rightness or wrongness of an action depends on how much happiness and or unhappiness produced overall net value of utility sometimes it is only negative and must choose less negative unhappy option An action is right if and only if and because it would if performed likely produce at least as high a utility net overall balance of welfare as would any other alternative action one might perform instead A form of consequentialism No absolute moral rules other then AU only consequences matter we are to make the world as good as we can make it everyone matters equally Utilitarianism One version of consequentialism Maximizing happiness and welfare the rightness or wrongness of actions depends entirely on how they affect welfare or happiness Hedonistic Utilitarianism Bentham Mill is the conjunction of the following theses Consequentialism an action is right just in case it has the best consequences Hedonism pleasure is the only thing that is valuable Universalism the consequences for every being at every time are relevant 2 Rule Consequentialism pg 6 7 9 10 Consequentialism is a moral theory in which consequences of actions are all that matter in determining rightness and wrongness of actions Value based moral theory as it defines right action in terms of intrinsic value and in terms of a comparative theory in that the consequences would be at least as good as other alternative choices for the action to be right maximizing conception Takes into account everyone who could be affected impartialist Rule of Consequentialism view that the moral status of an action depends on whether it is required permitted or prohibited by a rule whose consequences are best Involves two levels 1 rules that require permit or prohibit various actions are evaluated based on consequences and 2 particular actions are evaluated by determining whether it is required permitted by a rule of which consequences are the best acceptance value CONSEQUENTIALISM An action is right if and only if and because its consequences would be at least as good as the consequences of any alternative action that the agent might instead perform We can determine rightness or wrongness of doing something by looking at the consequences caused by that action This means that no type of action is inherently wrong not even murder Results based ethical theory value based alternative actions comparative maximizing impartial Rule Consequentialism An action is right iff it is in accord with that set of rules the near universal acceptance of which would make things go best Act consequentialism and rule consequentialism might give us different results in the same situation Examples making a promise to someone riot example 3 One of Kant s formulations of principle of morality pg 16 20 Kant says that right actions are those that are done on principles that could be acted on by everyone and that the agent would be willing to have everyone act on Formula of Humanity act in such a way that you treat humanity whether in your own person or in the person of any other never merely as a means to an end but always at the same time as an end treat people and yourself in a certain way If Kantian deontology you would not push the man off the bridge to save the five people going to be hit by the train using the man as a means to an end cannot merely treat people as means to an end respect their worth Formula of Universal Law act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradiction would you want to follow this law rule would you want other people to follow this rule o shows us how a rule would fail the first test that you derive a logical contradiction several things may pass the first test but not the second Kantian Moral Theory Kant suggests the following principle of morality what he calls the Categorical Imperative He supplies various formulations Here are two Formula of Humanity Act in such a way that you treat humanity whether in your own person or in the person of any other never merely as a means to an end but always at the same time as an end Formula of Universal Law Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradiction 4 Ross s Ethical Theory Ethics of Prima Facie Duty According to Ross no such principle can be made that is a general rule for how to act in every case just a series of duties and rules we should follow There is a moral reason in favor of doing such an act outweighed by other duties fidelity justice reparation gratitude non maleficence beneficence These duties do not reduce to any others When the duties clash we must use our common sense to decide which one takes precedence ex Law decided fate of Mary and Jodie conjoined daughters don t do anything and both twins die intervene and save one ex Promise Accident promise to a friend or break promise and save a life there is an accident on the way to a friend Keep promise guy dies Break promise save life Utilitarian would save life Prima Facie Duty would look take both actions into account 5 Normative Relativism says that the moral rightness and wrongness of actions varies from society to society and that there are no absolute universal moral standards binding on all men at all times 6 Virtue Theory pg 25 Virtue is a trait of character or mind positive evaluation of persons ex honesty or loyalty and a vice would be a negative evaluation of a person Virtue theorists understand what is right in terms of the virtuous Roughly speaking virtue theorists accept the following claim An action is wrong iff and because it would not be performed by a virtuous agent A virtuous agent is one who has virtues Virtues are character traits that we should have such as Courage Kindness Virtues contrast with vices such as Cowardice Cruelness Greed Dishonesty Temperance Honesty Justice Injustice 7 Normative Ethics Normative Ethics examines standards for the rightness and wrongness of actions and how one should act Descriptive attitudes of individuals or groups of people Prescriptive normative Normative Ethics The branch of ethics concerned with giving a general account
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