Ethical Issues Life Choices Summer C June 29 August 7 Mon 6 29 Tues 6 30 Syllabus Office hours 1 2 MW Essays 2 hard copy and turn it in 1500 words Exam August 7th Fundamentals of Ethics 1 16 Questions about how we ought to live experts can never answer Ethics aka Moral philosophy answering questions about guiding ideals CORE areas of MORAL PHILOSOPHY sort of life worth living treating one another 1 Value theory o What is valuable in its own right nature of well being o What is the good life Worth pursuing for own sake How to improve our lot in life 2 Normative ethics o Moral relations to each other who counts Is there a fundamental moral rule ie golden rule Ever allowed to break moral rules justify means o Fundamental moral duties Virtue vice Role models Ends always 3 Metaethics o Asks questions about status of ethical claims of value theory and normative ethics o Are some ethical moral principles universally true Can we gain moral wisdom Always a good reason to do moral duty Basis for morality God personal taste social customs Serious mistake to simply assume that morality is totally relative to the individual society that individual opinion is the ultimate measure of right vs wrong Skepticism of morality the author opposes these views 1 if an objective truth exists then all smart people would agree on it 2 only universal morality if God exists God doesn t exist morality is 3 science tells natural truths but says nothing is right or wrong they don t therefore not objective truth only a human construct 4 not okay to impose views on others no universal ethics 5 moral rules have exceptions no absolutes therefore we make them up anyways no universal objective standards for taste of art we can still learn something by listening to others and educate improve our taste Reasonable constraints that guide us when we think about how we live 1 Moral criticism even of law and tradition 2 Everyone is morally fallible 3 Friendship is valuable 4 We are not obligated to do the impossible respect our limitations 5 Children bear less moral responsibility than adults 6 Justice is good 7 Must justify hurting others 8 Treat equal people equally 9 Morality is bigger than self interest 10 11 12 Agony is bad Just because someone is powerful doesn t justify anything they Free and informed consent rights not violated if hurt do These are up for criticism interpretation needed good starting point No precise definition of morality Compare morality to law etiquette tradition self interest Legal but immoral illegal but not immoral Conventional morality traditional principles widely shared within a culture or CRITICAL MORALITY o Origin not in social agreements o Untainted my mistaken beliefs o Standard for determining when conventional morality is right or wrong Moral reasoning need supporting reasons premises and conclusion society argument o Avoid false beliefs o Rigorous and error free logic different shaped heads correlated with intelligence and are lazy Colfax and Grayson quotes defend slavery by false beliefs blacks have Logic how well premises support conclusion Logical validity Assume premises are true therefore is conclusion true SOUND arguments premises are true logically valid Bad arguments can good conclusions Moral agents in control of own behavior via moral reasoning Wed Fundamentals of Ethics 322 341 Ethical Life 192 205 Plato Ethical Life 57 65 7 1 Thurs 7 2 Friday 7 3 Mon 7 6 Tues 7 7 Wed 7 8 Thurs 7 9 Fri 7 10 Mon 7 13 Tues 7 14 Wed 7 15 Thurs 7 16 Fri 7 17 Mon 7 20 Tues 7 21 Wed 7 22 Thurs 7 23 Fri 7 24 Mon 7 27 Tues 7 28 Wed 7 29 Thurs 7 30 Fri Paper 1 Due Paper 2 Due 7 31 Mon 8 3 Tues 8 4 Wed 8 5 Thurs 8 6 Fri 8 7 EXAM
View Full Document
Unlocking...