Descriptive Morality is the study the description and explanation of morality as it Morality Normative Morality is a description of how we ought to behave regardless of how we do actually exist behave Perspective Morality o We might be committed Utilitarians o We believe that what is good is what causes the most overall happiness o This is not the explicit moral code most people have so our Utilitarianism would be a prescriptive morality o Regardless of how people actually behave we think Utilitarianism is correct Kohlberg three levels of moral thought o Level 1 Pre conventional In this level the moral agent begins by reasoning about punishment and obedience Eating human flesh is bad because people would punish you The moral agent then focuses on self interest Eating human flesh is bad because people won t like you and not being liked sucks o Level 2 Conventional In this level the moral agent begins by focusing on conformity Eating human flesh is bad because everyone thinks it is bad The moral agent then focuses on law and order Eating human flesh is bad because it is illegal o Level 3 Post conventional In this level the moral agent begins by focusing on human rights Eating flesh is wrong because it is a human right not to be eaten after death Last the moral agent develops a universal human ethic Eating human flesh is all right if the family of the deceased agrees because we should respect the wishes of the deceased person s family so long as they do not hurt others Kohlberg created and tested this theory by conducting interviews o Was interested in the reasoning displayed by his subjects not their answers o Kohlberg emphasized moral reasoning Morality is about thinking about problems and deciding rationally the best Haidt Moral dumbfounding course of action o Haidt had subjects read a scenario and answer if right or wrong many subjects said it was wrong and then they were pressed to provide reasons The scenario read by subjects Julie and Mark are brother and sister They are travelling together in France on Summer vacation One night they are staying alone in a cabin near the beach They decided it would be interesting and fun if they tried making love At the very least it would be a new experience Julie was already taking birth control pills but Mark uses a condom too just to be safe They both enjoy making love but they decide never to do it again They keep that night as a special secret which makes them both feel closer to each other Subjects responses to why it is wrong Well they might have a deformed baby But remember that the scenario clearly states that they used birth control They might injure their relationship But remember that the scenario said they became closer Well I don t know It is just wrong According to Haidt most of our moral beliefs are driven by underlying intuitions Intuitions are quick visceral responses to something in the world After we have an intuition we attempt to justify it with strategic reasoning Haidt s Five Moral Foundation o Harm Care This evolved to make us care for offspring parental investment Expanded beyond parental investment and includes carrying for innocent others o Fairness We naturally find harming innocent beings disgusting This evolved to help us interact with social partners Prevents us from getting fleeced and motivates us to behave fairly We naturally find getting fleeced revolting We are also horrified when others get fleeced o Authority This evolved in the context of hierarchical groups It compels us to respect authority and to demand that others respect authority We naturally defer to authority figures say Obama and we find it repulsive when other people don t This evolved to protect us from dangerous pathogens It compels us to prefer cleanliness and to moralize things that are potentially dirty and diseased We naturally find many unclean things immoral incest promiscuous sex o Purity rotten food et cetera o Loyalty This evolved to foster a sense of community among individuals It compels us to feel a bond with our community and to moralize group commitments We are disgusted by acts of betrayal and by disloyalty Expanding Circle about o According to Singer we appear to have a natural circle of empathy Those inside the circle are treated as moral beings that we should care Those outside the circle are treated indifferently at best o Singer argues that this circle has been expanding Hunter gatherer groups often hostile to outgroup members Early ethnic groups hostile to other ethnic groups Early religious groups hostile to other religious groups Early countries hostile to other countries o We have expanded this circle Many have concern for people in far away countries o Singer argues that this moral circle is growing to encompass animals We don t treat animals like objects many of us have moral concern for Utilitarianism in Brief them John Stuart Mill o Utilitarianism is a moral system that was propounded by Jeremy Bentham and o Very minimal moral system concerned only with consequences o The best most moral behavior in any situation is the behavior that most increases or less decreases the average happiness of all people o Example Let s apply Utilitarianism to the incest example from before The story said that no one gets hurt and that both participants enjoyed it From a Utilitarian standpoint it would be hard to condemn the action as immoral because the action increased the average happiness of people The trolley problem and how it relates to utilitarianism o What would you do A runaway train is hurtling down the tracks toward five people Ahead there is a split on the track If you pull a switch it will divert from its present course and go down the other track There is one person on the other track He or she will die So your choice is a you let the train stay on its present course where it will kill five people or b you pull the switch and divert the train down another path where it will kill one person A runaway train is hurtling down the tracks toward five people You are on an overhead bridge looking down You can not stop the train However next to you there is a man with a very large and heavy backpack If you throw him onto the tracks he will stop the train He will die but you will save five people Should you throw him off the bridge Although both scenarios have the exact same consequences one person dies five people live most subjects thought that pushing the man was wrong whereas many thought that pushing the switch was
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