Ethical Issues Life Choices Summer C June 29 August 7 Key Black my own notes from the readings Blue lecture notes 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 Russ Shafer Landau 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 they don t therefore not objective truth only a human construct 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 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 Reasonable constraints that guide us when we think about how we live something by listening to others and educate improve our taste 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 RSL 3 areas of moral philosophy 1 Value theory what is the good life 2 Normative ethics Meaning of life good vs bad goals what ought we to do How we treat others animals environment 3 Metaethics what is morality Objective right vs wrong Just your opinion Bible as end all be all don t want to judge not good arguments Don t use the complexity of issues as an excuse to avoid them Most philosophers use MORALITY and ETHICS interchangeably RSL offers bad reasons that people give for ignoring ethical arguments 1 if an objective truth exists then all smart people would agree on it they 2 only universal morality if God exists God doesn t exist morality is only don t therefore not objective truth objection just because people disagree does not mean that there is no valid answer a human construct objection depends on if you believe in God or not don t need God to have morals many different religions arrive at the same conclusions different paths to same truth objection science admits that it can t explain everything science empirical facts ethics normative issues objection appeals to ethical standard is it so wrong to impose views on others 5 moral rules have exceptions no absolutes therefore we make them up anyways objection there are exceptions 3 science tells natural truths but says nothing is right or wrong 4 not okay to impose views on others no universal ethics is vs ought gap of moral ethics just because IS doesn t mean OUGHT opinions of others RSL even if ethics really is just a matter of opinion it still helps us to study Hard to tell when right easy to tell when an argument is wrong o Evidence can be wrong or contradictory o Conclusion may not flow from premises Starting points See above points 1 12 Morality vs Law Morality vs Etiquette Law can be morally wrong just vs unjust laws Sometimes we are morally right to violate societal politeness norms protests civil disobedience ex MLK Jr Sometimes we are obliged to do things not in our own best interest ex stealing cheating are self serving but morally wrong Practices of past may be immoral ex slavery sexism Morality vs norms customs of the time Morality vs Self interest Morality vs Tradition Moral reasoning premises support the conclusion argument Bad arguments o False beliefs o Rigorous Logical Validity truth of premises guarantees truth of conclusion even RLS s 3 part test of validity though the premises may be false 1 identify premises 2 imagine all premises are true 3 can the conclusion be false Yes invalid No valid Soundness argument is valid premises are true Wed 7 1 Fundamentals of Ethics 322 341 Russ Shafer Landau Ethical objectivism view that there are some objective moral standards Moral skepticism view that ethical objectivism is false no objective moral 11 arguments against moral objectivity applies to everyone truths rules goal to show that despite doubts about ethical objectivism none of the popular skeptical arguments are obviously correct 1 Objectivity requires absolutism o Because there are no moral absolutes morality is subjective o Nothing in the idea of objective morality requires that
View Full Document
Unlocking...