BASIC
ETHICS
AGENDA
1. CONSEQUENTALISM VS UTILITARIANISM
2. HARM PRINCIPLE
3. DIFFERENCE PRINCIPLE
4. COMMUNITARIANISM
A. CONSEQUENCIALISM
UTILITARIAN PRINCIPLE:
GREATEST GOOD FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER
SO WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
1. IS IT OKAY TO CUT OPEN SOMEONE TO
GIVE THEIR ORGANS TO FIVE DYING
PEOPLE?
2. UTILITY MONSTER
3. REPUGNANT CONCLUSION
4. INTER-PERSONAL UTILITY
CALCULATIONS
1. CONSEQUENTALISM
VS UTILITARIANISM
2.HARM PRINCIPLE
3.DIFFERENCE
PRINCIPLE
4. COMMUNITARIANISM
B. KANTIANISM
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE (REPHRASED) :
YOU CAN NEVER TREAT SOMEONE MERELY AS A MEANS, THEY MUST ALWAYS
ALSO BE AN END IN THEMSELVES
IMPLICATIONS:
1. UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE
2. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
3. DETERMINISM
PROBLEM?
1. ONE INNOCENT > BILLION INNOCENTS
2. LYING TO THE NAZI OFFICER
1. CONSEQUENTALISM
VS UTILITARIANISM
2.HARM PRINCIPLE
3.DIFFERENCE
PRINCIPLE
4. COMMUNITARIANISM
USING UTILITARIANISM AND KANTIANISM
THBT DESECRATION OF RELIGIOUS
SITES IS A LEGITIMATE TACTIC OF
WAR
PROP (UTILITARIAN)
OPP (KANTIAN)
1.
1.
WAR IS DREADFUL, HENCE WE MUST TO
THERE ARE THINGS WE DON’T DO
EVERYTHING WE CAN TO MAKE THE WAR
EVEN IN WAR (E.G. HUMAN SHIELDS,
END FASTER
TORTURE, RAPE AS A WEAPON OF WAR)
2.
DESECRATION OF RELIGIOUS SITES IS
SUCH A THING (TARGETING NONCOMBATANTS)
1. CONSEQUENTALISM
VS UTILITARIANISM
2.HARM PRINCIPLE
3.DIFFERENCE
PRINCIPLE
4. COMMUNITARIANISM
USING UTILITARIANISM AND KANTIANISM
THBT THOSE WHO BUY NON-ESSENTIAL ITEMS
RATHER THAN DONATING TO CHARITY ARE
MORALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH’S OF
STARVING AFRICAN CHILDREN
PROP (UTILITARIAN)
OPP (KANTIAN)
1.
1.
If a child is drowning and you fail to help him
Causal chain – the situation with starving
– you are morally responsible for his death.
Africans is exactly the same as if you have
Death of starvation in Africa is no different.
never been involved, never been born. It is
implausible that there is some moral duty
relative to that individual with whom you
have never been involved.
1. CONSEQUENTALISM
VS UTILITARIANISM
2.HARM PRINCIPLE
3.DIFFERENCE
PRINCIPLE
4. COMMUNITARIANISM
C. NEOCLASSICAL SYNTHESIS OF RIGHTS & UTILITY
HARM PRINCIPLE :
The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of
a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others." J.S. Mill
MILL MAINTAINS THIS IS STILL OPTIMAL UNDER
UTILITARIANISM. WHY?
A) FREEDOM OF THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION IS THE
PATH TO TRUTH. TRUTH HELPS ACHIEVE OPTIMAL
OUTCOMES.
B) ONLY THE INDIVIDUALS THEMSELVES CAN DECIDE
WHAT MAKES THEM HAPPY AND THUS THROUGH
LIBERTY & NEGATIOATION ACHIEVE OPTIMAL
OUTCOMES.
1. CONSEQUENTALISM
VS UTILITARIANISM
2.HARM PRINCIPLE
3.DIFFERENCE
PRINCIPLE
4. COMMUNITARIANISM
USING THE HARM PRINCIPLE
THW BAN COSMETIC SURGERY
INTENDED TO ALTER RACIAL
FEATURES
PROP (HARM PRINCIPLE)
State has the right to intervene in two situations- when there’s a social and when
there’s an individual harm, autonomy has never been absolute. Individual choices
don’t just affect them alone, they affect social perceptions of every other member
of that race.
WOULD MILL AGREE?
1. CONSEQUENTALISM
VS UTILITARIANISM
2.HARM PRINCIPLE
3.DIFFERENCE
PRINCIPLE
4. COMMUNITARIANISM
D. RAWLS
VEIL OF IGNORANCE CONCLUSION:
WE SHOULD MAXIMIZE THE UTILITY OF THE WORST OFF INDIVIDUAL
RAWLS LOOKS FOR A SITUATION
EVERYONE COULD CONSENT TO
PROBLEM?
So what if there was a principle that gave a small
benefit to the least advantaged, but at a
HUGE cost to the middle class?
RESPONSE: GRAVE RISKS
1. CONSEQUENTALISM
VS UTILITARIANISM
2.HARM PRINCIPLE
3.DIFFERENCE
PRINCIPLE
4. COMMUNITARIANISM
USING THE DIFFERENCE PRINCIPLE
THBT MICRO-CREDIT INSTITUTIONS
OPERATING IN THE DEVELOPING
WORLD SHOULD ONLY GIVE LOANS
TO WOMEN
1. CONSEQUENTALISM
VS UTILITARIANISM
2.HARM PRINCIPLE
3.DIFFERENCE
PRINCIPLE
4. COMMUNITARIANISM
E. MACINTYRE
COMMUNITARIANISM:
HUMAN PHSYHOLOGY IS SHAPED BY CIRCUMSTANCES
BASIC IDEAS
1. INTERDEPENDENT UTILITY
2. NO ‘CREATIVE, PRE-SOCIETAL’
HUMAN BEING
3. OUR CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE US
IMPLICATIONS
1. A SOCIETY THAT MAKES PEOPLE
THAT ARE ‘GOOD’
2. HOWEVER, CONCEPTIONS OF ‘GOOD’
ARE BASED ON SOCIETAL CONTEXT
1. CONSEQUENTALISM
VS UTILITARIANISM
2.HARM PRINCIPLE
3.DIFFERENCE
PRINCIPLE
4. COMMUNITARIANISM
USING THE COMMUNITARIAN APPROACH
TH WELCOMES THE FALL OF
GLOBAL CAPITALISM
PROP (COMMUNITARIANISM)
Even if we were inherently selfish, it is better to live under a system that molds you into being
better and not worse. Some cultures in Southern Africa, for example, don't even have a
concept of individuality, hence it’s possible.
CAPITALISM MAKES US SELFISH, COMMUNISM MAKES US ALTRUISTIC.
1. CONSEQUENTALISM
VS UTILITARIANISM
2.HARM PRINCIPLE
3.DIFFERENCE
PRINCIPLE
4. COMMUNITARIANISM
RESOURCES
STANFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHILOSOPHY
http://plato.stanford.edu/