History of Ethics Dr Meredith Doig President Rationalist
- Slides: 13
History of Ethics Dr Meredith Doig President Rationalist Society of Australia Inc.
The usual path … The ancients – Plato, Aristotle – Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius The religionists and medievals – The gospels, Augustine, Aquinas, Machiavelli The moderns – Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Bentham/JS Mill, Kant
Main schools of ethics Utilitarianism • The moral good = the greatest good for the greatest number • Focus on the outcome of decisions Deontology • The moral good = abiding by universal fundamental principles • Focus on the process of decisions Virtue ethics • The moral good = doing your best in your role • Focus on human character
The path less travelled … From BCE to BE … and from CE to AE Before the Enlightenment • ethics = observance of vertical hierarchy After the Enlightenment • ethics = respect for horizontal equality
Ethics = vertical hierarchy Transcendent being Angels or lesser gods Contemplative reason Practical reason Productive reason Emotions Appetites Growth Material elements
Ethics = vertical hierarchy God Angels Humans Animals Plants Stones
Ethics = vertical hierarchy Adult men Adult women Children Domestic animals
Ethics = horizontal equality Equality of humans with one another - leads to human rights movement Equal capacity to feel pleasure and pain - leads to animal rights movement Humans create their own ethics - many ways to lead a good life compatible with a just life - leads to emphasis on individual freedom - and social contract ideas in politics: rule of law under a freely chosen government
Modern study of ethics Do we really have the freedom to choose our responses to ethical challenges? The Trolley Problem
Modern study of ethics Hume was right. We are a “slave to our passions”!
Modern study of ethics Progressives Conservatives Care / harm Universal care Care for one’s tribe Fairness / reciprocity Concern for social justice Concern with free riders Loyalty … value independence To own tribe Hierarchy … question authority Respect authority Sanctity … moralise about food Moralise about sex Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind – Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion
