https www cbsnews comsundaymorning Classical Ethics Crash Course

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Classical Ethics Crash Course

What are ethics? Some helpful definitions • Ethics: rules of conduct for a specific group (why? Because society says this is the right thing to do) • Morals: a personal compass of right and wrong (why? Because I believe in something being right or wrong) • Ethical behavior: how humankind ought to behave for the betterment of society • Morality: how humankind should behave according to established mores • Mores: the essential or characteristic customs and conventions of a community.

5 Major Questions of Classical Ethics 1. Motive or Consequence? 2. Absolutism or Relativism? 3. Moderation or Extremism? 4. Accept Fate or Change Fate? 5. Egoism or Common Good?

Philosophers A. K. A. some long-dead, white guys and where they stand on particular debates in ethics

Immanuel Kant, Germany (1724 -1804) Motive should be main determiner of ethical judgement. The virtue in an act must be determined only by the motive of the doer.

John Stuart Mill, England, (1806 -1873) Actions can only be judged by their consequences We can never know the true motives of an individual in a particular situation

Jeremy Bentham, England, (1748 -1832) Father of Utilitarianism: the doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority.

To Emphasize Consequences: The Greater Happiness Principle Both Mill and Bentham endorsed what they called the Greater Happiness Principle: an action is ethical if the beneficial effects outweigh the harmful effects

Plato, Greece, (427 -347 BCE) The father of Classical philosophy Gives the best example of absolutism Ethical behavior is an intellectual pursuit based on “the good” Only 1 absolute good life This absolute is independent of individuals’ inclinations or desires or society’s changing belief systems

Absolutism continued…back to Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative: a rule that must be followed for moral behavior. Kant stated: “Act only on the maxim whereby thou can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. ” In other words, one should only act in a way we would expect all people to act

Baruch de Spinoza, Holland, (1632 -1677) Since the events in one’s life are determined by other events, the time and place of one’s existence largely determines the ethical standards by which one must live. Everything is relative to a particular time, culture, and individual.

Aristotle, Greece, (384 -321 BCE) His practical philosophy was a direct reaction to Plato’s absolutism While Plato was theoretician, Aristotle applied the practical – the empirical His Nichomachaen Ethics states that in real life, absolutes do not work The correct answer will always lie somewhere in the middle ground Doctrine of the Mean demands that attaining the good life requires different path for each individual (relativism)

William David Ross, Scotland, (1877 -1971) Middle ground between absolutism and relativism Deontological Ethics: not dependent on the consequences of an action Rightness or wrongness of an act is inherent in the act itself Prima Facie duties: absolutes can only be absolute when “all else is equal. ” When duties conflict, the moral law of most importance supersedes

Epicurus, Greece, (341 -270 BCE) Misunderstood philosopher of Hedonism: “pleasure is the sole good” (extremism) Romans turned his beliefs into the ideal that we should always seek ultimate pleasure. BUT Epicurus himself believed that pleasure should be sought but never at the cost of the extreme pain that often follows it He divided pleasure into “dynamic pleasure, ” which results in pain (e. g. gluttony, fame) and “passive pleasure, ” which has no painful results

Once again, Aristotle, the spokesman for moderation…. Nichomachean Ethics: Happiness is an activity of the soul in accord with perfect virtue. Happiness is not a goal but a way of doing things Doctrine of the Mean: happiness can never be experienced through extremes. Moderation in all things.

Zeno, Greece, (circa 300 BCE) Stoicism: the doctrine that all things are predetermined by fate and happiness comes from accepting that fate. “roll with the punches”

Epictetus, Rome, (60 -128 CE) He expanded on foundations of Stoicism: The good life consists of the inner tranquility that results from controlling desire, doing one’s duty, and accepting one’s role in the world (sounds like “darma”)

Henry Bergson, France, (1859 -1941) Opposes the Stoics position Taught that the living being, humankind, is the center of “creative evolution, ” – driven by the life force, the élan vital. Where there is a will, there is a way… (change fate/human choice)

Friedrich Nietzsche, Germany, (1800 -1844) “God is dead” – humankind’s ability to… control fate In every human should be the “will to power. ” Weakness is the direct result of giving in to the wills of others, or to the whims of the environment “if humankind rises to a level of complete control of self and society, he no longer needs God, which Nietzsche believed to be man’s invention when humankind first needed explanations for his existence and for the whims of nature. ”

Once again, Plato on the Common Good argument… The Republic involves the complete sacrifice by all intelligent men and women to the state. Society divided into three groups: the body (lowest class; majority – role is to produce for state), the heart (guardian or auxiliary class, who provide the emotional leadership needed for successful society – bus. leaders, teachers, mil. Officers), and the head (philosopher kings)

John Locke, England, (1632 -1704) and Jean Jacques Rousseau, France, (1712 -1788) Common good proponents – since nature of man is good, and through a “social contract” humans will give up certain freedoms to the state in return for gained freedoms which lead to the common good for all

Karl Marx, Germany, (1818 -1883) At the heart of his philosophy is the common good – a classless sharing of equal opportunity. Egoism leads to immoral behavior

Thomas Hobbes, England, (1588 -1679) Leviathan: man is selfish, brutish, egotistical. Sovereign authority with fixed and enforced rules is needed to control individuals’ ambitions Man needs rules (Egoism)

Arthur Schopenhauer, Germany, (1788 -1860) Unless humankind is driven by ego, it will inevitably fall into a state of boredom or ennui (Egoism)

Herbert Spencer, England, (1820 -1903) Believed that ethical actions are actions that result in the greatest biological usefulness to society The love of self is necessary for progress Egoism has to be stronger than altruism

Niccolo Machiavelli, Italy, (1469 -1527) “the end justifies the means” philosophy Man is selfish – needs egotistical leader who does whatever necessary The common good is useful only as a power base for the leader (Egoism)