AS Philosophy & Ethics

Mrs Sudds

What are your expectations?

Structure of the CourseG572 Religious Ethics Exam January 16th 2013

1) Ethical Theories

2) Applied Ethics

G571 Philosophy of Religion Exam May 2013 (date tbc)

1) Ancient Greek Philosophy

2) Judeo-Christian Philosophy

3) Arguments of the existence of God

4) Challenges to religious belief

Expectations• 100% attendance

– Dentist appointments, driving tests etc should never be booked during school time

– If you are unable to attend a lesson you must email Mrs Sudds by 0830 that day explaining your reasons. esudds1@crownwoods.org.uk We will arrange a catch up session.

• 100% punctuality– Minutes late will be doubled in a time debt

• All homework complete & on time– Equivalent to 5hrs per week per subject

• Effort & engagement– Answering questions, asking questions, active rather than passive

Introduction to Ethical Theory

G572

L.O.

•To analyse a range of ethical dilemmas to consider your own personal response.

•To understand and apply the key terms Teleological and Deontological, Absolutist and Relativist

Homework Set 10/09/12

Due 17/09/12

http://mrssuddslearningzone.weebly.com

Consider the ethical dilemma in front of you.

• What is your first instinct?• What does reason tell you?

• Do you all agree?• Is there a right or wrong answer?

ETHICS

Ethics is

the study of the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices to be made by a person.

The word moral means ‘Of or concerned with the judgment of the goodness or badness of human action and character’

Deontological /Teleological Morality Situation Is this always wrong? If not, when is it ok?

Stealing      

 

 Discriminating against someone     

        

 Murder      

 

 Lying       

 

Deontological theoriesIn deontological theories actions are right or wrong

in themselves.

That is, they are considered to be intrinsically right or wrong, regardless of the consequences they produce.

E.g. “stealing is wrong because it is bad” – it is not made right by the consequences. The very act of stealing is wrong.

‘Deon’ is Greek for duty. Deontological systems teach that it is our duty to avoid or perform particular actions.

We will study NATURAL LAW and KANTIAN ethics as examples of DEONTOLOGICAL THEORIES

TASK: Write a definition of a deontological theory in your own words.

Teleological Ethics

 A Teleological ethical theory is an ethical theory that teaches an action is right or wrong depending on the consequences or outcome of a situation.

Teleological comes from the Greek Telos – or end purpose.

This means that is impossible to say whether an action is right or wrong without putting it into context.

• E.g. is stealing wrong? • Does any situation make stealing morally right?

  WE will study UTILITARIANISM as an example of a TELEOLOGICAL THEORY

TASK: Write a definition of a Teleological theory in your own words.

Moral / Ethical AbsolutismIn addition to the categories of DEONTOLOGICAL AND TELEOLOGICAL theories,

ethical theories can also be divided into RELATIVIST and ABSOLUTIST theories

Absolutist theories are usually DEONTOLOGICAL.Something that is ‘absolute’ has no exceptions or hesitations e.g. you might

say, “I am absolutely sure” to indicate that you are certain. In morality an absolutist theory is a theory that holds that moral value (of actions, principles etc..) is absolute. Absolutist theories teach that actions are absolutely right or absolutely wrong, regardless of TIME, SITUATION, CULTURE etc….

  This means that moral value is universal and not relative

to individual or social difference. It claims that there are eternal moral values and principles that are applicable everywhere and are unchanged by time.

E.g. “Stealing is always wrong”

This is sometimes also called an objective view of ethics. The word objective can be defined as ‘belonging to the object of thought rather than to the thinking subject’.

Someone who is objective about ethical situations is unlikely to bring their own prejudices, experiences and opinions to the judgement. Objective judgements are based on an impartial absolute value system

The absolutist position is often held by those that believe in God (though this is not necessary). The reason that these rules are absolute could be because they come from God e.g. The Ten Commandments, or because they are a recognised standard of moral conduct e.g. Human Rights.

Task: What does it mean to call a theory absolutist? Include the word objective in your answer

Ethical / Moral Relativism

An ethically relativist theory teaches that there are no absolute rights or wrongs, instead the right or wrong of an action is relative to the situation.  

Ethical relativism is the view that the rightness or wrongness of an action is RELATIVE to other considerations e.g. time, culture, situation, individuals….

E.g. “Stealing is wrong except if it is to preserve life”

Cultural Relativism : This is the belief that the culture of a society defines what is right or wrong. There are two theories that have an influence here.  

The Diversity Theory: Because of the DIVERSITY across and within cultures there can be no one true morality. From which we can conclude….

The Dependency Theory: Morality DEPENDS on the culture you belong to. We cannot Judge other cultures because different cultures create different values, and we cannot be objective about another culture since we are all the product of our own culture. 

This is supported by the findings of Herodotus an ancient Greek historian. He discovered that the Greeks and the Indians would not swap their cultural practices regarding treatment of their dead. The Indians ate their dead and the Greeks cremated theirs. Not even a king could get them to revise their tradition - he therefore concluded

that ‘custom is king’.

Applying ethics…

1) Choose an ethical dilemma & summarise.2) For each dilemma, write a statement

representing a deontological, telelogical, absolutist and relativist approach e.g.

• Killing is inherently wrong (bad)• Killing is usually wrong but it depends on the

circumstances• Killing is always wrong• The greatest amount of life should be

preserved

Summary of Introduction to Ethical Theory 

A Deontological Theory …

 

Deontological theories are usually Absolutist. Absolutist theories…

 

This can also be referred to as an objective approach to ethics. This means ……

 

A Teleological theory………

 

Teleological theories are usually relativist. Relativist theories…

 

These can also be called a subjective approach to ethics. This means…