Ethical Theories

The Different Theoretical Frameworks

• Evolutionary ethics• Relativism• Subjectivism• Divine Command• Natural Law• Social Contract• Egoism

• Eudaimonist Ethics: virtue ethics

• Ethics of duty• Ethics of Care

Relativism

• Ethics is relative to individuals, groups, cultures etc.

• No moral absolutes• They ail to account for

moral progress.• Just because people

believe something does not make it right: Sati, dowry etc.

• Self-defeating

• Santhara: a person gives up food and water till death by starvation

• The Rajasthan high court has equated Santhara with suicide while deciding on a petition which likened it to sati.

• The Aghoras• The Eskimos: infanticide• Female infanticide in India• Cannibalism

Santhara or Sallekhana

Jain studies scholar Manish Modi told dna, "It is deeply disappointing to hear of this judgement. Santhara or Sallekhana is an integral practice, custom and tradition of the Jain religion and has been so for the past thousands of years."

SUBJECTIVISMMorality is based on feelings.No one is wrong

SIMPLE SUBJECTIVISMHume: Morality is about what you approve of it

EMOTIVISMMoral language is about influencing other peoples’ behaviourSome statements are not true or false

• We are always right• Unable to handle moral

disagreements

Cannot account for true or false moral statements

Divine Command Theory• Religion plays a key role• Duties are derived from supernatural authority• The individual gain is always other worldly.• Deals with matters being commanded or forbidden by God• Too mysterious• Cannot say how it works.• Whether God commands the right or right is commanded by God

(Plato)• We face different problems that those of our ancestors who

invented these religions.• Religion authorize certain wrong things: slavery, subordination of

women etc.

Natural Law Theory

• What is natural is good.• God built certain features into nature.• What is natural is not always good.: tsunami,

volcano, diseases etc.• Just because something is in a certain way

does not mean that they ought to be so.

Social Contract Model

• Highlights the service orientation factor• Professional as a guardian of public trust. • Inspired by the Social Contract theorists like

Thomas Hobbs and John Locke

Locke, John (1632–1704)

Social Contract

• A social contract is implicit in the very nature of the relationship a professional has with the society.

• There exists an unstated agreement and correspondingly a set of mutual expectations.

Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679.

Social Contract

• Promotes rules that support harmonious living.

• Says why we should follow rules.• Says what is morally demanded of us.

• May not be always beneficial to all people.• May be seen as an imposition.

EGOISMMorality is based on feelings.No one is wrong

PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOISMPeople ultimately do what they want Self-interest rules

ETHICAL EGOISM

We ought to pursue our self-interestMorality of selfishnessPeople ought to act selfishlyAltruism is self-defeating: denies the selfCompatible with commonsense morality

Utilitarianism

• Morality is about making the world as happy as possible

• Maximalism: maximum utility-happiness to the maximum number

• consequentialism: it is about balancing good and bad and hence consequences matter

• No references to abstract ideas or supernatural entities

• Jeremy Bentham (act utilitarianism)J S Mill (rule Utilitarianism) are the main champions.

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Utilitarianism

• Consequences matter in evaluating the merit of an action

• Consequences of an action to benefit the majority of the people

• The morally right action is the action which will maximize utility

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Utility

• Utility is a property in an object that produces benefit, advantage, pleasure, good or happiness or prevent the happening of pain evil, or unhappiness to the party whose interest is considered

• Utility is happiness, and happiness is pleasure minus pain, well-being of individuals

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The Principle of Utility

• The greatest (maximum) happiness of the greatest (maximum) number of people who are affected by performance of an action

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Bentham – Act Utilitarianism1. In any given situation, the act utilitarian would ask: “how much

pleasure or pain would result if I did this action now?”

2. For Bentham, pleasure and pain are the only consequences that matter in determining the moral worth of an action. This aspect of Bentham's theory is known as hedonistic utilitarianism

3. For any given action, from the possible consequence, that which achieves maximum pleasure for maximum people = right action

4. Hedonistic value of any human action can be calculated by considering:– Intensity– Duration– Certainty– Immediateness – Fruitfulness (one pleasure giving rise to other pleasures)– Purity (freedom from pain)– Extent (the number of people affected)

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Arguments against Act Utilitarianism

• No qualitative difference between different kinds of pleasures: alcohol consumption and reading a book.

• Morally wrong to waste time on leisure activities such as watching television, since our time could be spent in ways that could produce greater social benefit, such as charity work. Is this reasonable?

• It seems that specific acts of torture or slavery would be morally permissible if the social benefit of these actions outweighed the disadvantages!

• Besides, what about acts which foster loyalty and friendship which do not always yield the pleasure principle?

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J S Mill – Rule Utilitarianism• Agreed with Bentham on the basic principles of Utilitarianism,

but made further significant improvements to it.• Recognized qualitative differences between different kinds of

pleasures (physical / Intellectual) • Focus shifted from consequences emanating from the action

to those emanating from a rule• Individual actions are evaluated on the basis of whether they

conform to a justified moral rule• Thus, an action is right provided they are permitted by rules

the general acceptance of which would maximize utility in the agent’s society and wrong only if it (action) would be prohibited by such rules

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Rule Utilitarianism

• Stealing is wrong– Adopting a rule against theft clearly has more favorable consequences

than unfavorable consequences for everyone – The same is true for moral rules against lying or murdering.

• Rule-utilitarianism, then, offers a three-tiered method for judging conduct:– An action, such as stealing my friend’s watch is wrong since – it violates a moral rule against theft– The rule against theft is morally binding because adopting this rule

produces favorable consequences for everyone

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Arguments against Utilitarianism

• Utilitarianism is concerned almost exclusively about consequences, not intentions

• We cannot foresee the possible consequences of our action.– By concentrating exclusively on consequences,

utilitarianism makes the moral worth of our actions a matter of luck. We must await the final consequences before we find out if our action was good or bad.

• Who is to judge what is best? – The British felt they wanted to do what was best for India,

but were they really the ones to judge what that was for Indians?

Virtue Ethics

• About virtues: about character• Whether the person acting is expressing good character

(moral virtues) or not• What kind of person ought I to be?• A person's character is the totality of his character traits • Character traits are deeply engrained dispositions • Our character traits can be good, bad or somewhere in

between. • Character traits can be admirable or not • The admirable character traits are called virtues, their

opposites are vices

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Virtue As the Golden Mean• Doctrine of the mean, often interpreted to insist that moral

behavior consists in always acting moderately• A virtuous action involves a response appropriate to a particular

situation in which one finds oneself in• Appropriate = neither over-reacting nor under-reacting = finding the

proper balance between two extremes:– Excess: Over-reacting – Deficiency: under-reacting

• Most virtues fall at a mean between more extreme character traits • Courage: between rashness and cowardice• If I have too much courage I develop the disposition of rashness

which is also a vice• Otherwise I am a coward.

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Deontologism

• From the Greek word deon, or duty• Sometimes called non-consequentialist since

actions follows from certain principles that are obligatory, irrespective of the consequences that might follow from our actions

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What is duty?

• Duty is not just following orders• In Kant’s terminology it is an act which one

ought to do – action which is beyond one’s personal likes, dislikes or any external compulsions

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Kantian Moral Theory• Only those actions that arise from the right motive are

morally praiseworthy– motive = that which induces the self to act / idea of an

end– intention = the commitment to execute a particular

action / Idea + means to achieve the idea• Three kinds of motives from which action springs:– Self Interest: I help others because that way people will

think highly of me – Inclination: I help others because I feel sorry for them– Duty: I help others because it is my duty towards those less

fortunate than me

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Acting from duty?

• By asking “can I also will that the maxim of my action become a universal law?”– Maxim: a subjective principle of action – a rule of action that

one follows as part of his / her own policy of living irrespective of what rules of living other people may have / follow

– Example: “it is alright to cheat when you need to”

• Can the above maxim be universalized?• People should only adopt as rules of living for themselves rules

that they can will should be always followed by everyone

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Categorical Imperative• Morality is a system of categorical Imperatives• Categorical Imperative is the foundational principle of duty

that encompasses our particular duties• The categorical imperative is fundamentally different from

hypothetical imperatives that hinge on some personal desire that we have– Example,

"If you want to get a good job, then you ought to have a 6 point CGPA"

• By contrast, a categorical imperative simply mandates an action, "You ought to do X" irrespective of one's personal desires

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Deontologism• Categorical imperatives are unconditional and

objectively necessary without making any reference to a purpose / having another end.

• One ought to tell the truth because it is the right thing to do, not because you desire to achieve certain ends.

• If a person simply told the truth because he believed that it will have good consequences he has not performed a morally praiseworthy action

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Criticism of Deontologism

• How do we determine which duty to fulfill when we are faced with conflicting duties?– Example: duty not to let my family starve and duty

not to steal• Kantian Ethics only yields absolutes – no room

for contingent life situations– Example: Lying is always wrong on the Kantian

ethics, even when it would be used to save a person life (what if it is my duty to save a person’s life)

American Oil Companies in the Apartheid South Africa

• Criticized for supporting the inhuman regime and practices.

• They do not follow racial discrimination within the company.

The Argument of the Companies

• Equality inside the Co. –No discrimination.

• Economic Development of the Blacks – if the US companies stop functioning, the blacks will suffer more.

• Business has its own priorities.• Utilitarian analysis

The Argument of the Critics

• Contributing to maintain the status co.• Oil Co.s have to give 25% of reserves to the

Govt – helping the regime.• Tax to the Govt.• Deontologism

Character of People Inviolved

• White Party leaders:No respect to human rights

• Desmund Tutu : Brave, courageous, concern for the suffering humanity. Integrity of character.

• Nelson Mandela: Courageous, truthful, dedicated to the goal, committed to the ideal.

Comparative Analysis

• Utilitarianism and Deontological theories – Focus only on the action.

• Virtue theory focus on the Character of people – Agent based ethics.