Ppt12FoundationsforEthics.ppt

PHILOSOPHY 1001 – PPT12

FOUNDATIONS FOR ETHICS

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TERMS TO KNOW
Personal Ethics/Societal Ethics
Deference
Paternalism
4 Relationships of life
Moral Universe
Chain of Results
Shrinkage
Scope of Ethics
Systemic/Personal approach
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WHAT ARE ETHICS BASED ON?
– If two people disagree on the rightness or wrongness of something, isn’t it true that they have different foundations for their ethical beliefs?
ex. Abortion, Legalization of Marijuana, Same Sex Marriage
An issue might only affect an individual (most issues do not) so that differing foundations might not be a problem. But conflict over issues often is a reflection of differing ethical foundations.

Can we find a common ethical foundation all people can agree to?
If not, how do we proceed toward a harmonious kind of life?
(Moral Pluralism)
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ETHICS FOUNDATIONS IN WESTERN HISTORY
Classical era – Plato/ Aristotle eudemonistic/ natural law
Middle ages- western ethics based on Judeo-Christian values
Early Modern ages- while not rejecting a religious basis for ethics- sought to establish morality more in reason
Late Modern ages- Philosophies like Communism reject religion as an ethical base
Post Modern ages- Post Modern Philosophy rejects all existing ideas as a basis for ethics.
Can any reasonable ethical foundation be found in our current fragmented culture?

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PERSONAL ETHICS / SOCIETAL ETHICS
Personal Ethics Societal Ethics

Areas of Areas of potential agreement conflict

We likely have personal ethical ideas that are not accepted or practiced by society as a whole. This can cause conflict.
Deference- deferring to another’s right to decide for themselves what ethics they choose.
Paternalism- making ethical choices for others because they cannot or we think they cannot make proper choices for themselves.

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PERSONAL ETHICS / SOCIETAL ETHICS

There may be many spheres of personal ethics within a society.

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LAW AND ETHICS
Ethics Law

All laws are extensions of ethical ideas. Law usually represents the most important ethical ideas. (All laws are not necessarily good.) But, there are many ethical values which lie outside of law i.e. we do not have laws for every ethical value or practice. Which is best, promoting free choice as much as possible or regulating life with law?
Ethical fallacy- “You can’t legislate morality.” We don’t make laws about all moral/ethical issues but all laws are legislated morality.
“We can’t legislate All morality.”
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Society needs law but law is not enough
“John Adams- Oct 1790 – “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other”
a. Does law alone make you resist crime?
b. Law is made hope only a few people will break it.
c. What happens if everyone stops obeying the law?

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LAW IS NOT ENOUGH

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A BASIS FOR ETHICS?
Back to the question- what can an ethically pluralistic society base ethics on? What can we measure our ethical ideas against?
Some ideas…
1. There are many ideas that most people already agree about.
2. There are Ideas for which there are good evident reasons.
3. There are ideas or values that seem to help most people.
4. There are values that resonate with our deepest held beliefs e.g.
All people, their relationships and property should be respected
i.e. Don’t kill, don’t steal etc.
5. That human life has a special value
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SPECIAL VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE
The value of a thing comes from something greater than itself. So, where does the idea of human beings having special value come from?

(Metaphysics and Epistemology are about exploring the possibility of the existence of something greater than humanity.)

If human life has no special value
1. Meaning and purpose is hard to justify
2. “Survival of the fittest” and “might makes right” type of ideas are more likely
3. Ethics are invented and are more likely to be inconsistent
4. The challenge of relativism will be more evident

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SPECIAL VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE
If human life does have special value
1. Value drawn from something greater – something objective
2. Consistent Ethics can be justified more easily
3. Not challenged as much with relativism

(Can evolutionary process be responsible for the development of ethical ideas – do creatures evolve to find ways to protect their development?)

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GOAL: BEING AN ETHICAL THINKER AND ACTOR
Is it necessary to be ethical? Though there are many questions about what being ethical means and about what we should base ethics on, most people realize that without ethical values and practice, life would be chaos. How can we become effective ethical thinkers and actors?
Fundamental questions
1. What impact did, does or will my actions have on others and on things? (Things= property, animals, nature etc.)
2. What obligation do I have to do or not do something in light of the impact of my actions?
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RELATIONSHIP PARADIGM- MORAL UNIVERSE
4 Main Relationships of Life- Moral Universe

(One way of understanding the world.)
#1 Self
#2 Others – every other person on planet
#3 God – (for the person of faith)
#4 Natural universe

What is the impact of my actions on these relationship of life and then, what obligation do I have to do something or to not do something?

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RELATIONSHIP PARADIGM- MORAL UNIVERSE
What do you think of when you hear the term moral issue?

a. Can you think of something that is not a moral issue or is neutral as it relates to morality?
b. Do we tend to identify morality with a narrow range of issues or can it apply to everything?
We can and do use moral language (good, bad, right, wrong, should and shouldn’t) to describe all of our impact on the world? Should we think think of ourselves as living in a moral universe where moral concerns affect us just like physical properties affect us, where everything has a moral dimension to it?
Does our language, declaring only certain things to be “moral issues” imply that there are issues that lie outside of moral concern?

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RELATIONSHIP PARADIGM- MORAL UNIVERSE
If morality/ethics has to do with protecting and promoting the well being of people, are the following moral issues?
Is war a moral issue?
The price of gas?
Brushing your teeth?

(Some things have a small impact but an impact non the less.)
Should we think of ourselves as living in a moral universe?

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SHRINKAGE
Source of Inventory Shrinkage
Employee Theft $ 15 billion
Shoplifting $ 12 billion
Vendor Fraud /Error $ 7.5 billion
Total Inventory Shrinkage  $34.5 billion
Source: National Retail Security Survey- 2012 based on 2011 statistics
Shrinkage = Stealing
Who ends up paying the $34.5 billion?
What happens if everyone decides it is acceptable to steal?
(Walmart examples)

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RELATIONSHIP PARADIGM- MORAL UNIVERSE
How might the actions of this employee impact one or more of the four relationships of life?
Scenario – You are married, have 2 kids and work in the shoe department of discount store. Sometimes, after certain stock sits, for a while, it is marked down. If it doesn’t sell, it is sent to another company. You’ve had your eyes on a pair of shoes you like that was marked down and now your boss has asked you to box up that pair with others that are going to be sent out. You take all the shoes to be sent out, to the back room and are boxing them up close to the place where coats, purses and backpacks are hung. Thinking no one is looking, you slip a pair of shoes you like into your backpack. A few minutes later the boss pages you to come to the office and shows you surveillance video showing you taking the shoes.

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MAPPING THE CHAIN OF RESULTS
Store Clerk Scenario

The Theft

Lose job
Legal cost and conseq
Future job?

Family impact

Self esteem

Impact to store?

Legal cost

Security cost

Insurance

New employee cost

Who pays store’s cost?
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Chain of results helps us see inter-relatedness of world and how even a small incident can affect many things.
Simply thinking through, anticipating, the wide ranging consequences of our actions should help us to be ethical.
Sense of community/ownership is also an important motivator for ethical behavior
– Arby’s is “my” restaurant
– UMC is “my” school
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PRACTICAL ETHICAL THINKING

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APPROACHES TO DEALING WITH ISSUES
What are current issues in US? (Discussion)
Two general approaches
#1. Systemic – an outside- control approach
#2. Personal – an inside – personal responsibility approach

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WHAT ARE THE APPROACHES OF U.S. POLITICAL PARTIES?
Democrat
Tends to be systemic – Government is solution for issues – “I think they ought to do something”
Republican
Tends to promote personal responsibility
“Get the government off our backs”

Which is best, more or less regulated society?

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TWO APPROACHES AND HUMAN NATURE
Systemic approach
Low view of human nature/potential? Fatalistic view of progress of society? Or, realistic appraisal of human condition?

Personal/Individual approach
High view of human nature/potential? Optimistic view of individual accomplishment and responsibility? Realistic or unrealistic view of human condition?

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SYSTEMIC/PERSONAL TEST
Question;
What is the best possible way to keep beef fresh?
1. freeze, dehydrate, canned, irradiate (Systemic Approach)
2. keep it alive! (Personal Individual Approach)

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ETHICAL THEORIES
We will continue our discussion of the foundation or basis for ethics as we discuss Ethical theories. (coming up)

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TERMS TO KNOW
Personal Ethics/Societal Ethics
Deference
Paternalism
4 Relationships of life
Moral Universe
Chain of Results
Shrinkage
Systemic/Personal approach
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THINGS TO KNOW
Where are areas of conflict over ethics likely to emerge in society?
How does law relate to Ethics?
What is meant by the idea that the value of something comes from something greater than itself?

Things to ponder;
Is the idea of a moral universe helpful
Can you think of a time when you did not consider the wide ranging consequences of your actions?
Are you a systemic or personal/individual thinker?

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PPT 12
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ETHICS 2002

PPT

7

GENERAL ETHICAL CONCEPTS

PPT#7

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