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History of Moral Philosophy
The field of moral philosophy addresses the foundation of society's rules. It is behind every
important law, from the condemnation of murder to the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s.
Moral philosophy is a discourse, and the rules change over time. This might imply that they are
subjective because laws differ from place to place. However, the rationalist Immanuel Kant
(1724-1804) stated that an action should only be performed if it could safely become a universal
law. No one should allow himself to do something he would not want everyone else to do. Only
recently has morality come to be considered subjective, with Nietzsche (1844-1900) encouraging
a personal morality and Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) encouraging individuals to make their own
judgments. Such debates continue to feature in today's moral philosophy.
The question of how best to lead a moral life, and how the word "morality" can be best defined,
is one of the foundational questions of philosophy. Moral philosophers (or Ethicists) have, over
the years, formulated numerous theories designed to help people make the best moral decisions.
These theories often come into conflict with each other, however, and a firm grasp of their basic
differences is essential for those who want to study moral philosophy.
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism, first popularized by British philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill in
the 19th century, is a theory that holds that the best way to make a moral decision is to look at
the potential consequences of each available choice, and then pick the option that either does
most to increase happiness or does least to increase suffering. Utilitarianism, also known as
consequentialism, is often summed up as a philosophy of "The greatest good for the greatest
number."
Deontology
Deontology is a duty-based moral theory. Deontology states that society needs rules in order to
function, and that a person can only be called moral to the extent that he abides by those rules.
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The most famous and eloquent exponent of deontology is generally agreed to be Immanuel Kant.
Kant coined the following maxim, known as the Categorical Imperative, to help people decide
which actions should be governed by rules: "Act only according to that maxim by which you can
also will that it would become a universal law." In other words, people should only do things
that they would be happy to see everyone do. For example, people shouldn't lie, because if
everyone lied all the time then society would collapse.
Relativism
Moral relativism is a theory which states that no one person's morals are better or worse than any
other. Relativists argue that a person's moral code is shaped by the society in which he is
raised, and that no society is inherently better or worse than any other.
Divine Command Theory
Divine command theory states that God is the ultimate arbiter of what constitutes morality
and that without God we have no clear way of telling right from wrong. Divine command
theorists therefore believe that the best way to live a moral life is to act in accordance with
Scripture.
Virtue Ethics
Virtue ethics states that only good people can make good moral decisions. Therefore, the best
way to be moral is to constantly seek to improve oneself. Virtue ethicists list a number of
qualities that they believe are universal, and are appreciated in all cultures. They include
wisdom, prudence, loyalty, honesty, temperance, bravery, magnanimity, and justice. Virtue
ethicists argue that if a person tries his best to embody these traits, then by definition he will
always be in a good position to make moral judgments.
Egoism
Egoism is a philosophy that holds that the best way for one to be morally good is to act in
accordance with one's self-interest. Egoists hold that we are only really qualified to
consider our own well-being, and that attempts to "Be one's brother's keeper" are doomed to
fail because we can never really know what our peers actually want. Egoists also believe that if
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everyone acts in their own self-interest, then moral dilemmas are much more likely to be
resolved to the satisfaction of all parties, thereby maximizing overall happiness.
The Theory of Natural Rights
Natural rights theorists believe that every person is endowed with certain inalienable
rights, such as the right to life, the right to own property, and the right to liberty. Natural
rights theorists argue that these rights are self-evident, and would exist even if nobody
believed in them. The reason that natural rights theorists hold these rights as self-evident is that
they are essential to the flourishing of human happiness and the foundation of civil society. For
example, they argue that without the right to own property, there is no incentive to create
property and therefore there is no mechanism by which society can advance.
Types of Moral Theories
The question of how best to lead a moral life, and how the word "morality" can be best defined,
is one of the foundational questions of philosophy. Moral philosophers (or Ethicists) have, over
the years, formulated numerous theories designed to help people make the best moral decisions.
These theories often come into conflict with each other, however, and a firm grasp of their basic
differences is essential for those who want to study moral philosophy.
-Applied Ethics
Applied ethics is the most specific type of moral philosophy. It takes an individual issue and
asks, "What is right or wrong in this situation?" The answer is not always objective. For
instance, with the abortion debate, those who are anti-abortion believe it is morally wrong
to destroy the life of a potential human being, while those who want abortion to be legal
believe
each
potential
mother
has
the
moral
right
to
have
an
abortion.
As in the abortion example, applied ethics is often concerned with doing what a person
believes is right and in keeping a clean conscience. On the other hand, it can also be
utilitarian, meaning that for an action to be morally right, its consequences must be
advantageous. Finally, applied ethics can be a set of rules of moral conduct, such as those we
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teach children when we tell them not to hit others because it hurts them or laws prohibiting
murder or theft.
-Normative Ethics
Another type of moral philosophy is normative ethics. Rather than determining what is right
and wrong in any given situation--the job of applied ethics--normative ethics assesses the
factors that enable us to make moral decisions in the first place. It considers three main
factors: the action, the person who performs the action and the action's consequences.
If the focus is on the action, we find that some actions are considered to be fundamentally
wrong, no matter who performs them or what their consequences are. This focus of
normative ethics is called deontology, from the Greek word "deon," meaning "duty."
If the focus is on the person performing the action, moral action becomes a question of the
person's virtues. This is called virtue ethics. People possess moral traits such as generosity,
and in order to be moral, they must act on them rather than acting on bad traits. An action
is
therefore
moral
according
to
whether
the
person's
intentions
are
good.
Finally, if the focus is on the consequences of an action, all that matters is the outcome of
the action. This is called consequentialism, and it emphasizes that the end justifies the
means. In this way, it is similar to utilitarianism. People are supposed to take actions that
have positive results, such as happiness.
-Analytic Ethics
Analytic ethics, also known as meta-ethics, is not concerned with determining what is right
and wrong but instead debates moral philosophy on an abstract level. It asks questions
about the nature of morality, rather than the specifics of right and wrong. For instance,
analytic ethics ask whether morals exist naturally in the world or are man-made, and
whether they can be objective.
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Significance
Together, the three branches of moral philosophy help people answer the tough decisions with
which they are faced every day. Only by stepping back from a situation and analyzing it with
these types of moral philosophy can someone come to a moral decision. Questioning existing
rules and thinking through moral choices can help everyone keep a clean conscience and make
the world a more decent place.
Four Types of Ethical Conflict
Ethical dilemmas and conflicts deal with morality applied to human relationships. Often
paradoxes --- upholding one moral principle would mean violating another --- the study of
ethical conflicts is a branch of moral philosophy. Most types of ethical conflicts deal with moral
imperatives central to human societies and, thus, most often arise in legal fields, medical
professions,
politics
and
business.
Legal Conflicts
Criminal justice systems ultimately derive from cultural interpretations of moral behavior, a
process that began when Aristotle first asked the ancient Greeks, "What is good?" "What is right
action?" Western legal systems answer that question relativistically: "for the greater good" as
interpreted by society, as in "X is illegal here." Despotic and totalitarian systems, or those fully
based on religions, practice legal absolutism: "X is illegal because we say it is."
Medical Ethics
As a type of ethical conflict, the field of medical ethics involves issues such as informed consent,
patient confidentiality and refusal of treatment. In each case, a moral code evolved to deal with
ethical dilemmas. While a patient has a reasonable right to expect that confidentiality be
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maintained, clinicians are ethically (and legally) obligated to breach confidentiality in cases of
child, elder or domestic abuse.
Public Policy
In the political realm, ethical conflicts involve policy decisions --- "Is this a just war?" "Is water
boarding torture?" --- to questions of international diplomacy, such as, "What are the ethical
obligations of superpowers?" Political ethics are a type of meta-ethics, in that they deal with the
interaction between societies and their approach to the world at large.
Applied Ethics
Conflicts in applied ethics focus on clearly moral issues: animal rights, gays in the military or
right-to-life issues. Professional ethics, a subset of applied ethics, deals with specific groups,
such as businesses or journalists. A journalist refusing to disclose a source is applying a
"normative principle" of applied ethics, in that society values the free and unfettered sharing of
information.
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