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PHI Overview 4 Social Contract Ethics and Care Ethics Welcome to Module Four. Why is there a list of words that the FCC has decided are not allowed on television? Everyone knows what these words are, but we as a society have agreed not to use them or that it is wrong to use them in certain circumstances. Who exactly agreed what words would be inappropriate? This module considers a system of ethics based on society's agreement, called the social contract theory. It will also discuss care ethics, which is an ethical theory in which empathy and relationships are as equally important as reasoning when deciding the morality of an action. Learning Objectives Upon completion of this module, you should be able to: 1D discuss principles of justice as they relate to maintaining a relationship. 2C explain the purpose of ethics in relation to the social contract theory. define the veil of ignorance and discuss how it relates to the social contract 3B theory. 6D describe the care theory. Module 4 Reading Assignment Waller, B. N. (2011). Consider ethics: Theory, readings, and contemporary issues (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson. Chapters 7 and 9. Supplemental Reading Assignments (Required): Edwards, S. D. (March 2011). Is there a distinctive care ethics? Nursing Ethics, 18(2), 184-191. Course Login Instructions If you are a first time user: Please register your Pearson Online Solutions Student Access Code. You can find your Student Access Code in the AAU Course Registration e-mail that came with your text. If you are a returning user: Please visit the Access Code Registration page to log in. You must log in every time you access this course. If you are not logged in, you will not be able to access the premium resources. NOTE: Bookmarking pages in this site, especially the resources you access with the link above, is not recommended. Please view Part 1 of the Online Presentation for Module 4. Please view Part 2 of the Online Presentation for Module 4. Social Contract Ethics and Care Ethics Chapter 7 Lecture Notes: Social Contract Ethics Framing the Social Contract Although they are different, the various ethical theories that have been presented all share the notion that ethical truth is something to be found. Constructivists take a different approach: ethical principles are made, not found. Constructivists, typified by the contract theorists, hold that a statement becomes ethical when endorsed by a particular group, or when recognized and affirmed from some special perspective. This last point is particularly important since most contract theorists hold that not all social contract constructions are valid. Thomas Hobbes’s contract theory is based on the view that the state of nature—a pre-social state—is best described as a “war of all against all.” For Hobbes, the state of nature is such a miserable place that its inhabitants would agree to almost any arrangement that improves their lot in life. The fundamental purpose of the social contract is to establish order and provide security. So long as a social system achieves that end, Hobbes believes that it is at least a decent bargain. Social contract theories such as those of Hobbes and others have had broad appeal. Social contracts generally do not rely on dubious metaphysical or religious claims. They base ethics not on faith, but on agreements. Contract theorists place ethics squarely within the natural world. Social contract theory does not depend on any profound rational powers or special intuitions. It also tends to acknowledge the darker side of human nature, but still maintains humanity's ability to construct an ethical system. Contract theorists have often been criticized for offering a theory based on a fiction; namely, the fiction that people sat down in a state of nature and drew up a contract. This criticism is unfair since it takes the contract far too literally. The contract is mainly used as a means of examining the justice and fairness of social and ethical systems. The agreement is not what you have agreed to, but what you would have agreed to if you had been given the chance. Fairness and Social Contract Theory: John Rawls A somewhat more elaborate system of social contract ethics was developed by John Rawls. Rawls proposed that we consider what sort of ethical system or rules we would favor for a society if we knew nothing about our own circumstances in that society, i.e. we had no idea what social, ethical, racial, or economic group we would end up in. By choosing rule from behind a “veil of ignorance,” the system we would adopt from this unbiased perspective would count as fair. By placing his contractors behind the veil, Rawls is able filter out bias and justify his preferred distribution of goods. Under these circumstances, one is unlikely to agree to a society in which men make more than women or one in which one religion takes precedence over everything else. Similarly, everyone would want to ensure that they receive the same basic freedoms as everyone else and that disparities in wealth are not such that some live in mansions but others are homeless. Gauthier’s Contractarian Ethics Another version of social contract theory was developed by David Gauthier who used game theory to establish the mutual self-interested benefits of group cooperation. Gauthier holds that we do not need to strip people of their biases and desires to come up with our basic moral rules and institutions. In fact, we can rely on an individual’s rational self-interest as a justification for a minimal set of principles. Gauthier’s approach, which he terms “morals by agreement,” is especially influenced by the “prisoner’s dilemma” in game theory (see example in reading). Because of the less than optimal outcomes of the prisoner’s dilemma, Gauthier argued that it is rational for people to cooperate in order to do better than they would had they looked out only for their own interests. The Social Contract Myth and Its Underlying Assumptions Social contract theory employs a number of important assumptions in its theoretical model, many of which are a source of contention for the theory’s detractors. First is the radical individualism that protects individual rights but seems to ignore the inherently social nature of individuals. Secondly, the narrowness of obligations implied by the contract seems to only recognize voluntary obligation and not those obligations that we may have necessarily, e.g. being part of a family. Third is the assumption that ethics is a matter of choice, and anything that falls outside of the contract is not part of the ethical system. Finally, there is the assumption that only those partaking in the contract are part of the moral community. This last assumption seems to leave out those that may not be able to live up to the demands of the contract, such as the young, infirm, elderly, and even those from other cultures or societies that did not sign our social contract. Chapter 9 Lecture Notes: Care Ethics Neglect of Women’s Ethical Views Historically, women’s ethical views have taken a backseat to those of their male counterparts. Until recently, most ethical theories were written by men, and even those written by women often relied on a male-dominated outlook. Care ethics marks a departure from traditional approaches and takes into account the experiences of women. Although the emphasis is on female experiences, we want to avoid the silly attempt at “the woman’s perspective.” To avoid supposing there is a single “female ethical theory,” we talk about care ethics rather than feminist ethics. Care ethics emphasizes the value of fostering relationships, paying as much attention to personal details as to abstract principles, and recognizing the ethical importance of affection and care for others. Care ethics developed from the “extra-ethical” scientific research of Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol Gilligan. It was Gilligan that noted that the apparent moral deficiency found in the study of children’s moral development. According to Kohlberg, women seemed to demonstrate lower levels of moral development compared to their male counterparts. When faced with a moral dilemma, women often wanted additional information, such the nature of the relationship between the characters in the case. What Gilligan noted in her book In a Different Voice was not a developmental deficiency, but a different way of framing moral issues. Women were simply viewing the moral problems in a different way, which was impossible to see because of Kohlberg’s own bias. The Care Perspective on Ethics The care perspective is not just a desire for the details of the relationships between moral agents, but something more fundamental. Care ethics is a rejection of the primacy of reason in all moral decision making. Although reason, rules, and principles may be important, sympathy is the basic moral capacity, not law-discerning or consequencecalculating reason. Care ethicists want to emphasize the importance of feelings in ethics, but there are several cases in which we still want there to be rules that may check even the best intentions. Feelings can often be a valuable source of moral motivation, but they can also be unreliable when our own biases and prejudices come out, e.g. the revulsion that some might have to skin color, or the “feeling” that women shouldn’t participate in political life. However, we also do not want to posit a false dilemma. We do not have to think of ethics as being either pure principle or pure feeling; the two can serve to check and correct each other. The care perspective does not ignore or disparage reason, but it does emphasize the importance of empathy, affection, friendship, and relationships in general—something often ignored in both utilitarian and Kantian thought. In the case of the former, the utility calculations that count everyone’s well-being equally also entails that we must not give any additional consideration to those who are closest to us. To the care ethicist, the bonds of affection, friendship, and family must be recognized as an important and distinct ethical element, not just one pleasure calculation among others. Similarly, the Kantian approach requires that one does one’s duties, and these duties tend to be impersonal. Even in cases where a duty is owed to someone close to us, this duty is not based on caring, feeling, or reciprocity. In fact, counter intuitively, helping a family member out of love or sympathy would be less morally praiseworthy than had one done so out of duty. Women and Ethics Although female perspectives in ethics have traditionally been ignored, we want to be careful about how we view care ethics. There is a danger of labeling something a “feminine ethic” based on a distinctly “feminine character.” This distinction has been used as a justification for treating women in ways that are considered condescending or outright unjust. This less than desirable treatment has also been found in theoretical approaches, such as virtue ethics. Historically, a virtuous woman was demure, quiet, modest, and chaste. Although dangers do exist in viewing ethics as feminine or masculine, it cannot be denied that there is a genuine and profoundly valuable feminine consciousness that is rooted in women’s social development, a consciousness that must be valued and appreciated. Required Audio: Media Index. Please listen to the Audio to Go (located under Course) listed below. Alternative Moral Theories Evaluating An Ethical System NOTE: If you are having difficulty accessing the above material, please click on the PHI 107 Pearson Instructions. Required Web Resources: Please take this time to read this article about Social Contract Theory. While reading, think about the historical development of contract theory from ancient times to the modern versions we have read thus far. While reading the following articles on care ethics, consider the special emphasis placed on relationships. Care Ethics Ethics of Care Required Presentations: Chapter 7 Chapter 9