Download Ethical Analysis - Auburn University

Ethical Analysis and
Ethical Egoism
Based on Kernohan, A. (2012). Environmental
ethics: An interactive introduction. Buffalo, NY:
Broadview Press, Chapters 3 & 4.
David Kistler
Auburn University 2013
Ethical Decision Making
 When making ethical decisions, we’re making normative decisions.
 How things ought to be.
 Decisions that guide action and seek agreement.

Ethical situations generally involve
(1) a moral agent,
(2) an action or series of actions,
(3) consequences, and
(4) a recipient of the consequences.
David Kistler
Auburn University 2013
Ethical Analysis
 Giving an ethical analysis of an environmental policy
recommendation, or writing environmental policy in an ethically
informed way, requires six steps:
1.Recognize the ethical claims that the policy recommendation
makes.
2.Identify the ethical reasons explicitly or implicitly given.
3.Classify these reasons according to the ethical theories that the
recommendation assumes.
4.Investigate who or what the recommendation assumes to have
moral standing.
5.Reflect critically on the strengths and weaknesses of these
assumptions.
6.Decide which policy to adopt or recommend.
David Kistler
Auburn University 2013
1. Recognize-When trying to determine the ethical claim being made, you
need to determine whether the situational ethical claims are explicit or implicit.
 Explicit claims often use vocabulary such as ‘must’, ‘ought’ and ‘duty’.
“We ought to not shoot people because shooting people causes them pain
and pain is bad.”
 Implied claims are often harder to identify because they are the product of
an already existing situation. If the claim is implied then a restructuring of
analysis may be necessary.
“We should not shoot people.” because once I shot someone and went to
jail and I don’t want to go to jail again.
2. Identify-When identifying ethical reasoning you should look for the
underlying reasoning of the claim while considering the possible implications.
Here is where we are looking at the many ways the case may play out and the
implications of said scenarios.
 Start by examining the facts, observations and evidence offered in the
statement and look for the ethical reasons underlying them.
David Kistler
Auburn University 2013
3. Classify Ethical Reasoning
 Consider agent, action, recipient, and consequences.
 Decide which type of approach you will be taking.
1. Virtue/Vice
1. Deontological (Divine Command, Rights and Justice)
1. Consequentialist (Subjective or Objective)
David Kistler
Auburn University 2013
4. Determine Moral Standing- Here, we must determine
who/what has moral standing—is ethically considerable.
 Humans?
 Animals?
 Ecosystems?
5. Reflect on Assumptions- Here, we question our decision
making. (Strengths vs. Weaknesses)
 Why are we making these choices?
 What does our choice suggest?
6. Make a decision and Justify our reasoning.
David Kistler
Auburn University 2013
Black Mesa, near Kayenta Arizona, ca. 1978. Photo NAU.PH.95.55.91 by Don
Lyngholm courtesy of Cline Library Special Collections, Northern Arizona
University
David Kistler
Auburn University 2013
Ethical Egoism
 Kernohan (2012) stated “Ethical Egoism is the theory that people
should always act in their own self-interest, that they are morally
obligated to do what is best for themselves.” p. 41
 Contractarianism- ethics are social contracts between egoists.
 Only the self has moral value.
 Strong (Psychological Egoism): morally required to maximize self-interests.
 Weak (Ethical Egoism): moral people ought to act in their own self-interest.
 Prisoner’s Dilemma.
David Kistler
Auburn University 2013