Download Chapter 17: Ethical Arguments

ENG 113: Composition I
What is an Ethical Argument?

Ethics is the field of philosophy that studies
the standards by which actions can be
judged as right or wrong or good or bad
 Measure against a standard
 Consider in terms of their consequences
Often includes abstract concepts such as
good, right, duty, obligation, honor and
choice
 Applied Ethics is the field of philosophy that
applies ethics to real-life issues

Ethical Argument

An ethical argument focuses on whether
something should be done because it is
good or right (or not done because it is
bad or wrong)

Examples:
 Should teenagers ever be tried as adults?
 Is the death penalty ever justified?
 Do animals have rights?
Ethical Arguments

Ethical arguments:
 Begin with a clear statement that something
is right or wrong
 Show how a religious, philosophical, or
ethical principle supports this position
Stating an Ethical Principle

The most important part of an ethical
argument is the ethical principle

The ethical principle is a general statement
about what is good or bad, right or wrong

The ethical principal is the set of values
that guide you to an ethically correct
conclusion
Stating an Ethical Principle

You can show something is good or right
by establishing that it conforms to a
particular moral law or will result in
something good for society

You can show that something is bad or
wrong by demonstrating that something
violates a moral law or will result in
something bad for society
A Self-Evident Ethical Principle

Whenever possible, you should base
your ethical argument on an ethical
principle that is self-evident
 An ethical principle is self-evident if it needs
no proof or explanation
○ You avoid needing to establish the principle
that is the basis for your essay
 Example: Thomas Jefferson “We hold these truths to
be self-evident…”
 If the audience accepts the self-evident ethical
principle, they will also accept your argument
A Universal Ethical Principle

The ethical principle must be selfevident to most of your readers, not just
those that agree with you or hold a
particular religious or cultural beliefs

The ethical principle should be
universally accepted and stated in a way
that applies universally
Ethics versus Law

An ethical argument generally deals with
what is right and wrong, not necessarily
what is legal or illegal
 There is a big difference between laws and
ethics
○ Laws – rules that govern a society and are
enforced by its political and legal systems
○ Ethics – standards that determine how human
conduct is judged
Ethics versus Laws
 Something that is legal is not necessarily ethical
 Examples of past laws that are now considered unjust:
○ Jim Crow laws: restricted rights of African Americans
○ Nuremburg laws: restricted rights of Jews in Germany
○ Apartheid laws: enforced racial segregation in South Africa
 These laws were passed, enforced, and obeyed
○ Ethical arguments against unjust laws
 Martin Luther King Jr.
 Important to do what is ethically right, not just what is
legally right
Understanding Ethical Dilemmas

It is often difficult to decide what is right or
wrong or what is good or bad

A dilemma is a choice between alternatives
that seem equally favorable

An ethical dilemma occurs when there is a
conflict between two or more possible
actions—each of which will have a similar
consequence or outcome
Ethical Dilemma

The “Lifeboat Dilemma”
 A ship hits an iceberg
 Survivors are overloaded into a lifeboat
 A storm approaches
 Captain’s ethical dilemma:
○ If he does nothing, the overloaded boat will
capsize, and all the people will drown
○ If he throws some people overboard, he will
save some of the passengers in the lifeboat,
but the people thrown overboard will die
Ethical Dilemma

Sophie’s Choice – 1979 novel by William
Styron
 The narrator of the novel is a woman named
Sophie
 Sophie and her two children are arrested by
the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz
 A guard gives Sophie a horrible choice
○ She may choose one child to live and one to
go to the gas chamber
○ If she refuses to choose, both children will be
sent to the gas chamber
Everyday Ethical Dilemmas

Business owner
 The business owner realizes he must cut costs
 If the owner takes no action, the business will fail
 If the owner cuts costs, employees will be laid off
and hurt, but the jobs for the rest of the employees
will be saved

Surgeon
 A pair of conjoined twins who share a heart must be
separated
 If the surgeon does not operate, both twins will die
 If the surgeon operates, one twin will definitely die,
but the other might live
Resolving an Ethical Dilemma

Often, the only way to resolve an ethical
dilemma is to choose the lesser of two evils

Simple definitions of “right or wrong” and
“good or bad” do not work

Although it may be tempting to apply clear
ethical principals in your writing, you should
be careful not to oversimplify the situations
you are writing about
Structuring an Ethical Argument

Introduction
 Establishes the ethical principle and states the essay’s
thesis

Background
 Gives an overview of the situation

Ethical Analysis
 Explains the ethical principle
 Analyzes the particular situation on the basis of this
principle

Refutation of Opposing Arguments
 Addresses arguments against the thesis

Conclusion
 Restates the ethical principle and the thesis
 Includes a strong concluding sentence