Download Does it feel good? (Emotions)

Ethics and Behaviour:
Philosophical Approaches
Marc Le Menestrel
[email protected]
Session’s Menu
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The Master
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Aristotle and the Ethics of Virtue
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Kant and Mill: Modern Ethical Views
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Another Perspective
Two Fundamental Questions

What does ethics mean?

How should I act?
Aristotle: The Stagirite
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Born 387 b.c. in Greece.
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Student of Plato.
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Studied and wrote about a wide range of
subjects: logic, mathematics, physics,
biology, politics, ethics, metaphysics, …
A Holistic Approach

Nature is a whole that acts upon us
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Nature shows the mean, between excess and
deficiency
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Virtue is the reflect of the natural mean
A Word From Aristotle
Everything aims at the Good
Nicomachean Ethics
A Natural Model:
We should act virtuously, in harmony with the
essence of things, without excess nor
deficiency
A Hedonic Answer:
Good emotions are produced when acting
virtuously
How to act?
Feel good
Don’t feel good
Good feelings are reflecting virtuous actions
Kant: a Systematic Approach
 Born 1724 in Prussia.
 Modernity: emancipation of thought from
nature and religion, the subject becomes
central, society is perceived from the point
of view of the subject.
 Kant’s systematic inquiry
How do we think? (pure reason)
How do we act? (practical reason)
How do we perceive? (faculty to judge)
What is a moral act? (metaphysics of morals)
Reason, Intentions and Norms

Ethics is based on reason alone and not
on human nature or emotions.

Intentions count, independently of the
consequences.

Norms (principles, rules, rights, duties) are
the criterion of right intentions.
A Word From Kant
Everything in nature works according to rules
Logic
A Rational Model:
We should act according to a rule that can be
universally applied
An Idealist Answer:
There is no right to do wrong, neither in theory or
in practice
How to act?
Lying
Not Lying
Subject
There is no right to lie, in theory or in practice
J.S. Mill: A Science of Liberty
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Born in 1806 in London.
In search of a science that would reflect the
human dimension of society: System of Logic;
Principles of Political Economy; On Liberty;
Utilitarianism; The Subjection of Women.
Practical engagement for liberty.
Heritage of J. Bentham’s utilitarianism.
Function & Consequences

Right and wrong are a function of the
consequences of our actions.

We should act so as to attain the greatest
possible balance of good consequences over
bad consequences for everyone affected by our
actions.

“Good” means happiness and pleasure.
A Word From John Stuart Mill
Of two pleasures, if there is one that all
or almost all prefer, by experience of it,
irrespective of any feeling of moral
obligation, that is the more desirable
pleasure
Utilitarianism
How to act?
Good
consequences
when lying
Bad
consequences
without lying
Calculation of consequences drives ethical behavior
A Consequentialist Model:
We should act so as to attain the overall best
consequences
A Pragmatic Answer:
When judgments conflict, experienced facts
are the sole answer
Three Approaches to Ethics
Virtue-based:
Nature as a model
Emotions as a criterion
Idealism:
Reasoning as a model
Principles as a criterion
Consequentialism: Consequences as a model
Preferences as a criterion
Emotions, Principles & Consequences
Looking for a criterion, these ethical perspectives
identify the true answer to the tension between
Does it feel good? (Emotions)
Is this right? (Principles)
Does it harm others? (Consequences)
Ethical Dilemmas
Lying
A preferred
consequence
Not Lying
A not preferred
consequence
Is there always a ‘true’ solution to
these dilemmas?
Ethics as a Grey Zone
Looking at the
unethical side
?
You are
honest
Looking at
the ethical
side
and this is
painful
but you
anticipate…
It feels good
And it gives
energy
but you risk
bad
surprises…
Purely
unethical
Purely
ethical
Your
action
is here
What does it mean to say that grey is black or that grey is white?
To manage our grey zone, we need to identify both the ethical and the
unethical
On-Going Ethical Questions

Emotions/Virtue:
Who am I when acting? Do I feel good?
Would I feel good if it were public?
Is this a natural way to act?
Does this participate to my accomplishment?

Deontology/Idealism:
What sort of principle, rule or norm do I respect?
What happens if everybody does the same?
What happens if I always act like this?

Utilitarianism/Consequentialism:
What are the consequences for others?
Would I like these consequences for myself?
What are the consequences for the environment?
Would my children suffer from them?
An On-going Question?
Maybe ethics is the question itself.
We may learn to accept the tension between
how things are and how they should be.
We can structure this tension and mature our
feelings about it.
Then, we may even like this tension, and use it
as a source of energy
A Teaching from the Vedantas
Materialism says, the voice of
freedom is a delusion.
Idealism says, the voice that tells of
bondage is delusion.
Vedanta says, you are free and not
free at the same time; never free on
the earthly plane, but ever free on the
spiritual.
Swami Vivekananda Vedanta: its Theory and Practice, XLIII
A Word from Swami Vivekananda
Do not think that good and evil are
two, are two separate essences, for
they are one and the same thing
appearing in different degrees and in
different guises and producing
differences of feeling in the same
mind.
XLIII, Vedanta: its Theory and Practice
From the Philosophers
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Keep asking you questions, this is ethical thinking
Assume your responsibility, this is ethical behavior.
Listen to Nature, to Yourself and Others to enrich your
ethical judgment and to better anticipate consequences
Managing the ethical tension is an ongoing process source of energy