Download moral philosophy

What is missing?
 Each of us is in a tradition (or traditions). Each of us is a
member of (many) cultures and practices.
 What ethical / cultural practices (beliefs, rules,
principles) should I follow?
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- feeling isn’t enough. Why?
- tradition isn’t enough. Why?
- agreement isn’t enough, Why?
What is the relevance/importance of history, place,
culture?
Relation of reason, passion, tradition, culture, social
dimension
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Why is it important to know/be ethical? To study ethics?
What values are central? (Are there any
general/universal principles?)
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Does ethics make a difference?
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Beneficence? Impartiality? Autonomy? Pluralism?
relation to other beliefs (science, art, religion)
Who/what counts? Why?
Other factors
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Human nature as social beings
The diversity of the social
The place of dialogue
Character / virtue
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We need a full account of ethics as true and objective
Questions seeking explanation
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How/when do I carry out my ethical beliefs? Is there any ‘right’
or ‘wrong’ answer?
Should others be ethical? (vs artistic taste, scientific
knowledge)
How do I explain difference/diversity? Is difference/diversity in
practice important? (What does it mean to say that ethics is
“true”?)
Responding to post modern approaches
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Still rationalist; still foundationalist (in critique)
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If on a par, sceptical
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We can know reality
footprints
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Standard of truth not just correspondence
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There is a purpose to sentimental education
We look for explanations of our feelings
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Quasi coherence and a ground
Why are babies worth more than bugs?
Solidarity must be ‘reasonable’
Moral education (Practical ethics) and moral theory (moral
philosophy)
 we need to distinguish ‘moral ideas’ (morality) from ‘ideas
about morality’ (moral science) -- between “the art of living”
and “the science of ethics”
 sceptical of the actual [psychological] influence that ideas
about morality have on ethical behaviour
 Is moral science necessary to moral action?
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guidelines already present in institutions and dominant ideas
that exist in the world
the moral life must grow from within
Is there any point to theory and the analysis of ethical life?
 to understand moral life, what lies behind it, and what is
involved in it
 bad theories produce bad observations, and bad
observations produce dangerous actions
What does such a moral theory involve?
 pursuing such questions as: the nature of human freedom,
the nature of the will, the source of ethical obligation, the
character of dominant ideas, and the ‘principle of value,’ and
more.
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Jacques Maritain
Jacques Maritain
 Natural Law: reflections on theory and practice (ed. with
Introductions and notes, by William Sweet), South Bend, IN:
St Augustine's Press [distributed by University of Chicago
Press], 2001; Second printing, corrected, 2003.
 Man and the State, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL,
1951.
 La loi naturelle ou loi non écrite: texte inédit, établi par
Georges Brazzola. Fribourg, Suisse: Éditions universitaires,
1986. [Lectures on Natural Law. Tr. William Sweet. In The
Collected Works of Jacques Maritain, Vol. VI, Notre Dame,
IN: University of Notre Dame Press, (forthcoming).]
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follows Thomas Aquinas (1224-74); foundationalist, rationalist
Vs modernity – “our knowledge of the basic principles of
morality as deduced by conceptual and rational knowledge”
is fundamentally mistaken
not because reason is defective, or a product of a particular
culture
not the function of reason to provide foundational principles
Modernism confuses moral knowledge and moral philosophy
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Moral philosophy is a practical science; builds on moral
knowledge
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We know "through science" and "through inclination“
(connaturality)
obtained "through looking at and consulting what we are and
the inner bents and propensities of our own being” (RR 22)
Synderesis - not conceptual knowledge or reasoning
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But also not affective/sentimental; an innate disposition
"the judgements in which Natural Law is made manifest to
practical Reason do not proceed from any conceptual,
discursive, rational exercise of reason; they proceed from
that connaturality or congeniality through which what is
consonant with the essential inclinations of human nature is
grasped by the intellect as good; what is dissonant, as bad."
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We know the first principle "Good is to be done and sought
after, and evil is to be avoided"
Questions
 Morality varies throughout humanity and history
 Is this ‘knowledge’ rational?
 What exactly do we know? (moral facts? Principles?)
 Is this knowledge reliable?
What is involved in morality?
 Basic cultural/moral beliefs (framework beliefs,
triggered)
 Non-basic cultural/moral beliefs
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Historical
Social
Require practices and discourse
Rooted in dealings with the world; institutions
Learning moral culture/discourse vs reducible to it
Open ended; allow growth and development