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Module 34 Value Ethics Duty Ethics ©LDSEternalism.com 1 DUTY ETHICS VALUE ETHICS Categorical Imperatives “Since…Then” Hypothetical Imperatives “If …Then” KANT / PLATO Categorical Imperative An unconditional moral obligation that is binding in all circumstances and is not dependent on a person's inclination or purpose. (Google Search) Morality / Righteousness an End in Itself: The Good Will vs. ARISTOTLE Hypothetical Imperative A commandment of reason that applies only conditionally. Valid only in the presence of some ulterior desire or goal. (Google Search) Morality / Righteousness a Means to an End: The Good Life 2 Happiness Duty ARISTOTLE VALUE ETHICS Good Right “All advice to do things or not to do them is concerned with happiness, and with the things that make for or against it; whatever creates or increases happiness or some part of happiness, we ought to do; whatever destroys or hampers happiness, or gives rise to its opposite, we ought not to do,” (Rhetoric, 1360b4) 3 Happiness Duty Good Joseph Smith Right VALUE ETHICS “Happiness is the object [goal] and design of our existence [life]; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 255–56) 4 Duty Happiness Right IMMANUEL KANT Good DUTY ETHICS “The majesty of duty has nothing to do with enjoyment of life; it has its special law and its special tribunal,” (Kant, Critique of Practical Reason, Pt. I,I, 3) “Pure practical reason does not require that we should renounce all claim to happiness, but only that the moment duty is in question we should take no account of happiness” (Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, II) 5 BIN LADEN DUTY ETHICS “To kill Americans and their allies, both civil and military, is an individual duty of every Muslim who is able, in any country where this is possible,” (Bin Laden 1998 … an Arabic newspaper in London, Al-Quds al-Arabi) 6 DUTY ETHICS The Tragedy of a Self-Imposed Death Warrant A MORALITY THAT CANNOT BE LIVED Love Others Right Duty Life Self Good Happiness Aristotle: “Evil destroys even itself, and if it is complete becomes unbearable,” (Ethics, 1126a12) 7 VALUE ETHICS DUTY ETHICS LIFE, JOY & HAPPINESS DEATH, SORROW & MISERY 8 Happiness Ultimate Good and Reward Happiness is the ultimate goal. The reward for a life well-Lived. It is a moral need that makes up part of your identity. Moral needs have primacy over Duties (chosen obligations) Happiness (Moral Needs) Duty (Chosen Obligations) President Lorenzo Snow: “Every principle that is revealed from the heavens is for our benefit, for our life, for our salvation, and for our happiness,” (JD 4: 183) Happiness (Psychological Wants) Duties have primacy over wants. As chosen obligations Duties are a necessary means to achieving your psychological wants. 9 Happiness Ultimate Good and Reward 2 Nephi 2:25 “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” Joseph Smith: “And as God has designed our happiness—and the happiness of all His creatures, he never has—He never will institute an ordinance or give a commandment to His people that is not calculated in its nature to promote that happiness which He has designed, and which will not end in the greatest amount of good and glory to those who become the recipients of his law and ordinances.” (TPJS, p. 256-257) President John Taylor: “It is ‘Life and the pursuit of happiness’ that ought to occupy the attention of all intellectual beings … and with those things that we consider will best promote not only our temporal, but our eternal happiness.” (JD 11:87) 10 VALUE ETHICS (A GOOD LIFE) Life Self Good Happiness Love Others Right Duty STANDARD? BENEFICIARY? CODE? PURPOSE? Love Others Right Duty Life Self Good Happiness DUTY ETHICS (A GOOD WILL) 11 VALUES (GOOD THINGS) AND VIRTUES (RIGHT ACTIONS) A “Value” is the GOOD that we desire to gain or keep. GOOD RIGHT PRIMACY OF EXISTENCE A “Virtue” is the RIGHT action by which we gain or keep it. Only by knowing the value of that which is good for us can we know what is right and wrong to do. Virtues are right actions that preserve good. Vices are wrong actions that destroy good. 12 Which Has Primacy Virtues or Values? A “Value” is that which we desire to gain or keep. A “Virtue” is the action by which one gains or keeps it. VALUE VIRTUE Value Ethics NOT Duty Ethics 13 LIFE LOVE vs. LIFE LOVE VALUE ETHICS Life as the Standard 14 VALUE ETHICS NEEDN’T BE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND We Can Learn a Great Deal About Value Ethics and the Importance of a Life Oriented Morality from this Small Packet of Flower Seeds. 15 THE LIFE OF THE PANSY IS ITS STANDARD OF VALUE. VALUE: is that which one acts to gain and, or keep. GOOD & EVIL: Whatever values sustain, promote or otherwise enhances the life of the pansy, (sunshine, minerals, and, or moisture) is the good and “ought” to be pursued. While whatever threatens or is otherwise detrimental to the life of the pansy (weeds, insects, defoliant chemicals) is the evil and “ought” to be avoided. 16 ITS LIFE (Ethical) REQUIREMENTS ARE PRINTED ON BACK OF THE PACKET PANSY, Swiss Giants Mix – Viola wittrockiana Perennials live more than two years and typically bloom one year after planting Type … Perennial Height … 6-8” Planting Depth … 1/8” Seed Spacing … 2 seeds per pot or cell Days To Sprout … 10-21 Spacing After Thinning … 6” Planting: Start seeds indoors in August. Place flat or pots in a dark room (or cover with black plastic) and keep temperature at 70F until sprouts appear. Where winters are mild, transplant seedlings in the fall into soil enriched with compost. Where winters are cold, move seedlings into a cold frame and then transplant outdoors in early spring. Growing: Mulch around plants to keep roots cool and moist. Water when the top 1-inch layer of soil is dry. Fertilize monthly. Remove faded blossoms (plus a few leaves) to prolong flowering. Protect over wintering plants with a layer of mulch. 17 THE LIFE OF THE PANSY IS ITS STANDARD OF VALUE. VIRTUE: is the action by which one gains and, or keeps one’s VALUES. Right and Wrong: Whatever actions the pansy takes to ultimately promote its own good (turn toward the sun, dig their roots deeper) are right actions (virtues) and whatever actions are ultimately detrimental to its own good (seedlings landing in a dry gravel pit) are wrong actions (vices). 18 LIFE OF ORGANISM IS STANDARD OF VALUE PANSY CACTUS DOG ELEPHANT MOUSE SKUNK MANKIND Elephant Skunk AS LIFE’S REQUIREMENTS DIFFER SO DOES THE GOOD/RIGHT CODE 19 LIFE AS STANDARD (Existential Proof) Experiment: Place a Plant, a Mushroom Spore, a Door Knob, and a Turtle In a Dark Closet Without Food, Water or Sunshine for 30 Days and Observe the Results. A DARK CLOSET PLANT ON A SHELF TURTLE ON THE FLOOR MUSHROOM SPORE ON A SHELF DOORKNOB IN THE CORNER 20 ONE MONTH LATER: A DARK CLOSET LIFE AND DEATH ISSUE…NOT LOVE AND HATE! PLANT ON A SHELF (DEATH) TURTLE ON THE FLOOR (DEATH) MUSHROOM SPORE ON A SHELF (LIFE) DOORKNOB IN THE CORNER (UNCHANGED) 21 Continually Confronted With Life or Death Alternatives STANDARD OF VALUE = Life of the Organism MORAL CODE = Meeting the needs of the organism Values Food Water Virtues Shell TURTLE Values Virtues Minerals Water Sunlight PLANT Minerals Values MUSHROOM Virtues Low Moisture No Sunlight 22 Life the Standard of Value Brigham Young’s Existential Proof President Brigham Young: “We are not in opposition to anything in earth or hell, except the principle of death. God has introduced life, and it is the principle of life that we are after,” (JD 7:56) President Brigham Young: “Many men and women who have obeyed the Gospel, and have not received from the Lord these striking testimonies, will say, ‘Well, I really do not know that I can tell whether the Gospel is true or not.’ To all such I say, then you are no philosopher at all, for upon the rational principles of common philosophy you can tell whether it is true or not. Does it contain the seeds of life? Does it promote the plants and yield the fruits of life, or does it produce the plants and yield the fruits of death? You can ask these questions and readily answer them for yourselves.” (JD 14:112) 23 LIFE LOVE What do you think is the central theme throughout The Book of Mormon? LIFE and DEATH NOT LOVE and HATE 2 Ne. 2:27 (Lehi) “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself,” 24 LIFE LOVE It is as if Lucifer’s whole intent is to divert our attention away from LIFE and DEATH issues and over to issues of LOVE and HATE. LIFE is the Standard of VALUE for all living organisms not LOVE 25 Objectivism Mortal Life as Standard vs. Eternalism Eternal Life as Standard 26 AN OBJECTIVISTS’ GOD Leonard Peikoff: “A God susceptible of proof would wither and starve the spirit of mysticism. Such an entity would be finite and limited; it would be one thing among others within the universe, a thing bound by identity and causality, capable of being integrated without contradiction into man’s cognitive context, incompatible with miracles, revelations, and the other paraphernalia of unreason. Such an entity would not be an ineffable mystery transcending nature and science. It would be a part of nature to be studied by science, and it would be of no use whatever to a mystic.” (Objectivism The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, p. 183-184) 27 — RAISING THE BAR — L I F E … ( At A n y C o s t ) SURVIVAL OF FITTEST 28 — RAISING THE BAR — G O O D L I F E … ( Te m p o r a l H a p p i n e s s ) ARISTOTLE / OBJECTIVISM L I F E … ( At A n y C o s t ) SURVIVAL OF FITTEST 29 — RAISING THE BAR — ETERNAL LIFE … (Eternal Happiness) MORMONISM / ETERNALISM G O O D L I F E … ( Te m p o r a l H a p p i n e s s ) ARISTOTLE / OBJECTIVISM L I F E … ( At A n y C o s t ) SURVIVAL OF FITTEST 30 Questions? Disagreements? ©LDSEternalism.com