Download Three theories of ethics

Three theories of ethics
Michael Lacewing
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© Michael Lacewing
Normative ethics and
metaethics
• Normative theories: theories about what is
right, wrong, good or bad which we can use
in practical cases, e.g. it is always right to
do what will make most people happy
• Metaethical theories: theories about the
very ideas, the concepts, of right, wrong,
good and bad, e.g. whether moral
judgements are objectively true or false
What’s the point of
normative theories?
• The desire to know what to do practical guidance
• The desire to understand ourselves
• The desire to be consistent
Happiness: utilitarianism
• The principle of utility (aka the
‘greatest happiness’ principle):
– An action is right if and only if it
maximises happiness.
• ‘Maximises’: compared to other
possible actions.
• The end justifies the means.
Reason: Kant
• The Categorical Imperative:
– Act only on that maxim through which you
can at the same time will that it should
become a universal law.
• Maxim: personal principle of choice
• Universalization: morality is something
that everyone can follow
People as ‘ends in
themselves’
• Principle of humanity: ‘Act in such a way
that you always treat humanity, whether in
your own person or in the person of any
other, never simply as a means but always at
the same time as an end’
• ‘Humanity’: rational will - we cannot choose
to violate the power of choice without being
inconsistent
Virtue ethics
• Ethics isn’t just about acting, but
about living
• An action is right if and only if it is
what a virtuous agent would
characteristically (i.e. acting in
character) do in the circumstances
– Knowing how to act takes practical
wisdom, which involves experience and
insight
What is a virtue?
• Aristotle: a virtue is a state of character by
which you ‘stand well’ in relation to your
desires, emotions and choices:
– ‘to feel [desires and emotions] at the right times,
with reference to the right objects, towards the
right people, with the right motive, and in the
right way’
• Virtues are traits that are necessary for
‘living well’.