Download Introduction to Moral Theory

Philosophy 219
Introduction to Moral Theory
Theoretical vs. Practical
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One of the ways in which philosophers (since Aristotle)
subdivide the field of philosophy is to distinguish between
theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy.
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The distinction is often grounded in the recognition that knowing
what a thing is is different from knowing what it is good for.
Theoretical philosophy refers to philosophical activity that
aims at knowledge in and of itself, and concerns itself then
with the ultimate features of reality.
Practical Philosophy refers to philosophical activity that aims
at action and choice (not knowing, but doing).
Social and Political Philosophy
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Our subject matter this semester has traditionally been
associated with practical philosophy.
There are clearly theoretical elements involved (the nature of
power, the sources of authority) but the aim of inquiring into
these matters is ultimately to make choices about our life
together.
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What is the best way to organize our social existence?
It is the ‘practical’ character of social and political philosophy
that explains why it satisfies the moral values general
education requirement.
From Politics to Ethics
• Politics and ethics are both concerned about the
good life. The difference is in the focus.
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Politics directs our attention to our social existence while
ethics focuses on individual choice or character.
In some important sense, they must obviously be done
together.
• Though we can’t do them both in one semester, we
should spend a little time thinking about the nature
and subject matter of philosophical ethics.
What is a Moral Theory?
• Answering this question requires we ask
some subsidiary ones.
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What concepts do moral theories rely on?
What do moral theories aim to provide?
How and why do moral theories employ moral principles?
How are moral theories structured?
The Right And The Good
• All moral theories employ and deploy these two
main concepts.
• "Right" and it's inverse "Wrong" are typically used
to evaluate actions.
• "Good" and it's inverse "Bad" typically assess the
value of agents, experiences, things, or states of
affairs.
Right/Wrong Action
• The concept "Right" has both a narrow and a
broad meaning.
• Narrowly, right actions are those we are morally
obligated to do.
• Broadly, right actions are all actions that are not
wrong.
• The concept "Wrong" has only one meaning.
Moral Value
• When we identify something or someone as good or
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bad, we are speaking to its character, and particularly
of the moral value that it has.
Things can have or be valuable in one of two ways.
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Intrinsic value refers to a character or feature inherent in the thing.
Extrinsic value refers to how a thing is related to some other valuable
thing (ultimately one with intrinsic value.
• Intrinsic value is what philosophers are typically
concerned with.
A Theory of the Right and the Good
• Given these accounts of the Right and the Good,
we can identify three tasks that a moral theory
must accomplish.
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MT must identify the right-making features of
actions.
MT must provide an account of intrinsic moral value.
MT must specify how these accounts can serve as the
basis for the justification of specific moral
conclusions.
Two Main Aims of Moral Theory
• These three tasks of moral theory provide us with the
means of distinguishing two main aims.
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The theoretical aim (corresponding to the first two tasks) is to
identify the underlying features of actions, persons and other
morally relevant elements that make them right or wrong, good
or bad. In other words, MTs have to explain what makes
something morally relevant.
The practical aim (corresponding to the third task) is to be actionguiding. In other words, MTs must provide us with resources with
which to respond to the moral issues that confront us.
Taking Aim with Moral Principles
• One tool that philosophers use to satisfy these
aims is the moral principle.
• A moral principle is a general statement of the
right-making characteristics of actions or of the
specification of intrinsic value.
• Principles that focus on actions are called "Principles of Right
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Conduct."
Principles that focus on intrinsic value are called "Principles of
Value."
A Plurality of Theories
• Given that different moral theories emphasize
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different principles, you shouldn’t be surprised that
when we start looking at specific theories, we will
find that they highlight different features of our
moral lives.
In many cases, these differences mask an essential
continuity in moral evaluations, but on occasion
there will be important evaluative differences.
We need to consider how we should evaluate the
differing claims of the moral theories we will discuss.
Evaluating Moral Theories
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In addition to a consideration of the adequacy of the arguments offered in
support of a particular theory, there are a number of features which a successful
ethical theory must exhibit.
The two central features correspond to the two main aims of moral theory.
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Corresponding to the theoretical aim is the principle of explanatory power: a theory
should help us understand our moral evaluations. The better the explanation, the better
the theory.
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You know murder is wrong. Now ask yourself why? That's a harder question to answer than it might at
first seem, and moral theory can fill in the explanatory gap.
Corresponding to the practical aim is the principle of practical guidance: a theory
should help us make the morally correct choices. The better the guidance, the
better the theory.
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If you are faced with the challenge of having to help a friend decide whether or not to have an abortion,
you need a theory that provides determinate, consistent, and actionable verdicts.
The Example of Ethics By Authority
• We can begin to appreciate the value of these
evaluative principles by putting them to work in a
consideration of a popular, but not necessarily
successful, approach to moral theory.
• "Ethics by Authority" refers to a family of approaches
to moral justification which share the insistence that
all the moral explanation and guidance we need can
be located in some "authority."
Divine Command Theory
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DCT is one example of an authority based moral theory.
The key claim of DCT is that, an action is right if and only if [iff] (and
because) God does not command that we not do that action.
One of the virtues of this approach is that it does satisfy MT's
practical aim.
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The 10 commandments don't leave a lot of wiggle room.
However, it does nothing to satisfy the explanatory aim.
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Why should we honor our parents?
To say that "it pleases God" just pushes the question back a level. Why does/should it
please God? God's willing it is no explanation of why it is the right thing to will. Insisting
that God is good doesn’t help. After all, goodness is a moral quality which still needs an
explanation.
Ethical Relativism
• ER is another example.
• It's key claim is that an action (performed by a
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member of Group G) is right iff the moral norms
accepted by G permit the performance of the action.
Like with DCT, ER seems appropriately actionguiding, but it doesn’t do any better job with the
theoretical aim.
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Why should the fact that a majority of some members of a group believe that
the death penalty is morally acceptable make it so?
Most Europeans used to believe that the earth was flat, but that didn’t make
it so.
What have we seen?
• Our consideration of DCT and ER has revealed that
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these two very common "moral theories" do not
satisfy the evaluative constraints which moral
theories should satisfy.
At the very least, this fact calls into question the
ability of these two ways of thinking about morality
to do the work we ask of moral theories.
When we review later in the semester a range of
specific moral theories, we will consider whether
they do a better job of satisfying these constraints.