Download REVIEW OF CHAPTER NINETHEEN: ENGAGING THE FUTURE IN

REVIEW OF CHAPTER NINETHEEN: ENGAGING THE FUTURE IN THE PRESENT: ISSUES IN CULTURE
AND PHILOSOPHY
Chapter 19 brings to our knowledge and understanding ethics and human conduct un the
society, Ethics bases on morality, on what is good, or thought to be good ,or simply just feels right
,crucial questions deserve our attention in our quest to see how we can shape human conduct in the
society ,analytical and critical tools of philosophy are focused and directed on human actions ,it
seeks to unearth the concept of morality and what real moral justice entails ,Ethics is an inquiry , not
just any inquiry a rational inquiry into the foundations of moral conducts ,although the major
aim of ethics is to give human the knowledge ,reasoning to be able to make distinctions
between what is good or bad ,by seeking adequate reasons and evidence that will enable them
make justifiable decision. Here meta ethics comes in ,meta ethics allows the philosopher to
explicate the concept or idea being conceived ,allowing him to unfold the meanings of
terminologies and avoid linguistic muddle , the aim of metaethics is to endangering and
understanding terms employed in discussions that have to do with principles of ethics
Unlike those normative ethics that does not concern itself determining the rightness or
wrongness of an action, rather they have to deal with terms like “right”, “wrong”, “BAD”.
There are a set of theories called teleological theories, these theories have in common the
emphasis placed on the consequences of action in determining its rightness or wrongness.an action
is right if it brings about good results and a bad action is bad when we have bad results for
philosophers are of view that is the ability of an action to bring pleasure that determines whether
the result of the action is good ,those who cling to this view say an action is right if it produces great
amount of pleasure over pain ,and wrong if it enhances pain over pleasure .the normative ethical
theory called ethical hedonism it is an ethical theory that interprets the rightness or wrongness of an
action this way .the position of ethical hedonists is that pleasure is only intrinsic good worth seeking
pain the intrinsic bad that should be avoided, Simon Blackburn defined ethics as the study of
concepts involved in practical reasoning ,good ,right ,duty, obligation ,virtue ,freedom, rationality,
choice ,also the second class order study of objectivity, objectivity, relativism or scepticism that may
attend claims we made in these terms ,this is a reductionist approach to understanding what ethics
is since moral philosophers do not just clarify concepts but in addition generate normative theories
.happiness has been used in qualifying the goodness of the consequence of an action .if the outcome
is bad it brings pain .
However one may want to ask happiness or pain for whom ,the performer or the
recipients of the action or should the actor take into consideration the interest of everyone
around him affected by this action or without distinguishing between himself and others
.ethical egoism recommends that the actor should derive pleasure for himself ,in other words
the rightness or wrongness of a action should be determined and felt by the performer of the
action .
Teleological ethical theories though have their shortcomings .one is that they
require foresee the result of our ,which incidentally is what humans are not totally capable of
,some consequences which are foreseen to bring good results sometimes end up producing
bad ones and vice versa .in addition ,human are often capable of foreseeing which will
purely be beneficial to the individual and some others too, while benevolent actions
sometimes favour one in addition to favouring others .the fact is that the separation is not
often easy to make ,Another major failure of consequentialism or the teleological is that it
makes it appear that the end justifies the means .But the problem is that can evil means
cannot justify a good end .If an action is informed by a bad motive, even if the consequence
of that action is good it still cannot be said to be normally good
The inadequate of consequentialist ethical theories made some philosophers to
favour deontological ethical theories .deontological theories reject the use of outcome to
determine or judge rightness or wrongness .moderate deontological theories hold that results
do matter but only as one of the relevant factors in determining the morality of the action that
is if it is right or wrong
Acting in line with duty for Kant Immanuel who has had the view that action
matters less than outcome .if we adhere to human guide people will act rationally and morally
.