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AS Philosophy & Ethics
Mrs Sudds
Structure of the Course
G572 Religious Ethics
Exam January 16th 2013
1) Ethical Theories
2) Applied Ethics
G571 Philosophy of Religion
1) Ancient Greek Philosophy
2) Judeo-Christian Philosophy
3) Arguments of the existence of God
4) Challenges to religious belief
Exam May 2013 (date tbc)
Expectations
• 100% attendance
– Dentist appointments, driving tests etc should never be booked during school
time
– If you are unable to attend a lesson you must email Mrs Sudds by 0830 that day
explaining your reasons. [email protected] We will arrange a catch
up session.
• 100% punctuality
– Minutes late will be doubled in a time debt
• All homework complete & on time
– Equivalent to 5hrs per week per subject
• Effort & engagement
– Answering questions, asking questions, active rather than passive
Introduction to Ethical Theory
L.O.
•To analyse a range of ethical dilemmas to
consider your own personal response.
•To understand and apply the key terms
Teleological and Deontological, Absolutist and
Relativist
Homework Set 10/09/12
Due 17/09/12
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G572
Consider the ethical dilemma in front of you.
• What is your first instinct?
• What does reason tell you?
• Do you all agree?
• Is there a right or wrong answer?
ETHICS
Ethics is
the study of the general nature of
morals and of the specific moral
choices to be made by a person.
The word moral means ‘Of or
concerned with the judgment of the
goodness or badness of human
action and character’
Deontological /Teleological Morality
Situation
Stealing
Discriminating
against someone
Murder
Lying
Is this always wrong? If not, when is it ok?
Deontological theories
In deontological theories actions are right or wrong in
themselves.
That is, they are considered to be intrinsically right or wrong,
regardless of the consequences they produce.
E.g. “stealing is wrong because it is bad” – it is not made
right by the consequences. The very act of stealing is
wrong.
‘Deon’ is Greek for duty. Deontological systems teach that it
is our duty to avoid or perform particular actions.
We will study NATURAL LAW and KANTIAN ethics as
examples of DEONTOLOGICAL THEORIES
TASK: Write a definition of a deontological theory in your own words.
Teleological Ethics
A Teleological ethical theory is an ethical theory that
teaches an action is right or wrong depending on the
consequences or outcome of a situation.
Teleological comes from the Greek Telos – or end purpose.
This means that is impossible to say whether an action is
right or wrong without putting it into context.
• E.g. is stealing wrong?
• Does any situation make stealing morally right?
WE will study UTILITARIANISM as an example of a TELEOLOGICAL
THEORY
TASK: Write a definition of a Teleological theory in your own words.
Moral / Ethical Absolutism
In addition to the categories of DEONTOLOGICAL AND TELEOLOGICAL
theories, ethical theories can also be divided into RELATIVIST and
ABSOLUTIST theories
Absolutist theories are usually DEONTOLOGICAL.
Something that is ‘absolute’ has no exceptions or hesitations e.g. you
might say, “I am absolutely sure” to indicate that you are certain. In
morality an absolutist theory is a theory that holds that moral value
(of actions, principles etc..) is absolute. Absolutist theories teach
that actions are absolutely right or absolutely wrong, regardless of
TIME, SITUATION, CULTURE etc….
This means that moral value is universal and not relative
to individual or social difference. It claims that there
are eternal moral values and principles that are
applicable everywhere and are unchanged by time.
E.g. “Stealing is always wrong”
This is sometimes also called an objective view of ethics. The word
objective can be defined as ‘belonging to the object of thought rather
than to the thinking subject’.
Someone who is objective about ethical situations is unlikely to bring their
own prejudices, experiences and opinions to the judgement. Objective
judgements are based on an impartial absolute value system
The absolutist position is often held by those that believe
in God (though this is not necessary). The reason that
these rules are absolute could be because they come
from God e.g. The Ten Commandments, or because they
are a recognised standard of moral conduct e.g. Human
Rights.
Task: What does it mean to call a theory absolutist? Include
the word objective in your answer
Ethical / Moral Relativism
An ethically relativist theory teaches that there are no
absolute rights or wrongs, instead the right or wrong of
an action is relative to the situation.
Ethical relativism is the view that the rightness or
wrongness of an action is RELATIVE to other
considerations e.g. time, culture, situation, individuals….
E.g. “Stealing is wrong except if it is to preserve life”
Cultural Relativism : This is the belief that the culture of a
society defines what is right or wrong. There are two theories
that have an influence here.
The Diversity Theory: Because of the DIVERSITY across and
within cultures there can be no one true morality. From which
we can conclude….
The Dependency Theory: Morality DEPENDS on the culture you
belong to. We cannot Judge other cultures because different
cultures create different values, and we cannot be objective
about another culture since we are all the product of our own
culture.
This is supported by the findings of Herodotus an
ancient Greek historian. He discovered that the
Greeks and the Indians would not swap their
cultural practices regarding treatment of their
dead. The Indians ate their dead and the Greeks
cremated theirs. Not even a king could get them
to revise their tradition - he therefore concluded
that ‘custom is king’.
Applying ethics…
1) Choose an ethical dilemma & summarise.
2) For each dilemma, write a statement
representing a deontological, telelogical,
absolutist and relativist approach e.g.
• Killing is inherently wrong (bad)
• Killing is usually wrong but it depends on the
circumstances
• Killing is always wrong
• The greatest amount of life should be
preserved
Summary of Introduction to Ethical Theory
A Deontological Theory …
Deontological theories are usually Absolutist. Absolutist theories…
This can also be referred to as an objective approach to ethics. This means ……
A Teleological theory………
Teleological theories are usually relativist. Relativist theories…
These can also be called a subjective approach to ethics. This means…