Download Moral Reasoning and Ethical Theories

Moral Reasoning and Ethical
Theories
“Good engineering, good business, and
good ethics work together in the long run.
What is Morality?
• It concerns conduct: right and wrong, good and
bad, the rules that ought to be followed
• It is associated with consequences to ourselves,
others, and the environment
• The “right” or “good” is linked to value
judgements generally thought to promote fairness,
health, and safety while minimizing injustice
Ethical Theories
Utilitarianism
• Utilitarianism - the view that we ought to produce
the most good for the most people, giving equal
consideration to everyone affected
– Rule-Utilitarianism is applying those rules that if
generally adopted would produce the most good for the
most people
– Act-Utilitarianism is applying rules in order to produce
the most good for the most people involved in the
particular situation (rules become at most rules of
thumb)
Ethical Theories
Utilitarianism & Theories of Good
• Deeply satisfying pleasures mixed with some
inevitable pains & a pattern of activities and
relationships that one can affirm as valuable
overall (Mill)
• Things that satisfy rational desires, e.g., love and
creativity. Rational desires are those we would
approve of if we scrutinized our desires in light of
all relevant information about the world and our
own psychology (Brandt)
Ethical Theories
Rights Ethics
• Rights Ethics - the view that human rights - not
good consequences - are fundamental.
– Acts of respect for human rights are obligatory,
regardless of whether they always maximize good
– Truthfulness important in terms of its contribution to
liberty, especially within relationships based on trust
– Complex in that there are many types of rights that may
conflict and must be balanced
Ethical Theories
Rights Ethics & Liberty Rights
• Liberty Rights (Locke) - places duties on other
people not to interfere with one’s life.
– To be a person entails having human rights to life,
liberty, and the property generated by one’s labor
– property thought of as whatever we gain by “mixing
our labor” with things
– Views reflected by today’s Libertarians
Ethical Theories
Rights Ethics - Liberty & Welfare Rights
• Liberty & Welfare Rights (Melden) - having moral
rights presupposes the capacity to show concern
for others and to be accountable within a moral
community
– extent of rights determined in terms of
interrelationships among persons
– recognizes right to community benefits for living
minimally decent human life
Ethical Theories
Duty Ethics
• Duty Ethics - the focus on duties which
correspondence to and sustain fundamental rights
• List of duties based on respect for persons and
belief in human capacity for moral autonomy
• For example, if you have a right not to be
deceived, then I have a duty not to deceive you. To
deceive you is to undermine your ability to carry
out your plans based on available truths and within
relationships based on trust
Ethical Theories
Duty Ethics - List of Duties
• Kant
– Be truthful
– Be fair
– Make reparation for
harm done
– Show gratitude for
kindness extended
– Seek to improve one’s
own character and
talents
• Gert
– Don’t
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cause pain
disable
deprive of freedom
deprive of pleasure
deceive
cheat
– Do
• keep your promises
• obey the law
• do your duty
Ethical Theories
Duty Ethics - A Closer Look at Duties
• Are duties universally applicable and
exceptionless? Is duty absolute?
• What about when duties conflict with each other,
e.g., “do not deceive” versus “protect innocent
life”
• Prima facie duties - those that have justified
exceptions or limits
Summary
• Morality - “good” is linked to value judgements
• Ethical Theories - attempt to provide perspective
on moral responsibilities
– Utilitarianism
• Rule-Utilitarianism
• Act-Utilitarianism
– Rights Ethics
– Duty Ethics
Testing and Refining Ethical
Theories
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Is it applicable and coherent?
Is it consistent?
Is it based on valid information?
Is it sufficiently comprehensive to provide
guidance?
• Is it compatible with our moral convictions?
Example of Refining a Theory
A Theory of Justice (John Rawls)
(1) Each person is entitled to the most extensive
amount of political liberty compatible with an
equal amount for others
(2) Differences in social power and economic
benefits are justified only when they are likely to
benefit everyone, including members of the most
disadvantaged groups
Virtue Ethics
• Primary focus on the kinds of persons we should
aspire to be
• Virtues are
– desirable way of relating to others (individuals or
groups)
– desirable habits or tendencies of motive, attitudes, and
emotion as well as conduct
• Vices are
– undesirable habits and tendencies
• By extension, virtues and vices apply to
organizations
Aristotle: Virtue and the Golden
Mean
• Defined the moral virtues as tendencies, acquired
through habit formation, to reach a proper balance
between extremes in conduct, emotion, desire, and
attitude (balance between excess and deficiency)
• Example: Truthfulness is the mean between
revealing all information in violation of tact and
confidentiality (excess) and being secretive or
lacking in candor (deficiency) in dealing with
truth
Gandhi: Seven Social Sins
(Vices)
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Politics without principle
Wealth without work
Commerce without morality
Pleasure without conscience
Education without character
Science without humanity
Worship without personal sacrifice
MacIntyre: Virtue and Practices
• Internal goods define what the practices are all
about (external goods are money and prestige)
• virtues defined by reference to its internal good
– professional responsibility
• Self-direction virtues
– understanding, cognition (as grounded in moral concern)
– commitment and putting understanding into action (courage,
self-discipline, honesty)
• Public-spirited virtues
• Team-work virtues
• Proficiency virtues
Pragmatism
• A theory about morality that emphasizes the
limitations of abstract rules (“anti-theory”)
• Not to be confused with crass expediency
• Good consequences emphasized, but so too are
rights, duties and virtues within a given context
• Flexibility emphasized
• Like act-utilitarianism, there is danger of paying
insufficient attention moral principles through
immersion in specific contexts.
Can We Reduce Moral Reasoning to
Custom, Religion, or Self-Interest?
• Customs or ethical relativism is view that values
are reducible to conventions, customs, or laws
– would we accept bribes, cruelty, and intolerance?
• Religion and divine command ethics
– who are those among us who know precisely what
God’s commands are or are not on each issue?
• Self-interest and ethical egoism is view that the
sole duty of each individual is to maximize his or
her own good
– is everything act reducible to personal gain, alone?
Meaningful Work and
Professionals’ Commitments
• Craft Motives
– attraction to challenging work
– wanting to create objects and systems
• Moral Motives
– contributing to the well-being of other human beings
• Compensation and Self-Interest
– money, power, and recognition motivate and guide
human conduct
– reasonable regard for one’s self-interest can be a moral
virtue (prudence) as long as it does not crowd out other
virtues