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What is Ethics?
Ethics is
The human response to
these questions…
Definitions:
• Ethics – A branch of philosophy
concerned with ways of thinking
philosophically about morality, and moral
judgment. Can be personal or social.
It is the summary of
values,
principles,
judgments
and standards by which
to measure right or wrong.
= Standards
• Morality – Human conduct and character
referring to “those acts which it makes
sense to describe as right or wrong, good
or bad.” = Behavior
• Moral Judgment – Judgments based on
considerations of how other people are to
be treated, and how others interests are
to weigh against our own. = Decisions
Simply
Ethics = rules of the game
Morality= performance within the
game (personal & group)
Moral Judgment= individual &
collective decision-making (affects self
& group)
• Absolute Morality – a fundamentalist
understanding of right and wrong,
determined solely by religious dogma or
doctrine; there’s an absolute right/wrong in
every situation;
“Divine Command Ethics”
• Relative Morality– The is the other
extreme based on the belief that anything
can be right or wrong depending on the
situation;
“Situation Ethics”
Absolute Morality Exodus 34:26
”Thou shall not boil a kid in its mother’s
milk.”
Leviticus 24:17
"Whoever takes a human life shall surely
be put to death.”
Leviticus 20:9
“For anyone who curses one’s father or
mother shall be surely put to death.”
Relative Morality (Moral Relativism)
-The position that ethical propositions do not
reflect objective/ universal moral truths, but
instead make claims relative to personal or
cultural circumstances.
Moral relativists hold that there is no
universal standard (e.g., Divine) by which
to assess truth. This is moral subjectivism;
it is the opposite of moral absolutism.
Relative Morality -sees moral values as applicable in the
context of individual or cultural
preferences (= “Situation Ethics” or
moral subjectivism) --e.g., terminating an “inconvenient
pregnancy”; honor killing.
Catholic Morality – is based on the belief in
“Natural Law” --- i.e., an objective, eternal,
divine order in the universe.
It is neither absolute nor purely relative.
Rather, it is accessible by Reason. Since
humans are rational, they “get it.”
But right and wrong have to be determined
by weighing out various circumstances and
principles within any situation.
Understanding requires
REASON
using CRITICAL THINKING
to discern
right from wrong,
good from evil,
truth from falsehood.
CRITICAL THINKING = objective analysis
Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)
Taught that real
faith seeks understanding
("fides quaerens intellectum”)
So what’s the problem?
Isn’t it easy to make
good ethical decisions?
PROBLEM:
Often ethics involve
tough decisions
(called moral dilemmas)…
in which significant
values come into
conflict…
in which
WRONG may look RIGHT
and
BAD may look GOOD!
That is,
sometimes
primary
values we have
come into conflict.
This conflict of
moral values is called
a moral dilemma
DILEMMA:
DI = two
LEMMA = assumption
Moral dilemmas
are tough choices
in which there are at least
2 assumptions
regarding what is
GOOD, RIGHT, TRUE…
both of which
look
GOOD…
In other words, moral
dilemmas typically are
good vs. GOOD
Moral Dilemmas
can be very confusing
at times!
GOOD
GOOD
Because
GOOD may feel BAD &
BAD may feel GOOD…
It’s never this obvious…
If easy, it wouldn’t be a
dilemma
So how does one
know what’s
GOOD, RIGHT,
TRUE??
Discernment
is
needed!
DISCERN:
DIS = apart
CERNERE = to sift
With moral dilemmas
it’s obvious
that
DISCERNMENT is
so important.
In spite of
“popular opinion,”
DISCERNMENT is
not the job of…
* The Church
* Your parents
* Nerinx
* Your friends
then
WHOSE
JOB
IS IT ???
YOURS!
YOURS! --
but HOW?
Conscience
(literally “to know”)
simply means…
moral judgment
based on our awareness
of right & wrong;
CONSCIENCE =
moral judgment using
reason
To be ethical is not simply
to resort to “a little voice”
inside.
Rather it requires
using your conscience-critical thinking (reason)
with sound moral judgement
(discernment).
According to the Church
conscience takes precedence
over every kind of human
authority.
Conscience is God’s
voice within us.
In fact, the Church tells us
that we must obey our
Conscience “a law
inscribed by God
in our hearts.”
A person “has the right to
act in conscience….
That person “must not be
forced to act contrary to
to his/her conscience.”
- Catechism #1782, Article 6
The Church, acknowledging
conscience as a
“moral compass,”
calls us to inform it-For without an ethical framework,
Conscience is a compass on
the open sea, without a map
as a reference.
Informing your conscience with
an ethical framework provides you
with a map.
Though you have
never been there
before, someone
else has -- why not use
their experience & knowledge?!
Of course you need to
use discernment and
test the moral advice of
others to see if it ‘rings
true’ with your own
conscience!
Indeed, you must form
your conscience
in order for it to be
the most effective.
“Conscience must be informed
and moral judgment enlightened.
A well-formed conscience is
upright and truthful. It formulates
its judgments according to reason,
in conformity with the true good
willed by the wisdom of the
Creator.”
- Catechism, #1783
Conscience using
DISCERNMENT requires
• Patience
• Practice
• Perspective
(an objective one!)
-Personal: your job is to establish an
“Individual Moral Code”
-Social: our collective standards that
are drawn up in accordance with
particular moral principles
(such as the “common good”);
these include civil law.
Can you think of
any examples of
personal or
social
moral dilemmas?
Personal Moral Dilemmas • Whether or not to lie to parents
• Whether or not to cheat
• Whether or not to gossip
• Whether or not to steal
• Whether or not to be
sexually active
Social Dilemmas whether or not to legally allow
• Embryonic stem cell research
• Capital punishment
• Concealed weapons
• Undocumented
Immigrant labor
Can you think of any
situations today
(or in the past)
when something
wrong looks right?
• Slavery
• Women, Native Americans,
African Americans denied
the right to vote
• The atom bomb was dropped
to end World War II, killing
many innocents
- Medicine
- Business
- Politics
- Journalism
- Law
- Human Rights
and more…
Two roads diverged in a
wood and I--I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made
all the difference.
By Robert Frost
Pioneers need to be Trail
Blazers
Which will you take?
the path of least resistance
or
the “road less traveled”
Don’t follow the herd !
Two roads diverged in a
yellow wood and I…
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made
all the difference.
By Robert Frost
SERENITY PRAYER:
“God, grant me the
serenity to accept the
things I cannot change;
the courage to change
the things I can;
and the wisdom
to know the difference.”
http://faculty.winthrop.edu/oakesm/