Ethics

• Lawrence Kohlberg

  • American psychologist, was among the pioneers of moral development research
  • theorized that humans develop their moral judgements in 6 stages
• Kohlberg interviewed boys between the ages of 10 and 16.
• Jean Piaget

  • who Kohlberg based his theory of 6 stages of moral development
• Level 1: Preconventional Morality
• Preconventional morality - is the earliest period of moral development. It lasts until around the age of 9.
• Stage 1 (OBEDIENCE AND PUNISHMENT):

  • The earliest stages of moral development, obedience and punishment are especially common in young children.
  • Obeying the rules is important because it is a way to avoid punishment.
  • At this stage before making judgement, one asks: how can I avoid punishment?
• Stage 2 (SELF-INTEREST):

  • At the individualism and exchange stage of moral development, children account for individual points of view and judge actions based on how they serve individual needs.
  • The person acts for his own best interest.
  • At this stage before making judgement, one asks: What’s in it for me?
• Level 2: Conventional Morality

  • The next period of moral development is marked by the acceptance of social rules regarding what is good and moral.
  • This level shows the importance of considering the norms, practices, and views of society to which the individual is now being exposed to.
• Stage 3 (INTERPERSONAL ACCORD AND CONFORMITY):

  • This stage of the interpersonal relationship of moral development is focused on living up to social expectations and roles to avoid being outcast or boxed as “kill joy”.
  • Thus, interpersonal accord and conformity guide our moral judgments.
  • At this stage before making judgement, one asks: What do others think of me?
• Stage 4 (MAINTAINING SOCIAL ORDER/LAW):

  • This stage is focused on ensuring that social order is maintained.
  • The focus is on maintaining law and order by following the rules, doing one’s duty, and respecting authority.
  • At this stage before making judgement, one asks: How can I maintain law and order?
• Level 3. Postconventional Morality

  • At this level of moral development, people develop an understanding of abstract principles of morality.
• Stage 5 (SOCIAL CONTRACT):

  • The ideas of a social contract and individual rights cause people in the next stage to begin to account for the differing values, opinions, and beliefs of other people.
  • Rules of law are important for maintaining a society, but members of the society should agree upon these standards
• Stage 6 (UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES):

  • Kohlberg's final level of moral reasoning is based on universal ethical principles and abstract reasoning.
  • At this stage, people follow these internalized principles of justice, even if they conflict with laws and rules.
  • It is often mistakenly be interpreted as under the Pre-Conventional Stage for it is seen as egoistic for the personal values.
• Human Person

  • considered as a Moral Agent
  • due to its ability to think, feel, and act.
• Act of Man – is an act which man performs but he is not the master of it for he has not consciously controlled it, has not deliberately willed it, and is not subsequently not responsible for it.
• instinct - is the first one to respond/react when faced with a situation/problem.
• Human Act – is an act is proceeded from the deliberate free will of man. Man is the master of the act, one that is consciously controlled and deliberately willed. Thus, a human act is always consolidated by our intellect and free will.
• The Object of the Human Act

  • It refers to the effect which an action primarily and directly causes. It is necessarily the result of the act without taking into account the circumstances or the end.
• The Circumstances contextualizing the Human Act

  • These include all the particulars of the concrete human action which are capable of affecting its morality. They are such things as the person involved, the time, the place, the occasion, which are distinct from the object
• The End or the Intention of the Agent in performing a Human Act

  • The end or intention of a human act is the purpose that prompts one to perform such an act.
  • it is the consequence of one’s action.
• Impediments - obstacles
• Ignorance: This to a great extent affects the intellectual dimension of the human act. It is elucidated as lack of adequate knowledge in an individual
• • Invincible ignorance is that ignorance which cannot be dispelled by reasonable diligence of a prudent individual would be expected to exercise in a given situation.
  • Vincible ignorance is that which could be eliminated by the application of reasonable diligence. It is a deliberate act of not knowing something before choosing and doing a certain act.
• Passion:

  • It is often connoted as a powerful or compelling emotion or feeling for instance an experience of strong hate or sexual desire.
  • said to be a strong tendency towards the possession of something good or towards the avoidance of something evil.
• Habit: is an acquired tendency for doing something as a result of repeated practice.
• Fear: It is defined as the shrinking back of the mind on account of an impending evil considered to be difficult to avoid or even impossible at times
• Subjectivism

  • is a position that asserts that moral judgments are ultimately based on individual subjective experiences and preferences.
• Moral Courage

  • is a concept that refers to the ability of an individual to stand up for their beliefs and values, even in the face of opposition or potential negative consequences
  • moral stance
• Naïve Hedonism - where children begin to make their own moral decisions which are normally based on what serves their own needs and what is negotiated in line with their understanding of the social rules.
• Reason is the capacity for consciously making sense of things, establishing and verifying facts, applying logic, and changing or justifying practices, institutions, and beliefs based on new or existing information (Kompridis, 2000).
• Reason is a declaration made to explain or justify action, decision, or conviction.
• Moral reasoning involves predicting the consequences of an action before we act.
• Impartiality also called evenhandedness or fair-mindedness is a principle of justice holding that decisions should be based on objective criteria, rather than on the basis of bias
• Broadly stated ethics is "concerned with making sense of intuitions"
• Mary Midgley (1983) writes "Sensitivity requires rationality to complete it, and vice versa.
• Empathy enables us to identify with others, and may generate a "perception of the other as a being who deserves concern and respect.
• Conscience - reflects our integration of moral sentiments and principles