ETHICS: 03 HANDOUT

• Feelings


  - Are seen as also necessary in ethical judgment as they are even deemed by some as instinctive a trained response to moral dilemmas.

  - Are also visceral or instinctual by providing motivations to act morally.
• Ethical Subjectivism

  - It is a theory about the nature of moral judgments.

  - It holds that the truth or falsity of ethical propositions is dependent on the feelings, attitudes, or standards of a person or group.

  - This theory states that moral judgments describe our personal feelings.

  - It submits that our moral opinions are based on our feelings, and nothing more.
• Subjectivists

  - They hold that there is no such thing as objective right or real wrong.
• Something is morally good

  - This means, in the theory of Ethical Subjectivism, that we approve of that thing.
• Something is morally bad

  - This means, in the theory of Ethical Subjectivism, that we disapprove of or do not like that thing, nothing more.
• Emotivism

  - It is deemed invulnerable to many objections

  - It as an improved version of Subjectivism.

  - The theory states that moral judgments express positive or negative feelings.

  - In this theory, since ethical judgments are essentially commands and exclamations, they are not true or false; so there cannot be moral truths and moral knowledge.
• EMOTIVISM


  - The most popular form of non-cognitivism, the meta-ethical theory that claims that ethical sentences do not convey authentic propositions.

  - According to this theory, moral judgments are not statements of fact but are mere expressions of the emotions of the speaker, especially since they are usually feelings-based.
• Charles L. Stevenson


  - He is the American philosopher who developed emotivism.
• "X is right"

  - It merely means "Hooray for X!"
• "X is immoral"

  - It just means "Boo on X!"
• A means of influencing other's behavior.


  - If someone says "Stealing is immoral," Emotivism interprets it as an attempt to stop you from doing the act.

  - Thus the utterance is more like a command it is equivalent to saying, "Don't do that!"
• To express (not report) the speaker's attitude.


  - Accordingly, saying "Fair play is good" is not like saying "I approve of fair play," but it is like saying "Hurrah for fair play!".
• Ethics-without-feeling


  - It appears to go against Christian philosophy's emphasis on love
• Love


  - It is basically a strong liking, desire, or emotion.
• moral living


  Applied religiously, excluding feelings in ______ _______ seems to go against the biblical decree to worship and serve God with a joyful heart or feeling.
• Subjective feelings


  - It sometimes matter when deciding between right and wrong.
• Emotions


  - like our love for our friends and family, it is a crucial part of what gives life meaning, and ought to play a guiding role in morality.
• altruistic ones


  Nonetheless, the feelings or emotions involved in moral thinking should be anchored on careful consideration of a full range of right goals, including ___________ ____.
• Reason


  - Is the basis or motive for an action, decision, or conviction.

  - It refers to the capacity for logical, rational, and analytic thought.

  - It spells the difference of moral judgments from mere expressions of personal preference.
• Moral judgments


  - They require backing by reasons.

  - In the absence of sensible rationale, they are merely capricious and ignorable.
• Moral deliberation


  - It is a matter of weighing reasons and being guided by them.
• Moral truths


  ______ ______ are truths of reason; that is, a moral judgment is true if it is espoused by better reasons than the alternatives.
• Impartiality


  - It is also called evenhandedness or fair-mindedness.

  - It involves the idea that each individual's interests and point of view are equally important.

  - It is a principle of justice holding that decisions ought to be based on objective criteria, rather than on the basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring the benefit to one person over another for improper reasons.
• IMPARTIALITY


  - In morality, it requires that we give equal and/or adequate consideration to the interests of all concerned parties.

  - The principle of __________ assumes that every person is equally important; that is, no one is seen as intrinsically more significant than anyone else.
• Gather the facts


  - Some moral dilemmas can be resolved just by clarifying facts of the case in question. But in more complex cases, gathering the facts is the indispensable first step before any ethical analysis and reflection on the case. In examining a case, we want to know the available facts at hand, as well as any facts presently not known but that need to be determined. We must ask not only "what do we know?" but also "what do we need to know?" in order to generate an intelligent, ethical decision.
• Determine the ethical issues.


  - The moral issues should be correctly stated in terms of competing interests. It is these conflicting interests that practically make for a moral dilemma. The issues must be presented in a P vs. Q format to reflect the interests that are colliding in a specific moral dilemma. For instance, many ethical decisions, especially at the end of a patient's life, can be stated in terms of patient autonomy (or the right of the individual to make his/her own decisions about medical care) vs. the sanctity of life (or the duty to preserve life).
• Identify the principles that have a bearing on the case.


  - What principles have a bearing on the case? In any moral dilemma, there are sure moral values or principles that are vital to the rival positions being taken. It is very significant to recognize these principles, and in some cases, to decide whether some principles are to be weighted more heavily than others.
• List the alternatives.


  - This step involves coming up with various alternative courses of action as part of the creative thinking included in resolving a moral dilemma. Though there will be some alternatives which you will rule out without much thought, in general, the more alternatives that are listed, the better the chance that your list will include some high-quality ones. Also, you may come up with some very creative alternatives that you had not considered before.
• Compare the alternatives with the principles.


  - This step involves eliminating alternatives according to the moral principles that have a bearing on the case. In many cases, the case will be resolved at this point, since the principles will remove all alternatives except one. The purpose of this comparison is to determine whether there is a clear decision that can be made without further deliberation. If a clear decision is not forthcoming, then the next step in the model should be considered. Some of the alternatives, at the least, may be rejected by this step of comparison.
• Weigh the consequences.


  - If the principles do not produce a clear decision, then a consideration of the consequences of the remaining available alternatives is in order. Both positive and negative consequences are to be considered. They should be informally weighted since some positive consequences are more beneficial than others, and some negative consequences are more detrimental than others.
• Make a decision


  - Since deliberation ought not to go on forever, a decision must be made at some point. It must be realized that one common element to moral dilemmas is that there are no easy and painless solutions to them. Normally, the decision that is made is one that possesses the least number of problems or negative consequences, not one that is devoid of them.
• Moral courage


  - It means doing the right thing even at the risk of inconvenience, ridicule, punishment, loss of job or security or social status, etc.

  - It requires that we rise above the apathy, complacency, hatred, cynicism, and fear-mongering in our political systems, socioeconomic divisions, and cultural/religious differences.
• Will


  - It refers to that faculty of the mind which chooses, at the moment of making decision, the strongest desire from among the various desires present.

  - It does not refer to any particular desire, but rather to the capacity to act decisively on one's desires.

  - Within philosophy, it is important as one of the distinct parts of the mind, along with reason and understanding.

  - It is considered important in ethics because of its central role in enabling a person to act deliberately.

  - Commonly, we think of it in the active sense, of self-control, of working toward and attaining goals.
• Willpower


  - It refers to the inner strength to make a decision, take action, and handle and execute any aim or task until it is accomplished, regardless of inner and outer resistance, discomfort, or difficulties.

  - It bestows the ability to overcome laziness, temptations, and negative habits to carry out actions even if they require effort and are unpleasant and tedious or contrary to one's habits.
• moral courage and will


  Having ______ _________ and ____ means doing the right thing, which may include listening to our conscience.
• conscience


  Disregarding our __________ may lead to feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and diminished personal integrity.
• MORAL COURAGE


  - It demands us to make judgments about what behavioral acts are supportive of our ethical ideologies or highest ideals, and which ones are destructive.
• Moral courage and will


  - These two require us to recognize our responsibilities be accountable to the consequences of our own actions.
• Develop and practice self-discipline.


  - The concept self-discipline involves the rejection of instant gratification in favor of something better.

  - Ethically applied, it may refer to the giving up of instant pleasure and satisfaction for a higher and better goal such as executing a good rational moral decision.
• Do mental strength training.


  - This method is never reserved for a few special people. One of the simplest and effective methods under this involves declining to satisfy unimportant and unnecessary desires