ETHICS

• Some ethicists believe that ethics is also a matter of emotion
• Ethical Subjectivism. This theory basically utterly runs contrary to the principle that morality is objective
• Feelings are seen as necessary in ethical judgment as they are even deemed by some as instinctive a trained response to moral dilemmas
• Reason and emotion are not really opposites
• Both abstract inference and emotional intuitions or instincts are seen as having relative roles in ethical thinking
• Emotions


  Judgments about the accomplishment of one's goals
• Emotions can be rational being based at least sometimes on good judgments about how well a circumstance or agent accomplishes appropriate objectives
• Feelings are visceral or instinctual by providing motivations to act morally
• Ethical judgments are highly emotional as people emotionally express their strong approval or disapproval of different acts
• Moral sentiments highlight the need for morality to be based also on sympathy for other people
• Being good involves both thinking and feeling
• Ethical Subjectivism


  Theory that the truth or falsity of ethical propositions is dependent on the feelings, attitudes, or standards of a person or group
• Ethical Subjectivism holds that moral judgments describe our personal feelings
• Ethical Subjectivism submits that our moral opinions are based on our feelings, and nothing more
• Ethical Subjectivism proposes that when we say that something is morally good, this means that we approve of that thing
• Emotivism


  Theory that moral judgments express positive or negative feelings
• Emotivism claims that ethical utterances are not fact-stating sentences but are used to influence others' behavior or express the speaker's attitude
• Ethics-without-feeling appears to go against Christian philosophy's emphasis on love
• Subjective feelings sometimes matter when deciding between right and wrong
• Emotions, like our love for our friends and family, are a crucial part of what gives life meaning, and ought to play a guiding role in morality
• The feelings or emotions involved in moral thinking should be anchored on careful consideration of a full range of right goals, including altruistic ones
• Reason


  Basis or motive for an action, decision, or conviction
• Reason is a requirement for morality
• Reason spells the difference of moral judgments from mere expressions of personal preference
• Moral deliberation is a matter of weighing reasons and being guided by them
• Truth in Ethics entails being justified by good reasons
• Moral truths are objective in the sense that they are true no matter what we might want or think
• Impartiality


  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 requires that we give equal and/or adequate consideration to the interests of all concerned parties
• The principle of impartiality assumes that every person is equally important
• Some ethicists suggest that from the impartial standpoint, properly conceived, some persons count as more significant, at least in certain ways, due to their greater contributions to society
• 1. Step Moral Reasoning Model


  • 1. Gather the facts
  • 2. Determine the ethical issues
  • 3. Identify the principles that have a bearing on the case
  • 4. Consider the consequences of the available options
  • 5. Determine which option best fits the relevant principles
  • 6. Make a decision and act
  • 7. Reflect on the decision and its consequences
• Steps in ethical analysis and reflection

  Determine the available facts and what additional facts are needed

  2. Determine the ethical issues in terms of competing interests

  3. Identify the principles that have a bearing on the case

  4. List the alternative courses of action

  5. Compare the alternatives with the principles

  6. Weigh the consequences of the remaining alternatives

  7. Make a decision
• Moral courage


  Doing the right thing even at the risk of inconvenience, ridicule, punishment, loss of job or security or social status, etc.
• Will


  The faculty of the mind which chooses, at the moment of making decision, the strongest desire from among the various desires present
• Will is important in ethics because of its central role in enabling a person to act deliberately
• Willpower 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
• Disregarding our conscience may lead to feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and diminished personal integrity
• Moral courage demands us to make judgments about what behavioural acts are supportive of our ethical ideologies or highest ideals, and which ones are destructive
• Statements showing moral courage


  • "I believe strongly in __"
  • "Let's volunteer."
  • "Dad, I'm in trouble."
  • "I am going to campaign for ___"
  • "It's not fair that ______"
  • "I broke this, Mom. I'm sorry."
  • "I'll march with you."
  • "No, thanks, I don't want to hear a secret!"
  • "You shouldn't talk behind his/her back."
  • "You can depend on me."