Philosophy

• Consequentialism


  The view that morality is all about producing the right kinds of overall consequences
• Overall consequences


  Everything the action brings about, including the action itself
• Mohist Consequentialism


  • Also known as state consequentialism
  • Advances actions that contribute much to the welfare of the state is of the highest moral worth
• Mohist Consequentialism


  • One of the world's earliest forms of consequentialism, dating as far back as the 5th century B.C.
  • Believe that morality is based on promoting what is beneficial to "all under heaven" and eliminating what is harmful to "all under heaven"
• Ethical Hedonism


  • The consequentialist philosophy that forwards the idea, "pleasure is the primary or the most important intrinsic good"
  • Every person has the right to do anything in his or her power to do achieve the greatest amount of personal pleasure possible, on the condition that his or her actions do not overstep on the other people's equal right to pursue happiness
• Utilitarianism


  • A type of hedonism but rather than personal pleasure, this doctrine champions the idea that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to the overall "utility"
  • An action is right if it leads to the "highest happiness" of the greatest number of people
• Jeremy Bentham: 'The 'fundamental axiom' of his philosophy as "the greatest happiness of the greatest number, that is the measure of right and wrong"'
• Ethical Egoism


  • The moral view that believes human persons should do whatever is in the person's self-interest
  • Believes that human persons should be virtuous because these acts are in the person's self-interest
• Ethical Altruism


  • A doctrine that stands on the belief that individuals have a moral obligation to help or serve even at the expense of one's self-interest
  • An action is morally right if the consequences of the action was more favourable to everyone, except for that of the person doing the action
• Rule Consequentialism


  • A form of utilitarianism that says an action is right if it follows large rules that lead to the greatest good, or that the righteousness or wrongness of a particular action is a function of the correctness of the rule that needs to be applied in a particular situation
  • Argue that following rules that tend to lead to the greatest good will have better consequences overall rather than allowing exceptions to be made in individual demonstrated in those instances
• Ethics


  The branch in philosophy that is devoted to the study of morality
• Branches of Ethics


  • Normative Ethics
  • Meta-ethics
  • Applied Ethics
• Normative Ethics


  Studies the principles or standards used as bases for making moral judgements
• Meta-ethics


  Studies the nature of moral judgements in terms of how they are known and acquire their meanings
• Applied Ethics


  Studies the application of moral principles in some specified areas such as medicine, business, law and environment
• Ethical Theories


  • Consequentialism
  • Deontology
  • Virtue Ethics
• Consequentialism


  The theory claims that a good action is one that results in good or desirable consequences, while bad action is one that results in bad or undesirable consequences
• Deontology


  The theory claims that a good action is one that follows a good or right rule while a bad action is one that follows a bad or wrong rule
• Virtue Ethics


  This theory claims a good action is one that is performed by a virtuous person while a bad action is one that is performed by a vicious person
• Classifications of Consequentialism


  • Pleasure and Pain
  • Hedonistic
  • Non-hedonistic
  • Agent-Relative
  • Agent-Neutral
• Hedonistic Consequentialism


  Good consequences are defined solely in terms of the experience of pleasure and avoidance of pain
• Non-hedonistic Consequentialism


  Good consequences are defined not solely in terms of the experience of pleasure and avoidance of pain but also in terms of other desirable things such as the acquisition of knowledge in power
• Agent-Relative Consequentialism


  Good consequences are defined solely in terms of the good or welfare of the agent
• Agent-Neutral Consequentialism


  Good consequences are defined not in terms of the good or welfare of the agent but in terms of the good or welfare of all affected persons
• Consequentialist Theories


  • Agent-Relative Hedonism
  • Agent-Neutral Hedonism
  • Agent-Relative Non-Hedonism
  • Agent-Neutral Non-Hedonism
• Agent-Relative Hedonism


  An action is good if it brings pleasure to its agent
• Agent-Neutral Hedonism


  An action is good if it brings the maximum pleasure to the greatest number of affected persons
• Agent-Relative Non-Hedonism


  An action is good if it brings any form of benefits to its agent
• Agent-Neutral Non-Hedonism


  An action is good if it brings the maximum benefits of any form to the greatest number of affected persons
• Utilitarianism


  Generally claims that an action is morally good if it maximizes the aggregate good or welfare of all affected persons
• Maximum Aggregate or Sum Total


  Morally relevant utilitarianism
• Deontological Ethical Theories


  • Law
  • Duties
  • Rights
• Deontological Ethical Theories


  • Religious Deontology
  • Rational Deontology
• Religious Deontology


  Defines good rules as the rules or laws of God
• Rational Deontology


  Defines good rules as the loss of reason
• Immanuel Kant


  The most influential rational deontology
• Universalizability


  States that an action is morally good if its maxim can be made universal or as the law for everyone without contradiction
• Maxim


  A rule or law that we make for ourselves when we have decided to perform an action
• Eudaimonia


  The ultimate end or goal of humans is to be happy or to flourish
• Happiness


  Is the ultimate for it is self-sufficient, final and attainable