Ethics (Midterms)

• Ethics are defined as moral principles that govern a person's behavior.
• Character refers to the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.
• Moral character is the set of moral behaviors to which a social group adheres to unite and distinct from others
• The virtues and vices that comprise one's moral character are typically understood as dispositions to behave in certain ways in certain sorts of circumstances.
• James Rest developed a four-component model (FCM) of moral development.
• The four-component model (FCM) of moral development consists of: moral sensitivity, moral judgment, moral motivation, and moral implementation/action
• Moral Relativism is the theory that holds that morality is relative to the norms of one's culture.
• Ethical Subjectivism holds that there are no objective moral properties and that ethical statements are in fact arbitrary because they do not express immutable truths.
• Simple Subjectivism is the view (largely as described above) that ethical statements reflect sentiments, personal preferences and feelings rather than objective facts.
• Emotivism is an ethical theory that regards ethical and value judgments as expressions of feeling or attitude and prescriptions of action, rather than assertions or reports of anything.
• Individualist Subjectivism is the view (originally put forward by Protagoras) that there are as many distinct scales of good and evil as there are individuals in the world. It is effectively a form of Egoism, which maintains that every human being ought to pursue what is in his or her self-interest exclusively.
• Ideal Observer Theory is the view that what is right is determined by the attitudes that a hypothetical ideal observer (a being who is perfectly rational, imaginative and informed) would have.
• Ethical Egoism is the normative theory state that the promotion of one’s own good is in accordance with morality. In the strong version, it is held that it is always moral to promote one’s own good, and it is never moral not to promote it.
• Cultural Relativism is the view that ethical and social standards reflect the cultural context from which they are derived. Cultures differ fundamentally from one another, and so do the moral frameworks that structure relations within different societies.
• Moral Universalism is the meta-ethical position that there is a universal ethic which applies to all people, regardless of culture, race, sex, religion, nationality, sexuality or other distinguishing feature, and all the time.
• Consequentialism is an ethical theory that judges whether or not something is right by what its consequences are. For instance, most people would agree that lying is wrong. But if telling a lie would help save a person’s life, consequentialism says it’s the right thing to do.
• Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number. It is the only moral framework that can be used to justify military force or war. It is also the most common approach to moral reasoning used in business because of the way in which it accounts for costs and benefits.
• Ethics of Action looks at a particular act, usually isolated from the whole human life, to determine the like wrongness and rightness.
• Hedonism is the belief that pleasure, or the absence of pain, is the most important principle in determining the morality of a potential course of action. Pleasure can be things like “sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll,” but it can also include any intrinsically valuable experience like reading a good book.
• Deontology (Kantian Ethics) - is an ethical theory that uses rules to distinguish right from wrong. Deontology is often associated with philosopher Immanuel Kant. Kant believed that ethical actions follow universal moral laws, such as “Don’t lie. Don’t steal. Don’t cheat.”
• Deontology (Kantian Ethics) is an ethical theory that uses rules to distinguish right from wrong. Deontology is often associated with philosopher Immanuel Kant. Kant believed that ethical actions follow universal moral laws, such as “Don’t lie. Don’t steal. Don’t cheat.”
• Teleology (Natural Law Theory) is a theory of morality that derives that good is defined by rational ends or final causes which people by nature must adhere to. Aquinas calls these rational ends, objects of the will.
• Social Contract Theory (Rawlsian Theory) is the view that persons’ moral and/or political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the society in which they live.
• Ethics of Character looks at the type of character that a persona wants to become in order to evaluate and determine how one should live and act in particular situations.
• Virtue Ethics (Aristotelian) emphasizes individual character as the key element of individual thinking rather than rules about the acts or their consequences. This character-based approach to morality assumes that a person acquires virtue through practice. By practicing being honest, brave, just, generous, and so on, a person develops an honorable and moral character (Character-based approach).
• Care Ethics is the moral theory known as “the ethics of care” implies that there is moral significance in the fundamental elements of relationships and dependencies in human life. It seeks to maintain relationships by contextualizing and promoting the well-being of care-givers and care-receivers in a network of social relations.
• 1. Gather the Facts
  2. Determine the ethical issues (statement of the problem)
  3. Determine what virtues / principles have a bearing on the case (identifying relevant factors)
  4. List the alternatives or develop a list of options
  5. Compare the alternatives with the virtues / principles.
  6. Consider the consequences/test the options
  7. Make a decision (including one's justification)
• Kohlberg made the theory of moral development.
• Scott B. Rae proposed the 7-step model for making ethical decisions that uses reason and impartiality.
• Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes and actions.
• Values provide the general guidelines for conduct.
• Personal values are personal beliefs about right and wrong and may or may not be considered moral.
• Cultural values are values accepted by religions or societies and reflect what is important in each context.
• Ethics is concerned with human actions, and the choice of those actions. Ethics evaluates those actions, and the values that underlie them. Thus, values are essential to ethics.
• An ethics without values is hollow and shallow and, therefore, weak. Values without ethics are paralytic.
• In principle, actions presuppose values. The radix of actions are the values of a person.
• Values should necessarily have carriers. In the interplay of values and ethics, it is ethics that serves as the carrier of values.
• Function of personal values: find the meaning in our existence, serve as our impetus (motivation), serve as a means in expressing oneself relationally, rationally and religiously.
• Six Classification of Values

  1. Intrinsic and Instrumental Values
  2. Accidental and Natural Values
  3. Primary and Secondary Values
  4. Religious Values
  5. Cultural Values
  6. Social Values
• Intrinsic values are those which are considered values in themselves. Instrumental values are those construed as desired good because of their good to us and to others.