Ethical Theories

• Ethical theories covered in the syllabus

  • Utilitarianism
  • Kant's deontological ethics
  • Aristotle's virtue ethics
• Utilitarianism


  Consequentialist ethical theory that says the consequences of an action determine whether it is right or wrong
• Kant's deontological ethics

  Rule-based approach that says there are certain universal moral laws we have a duty to follow
• Aristotle's virtue ethics


  Focuses on what sort of person we should be rather than what actions we should take
• Types of utilitarianism

  • Act utilitarianism
  • Rule utilitarianism
  • Preference utilitarianism
• Act utilitarianism

  We should act so as to maximise pleasure and minimise pain in each specific instance
• Rule utilitarianism

  We should follow general rules that maximise pleasure and minimise pain (even if following these rules doesn't maximise pleasure in every specific instance)
• Preference utilitarianism


  We should act to maximise people's preferences (even if these preferences do not maximise pleasure and minimise pain)
• "The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation." - Jeremy Bentham
• Act utilitarianism (Jeremy Bentham)

  • Whether an action is right/good or wrong/bad depends solely on its consequences
  • The only thing that is good is happiness
  • No individual's happiness is more important than anyone else's
• Felicific calculus

  A way to calculate utility by considering factors like intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity, and extent
• Act utilitarianism may seem simple in principle, but in practice there are difficulties with calculating utility
• Act utilitarianism can lead to the 'tyranny of the majority' where the majority's happiness is prioritised over the rights of the minority
• Act utilitarianism ignores the moral status of particular relationships like friends and family
• Higher and lower pleasures

  John Stuart Mill argues that higher pleasures of thought, feeling, and imagination are more valuable than lower pleasures of the body and senses
• There are situations where we might prefer something even if it makes us less happy, and situations where we might prefer something not happen even though it would make us more happy
• Rule utilitarianism

  Focuses on the consequences of general rules rather than specific actions
• Preference utilitarianism


  Says we should act to maximise people's preferences rather than just happiness
• Kant's deontological ethics

  • The only thing that is good without qualification is good will
  • Good will means acting for the sake of duty
  • You have a duty to follow the moral law
  • Moral laws are universal
  • You can tell if a maxim is universal if it passes the categorical imperative
  • Do not treat people as means to an end (the humanity formula)
• Preference utilitarianism


  Can tie in with Mill's distinction between higher and lower pleasures
• Higher pleasures

  Inherently more valuable than lower pleasures
• Preference utilitarianism

  Can explain higher pleasures being more valuable in terms of preference: we prefer higher pleasures over lower pleasures, and so should seek to maximise those
• Kant's deontological ethics

  Kant's theory summarised as: The only thing that is good without qualification is good will, good will means acting for the sake of duty, you have a duty to follow the moral law, moral laws are universal, you can tell if a maxim is universal if it passes the categorical imperative, the categorical imperative is two tests: contradiction in conception and contradiction in will, finally, do not treat people as means to an end (the humanity formula)
• Good will


  One that acts for the sake of duty, this is the source of moral worth
• If you save someone's life because you expect to be financially rewarded, this action has no moral worth as you're acting for selfish reasons, not because of duty
• If you save someone's life because you recognise that you have a duty to do so, then this action does have moral worth
• Deontology

  The study of duty
• Moral law

  Summarised by the categorical imperative
• Categorical imperative

  "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradiction" - Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals
• Maxims


  Rules, of two kinds: categorical (not qualified by an 'if' statement, apply universally) and hypothetical (qualified by an 'if' statement)
• Contradiction in conception

  For a law to be universal, it must not result in a self-contradictory concept
• Perfect duty

  If a maxim leads to a contradiction in conception, you have a perfect duty not to follow that maxim, it is always wrong
• Contradiction in will

  Assuming the maxim does not result in a contradiction in conception, we must then ask whether the maxim results in a contradiction in will - i.e. whether we can rationally will a maxim or not
• Imperfect duty


  If a maxim results in a contradiction in will, it is sometimes wrong to follow that maxim
• Humanity formula

  "Act in such a way that you always treat humanity [...] never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end." - Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals
• Not all universal maxims are moral (and vice versa)
• You can make a maxim universalisable by adding arbitrary conditions, but this doesn't make it moral
• You can also have maxims that can't be made universal but aren't morally wrong
• Kant's theory ignores consequences, which seems to draw out absurd and morally questionable results in some cases
• Kant's theory ignores other valuable motivations beyond just acting out of duty