ethics

• Utilitarian ethics


  Judges the rightness of actions based on their consequences, aiming to maximize overall happiness or utility
• Classical utilitarianism


  Emphasizes the principle of utility as the criterion of morality
• Principle of utility


  Advocates maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain
• Greatest happiness principle


  Encapsulates the principle of utility
• Act utilitarianism


  Evaluates individual actions
• Rule utilitarianism


  Focuses on the utility of moral rules
• Utilitarian principles are applied to various moral and political issues, including healthcare, environmental policy, and distributive justice
• Critics challenge utilitarianism on grounds of its treatment of individual rights, its ability to account for justice, and the feasibility of calculating utility
• Utilitarian considerations often influence policy decisions, prompting debates over balancing competing interests and ethical considerations
• Epicureanism


  Advocates for a philosophy of pleasure and tranquility
• Ataraxia


  State of inner peace and freedom from disturbance
• Aponia


  Absence of bodily pain
• Epicureanism is often misunderstood as a philosophy of indulgence or hedonistic pursuit, whereas Epicurus emphasized moderation and simplicity
• Epicurean ethics challenged prevailing notions of happiness and the good life in ancient Greece and continues to inspire contemporary discussions on well-being and fulfillment
• Epicurean principles of moderation, self-sufficiency, and tranquility find resonance in contemporary discussions on mindfulness, minimalism, and holistic well-being
• Epicurean ethics


  Ethical philosophy focused on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain to achieve a state of tranquility (ataraxia)
• Bases of Good in Epicurean ethics

  • Pleasure (Hedonism)
  • Absence of Pain
  • Simple Living
  • Friendship (Philosophical Companionship)
• Utilitarian ethics


  Consequentialist ethical theory that prioritizes actions that maximize overall happiness or pleasure and minimize suffering or pain for the greatest number of individuals
• Principle of utility


  The foundational principle of utilitarianism, stating that actions are morally right if they produce the greatest amount of happiness or pleasure and morally wrong if they produce more suffering or pain
• Greatest happiness principle


  Also known as the greatest happiness for the greatest number principle, it emphasizes maximizing the overall well-being of the greatest number of people
• Utilitarianism often involves quantifying pleasure and pain to evaluate the consequences of actions, though qualitative assessments can also be considered
• Act utilitarianism


  Evaluates each individual action based on its consequences
• Rule utilitarianism


  Assesses actions based on adherence to rules or principles that, if universally followed, would lead to the greatest happiness
• Utilitarian ethics provides a straightforward framework for making moral decisions by focusing on the consequences of actions and aiming to maximize overall well-being
• In pre-modern times, the conceptions of the good were often shared, dictated by culture
• In multi-cultural societies of post-modern times, there are always competing conceptions of the good
• As a result, conflicts and injustice are readily felt by those whose voices are not heard
• Utilitarian formula was too simplistic to address the competing conceptions of good and in some cases amplified the felt injustice
• Discourse theory was conceived to provide a way of creating a system of shared conceptions of the good in societies where there are competing conceptions of the good
• Principles for Formulating Shared Conceptions

  • Human beings act in a community and so, one needs the perspective of others
  • To articulate norms of human behavior, it needs a process of justification (discourse)
  • It needs to accept that discourse is a process of consensus-building
  • In consensus, a norm can only be valid if all affected can accept (approval of all affected) the consequences
• Consensus


  Different from election or votation, and different from making compromises
• To ensure fairness in the consensus process

  • All affected must be part of the process of deliberation
  • The process must be fair such that all external influences like power and money are suspended and only the force of better argument has influence over the participants
  • All decisions or agreements have a "for now" characteristic
• Common assumption: People can easily judge right and wrong based on their common sense
• Moral judgment is often instinctive and unshakable
• Differing opinions on moral issues such as wife beating
• Common Sense Morality


  Instinctive and unshakable moral judgment based on common sense
• Cultural Influence on Morality

  Moral understanding influenced by social status, ethnicity, generation, historical situation, and gender
• Ethical Frameworks


  Frameworks constructed from societal and cultural influences
• Transcendent Morality


  Moral order based on a transcendent authority (e.g., God, cosmos)
• Autonomous Morality


  Moral order based on human reason and rational consensus