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• Discourse ethics


  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
  • Different from making compromises
• To ensure fairness


  • 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
• Hindu concepts


  • Karmic cycle
  • Samsara
  • Karma
  • Darma
  • Moksha
• Hinduism


  The cycle of rebirth as entrapment in the life of a finite body
• Buddhism


  • Human life is suffering
  • Nirvana - liberation from the Karmic cycle/ enlightenment
• Four Noble Truths of Buddhism

  • Dukkha - Life is suffering
  • Karma - The cause of suffering is the wrong valuation of self. "I" is the cause of suffering
  • Nirvana - the dissolution of suffering resulting from the surrender of the ego
  • Astangika-marga - The Eightfold Paths
• Confucian concepts


  • Ren - benevolence, kindness, human heartedness, humanity
  • Ancient ways sacred - traditional rituals and form of conduct
  • Filial piety
  • Li - harmonious realization of customs and rituals
  • Virtue, benevolence, propriety proper social relationships humane government moral leadership - exemplars
• Taoist concepts

  • Tao/ Dao - The Way
  • Simplicity
  • No rigid code of behavior
  • Meditation/ taichi
  • Solitary contemplation of nature
  • By doing nothing, one can accomplish everything
• Epicureanism


  • Happiness is the complete absence of bodily and especially mental pains, including fear of the Gods and desires for anything other than the bare necessities of life
  • Epicureans train themselves to desire only the very basics, giving them very little reason to do anything to interfere with the affairs of others
• Epicureanism is generally egoistic, in that it encourages everyone to pursue happiness for themselves