1 / 23

Ethics

Ethics. Morality Morality in general is concerned with what is “right” and what is “wrong”. How can we know what is “right” and what is “wrong”. Ethics is the study of morality. 1. Facts and values. Relation between facts and values. Moral and aesthetic values.

dorit
Download Presentation

Ethics

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Ethics Morality Morality in general is concerned with what is “right” and what is “wrong”. How can we know what is “right” and what is “wrong”. Ethics is the study of morality. TOK-ETHICS

  2. 1. Facts and values • Relation between facts and values. • Moral and aesthetic values. • Instrumental and terminal values. TOK-ETHICS

  3. TOK-ETHICS

  4. We can judge actions by intentions and consequences. • Acts of commission and acts of omission: • “Turning off a respirator is like turning on the gas chamber.” TOK-ETHICS

  5. 2. Freedom • “Freedom is a precondition for a moral assessment of agent.” • B.F. Skinner “Beyond freedom and dignity”. Values of an individual are a product of the evironment he was brought up in. TOK-ETHICS

  6. 3. Reason and experience • We expect a degree of consistency in the making of moral judgements. • Can we reason from an “is” to an “ought”? • Head versus heart! • Importance of experience and empathy. 4. Moral problems insoluble and inescapable TOK-ETHICS

  7. TOK-ETHICS

  8. Case studies Discuss these subjects from (all) possible moral points of view. Write down your reflexions for further analyses later on. • Abortion and genetic engineering. • Animal rights. • Drugs and smoking. TOK-ETHICS

  9. TOK-ETHICS

  10. Where do our values come from? • We may have many sources of our moral values! • The word of a divine Creator, a moral law independant of human beings • An innate conscience • The teachings of our societies • Enlightened self-interest TOK-ETHICS

  11. Moral theories • Utilitarianism • Duty • Virtue • Religious TOK-ETHICS

  12. TOK-ETHICS

  13. Guidance by consequences • Utilitarianism - John Stuart Mill. • Goal to minimize harm and maximize benefit to one self and others • Principle of utility • Greatest happiness for the greatest number • Difficulties in practise • The uncertainty of predicting concequences and difficulties of weighting them. • To define key concepts as “justice”. TOK-ETHICS

  14. Guidance by principles / duty • Deontological theories - Immanuel Kant. • Principles of justice. • Duty to do no harm. • Duty to help. • Difficulties in practise • How to rank duties when they contradict. • To define key concepts as “justice”. TOK-ETHICS

  15. Guidance by virtue • Teleological theories - Aristoteles. • The ultimate goal for a living creature is happiness. • By living a virtuous life you will gain happiness • What are” the virtues”? TOK-ETHICS

  16. Guidance by Supreme Being • Obey God. • Treat others as yourself. • Respect God’s creatures. • ? • ? • ? TOK-ETHICS

  17. Objective or subjective • Is there a possibility of moral universals? • Moral relativism! • Should our respect for different cultural traditions overrule our respect for human rights? • Moral education! • Can morality be taught? If the answer is “yes”, then how? • If our moral beliefs are the results of acultural conditioning, why not say the same about our scientific belief? • Are intelligent people more moral than unintelligent people? TOK-ETHICS

  18. Ethics connections to other fields • Science • Art • History • Religion TOK-ETHICS

  19. Science • Can ethics be reduced to a science? • To what extent do our belifs about human nature affect our moral belifs? Consider, for example, Social-Darwinism. • The pursuit of science presupposes various intellectual virtues, such as tolerance and devotion to truth. • What is the moral responsibility of the scientist? Should we pursue the truth at any price? TOK-ETHICS

  20. Art • Should art be morally uplifting, or does it have nothing to do with morality? Can we learn from it? • What is the difference between art and pornography? • Media violence and censorship! TOK-ETHICS

  21. History • Has moral developed from a lower level to a higher level throughout history? • Does history have a direction or purpose? • Does history contain a moral lesson? • Should history as a subject be value-free? • Can history be value-free? TOK-ETHICS

  22. Evolution • Does evolution have: • an aim? • a purpose? • Is moral a part of the evolution? • Has moral developed from a lower level to a higher level throughout history? TOK-ETHICS

  23. Religion • “If God is dead, then everything is permitted” (Dostoyevsky). TOK-ETHICS

More Related