2. mrunal ethics (e1:p2) theories- teleological vs. deontological ethics

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09/10/15 12:13 pmMrunal Ethics (E1/P2) Theories- Teleological vs. Deontological Ethics

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[Ethics] E1/P2: Human Interface: Theories of Ethics- Teleological,Deontological, Virtue Ethics, Conduct Ethics, Rights based,Utilitarianism, Hedonism, Egoism,

Posted ByMrunalOn 20/09/2015 @ 6:15 pm In Ethics | 17 Comments

1. 3 Theories of Ethics (V-C-R)

2. T1: Virtue Ethics

3. T2: Conduct Ethics

1. T2A: Utilitarian Theory

2. T2B: Hedonism

3. T2C: Egoism

4. Summary of Conduct Ethics

4. T3: Rights Based Ethics

1. 3 Generation of rights

2. John Rawls5. Case study: Sardar & ICS

6. Case study: Ethical justification?

7. Descriptive Questions (200 words each)

In the previous part (E1/P1), we looked at the types of judgments and pre-conditions for ethical scrutiny. In this

part, we shall look at various theories of ethics, their merits and demerits.

3 Theories of Ethics (V-C-R)

1. Virtue

EthicsWe judge a persons virtue rather than his conduct

2.Conduct

Ethics

We focus on conduct rather than person. Further

If we focus on course/means/action: Deontological

If we focus on goal/end/outcome: Teleoglogical / consequentialism.

3.Rights

based Ethics

We give rights to an individual. By xyz action, whether rights of Mr.ABC are violated or

not? On that parameter well evaluate the action

T1: Virtue Ethics

Focus more on virtues of the agent rather than consequences of his actions.

Plato Gave four Cardinal virtues of a good man: Wisdom, Courage, Temperance, Justice.
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Aristotle

Proposed Golden Mean. Which means avoiding extreme good and extreme bad.

Avoiding altruism (Maximum happiness to others while ignoring yours) and avoiding

hedonism (maximum pleasure for yourself).

Buddhist philosophy of Madhyama-pratipad proposes the same middle-way.

Although it cant be applied to all cases. e.g. if someone alleges youre a mad-man, you

cant say Im half-mad!

T2: Conduct Ethics

Teleological: Consequentialism Deontological: Non-consequentialism

Examples: (1) Utilitarianism (2) Hedonism (3) EgoismExamples (1) Varnashram dharma (2) law of

Karma (3) religious scripture

Focus on End/Goals/ConsequencesFocus on means/methods/actions

Also known as Duty based ethics

Wed have gained independence sooner, had we used

violence against the British, and sooner we gained

independence, faster wed have become a 1st world

country, so, use of violence is right, because end goal isnoble.

Gandhi: We dont want to gain independence

through the use of violence. Because even

though self-rule is a noble goal, violence is notthe right mean/instrument to achieve it.


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1. It may justify robbing a bank, IF the looted money is

to be used for charity.

2. It may justify pirating coaching class material,

because itll lead to greatest good for greatest number

of people.

In both 1 and 2, we are focusing on the end.

Kant: Piracy as a process is wrong. Because

it violates the right to property. Anyways,

well discuss Kant in detail, in separate lecture

on Syllabus topic #5: Moral Thinkers.

Its ok to lie, to save someones life.

Difficult to justify because by lying were

violating the other persons right to

knowledge.

Gives motivation to work, even when the result

is uncertain or far away. e.g. Lord Krishna

advising Arjun to fight in the war against the

Kaurav.

Anyways, its not important to get into finer nuances of each and every thinker and theory, we just have to seeits application in case studies. So, while solving a case study, try to see it through the glasses of various

theories.

T2A: Utilitarian Theory

Utilitarianism: if lynching makes 99 people happy and one person unhappy, is it good?

Utilitarianism says you should work for greatest happiness for greatest number of people.

A lynch mob kills a person believing a committed a crime.

In this case say 100 peoples happiness minus 1 dead guys unhappiness = 99 units of happiness. So, is itan ethical action after all it led to maximum happiness for maximum people?


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Thus, in traditional Act Utilitarianism theory, lynch mob is justifiable.

But, What if we make a rule out of above case I.e. it is ok for people to kill other people. If this rule is

held valid then people will fear coming out of their home => economy & society will collapse=> not

maximum good for maximum people.

Therefore, by application of Rule utilitarianism, we can prove lynch mob is ethically wrong.

Utilitarianism is not same as altruism.

Altruism You should put other peoples happiness before your own happiness.

UtilitarianismYou should strive for maximum peoples happiness, youre also part of that crowd. So, your

own happiness also matters as a unit.

Hedonism You should maximize your own pleasure.

Utilitarianism: Merits and demerits

Merits Demerits

Democratic way of

decision making.

Who should

become PM? Ans.

The one whose

party gets

maximum votes.

Ensure distributive

justice. Take higher

taxes from the rich

and use it for the

welfare scheme of

the poor.

Minority voice / opinion is not considered. Because utilitarianism

concerned with benefit to majority.

Utilitarianism would not agree with the fundamental rights given to

minorities.

Orthodox views are validated. e.g. in the times of Raja Ram Mohan Rai,

people thought Sati system was right.

Not every happiness is quantifiable or comparable:is reading

Shakespeare equivalent to happiness of eating two Macdonald burgers? So,

which happiness should government provide to citizens? Although

thinkers later qualified the levels of happiness. Reading Shakespeare is

sublime happiness so it cant be equivalent to even 100 mac-burgers.

Youve to keep the merits and demerits of each theory in mind, to ensure its proper application in case studies.

E.g. if a case study involves minority rights or feminism, it may not be right to bend the utilitarianism principle

to justify your stand.

T2B: Hedonism

Hedonism says maximize your own pleasure/happiness.

Among Indian philosophical schools, Charvaka school (Lokayatmat) advocates the same.

Hedonism Strive for Pleasure in all forms. Pleasure is the only truth of life.

Epicureanism

Absence of pain is the greatest pleasure.

Sustainable pleasure is (1) freedom from fear (2) freedom from bodily pain

Sustainable pleasure obtained by (1) Knowledge (2) friendship (3) Modest Life

Gandhism opposite of Hedonism because it preaches Complete control over senses, Bramhcharya.


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Hedonism: Merits and Demerits

Merit Demerits

Focus on maximum happiness

if we stop defining Hedonism as gross sensual

pleasure and focus on long lasting sustainablepleasure then it is refined hedonism.

Refined hedonism: appreciating art, investing in

personal relations, cultivating hobbies.

Similarly Epicureanism also encourages us to live

happy, modest, good life and invest in friendship.

Drug abuse gives short term pleasure,

hedonism would justify it.

Its ok to spend salary on lavish lifestylerather than saving it for pension.

Health and financial prudence gives long

term happiness at the expense of short

term discomfort. But a Gross Hedonist

wouldnt like it.

Promotes consumerism: boost to economy, employment

generation. If everyone pursues ascetic lifestyle, wholl

provide food to the families of Chinese workers in apple

factory?

Law of marginal utility: youve to

consume more and more to get same

amount of pleasure.

This, consumerism leads to exploitation

of natural resources which is not good for

environment and sustainable

development.

Greed becomes need.

Moral Skepticism

According to Sophists (Greece) and Charvaka (Ancient India)- Ethical studies have no logical foundation

because

1. There are no fixed / objective criteria to separate moral act from immoral act, therefore, men are

incapable of pursuing moral path

2. If men pursue moral path, itll not be in their best self-interest.

3. External forces determine a mans action, so rarely a man has free will to choose his own action.

And this thought process leads to next theory of ethics Egoism

T2C: Egoism

Egoism says maximize your own self-interest. Because (1) it is in human nature to avoid pain (2) it is irrational

for a man to ignore his self-interest.

Hedonism It is ok to sleep till late, even if you miss important business meeting.

Egoism

You should walk up early, if theres an important business meeting.

Similarly, A girl wanting to become fashion-model will deny herself the pleasure of good

food (Hedonism), to remain thin and slim.

If parents sacrifice personal comforts for better education for children, if businessman gives part of his


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income in philanthropic causes, if a soldier sacrifices his life for protection of the nation -how does

Egoism interprete them?

Egoism says in all such actions are unconsciously selfish. e.g. philanthropy hidden objective of gaining

fame and respect. Although hidden motives are difficult to verify.

Egoism: Merits and Demerits

Merit Demerit

Egoism can lead to happiness for others also e.g. Mukesh Ambanis

decision to run a refinery at Jamnagar is driven by his own self-interest

of profit generation but it also generates employment for lakhs of

people. Capitalism works parallel to this.

Labour exploitation. Not

always environmentally

sustainable or socially

inclusive. Trickle down

doesnt always work.

In a resource scare country,

will not work. And increase

the divide between the rich

and the poor.

Youre running a mobile company with profit motive, but at the same

time youre doing a social service by helping people in their need to

communicate with others.

Mobile tower radiation

harming entire society in the

long term.

If everyone looking @his

self-interest, wholl care for

future generation aka no more

sustainable Development.

If everyone tries to maximum his own self-interest, still there will be

resistance by others, so ultimately an equilibrium will be establishedwherein its win-win for all.

If everyone tries to maximize his

own self-interest, itll lead todisaster. e.g. Prisoners dilemma

The demerits of egoism encouraged Mathematician John Nash (movie: A beautiful mind), to work on Game

theory. He died in 2015, May. So consider that homework, for some ethical case study involving game-theory.

Summary of Conduct Ethics

Theory Thinkers Meaning Merits Demerits

Utilitarianism

1. Jeremy

2. Bentham3. John

Stuart

Mill.

Maximum happiness for

maximum no. of people

Democratic Decision

Making

Minorityunheard

Orthodoxy

Hedonism

1. Charvaka

2. Epicurus

(Refined)

Maximum pleasure for

yourself

Refined hedonism:

long term sustained

pleasure

Consumerism boom to

economy

Consumerism

vs.

environment

Greed

becomesneed


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Egoism

1. Greek

Sophists

2. Hobbes

3. Nietzsche

Maximum self-interest Capitalism, trickle down Prisoners dilemma

T3: Rights Based Ethics

We give rights to an individual. By xyz action, whether rights of Mr.ABC are violated or not? On that

parameter well evaluate the action.

In China, a person from rural area cant move to Shanghai without permit. So, his right to self-

development is violated.

In N.Korea, ordinary citizens are denied internet service, so their right to knowledge id violated, although

the State may justify it saying internet-ban is necessary for maintenance of law and order or to prevent

the brainwashing of the North Koreans by Western powers.

When rights are given, it imposes accountability on the government. e.g Freedom of expression

=>Media => Check on corruption.Right to education => enlightened citizenry =>they exercise RTI and thereby make government

answerable.

Human rights: ensures feudalism doesnt come back.

So, How do we judge an action using rights based theory? Our thinking of rights based ethics begins with

the liberalism.

Negative Approach Positive Approach

Freedom of

expression: State is

denied from

encroaching in

individual sphere.

Most of our

fundamental rights

are negative.

State is enabled to empower the citizenry. e.g. Freedom of movement is a

negative right, but if the state constructs more highways and railways to

enable faster movement of goods and people, the state is enabling the

citizens to enjoy their rights.

Same way right to education=> Government making more sarkaari

schools.

3 Generation of rights

1st

Gen

Negative rights. Usually political rights e.g. right to vote, civil liberties.

But these were found to be inadequate. e.g. women got right to vote but they found it did not lead

to their real development. This gave birth to 2nd generation rights

2nd

Gen

Enabling rights, developmental rights, positive rights.

e.g. Social security, right to health, education

3rd

Gen

Environmental rights: Kyoto protocol, Rio+20 and subsequent sustainable Development goals(SDG)


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Group rights, cultural rights e.g. ensuring protection of the culture of North East people.

John Rawls

Leading thinker of this school is John Rawls. As such not much point doing Ph.D on him, all you should

remember is he tried to reconcile between Liberty (capitalism) and Equality (Communism)

Liberty give maximum liberty to people without encroaching on other peoples liberties.

Equality

If Ambani is earning Rs.1,000 crore, if that leads to the poor getting Rs.10 crore (say through

taxation and trickle down), then it is ethical. This is akin to Gandhis Antyodaya.

This is different from Capitalism because theyd not like taxation.

This is different from communism, because theyd want wealth of Ambani to be equally

distributed among all poor.

For Case studies, keep in mind- rights based approach should be used for major themes only e.g. speech,health, education. For trivial individualist things, e.g. lying, stealing better to apply other theories for your

answer.

Case study: Sardar & ICS

During the British era, ICS (Indian Civil services) officers were responsible for arrest and persecution of Sardar

Patel and many other freedom fighters. Yet, after independence, Patel decided to continue ICS service under a

new name IAS and retained those ICS officers in it, despite the opposition by the other members of

Constituent assembly. Discuss the ethical dilemmas that Sardar Patel would have faced before arriving at this

decision.

Case study: Ethical justification?

Is following course of action ethically justifiable? Yes / No and Why?

1. It is ok to remove organs of a convict on death row without his consent, IF we transplant them to needy

children from poor families.

2. It is ok for government to run opium farms, provided they sell it to foreign countries use the money for

benefit of the poor.

3. We should legalize prostitution because itll lead to less exploitation of the women in the hands of pimps

and policemen.4. Government should ban cigarettes and alcohol from movies since it influences young audience to begin

smoking and drinking.

5. Women in armed forces should be posted only in the desk jobs, since theyre physically less fit to serve in

frontline field posts.

Descriptive Questions (200 words each)

1. Discuss in brief, major theories of Ethics. Which of them, in your opinion, answers the moral Dilemma

better than others?

2. Utilitarianism, though logically consistent, has internal-contradictions. Do you agree? Justify your stand?3. Define Betrayal. Narrate a historic example of betrayal and discuss the underlying ethical currents.


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4. Moral value of an act is not wholly dependent on its consequences. Discuss with a historic example.

5. A universal theory of Ethics is impossible to frame since the moral choices depend on culture, religion,

region and time-period. Do you agree, Justify your stand.

6. According to Charvaka and other moral sceptics- Ethics has no logical foundation and perception is the

only source of knowledge. Do you agree, Justify your stand.

In the third part (E1/P3) well look at values, role of family-society-Edu. Institutions in inculcating human

values and ethics in public and private relations. Visit Mrunal.org/Ethicsfor more study material on Ethics.

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2. mrunal ethics (e1:p2) theories- teleological vs. deontological ethics

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