INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS

8.1 Forensics October 27, 2014

Objectives: SWBAT

Analyze the meaning of Ethics Identify key characteristics of the field of

Philosophical Ethics Identify the different fields of Ethics

What makes something ethical? What makes something right or wrong?

Philosophy- The love of wisdom Divisions of Philosophy

Epistemology: Theory of Knowledge

Metaphysics: Nature of Existence

Ethics: Study of Right and Wrong

Political Philosophy Philosophy of Religion Aesthetics Eastern Philosophy Logic

Three Main Branches of Ethical Theory

Meta-EthicsNormative EthicsApplied ethics

Meta-ethics

Attempting to answer the fundamental philosophical questions about the nature of ethical theory itself

Example: “Lying is wrong,” or “friendship is good.” Are these statements TRUE or FALSE?

Meta-ethics

Cognitivism The view that moral judgments are capable

of being true or false Non-cognitivism

Moral judgments are not capable of being true or false They are like commands or interjections

Meta-ethics

Assuming there are truths of morality, what sort of facts make them true?

Subjectivism Moral Truths are subjective Different values, cultures, etc

Objectivism Moral truths are objective and are based on

facts independent of values, culture, etc.

Normative Ethics

The study of what one ought to do? What things make us moral? What is right and wrong?

Axiology The study of goodness

and badness

Normative Ethics

Hedonism The increase of pleasure and the decrease

of pain are the only things that are good in of themselves

Desire Satisfactionism The satisfaction of desire is the only thing

that is good in and of itself Non-naturalism

The theory that being good is a simple property that is irreducible or indefinable in terms of anything else

Normative Ethics

Egoism The action is right

if and only if it has the best consequences for the person doing it

Utilitarianism The action is right if

and only if it produces the best balance of goodness and badness for everyone involved

Normative Ethics

Kantian Denotology The action is right if and only if the person

acting could consistently will that the act become a universal law

Virtue Theory The study of what makes a person morally

praiseworthy

Applied Ethics

Attempting to answer the difficult questions actual people face in the real world

Is abortion always wrong? Is euthanasia always wrong?

The death penalty? Sex before marriage? Homosexuality? Eating meat? War? Using drugs? Selling drugs?

The difference?

Normative ethics studies what features make an action right or wrong

Applied ethics attempts to figure out, in the real world, whether or not those actions have certain features

We agree that slavery is wrong…but disagree about what makes it wrong…then the disagreement is one of normative ethics

We agree that morality is whatever produces the best consequences….but disagree about the death penalty…the argument is applied ethics

Developing Morality

What does it mean to be a moral person?

How does morality develop?

John Dewey

Lawrence Kohlberg

John Dewey Stages of Moral Development

Stage 1: Pre-Conventional Concern for Self

Stage 2: Conventional Concern for Self and Others

Stage 3: Post-Conventional Concern for Others

Kohlberg’s Development

Reward/ Punishment Reciprocity Ideal Model

(Conformity) Law and Order Social Contract Universal Principles