Philosophy 223Normative Ethical Theory:

Challenges to the Dominant Theories

Adding to Our Vocabulary

A common moral concept that we have not yet considered is the concept of a Right: a legal or moral claim (entitlement) to do or refrain from doing something or to choose or not choose to have something done to them.

This is a particularly important concept for Business Ethics, where it takes the form of a discussion of workplace rights.

The ethical category of rights addresses situations when an individual’s well being is vulnerable to the activity of others (individuals or institutions).

1)Most of us must work.2)Few of us control how we work (in all relevant respects).------------------3)Most of us are profoundly vulnerable in the workplace.

Rights serve to protect the vulnerabilities of individuals. Example: Right to Free Speech.

Rights Based Theories

Rights Based Theories hold that rights form the basis of obligations because they best express the a key purpose of morality: the securing of liberties or other benefits from rights holders (31).

The TRA for RBT focuses on the correlation between rights and obligations. If an agent has a right, then other relevantly situated

agents have an obligation relative to the right.

Different Concepts of Rights

Given the proximity of the concept of rights to the concept of freedom, it should not be surprising that a distinction we recognized as operating in the latter also operates in the former.A negative right is a valid claim to liberty, and a

negative obligation requires that we not interfere with the obligations of others.

A positive right is a valid claim to a good or service and positive obligation requires that a person, organization, or state provide such goods or services.

Different Types of Rights

The concept of rights as it is commonly employed applied can take four different forms. Contractual: based in explicit, contractually established agreements.

Benefits packages, Term of employment. Legal: based in legislative or judicial acts.

Minimum Wage; EEOC. Moral: entitlements independent of any legal or contractual

specification. Right to work, respect, participation, safety, privacy

Human: entitlements based in membership in the human race (or perhaps in moral humanity). Kantian notion of dignity.

Criticisms of Rights Theories

One common criticism of RBTs points to the proliferation of rights.Construed merely negatively, rights seem to be

limited, but when we consider the range of positive rights, their number expands considerably.

Another common criticism points to the apparently inevitable conflict between rights.The issue becomes how to adjudicate between these

conflicting claims.

Character vs. Acts

Though historically speaking, Virtue Ethics is the first systematic, philosophical ethical position, it had until somewhat recently been pushed aside by the other ethical theories we’ve studied.

One reason for this is that these other theories have focused our attention on the ethical evaluation of acts, while VE focuses on character.

There are lots of (not necessarily all good) reasons to prefer the former.

An Ethic of Virtue

The lack of attention (until recently) paid to VE has the result that there is still a great deal of disagreement about the basic structure of VE.

We can say a few basic and uncontentious things about such theories.

The first and most important one is the VE reverses the tendency that we’ve seen in other ethical theories and makes the concepts of virtue and vice basic.Right and Wrong become derivative concepts.

Virtue and Vice

Virtue: a trait of character or mind that typically involves dispositions to act, feel, and think in certain ways and that is central to a positive evaluation of persons.Honesty, Courage, Justice, Temperance, Beneficence

Vice: a trait of character or mind that typically involves dispositions to act, feel and think in certain ways, and that is central to a negative evaluation of persons.Dishonesty, Cowardice, Injustice, Intemperance,

Selfishness

A TRA for Virtue Ethics

On the basis of the distinction between virtues and vices, it is possible to articulate a general TRA for VE. An action is right iff it is what a virtuous agent (acting in

character) would not avoid doing in the circumstances under consideration.

If a virtuous agent would do it, the action is obligatory; if they might do it, the action is permissible; if they wouldn’t do it, the action is forbidden.

“Acting in character” points to the concept of “practical wisdom” and the significance of moral judgment for VE.

Advantages of VE

It is consistent with our moral intuition that there may be more than one right answer in the face of a moral dilemma.

It is not inconsistent with our conviction that traits of character are importantly out of our control, inasmuch as they are influences by genetics and circumstance.

It encourages us to take a holistic view of our moral circumstances.

Disadvantages?

What about the virtues and vices themselves?

Who is a virtuous agent?

How do we know if they are “acting in character?”

What if we lack a virtuous character?