morality - what makes acts morally right or wrong? 06, 2014 · interest reason feeling moral...

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Morality

MoralityWhat Makes Acts Morally Right or Wrong?

Dr. Clea F. Rees

[email protected]

Centre for Lifelong LearningCardiff University

Yr Haf/Summer 2014

mailto:[email protected]

[email protected]

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MoralityOutline

Outline

Terminology

Descriptive vs. Normative

Moral Philosophy — Ethics

Friedman’s Argument

Evaluation

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MoralityTerminology

Terminology

Question 2:

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MoralityDescriptive vs. Normative


Definition (Descriptive)Concerned with how the world is.

I Post boxes are red.I 1+ 1 = 2I Post boxes are blue.I 2+ 3 = 4I Many people enjoy eating lamb.I The Torah says that coveting another’s ox is wrong.I Angharad killed Luke.I If Tammy tells Adam that Angharad killed Luke, Adam will

tell Greg and Greg will burn Eileen’s house down.

b



Definition (Normative)Concerned with how the world ought to be.

I Post boxes should remain red.I There is nothing wrong with painting post boxes blue.I Pleasure is good.I Eating lamb is morally impermissible/permissible/required.I One should follow the Torah.I Coveting another’s ox is immoral.I Angharad’s killing Luke was justified.I Tammy ought not tell Adam that Angharad killed Luke.I Eileen courageously stood her ground.

b


How

TheWorld

Is Descriptive

Episte

mology

Knowledge

HowCanW

e

Know?

Foundationfor

Knowledge

Empir i c i s m

Experience

Rat i o n a l i s

m

Reason

W

hatIsKnow

ledge?Criteria forKnowledge

Certainty

No ReasonTo Doubt

What

Can

W

e Know?

Limits ofHuman

Knowledge

Own Mind

ExternalWorld

Meta

p hy s i c s

ThingsThere Are

RelationsBetweenThings

Mind—

Body

Kinds ofThings

Bodies

Minds

DoWe

Have

FreeWil l?

Free Will

Propertiesof Things

Mental

Physical

HowTheW

orld

Oug

ht To Be

Normative

Ethics

Moral

Philoso phy

Morality

Metaethic

sForce ofMorality

MoralKnowledge

WhyBe

Moral

?

MoralMotivation

Norm

ative E

th ics

Demandsof Morality

RightAction

GoodCharacter

Applied

Et

hicsWhat

MoralityImplies

Is

Dea th

B a d

?

Death

Polit

ical&Soc i a l Philos

ophy

State &Society

Equality

Outcome

Oppor-tunity

Justice

Rights

Dis-tributive

Social

Sce

pticism

HowIs Consciousness

Possib

le?

MustK

nowled

ge

BeCertain

?

What

AreM

inds?

Which

Acts

AreRight?

Which

Character

s Are Good?

How Can We Know Right FromWrong?

DoesJusticeReq

uire

Equa

lity?

N

O

R

M

A

TIVE

DESCRIPTIVE

b

MoralityMoral Philosophy — Ethics


BranchesEthics is usually thought of as having three main branches:1. Metaethics2. Normative Ethics3. Applied Ethics

MoralPhilosophy

—Ethics

AppliedEthics

WhatMatters

Envir-onment

Death

Consent MentalCapacity

WhoMatters

How StuffMatters

Bioethics

BusinessEthics

ComputingEthics

Just WarTheory

Metaethics

MoralMotivation

God(s)

Self-Interest

Reason

Feeling

MoralEpistem-ology

Individual

Cooper-ative

MoralTruth

NormativeEthics

RightAction

GoodCon-

sequences

MoralConsid-erations

MoralReasons

Duty &Obligation

EthicalCharacter

Motivation

Virtue& Vice

Habit

EthicalReflection

MoralDevel-opment

EthicalEducation

What makes thingsmoral or immoral?

Why be moral?How can we knowwhat moralitydemands?

What is moral in this case?

N

O

R

M

ATIVE

b

b



Metaethics

I Why should I care about morality?I Does everyone have reason to be moral?I Can we know what morality demands?

If so, how?I What makes a moral theory true?I Can moral claims be true or false?

If so, in virtue of what?Moral Truth

Moral Motivation

Moral Epistemology

MoralPhilosophy

—Ethics

AppliedEthics

WhatMatters

Envir-onment

Death


WhoMatters

How StuffMatters

Bioethics

BusinessEthics

ComputingEthics

Just WarTheory

Metaethics

MoralMotivation

God(s)

Self-Interest

Reason

Feeling

MoralEpistem-ology

Individual

Cooper-ative

MoralTruth

NormativeEthics

RightAction

GoodCon-

sequences


MoralReasons

Duty &Obligation

EthicalCharacter

Motivation

Virtue& Vice

Habit

EthicalReflection

MoralDevel-opment

EthicalEducation




N

O

R

M

ATIVE

b

b


Moral Philosophy — EthicsNormative Ethics

I Which moral theory is true?I What makes actions morally right (wrong)?I Ought we to live by the ‘Golden Rule’?I Do the ends justify the means?I How should we respond to others’ wrongdoing?I Is honesty really the ‘best policy’?I When should we engage in ethical reflection?

How should we reason about moral questions?I What kind of people ought we to be?

How ought we to live?

Right Action

EthicalCharacter

MoralPhilosophy

—Ethics

AppliedEthics

WhatMatters

Envir-onment

Death


WhoMatters

How StuffMatters

Bioethics

BusinessEthics

ComputingEthics

Just WarTheory

Metaethics

MoralMotivation

God(s)

Self-Interest

Reason

Feeling

MoralEpistem-ology

Individual

Cooper-ative

MoralTruth

NormativeEthics

RightAction

GoodCon-

sequences


MoralReasons

Duty &Obligation

EthicalCharacter

Motivation

Virtue& Vice

Habit

EthicalReflection

MoralDevel-opment

EthicalEducation




N

O

R

M

ATIVE

b

b


Moral Philosophy — EthicsApplied Ethics

I How does this moral theory apply to some particulardomain of moral concern?

I Should we recognise great apes as rights-holders?I Are slugs entitled to moral consideration?I How should we respond to requests for euthanasia?I What public policies should regulate vivisection?I What should be done about female genital mutilation?I What’s so bad about death?I Should we stop people from choosing badly?I Are trees only valuable in themselves?

Who?

How?

What?

MoralPhilosophy

—Ethics

AppliedEthics

WhatMatters

Envir-onment

Death


WhoMatters

How StuffMatters

Bioethics

BusinessEthics

ComputingEthics

Just WarTheory

Metaethics

MoralMotivation

God(s)

Self-Interest

Reason

Feeling

MoralEpistem-ology

Individual

Cooper-ative

MoralTruth

NormativeEthics

RightAction

GoodCon-

sequences


MoralReasons

Duty &Obligation

EthicalCharacter

Motivation

Virtue& Vice

Habit

EthicalReflection

MoralDevel-opment

EthicalEducation




N

O

R

M

ATIVE

b

b

MoralityFriedman’s Argument


Questions 1 & 5:

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Friedman’s Argument1. Possible attitudes towards views different from our own are

wonder, default trust, openness, default distrust and rejection.2. Our own moral views are likely to be mistaken in ways which

some others’ moral views are not.3. When we are mistaken about matters which some others’

understand correctly, we can improve our understanding ofthose matters by learning from those others’ views.

4. We ought not exclude the possibility of learning from others.5. An attitude of rejection towards moral views different from

our own rules out the possibility of learning from them.——

6. We ought not adopt an attitude of rejection towards moralviews which differ from our own. (2-5)

b


Friedman’s Argument7. An attitude of wonder or default trust towards moral views

different from our own makes us vulnerable to moral harmfrom bad moral views and risks damaging the self-respect ofmembers of oppressed groups.

8. We ought not expose ourselves to these risks.——

9. We ought not adopt an attitude of wonder or default trusttowards moral views which differ from our own. (7-8)

10. An attitude of default distrust towards moral views whichdiffer from our own risks our ignoring views which deserve ourconsideration.

11. We ought not risk ignoring such views.——

12. We ought not adopt an attitude of default distrust towardsmoral views which differ from our own. (10-11)

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13. An attitude of openness towards moral views different fromour own avoids the risks associated with both wonder ordefault trust and with rejection or default distrust.——

14. We ought to adopt an attitude of openness towards moralviews which differ from our own. (1,6,9,12,13)

b

MoralityEvaluation

Evaluation

Question 7:

morality - what makes acts morally right or wrong? 06, 2014 · interest reason feeling moral...

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