- What is ethics?
- Ethics is the study of
morality (
the evaluation of human conduct good/bad). It comes from the
Greek word, "ethos," meaning character.
- What is morality?
- Morality
is beliefs
and practices about good and evil by means of which we guide our
behavior
-
Can
Ethics be taught?
Almost 2500 years ago, the philosopher Socrates debated the question
with his fellow Athenians. Socrates' position was clear: Ethics, in
part, consists
of knowing what we ought to do, and such knowledge can be taught. Plato believed that acting right is a matter of proper education. If
we show people what is right, and good, and true, when they are ready to
receive this information, people will be drawn
to it and do the good.
Do you agree with Plato?
However, keep in mind that not everybody is ready to be taught.
In Protagoras,
for example, Socrates says if virtue is teachable, then all virtuous
parents or leaders would teach virtue, but this is not the case: "I
could mention numberless other instances of persons who were good
themselves, and never yet made any one else good, whether friend or
stranger. Now I, Protagoras, having these examples before me, am
inclined to think that virtue cannot be taught. "
One receives information according to the mode of the
percipient. A clarifying example explaining that some are just not ready to learn
is offered by Professor Robinson. He relates Plato's story
of taking a young child to battle. The child will see horses,
hear clashing..., but will fail to see strategies and sacrifices: "A child of one shown the
heroism of the Spartans at
Thermopylae
can learn nothing from it. The soul must be prepared and of the
right disposition; there must be guidance, as Meno's servant required
guidance to discover that he knew the Pythagorean theorem" (The great
Ideas of Philosophy, lecture 9, page 33)
MacKinnon contends, "Although certain ideas or types of knowledge can
be taught, ethical behavior cannot because it is a matter of individual
choice." (page 2 MacKinnon)
By studying ethics persons
can improve ethical decision making by identifying ethical issues and
recognizing the approaches available to resolve them. Studying ethics will
improve one's ability to make solid decisions. It will
enhance and deepen one's life, thus bringing a richness to life
and making it more meaningful.
Since behavior is directly related to one's moral perceptions
and paradigm of the world, ethics education influences thought
and action. Some say ethics can be "jump-started" and seen only
in the light of a wise man's guidance.
So why is it that when people know what is right and good for them that
they sometimes do the opposite? Why do people eat chocolate cake when they
are on a diet?
- Why study ethics?
Studying ethics arms us with resources to make better informed
decisions. It brings a richness, depth, and fullness to life.
It helps us to understand what it truly means to be human, what it
means to love. It allows one to see that one measure of man is how
loving and generous ethical he is to the weakest, to those
that can do him no favor in return. It helps us
distinguish between motivation and intention.
-
- Can we teach ethics to monkeys? Who is morally or ethically responsible?
Traditional Western philosophy teaches us that only
human beings are morally responsible. Rocks, plants, insects &
animals cannot be taught to be morally responsible.
Mankind is the only rational animals, meaning man possesses an
intellect which allows him to discern the rightness and
wrongness of an action. Possessing a rational intellect is what
it means to be human. It is, as Covey says, "the infinite space
between stimulus and response." It is the space wherein we
create ourselves into the person we wish to be.
Traditional philosophy tells us animals, by contrast, act
according to instinct. A duck is programmed to quack and that's
all he will basically do. A human, however, if free to
create himself and make a new being of himself. Only mankind has
the freedom of deciding what he wants to be and what he will do
with his life. Lublin existentialism calls this the creative
participation and continuation of God's work of creation.What is a
moral arena?
The moral arena is the domain of actions, motives, traits, etc. that are open to moral assessment.
These can be considered as
morally good or morally bad.
What brings something into the moral arena?
Duties, rights, obligations, suffering, justice, human dignity, and respect due in
interpersonal relationships. These issues cause us to reflect and see what
is really important and a priority, bringing to the fore what is of utmost importance to
each of us. Socrates reminds us, "The unexamined life is not worth
living." We must be armed with the proper knowledge to make
responsible decisions to improve our chances for doing what is
best.
Why don't some people like being in the moral arena?
When one is not in the moral arena, it's easy to turn one's face
the other way, to ignore an injustice, not think, to not get involved in
a sticky situation, and not act.
Being in the moral arena means that, at times, we are placed in an uncomfortable
position where we must take a stand. We may say, "I'm not going to
to allow this deceit or abuse to happen. I will not buy X because it was made or picked by underpaid
workers or because the corporation supports pornography..."
It is a burden to make all these ethical decisions, and what if the wrong
decision is made - people don't want to be held responsible for a wrong
decision; they would rather not make a decision at all. Hitler claimed
he was able to conquer the masses because they were too lazy to
think for themselves.
- What are two strategies
for avoiding personal responsibility per Thiroux?
- Transferring responsibility to another: We cannot shrug and escape this important personal
responsibility of making decisions onto an ethics instructor, a military leader, a cult
leader, or a fellow co-worker. We cannot do something that seems
wrong because an authority figure says it is OK. When we do so, the responsibility
or blame for wrong-doing and bad judgment is improperly
transferred to them. Our sense of being truly human, of being
responsible for our actions becomes lost.
A striking example of this can be seen in the pleas of senior German
officers when tried for war crimes after World War II. They pleaded
innocent because they were not responsible: they had just followed
orders from the Fuhrer.
- It's relative; it doesn't really matter: A second psychological strategy for relieving oneself
of the stress and responsibility of looking deeply for the right
course of actions is to say that all is relative. Values are a
matter of personal preference, and these vary from person to
person. No one can or should judge me. We must all do what
is right for us. Everybody is right; nobody is wrong. Different
strokes for different folks. What's right for you may not be right for
me. I like to wear suit in school and you like to wear jeans. I won't go
out to dinner with a friend because I got a better invite one day later. My
friend won't mind. I won't visit my friend at the hospital because I'd
rather go elsewhere - no big deal. There is no universal objective way of deciding . All
is personal preference. But what happens when we discuss issues of
deeper importance, like domestic abuse, slavery...?
What is the relationship between law and morality?
Generally morality precedes law
What is legal is not necessarily moral and vice versa (discrimination
and even slavery for
example were once legal)
Thiroux states, "law is the public codification of morality in that it
lists for all members of a culture what has come to be accepted as the
moral way to behave in that culture."
Law prescribes behavior, not inner desires (like covet thy neighbor's
wife)
Distinction between Ethics and Law:
Ethics/moral responsibility calls us to a higher standard than law.
What is the difference between contemporary and traditional ethics: (Liptak)
The definition of ethics is time-based. Contemporary ethics
defines ethics as basically as how we should treat other people.
Traditional ethics was defined by three characteristics:
- How to treat other people
- How to have character or virtue
- Summum Bonum - greatest good (or ultimate purpose and meaning of
life)
- What is "The Gap"
Being moral is more than knowing morality. It is closing
"the gap" between knowing what is moral and doing what is moral.
It is closing the gap between what we know we should do and actually doing
it.
- What is the purpose of ethical theories?
"To reduce complexity by
introducing general principles that can explain a wide variety of
cases....Ethical theories do not only formulate ethical principles
but also examine their validity (truthfulness) by checking their
internal consistency and ensuring the absence of contradiction in their premises
and conclusions" (51-52 Souryal)
In what sense is a faith-based morality different from secular
morality?
Secular morality often stresses what is necessary: Do unto others as you
would like others..."Faith-based morality often raises the playing
field one notch to what is best, not on what is necessary: "Love your
neighbor." It is raised to the level of love. It heightens the
sense of seriousness and responsibility, making one think of both
commission and omission
- =================================================================
What do you think of items like
the following that appear on the web?
5 cornerstones to ethical behavior
-
Do what you say you will do
- Never divulge information given to you in confidence
- Accept responsibility for your mistakes
- Never become involved in a lie
- Avoid accepting gifts that compromise your ability to perform in the
best interests of the organization
(Manske,
1987)
Further Discussion questions:
Morality is sometimes is complex. Vagueness surrounds many moral principles.
Where does one draw the line? For
example,:
- What about the white lie and the purple dress? (When if ever
is it OK to lie?)
- Precisely what is cruelty? Should one and at what point should one
intervene when seeing cruelty?
- Should one always report evil? Should one report an employee
embezzling fund, an employee taking extended lunch breaks, an
employee talking on the phone???
- If a school has a strong honor code, what do you do if you notice
someone cheating?
- Is it OK to bring supplies home from work (paper, pens), especially
if i worked over during lunch or break? Does it really matter?
- One makes a marriage vow, "in good times and in bad...until
death do we part" to only have oneself and the children subject
to domestic violence... is it ethical to break the vow?
- Does one have a moral responsibility to report
acts of violence - like Kitty Genovese
- Conflicting & competing reasons arise.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- Quotes
Socrates "The unexamined life is not worth living."
Ethics
is a code of values which guide our choices and actions and determine
the purpose and course of our lives.
Ayn Rand, Russian-American novelist and philosopher (1905-1982)
"Morality concerns what we ought to become, how we ought to relate to
others, and how we ought to act. ...morality concerns the
recognition of the inherent value of people, both ourselves and others,
a value that is not reducible to how others benefit us"
(Martin 5).
"We are discussing no small matter, but how we
ought to live. " Socrates, in Plato's Republic
"The most important human
endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance
and even our existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can
give beauty and dignity to life." Einstein
For a future lecture
Since behavior is directly related to one's moral perceptions and
paradigm of the world, ethics education influences thought and
action.
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