Lecture Five:  Morality and Frankenstein

Core 155

Spring 2005

I.                   Morality and Ethics

A.                 Where?

1.         The locus of morality is the judgment.  It is this that is either moral or immoral, and it is this that we generally evaluate in moral terms.

2.         Three central moral concepts:  goodness, rightness, and justice.  Systematic thinking about morality generally focuses on making these clear, and on relating them.

B.                  What?

1.         Reflection on morality and ethics leads people to construct moral theories, i.e., systems of assumptions and implications that explain and predict the moral evaluation of judgments.

2.                  Types of theories:

a.         Divine command theory

b.         Consequentialism (e.g., utilitarianism)

c.                   Duty-based theory

d.                  Justice-based theory

e.                   Egoism

C.                 Who?

1.                  In order to develop a system of ethics, one must first consider the subjects of that system. In the case of ethics, the subjects are often persons. A “person,” in philosophical language, does not have to be a human. Some may include certain primates or other “animals” given the nature of the definition used. On the other hand, there is often argument about whether certain humans are rightly to be called persons. For instance, fetuses, children and humans with limited mental capacity are sometimes excluded from certain definitions of persons.

2.                  So, in order to determine an ethical system, one must consider who (what) is to be included in that system and how they (it) should relate to that system. Often, when discussing medical or scientific issues, a person’s life is at issue. So, how are we to think of the status of that life? What are the implications of thinking one way or another about the status of life? The following outline considers some of the ways of thinking about the status of life.

II.                Morality and Frankenstein

A.                 The creature and Victor evaluate most of the judgments they make in moral terms, either in advance of making them or after they have made them.  Thus, morality is at the heart of how they see themselves and their actions, and so qualifies as a central theme in the book.

B.                     Victor’s Moral Code:

1.         Whatever it is my duty to do for humanity, I must do.  This implies early on that whatever can be done to increase knowledge for humanity, I must do.

2.         This is a duty-based moral code.  He makes judgments irrespective of their consequences in many cases.  (E.g., his judgment not to create a mate.)

D.                 The Creature’s Moral Code:

1.         I deserve to be happy.

2.         Whatever I need to do to preserve the balance of justice, I must do.

2.                  The first of these precepts is egoistic, while the second is justice-based.

E.                  Perhaps the most important decision in the book is Victor’s decision to create the creature.  Here he makes the decision to “play God”, and as a result launches the novel on its tragic trajectory.

III.       Group Work

A.        We are not in a position to re-animate the dead, but we can come close in many respects.  For example, we can clone, splice genes, transplant organs, etc.

B.         Your charge is to work in groups and come up with a scientific ethical code of conduct for the present day, complete with supporting arguments.