I.
Administrative A. Roll. B. Questions about Study Questions? C. Review the course evaluations from last semester: project explanations, discussion vs. lecture vs. group work, guest lectures & movies, more motivation, more thematic variation. D. Plan for the week. Assignments for this week and next. E. Questions? II. Ethics
and the Business of Moral Evaluation A. What Ethics Is: Philosophical thinking (i.e., conceptual analysis) about morality and moral phenomena (e.g., problems, judgments, rules, laws, etc.). 1. The discipline involves (a) systematic reflection on moral concepts in an attempt to construct theories that explain and justify moral phenomena, and (b) application of these general theories to particular situations. 2. It combines an interest in getting morality right, i.e., in explaining moral phenomena, with an interest in determining how we should act. The latter follows from an application of the former to particular cases. So it is both descriptive and normative. B. What Ethics Isn’t: descriptive only (and so like sociology or anthropology) or normative only (and so like religion). C. The Business of Philosophical Ethics 1. Philosophers who work in ethics are interested in developing knowledge about moral phenomenon. a. To this end, they operate no differently than those who pursue knowledge in other domains, viz., they construct theories that are designed to explain the phenomena in question, which they take to constitute a natural, rule-governed class. b. In other words, ethics is about structures. An ethical theory can be understood as a model of an ethical structure, where this is a systematically related set of fundamental moral elements. 2. In constructing theories, then, the philosopher will identify and analyze (a) the fundamental moral concepts (e.g., like GOODNESS, RIGHTNESS, and JUSTICE), and (b) the rules that relate them (i.e., the moral laws). In doing this, they will operate as philosophers, looking to analyze these concepts and rules in ways that account for all possibilities, i.e., in ways that are maximally abstract and general. D. Ethical Theories: the construction of ethical theories will consist of two stages: (a) identification and analysis of fundamental moral concepts, i.e., notions used to classify fundamental aspects of moral phenomena, and (b) identification and analysis of the law-governed relationships that connect these elements. The result will be a theoretical model that explains moral phenomena as we find it in the world, and so should prove invaluable for understanding what happens and determining what should happen. 1. Stage One: Identification and analysis of moral concepts. a. Good. Something qualifies as GOOD if it meets or exceeds a positively-valued, nonmoral standard. Examples of this standard include pleasure production, knowledge production, beauty production, being “Godlike”, etc. b. Right. In ethics this is ambiguous between being right, as opposed to wrong, or it being a right, as opposed to a privilege. The former use typically applies to actions, which are said to be right if they satisfy a standard of rectitude, e.g., they maximize the good, or conform with duty, or agree with God’s will. The latter use is taken to specify a type of entitlement that moral agents have to certain goods, or to certain forms of treatment. c. Justice. This applies to actions, either of individuals or institutions, that balance (or keep balanced) the moral ledger sheet, so to speak. (E.g., the Golden Rule.) 2. Stage Two: Identification and analysis of relationships between these concepts. a. We will distinguish between two general types of theories, viz., ends-based and means-based. As we noted above, ethics is ultimately about action, and actions are a type of end toward which we as human beings aim. We use this fact to frame our examination of theories: are they primarily interested in the ends that result from our actions (i.e., ends-based), or are they primarily interested in the means that result in our actions (i.e., means-based). b. Ends-based Theories: These theories place primary emphasis on the ends that result from an action, and in particular, on the value that arises because of them. Thus, they will define right in terms of good—that is, the moral quality of an act will depend on the amount of positive nonmoral good (typically of a certain type) that arises out of the act. E.g., utilitarianism. c. Means-based Theories: These theories place primary emphasis on what happens within the agent prior to the actual performance of the action—that is, certain features of the act itself rather than the consequences of the act. For instance, they might focus on the deliberation that precedes the decision, and in particular, on the reasons that guided one’s choice. Or they might focus on motives, or intentions, or on the character traits that led to the action. These theories separate the right and the good, defining them independently. The good may influence deliberation, but the moral value of an act will depend on what the theorist takes to be right. E.g., virtue ethics, Kantian deontology. 3. How do you evaluate these theories? Do you agree that this is a domain that can be modeled? E. Ethical theories support arguments about specific cases—that is, they can be applied to our lives. III. Applying Ethics to Genetic Engineering A. Last week, we listened to numerous arguments advanced, both for and against genetic engineering and bio-technology. B. What are a few of the arguments related to genetic engineering from the reading? In light of the lecture, what kinds of arguments are those? Are they compelling? C. Is there an appropriate theory to apply here? In light of the theories, can you diagnose problems in the public discourse about this topic? |