Ethics Test 1: Notes

 

Week 1 Topics:

The Ring of Gyges – Glaucon is the cynic

·         Asks why have morals?

·         Both just and unjust men desire and pursue gain

·         Men act just because it serves them better

·         Man often feels committing injustices serves themselves better than being just

 

Why is Ethics so hard?

·         Moral complexity – life doesn’t always offer a clear choice

·         Hard because: 1) morals change; 2) pressure; 3) motivation hard to discern

 

·         Clausewitz – military exists to serve the national interest

 

Week 2 Topics: Constitutional Paradigm – used when there are conflicting loyalties

1.        Priority of Loyalties – Constitution, Mission, Service, Ship, Shipmate, Self

2.        Resolve conflicting loyalties

3.        Follow the above two or resign

4.        If acting is worse than disobeying, disobey if the following prerequisites are met

·         Not trivial

·          Try to fix before disobeying

·         Make disobedience public

·         Be willing to accept consequences

·         Taught to disobey so we can be autonomous agents

·         P77, 79

 

Week 3: Functional Line – many military functions facilitated by morals standardsisobey so we can be autonomous agentshe following prerequisitrn

·         Bad person cannot be a good solider

·         Relativism – values reflect culture

§         Pros: shows tolerance, no need to prove a set of morals

§         Cons: cannot say others have inferior morals and there can be no moral progress

·         Objectivism – acts can be defined as right or wrong

·         Pros: firm basis, encourages the search for moral answers

·         Cons: arrogant, intolerant

·         Pluralism – there can be multiple right answers to a moral question

 

Week 4: Divine Command Theory – commanded by God means moral

·         Euthypro Dilemma – Is conduct moral because the gods command it because it is right? … unpleasant meaning:

§         Morals are arbitrary if determined by God

§         Morals transcend God

§         Eberle believes this is a caricature of DCT because God is king and loving and would only issue moral orders

·         Pros: divine source for morals; inescapable rewards and punishments

·         Cons: demands faith; requires human interpretation

·         Natural Law – morals determined by reason

§         Can apply to believers and non-believers

 

Week 5: Utilitarianism – always act so that harm is minimized

·         Mill – God is the ultimate utilitarian

·         Actions must be judged by quality too (high = intel, creativity; low = eat, rest, etc)

·         Better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied

·         Greatest Happiness Factor – existence exempt from pain and as rich as possible in pleasure

·         Utilitarian Morality

·         Laws should put happiness of the individual in harmony with the whole

·         Education should establish an association between happiness and good for the whole

·         Motivation unimportant

·         Consequentialist – teleological aspect – rightness determined by account

·         Utility – hedonic – pleasure is the only good, pain is the only evil

·         Types of Utilitarianism

·         Act – only right if an act causes as much good as alternatives (requires you to evaluate every act)

·         Rule – act right only if required by a rule (must still yield greatest utility)

·         Action Guiding Rules

·         Remainder rule – when no other role applies, use your best judgment

·         Conflict-resolving rules

·         Utility maximizing rules (must always be followed)

·         Negative Responsibility – you’re responsible for actions you take and don’t take

·         Cons – unlimited scope but has limited precision (too much info required)

·         Respect for Life – not specifically valued; can be lost for the greater good

 

Week 6: Kant – actions moral only if done for the sake of duty

·         Formula of Autonomy – to be free, an individual must act on their own, not for incentives

·         Duty for duty’s sake

·         Categorical Imperative – don’t do something that you don’t want everyone to do

·         Formula of Universal Law – act on universal obligations before personal desires

·         Formula of Humanity as an End Itself – don’t use others for your own ends (don’t manipulate or coerce)

·         Kingdom of Ends – act like everyone is a lawgiver and citizen

·         Inaction can be immoral too

·         An act does not have to be the best possible act to be moral

·         Cons – smaller scope (only assesses intentional acts; applies to individuals and groups with rules); focuses on maxims more than results

·         Respect for Life – people aren’t ends

·         This does not mean they will preserve life though (Kant can be just without providing the best healthcare)

 

Week 7: Aristotle – the best possible act is a mean between the extremes of deficiency and excess

·         Eudaimonia – human flourishing or excellence

·         Achieved through a mean

o        Evil is just missing the mark

o        Some actions have no mean (murder, adultery, rape)

·         Virtue – excellence found through a mean

·         Habituation is needed to develop character

·         True courage – citizen solider

·         Lower courages: experience, passion, overconfident people, ignorant people

·         Categories of People

·         Virtuous – understand virtue and life a virtuous life

·         Weak-willed – understand virtue but have trouble controlling their desires

·         Wicked – understand virtue and refuse to seek it

·         Innocents – incapable of understanding virtue