Abbreviation key:
Intro to Ethics – All Lecture Notes w/ = with
w/o = without
Monday, August 19, 2024 2:33 PM
b/w = between
b/c = because
vs = versus
1. Which Lives Count Ex: = For example,
• Ethical Theory: purpose is to try to determine why we hold certain views, and whether they are etc = etcetera
for good reasons. Can involve appealing to general moral principles.
○ Looking into this should give one a better understanding of one's own moral opinions. 6. Ethics and Religion
• Questions involving death: relates closely to the meaning of life—the value of a life affects
• If one believes in a God and a religion to go with it, then they must also see morality as an
whether it is morally acceptable to end said life. Ex. Vegetarian view on eating meat.
objective truth. -->
• Acknowledging that human life is special in value may be seem as a religious belief-- perceiving
human life as sacred. On another note…
○ W/o God there is no objective morality. This idea was claimed by German philosopher
Nietzsche, who stated "If God is dead, everything is permitted." Nietzsche did not believe
• "SPECIAL VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE" means some things are disposable, yet not human
in God, and endorsed nihilism.
beings.
○ We dispose of things (including living beings) b/c they hold no value for use anymore, or ○ Nihilism: the view that nothing is worth doing or valuable. --> Nothing is morally worth
doing either.
worse, they are inconveniencing us. Yet, we cannot kill a person simply b/c it is more
convenient to do so. ○ Theists will believe that only a supernatural being like God can underwrite an objective
○ Humans are more valuable or have a certain value others lack. morality. Nothing else in the natural world can…
○ Many argue in favor of this belief stating that humans hold unique individual value, a value • Others who are not religious would then argue that morality is not objective. -->
• Can we make an objective morality, independent of God and religion?
objects like cars or trees don’t have. Ex. Replacing a car vs replacing a child. -->
• Meaning of life: nothing in the natural world can confer meaning or purpose onto our lives.
○ Humans hold intrinsic value: they are valuable just for being who they are and for nothing ○ We are comparable to the Greek myth of Sisyphus, who continually pushes a rock up a
else ("relational properties of being clever, beautiful, etc").
hill, only to have it roll back down.
2. What Will Morality Make You Do?
• Ex. If a child in another country was starving, isn't it our moral responsibility as those living in
relative wealth to purchase and give them food? We could be morally responsible for their 7. Morality as a Contract
death if otherwise… • Social Contract Theories: theories that appeal to a social agreement.
• There are people that believe that giving charity and sending aid is actually more harmful: it • Ex. Morality can be both a social construct and fully objective at the same time.
maintains the systematic issues that are behind these people's sufferings. --> We need to • According to philosopher Thomas Hobbes, morality can make social cooperation
make systematic-level changes instead! possible.
○ We need to solve their lack of democratic institutions, corruption, unfair trade deals, ○ It is "in every person's rational self-interest to obey" societal rules, or else society
etc. We need political reform to combat global poverty! Thus, our moral obligation is to proposes consequences.
political reform. • "State of Nature": no social cooperation --> no one can be guaranteed security, especially
• Proximity to the person in need does in fact make a "moral difference." Helping someone the weak (whom society particularly tries to give fair and equal opportunities to).
right in front of you or in your community is different than helping someone from across the ○ Hobbes observes life would be "brutish and short." Similar to the animal kingdom:
globe. (Seen as callous or not.) despite animals displaying their own form of hierarchal society (wolf packs, bee
○ Our moral obligation is to those around us, and it lessens the farther in proximity one is colonies, etc), they still prioritize their innate desires to survive and reproduce above
to another. "Charity begins at home." all else.
○ --> Personal connection, not geographical distance! ○ Hobbes states that we need moral laws to avoid a "state of nature" reality mentioned
above.
• Hobbes claims that by living in society and taking advantages of community resources, we
are consenting to a social contract-- one in which we must abide by societal rules in order
to stay with the group.
3. Utilitarianism ○ That is why, despite being a social construct, being able to partake in society is a
• A normative ethical theory promoted by J.S. Mill. rational foundation for morality.
• Argues that we should maximize human happiness and minimize human suffering.
• Focuses on the consequences of an action, rather than the motive. --> A form of
consequentialism.
• Differs from Hedonism, where one is only concerned with maximizing their own pleasure, not
everyone else's. 8. Critiques of Morality
• One con is that it can make any action seem morally right if the consequences are "positive • Karl Marx: the German philosopher that argues there is nothing natural about fundamental
enough." moral convictions.
○ According to Deontologism, consequentialist views ignore the motive behind the act. ○ Argues that moral conventions are not natural moral dispositions, but the "vested interest
• Ex. Should we make wrongdoers suffer? According to utilitarianism, their pain is still morally of certain privileged sectors of society-- the ruling class."
relevant, even after they committed a crime… ○ Ruling class: people who control the means of production (i.e. factories).
○ Causing pain to a wrongdoer is only justified if it leads to a greater happiness overall. ○ Argues that it is crucial to any economic system that it incorporates a set of values that
○ This is the reason why they are against retributivism, and instead argue for forms of can explain why the system is the way it is.
punishment which would minimize wrongdoers pain. ○ Values help support the economic system and stifle dissent or revolution.
• Value system benefitting the ruling class is exemplified in feudal societies.
