Activity – Pure sex appeal
 5 groups of 4 – 1 poster each
 Read Sinbad the sailor
 Rank characters from the most reprehensible to the least
reprehensible, according to moral values, justifying your
choices. 20 min
Questions
 What are the methods of verifying moral positions?
 Is there such a thing as a moral fact?
 Are all values the same? If not, what is your
hierarchy of ethical concern?
 What are the differences between judging moral
values according to
 Principles
 Motives
 Consequences
From other times and places
 What are the major moral issues of today? What were they
100 years ago? 1000 years ago? What will they be 100 years
from now?
 Are there moral judgments that do not change across
cultures?
Ethical issues throughout time
 http://www.gallup.com/poll/1681/moral-issues.aspx
Ethical issues throughout cultures
United States
 Abortion
 The death penalty
 Arms control



 Teaching creationism in

schools
 Marriage



France
Secularism
Assisted reproduction
New social rights
(housing)
The market economy
(private education)
Genetically Modified
Organisms
the Louvre museum in AbuDhabi
Illegal immigrants
Ethics (objectives)
 Define ‘morality’, ‘ethics’ and ‘value judgements’
 Give one real life example of ethical relativism
 Explain how moral judgments differ if one focuses on the person




(virtue ethics), motivation (duty based theories), consequences
(utilitarianism) or the situation
Give example of one personal moral judgement
Give examples of ethical issue related to \areas of knowledge
Explain how two ways of knowing are relevant to moral
judgements
Give one example to show how knowledge may create moral
responsibilities
Ethics
 Ethics is a set of rules to regulate the way people behave
 Within an organization these rules underpin the aims of the
services that created them (doctors have ethical rules es.
confidentiality that helps them achieve the aim of their
profession)
Ethics
 Within our society ethics is a set of clearly stated moral principles
that is useful to guide us in our every day relationships with others
 My action is ethical if:
 I believe it’s right and i am ready to justify it as such
 The interest of someone else rather than myself is involved
 I must act of my own free will
 My action must be deliberate
Where do ethical principles come
from?
 Philosophers and religious thinkers have developed them
 They are called Theories of Conduct:




Religious theories
The Self Interest Theories
The Universal Law theory
The Utilitarian theory
Religious theories of conduct
 The major religions in the world have ethical codes which set
standards of behavior for their members
 The codes are usually revealed through divine revelation, that
is directly from a god to a prophet
 There are problems with the religious theories of conduct
The four main religions
 Hinduism
 Buddhism
 Islam
 Christianity
The self-interest theory
 We should aim at the acquisition of all those things we most
desire
 If we cultivate virtues like generosity, bravery, temperance
and loyalty, on the long term these will make us happy
(Aristotle - Nichomachean Ethics)
 Self-interest is not selfishness: concern for others is rational
self-interest
The universal law theory
 Kant: the categorical imperative
 The universal law: we act in such a way that our actions could
become a universal rule of human conduct
 The law of respecting others: People should be respected as
rational beings with goals of their own. No-one should use
people simply to attain their own goals
The utilitarian theory
 Actions are right if they are useful, or for the benefit of, the
majority
 More applicable to governments or organizations rather than
being a personal ethical code
A contemporary definition of the ethical
 There are no objective moral truths
 Ethics was developed in ancient times as the best pragmatic
way to survive and then genetically passed on to further
generations
Glossary
 Morality: the rightness or wrongness of something
as judged by accepted moral standards
 Ethics: a system of moral principles governing the
appropriate conduct for a person or group
 Value judgment: subjective judgment, a judgment
of the worth, appropriateness, or importance of
somebody or something made on the basis of
personal beliefs, opinions, or prejudices rather
than facts
Quotes
 “Broken promises don’t upset me. I just think, “why did they
believe me?” Jack Handy, 1949 “These are my principles and if you don’t like them – I have
others” Groucho Marx, 1890-1977
 “Whenever I’m caught between two evils, I take the one I’ve
never tried” Mae West, 1892-1980