Welcome to your life!
Now What?
The Question
“Free at Last!”
•  You’re adults!
–  Cool, huh?
•  You no longer have to do what others tell you
to do ….
–  Your parents
–  Your teachers
–  Your religion
•  What Now?
What to do?
•  How should you choose?
•  How should you live?
•  What do you want to do.
•  What do you get to do?
•  What makes you happy?
•  Is being happy all that matters?
•  What is the “good life?”
•  What is “justice?
Moral Philosophy
•  How should I live?
–  How should we live?
•  And why?
•  Is there such a thing a moral obligation?
–  Are there things that, morally speaking, you should
do, even if you don’t want to.
•  Is there some general principle that makes
things “morally right?”
Moral Philosophy
What is morality?
Why should we act morally?
Is there an objective “moral code?”
What is “justice?”
Can (should) I (we) just do what I
(we) want?
What makes things “moral?”
•  Is morality subjective? Is it simply a matter of
personal preference or personal “taste.”
•  Is morality culturally relative? Does what’s
right or wrong depend upon society?
•  Is morality “God’s will?” Is something right
because God allows it and wrong because God
forbids it?
•  Is morality “absolute?” Are there “objective”
moral facts?
Well?
•  What do YOU think?
If you have no opinion, then I guess that
means it would be alright for me to assign
your grades at random, right?
A Thought Experiment
What would you do
If you knew
You’d never get caught?
If you could be INVISIBLE?
Gyges’ Ring
•  In Greek mythology, this ring makes you
invisible.
•  Plato uses this as a “thought experiment” to get
us to think about why we act certain ways.
•  Are we concerned with “acting morally” only
because we’re afraid that, if we don’t, we’ll get
in trouble?
Plato and Socrates
Plato:
428-327 BC
u Born in Athens, to upperclass family
u Gave up a life in politics
to study with another
Athenian, named
Socrates
u Was present when
Socrates died in 399 BC
u Founded the “Academy,”
the first university in the
western world.
Socrates:
469-399 BC
u Pursued basic
questions about life,
love, friendship,
justice.
u A “gadfly” who
questioned prominent
people, exposing how
little they knew.
u Was sentenced to
death for “corrupting
the youth.”
Plato’s Republic
•  Written as a dialogue, with Socrates as the
main character.
•  Concerned with how society should be
structured if human being are to flourish.
•  In Bk. I, Thrasymachus argues that justice is
what is in the interest of the strong
–  That “might makes right.”
•  In Bk. II (where we start), Glaucon argues that
no one acts justly for its own sake.
A Distinction
Ways we value/desire things
•  Intrinsically:
–  Things desired “for their own sake,” not because of what
they bring about:
•  Exp.: Listening to music, viewing works of art
•  Instrumentally:
–  Things desired for what they bring about, not for their own
sake.
•  Exp.: Going to the dentist
•  Both intrinsically and instrumentally:
•  Exp.: Eating
How do we value acting justly?
•  Socrates thinks we value justice both for what
it brings about (others treat us justly in return),
and in itself (simply because it is right).
•  Glaucon thinks we value justice only for what
it brings about, not in itself.
•  His evidence: what we would do if we had
Gyges’ Ring.
Gyges’ Ring
•  This “thought experiment” helps us focus on
what people would do if we weren’t worried
about the beneficial effects of appearing to act
justly.
•  Do we value justice “in itself” (because we
believe it’s right), or merely because of what it
brings about (how others will treat us)?
If you could steal …
•  And no one would know …
–  You wouldn’t get caught
–  No one would think of you as a thief
–  People would still trust you
•  But you get to keep what you stole …
–  You’d have the benefits both of being a thief
(the money you stole) and of seeming to be
honest
•  Wouldn’t you be a “chump” to be honest?
Why be moral?
•  If you “do what’s right” only because you are
afraid of punishment (“hell”) or because you
seek reward (“heaven”), is that really
“morality?” Isn’t that just being “selfish” in a
smart way?
•  On the other hand, if “doing the right thing”
involves sacrifice of your own best interests,
isn’t that simply being irrational?
Moving On
Justice
•  Is racism/segregation “unjust?” Is it
“immoral?”
•  Was it “OK back then” (in the past), but not
OK now?
•  How should we judge those (in the past) who
practiced discrimination?
•  Is racism still an issue today, or is this all just
“ancient history?”