Introduction to Virtue Ethics,
Utilitarianism, and Deontology
(Kantianism)
What do you think?
• As all ethics is relative and/or, we can never agree on
any objectively valid principles.
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Strongly Disagree
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Strongly Agree
Cultural Relativism (descriptive): Different cultures have
different ethics and values.
Ethical Relativism (normative): There are no universal
ethical principles.
The Difficulty of Bridging the Gap with Relativism:
How do you climb out of that hole?
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There is no Truth.
There are no absolutes.
Nothing is certain.
Everything is just an
opinion.
• Can you spot the
contradictions?
• If a statement is selfcontradictory, what is the
value of the statement?
So where do we go?
• There is no
Truth. (except this
statement)
• There are no
absolutes (except
this statement).
• Nothing is
certain (except
this statement).
• Everything is
just an
opinion (except
this statement).
• Some things are true; some things are
not true; some things are more true
than other things.
• If some things are true, there must be
something absolute. It is not clear how
or if we can access the absolute.
• We experience certainty in degrees,
and the facts change.
• Some things are opinions; some things
are facts. Different facts and different
opinions have different values.
Moral Reasoning Bridges the Gap
Build the Bridge Premise by Premise and Tie it all
together with Logic
• Some arguments get us and
others from “is” to “ought” very
effectively.
• Some arguments fail.
• Some get us there, but it’s
scary and dangerous.
Virtue Ethics (excellence of character)
• Are people inherently “good”
or do they learn how to be
“good?”
• Plato (@400 BCE): Compelled to
rediscover through
contemplation the eternal
knowledge of the Good
forgotten during the trauma of
birth (wisdom).
• Since all being comes from the
Good, all truth is within (the
soul).
• Once one discovers the
Good, one cannot help but
act in accordance with the
Good since it is in one’s
nature to do so.
Aristotle
• All things have “telos” (a design and
purpose).
• To “actualize” telos is to
“flourish.”
• The telos of the human being
is actualize excellence in
living (arête) by acting in
accordance to the Golden
Mean of moderation.
• Aristotle: We “become” by
doing:
“By practicing virtue we learn
it, just as the builder learns to
build...We become just by
doing just acts, temperate by
temperate acts.”
“It is clear that he who acts
must have knowledge, he must
choose his act, and his act
must proceed from his
character. So, just actions are
those the just man does.“
Virtue Ethics
• What kind of person should
I/we/they be?
• How do we act in order to
achieve this?
• How do we compel others
to act in this way?
• What is the strength of
virtue ethics?
• Weakness?
• What would the virtue
ethicist say to the
“dumbest” girls to help
them bridge the is-ought
gap?
Utilitarianism
• Goodness/rightness and
badness/wrongness are located
in the consequences an act
(consequentialism).
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1842 CE)
• An act that increases happiness
or pleasure (or minimizes
unhappiness and suffering) is
right and good; act that
decreases happiness or causes
suffering is wrong and bad.
• Theory based on act, rather than
act based on theory.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873 CE)
Bentham’s “Calculus of Felicity”
• Intensity (How intense is the
pleasure?)
• Duration (How long does the
pleasure last?)
• Certainty (How sure is the
pleasure?)
• Proximity (How soon will the
pleasure be experienced?)
• Fecundity (How many more
pleasures will follow?)
• Purity (How free from pain is the
pleasure?)
• Extent (How many people will
experience pleasure? [social not
personal hedonism])
Strengths?
Weaknesses?
Each person must
decide for
him/herself
Mill’s Concern
What decisions are totally private? • Mill’s solution: only the
“competent” get a say.
How can we advance civilization if
morality is personal preference?
Should tax dollars be spent on…
• You have to have
experienced college, tax
refunds, and parties, to
“vote.”
Deontology (Kantianism)
Immanuel Kant (1724-804CE)
• Pure reason reveals some a priori
truths (time, space, freedom).
• Reason depends on respect for rules.
• As creatures of reason, we are “duty
bound” to follow logical ethical
principles (avoid contradiction).
• Deon=duty. To bind.
• Note: we duty bound to obey logical
ethical principles, but one must
choose to submit to them.
• Key Idea: Categorical
Imperative: “Act only
according to that maxim by
which you can at the same
time will that it should
become universal law.”
• Different from hypothetical
imperative: If X, then Y &
When X, then Y.
• In other words, a moral action
is revealed via thought
experiment: what happens if
everyone does what I am
contemplating doing?
An Example
• You owe a friend $5.
• You could kill him and
avoid paying.
• Universalize: “Everyone
ought to solve problems
by killing.”
• You could lie.
• Universalize:
“Everyone ought
to lie to solve
problems.”
• You could steal from
someone else to
repay.
• Universalize:
“Everyone ought to
steal to solve
problems.”
• Everyone
ought to pay
his/her debts.
Implications?
• Consequences are morally
irrelevant.
• Actions have intrinsic value
because they conform to
logical principles.
• Ethics is rooted in logic and
reason rather than empathy
and feeling (Cat. Imp. is NOT
the Golden Rule).
Practical Imperative
• Humans are the source of values
in the world—no humans, no
values, no worth.
• Therefore, humans are the
necessary condition of worth.
• As a necessary condition of
worth, humans are worthy (i.e.
possess dignity)
• Therefore, they have intrinsic not
instrumental value.
• “Act so that you treat humanity,
whether in your own person, or in
that of another, always as an end
and never as a means only.”
Moral Reasoning
• Virtue Ethics: Bridge the gap
by acting as a Good person.
• Utilitarianism: Bridge the
gap by maximizing
happiness and minimizing
pain.
• Kantianism: Bridge the gap
by obeying the categorical
and practical imperatives.
• Does motive matter?
• Is it better to do the
right thing or to want to
do the right thing for
the right reason?
Organ Donation vs. Organ Selling
• It is currently legal to donate
but illegal to sell a kidney in US.
• Practical result? Lots of people
die waiting for kidneys.
• Proposal: Allow kidneys to be
sold.