An Integral Approach to Ethics
An Integral Approach

You are probably beginning to see that
our moral knowledge does not come
simply from reason, or intuition, or
emotions, or experience. Perhaps they
all have to work together for us to begin
to approach an adequate way of
accessing moral knowledge.
Three Levels

Boss: “All three levels overlap and interact
with one another. Experience provides the
material for interpretation and analysis;
analysis, in the end, returns to experience. If
the results of our analysis are inconsistent
with our experience, then we need to start
over and fine-tune our analysis so that it
takes into account all relevant experience.
Analysis also returns to experience in the
form of action or praxis.”
Experience

Boss: “Experience is the first level of thinking.
Experience goes beyond the five senses: We
notice certain events happening, we observe
different feelings within ourselves, we have
certain intuitions, and we receive information
about the world by reading or hearing about
the experiences of others. Experience forms
the foundation of the philosophical
enterprise.”
Interpretation

Boss: “Interpretation involves trying to
make sense of our experience. This
level of thinking includes individual
interpretations of experience as well as
collective or cultural interpretations.
Some of our interpretations may be well
informed; others may be based merely
on our opinions or personal feelings.”
Analysis

Analysis is what allows us to compare
experiences and interpretations to come
up with as accurate a picture of reality
as we are capable of. This is critical if
we are to find our way into an
understanding of moral knowledge.
Analysis

A big part of becoming a wise person is
the result of our ability to analyze our
worldview and discover what the hidden
assumptions about it are.
More Perspectives

We live in an exciting time when we
now have access to many other
viewpoints and this only helps us
analyze our experience and
interpretation of reality with more
insight.
Different Views?

Do women see the world differently than
men do? Women’s studies programs
are asking us to take this question very
seriously, not only in the study of ethics,
but in other areas as well.
Moral Sensitivity

Boss: “The first dimension, moral
sensitivity, grows out of a collective
consciousness raising. Until we develop
an awareness of the experience of
violence, victimization, and pain that
surrounds us, we will continue to
inadvertently perpetuate it.”
Ontological Shock

Boss: “When we experience ontological
shock, the worldview that we once took
for granted is displaced, thereby forcing
us to reanalyze our old assumptions.”
Praxis

Boss: “The third dimension of analysis
is praxis. Praxis refers to the practice of
a particular art or skill. In ethics, praxis
requires informed social action. True
philosophical analysis always returns
with an altered and heightened
consciousness to the world of particular
experiences.”
Moral Sensitivity

We grow in moral sensitivity with new
experiences. This is one reason why it
is so important to travel and expose
ourselves to different people and
different types of food, literature, and
music. It is all too easy for us to stay
with the safe and small circle of where
we are comfortable. But without
challenges we don’t seem to grow.
An Integral Approach

Hopefully you are starting to see how an
integral approach that includes
experience, interpretation, and analysis
all work together. When we combine
this integrally with moral sensitivity,
ontological shock, and praxis we start to
get a much richer view of ethics and
morality.
Overcoming Resistance

Boss: “Most of us hate to be proved
wrong. When a particular paradigm
becomes thoroughly entrenched in our
worldview, we may begin to see it as
fact rather than an interpretation of
experience, especially if we benefit by
that particular worldview.”
Defense Mechanisms

Boss: “Defense mechanisms are
psychological tools, which we usually
learn at an early age, for coping with
difficult situations. Defense mechanisms
can be divided into two main types: (1)
coping and (2) resistance.”
Coping

Boss: “Coping, or healthy defense
mechanisms, allows us to work through
challenges to our worldview and to
adjust our life in ways that maintain our
integrity. Healthy ways of coping include
logical analysis, objectivity, tolerance of
ambiguity, empathy, and suppression of
harmful emotional responses.”
Resistance

Boss: “Resistance, in contrast, involves
the use of immature defense
mechanisms that are rigid, impulsive,
maladaptive, and nonanalytical.
Isolation, rationalization, indecision, and
denial are all examples of immature
defense mechanisms.”
Resistance

We freeze up or we react in a
mechanical manner rather than being
able to respond with mindfulness and
compassion, traits that Buddhism
teaches are essential to the ethical life.
Cognitive Dissonance

We often approach life with a whole
series of beliefs about how it should be
and how things should go. When this
does not happen it can shake us up and
give us an experience of cognitive
dissonance. How we respond to this
determines whether we grow or
stagnate.
Forms of Resistance




Boss: “Ignorance:
Not learning about a
particular issue because we don’t want to
know.
Avoidance: Staying away from people
and situations that challenge our worldviews.
Denial:
Refusing to acknowledge
problems and issues.
Anger: Using threats or violence to keep
others from challenging our views.”
More Forms of Resistance




Boss: “Clichés: Responding with trite sayings
or expressions when our views are
challenged.
Conformity/Superficial
Tolerance:
Agreeing simply for the sake of agreeing.
‘I’m Struggling’: Wrestling with an issue
as a substitute for taking a stand.
Distractions: Turning to diversions to
keep from thinking about troubling issues.”
Doublethink

Boss: “Doublethink involves holding two
contradictory views at the same time
and believing both to be true.”
Doublethink

Boss: “In Allan Bloom’s book on U.S.
colleges and universities, The Closing
of the American Mind, the author claims
that most students believe morality is
relative and that there are no universal
moral values. At the same time,
however, these students profess to
believe that human equality and
tolerance are universal moral values!”
Double Standards

In fact, most of us are guilty of having
double standards and this insight can
be so painful and uncomfortable that we
simply avoid it - through resistance!
Exhausted?

Boss: “It may seem that, by avoiding
conflict, life will be more tranquil and
enjoyable; in fact, habitual resistance
takes a lot of energy. When we shut out
ideas and experiences that conflict with
our cherished worldview, we also shut
out much of life’s richness.”
Is and Ought Statements

Boss: “Descriptive statements tell us
what is. Descriptive statements are
either true or false. Prescriptive
statements, on the other hand, deal with
values. They tell us what ought to be.”
Moral Values

Boss: “Only moral values carry the force
of the ought. Although it would be
awfully nice to be healthy, wealthy,
popular, and a straight A student, moral
values, by their very nature, demand
that we give them precedence over
nonmoral values.”
Facts

So many moral issues tend to either
resolve themselves or at least become
simpler when we first gather all of the
facts. It is amazing how often we try to
make major decisions with faulty
information.
The Importance of Knowledge

Boss: “The social sciences are
important to ethics because they
systematically test ideas about moral
development, human nature, and
society. Concepts about human nature
are useless, and may even be harmful,
if they are not grounded in reality.”
Idiot Compassion

Many political programs that don’t work
and simply waste money are built on
good intentions, but are not backed up
with any evidence of their ability to
work. Buddhists talk about “Idiot
compassion.” This is compassion that is
not guided by intelligence and so it ends
up increasing suffering rather than
decreasing it.
Assumptions Are Dangerous!

The assumption (assumptions are
usually dangerous!) was that patients
would panic and be stressed out. In
fact, once they had the proper
information they were able to face
things with a surprising calmness and
this lack of stress may have been what
actually helped some of them live
longer.
Facts Are Not Enough

Boss: “Ethics goes beyond science and
observation. We cannot go directly from a
descriptive statement about how things are to
a statement about how things ought to be.
For example, most patients with terminal
cancer do better if they know they are dying,
but this does not mean that we ought to tell
Juan, who is depressed and suicidal, that he
has cancer.”
Moral Reasoning

Boss: “The ability to analyze arguments and
to recognize faulty reasoning is important to
the study of ethics. Logic, the study of correct
and incorrect reasoning, provides us with the
methods and skills to formulate sound moral
arguments and to distinguish good arguments
from poor arguments. Reason is defined as
‘the power of understanding the connection
between the general and the particular’.”
Intentions

Boss: “Without correct reasoning, even a
person with good intentions can end up
causing more harm than good. Although
people may be motivated to do what is
right, they cannot always figure out what
is the best course of action to
accomplish this goal.”
Moral Tragedy

Boss: “There may be times when we know
that a person’s argument is faulty, but we
refrain from speaking out because we cannot
determine exactly what is wrong with the
argument. When this happens, we are more
likely to back down on our own position or
even adopt the other person’s interpretation
and possibly even do something that we may
later regret. When individuals fail to take
appropriate moral action or make a moral
decision that they later regret, we call it a
moral tragedy.”
Critical Thinking and Freedom

Psychologists know how good we are at
resisting the truth. Having an ability to
think critically is one of the ways we can
experience more freedom in our lives.
An Argument

Boss: “An argument is made up of two or
more propositions; one of these is claimed to
follow from or be supported by the others. A
proposition is a statement that expresses a
complete thought. It can be either true or
false. The conclusion is the proposition that is
affirmed or denied on the basis of other
propositions in the argument. The premise is
a proposition that supports or gives reasons
for accepting the conclusion. An argument
can have one or many premises.”
Factual Statements

You can’t argue about facts. If I tell you
my uncle is older than my father that is
a factual statement. It is either true or
false and which it is does not depend on
your opinion, whether you like it or not.
Many so-called arguments can be
avoided just by getting our facts
straight.
Rhetoric

Boss: “Rhetoric, in contrast, begins with
a conclusion or position. The rhetorician
then presents only those claims that
support his or her particular position.
The purpose of rhetoric is to win over
your opponents through the power of
persuasive speech; the purpose of
argumentation is to discover the truth.”
Constructing Arguments

Boss: “When constructing an argument about
a particular moral issue, we begin by making
a list of premises. Never begin by first stating
your position or opinion and then seeking
only evidence that supports your particular
position in an attempt to persuade those who
disagree with you to come around to your
way of thinking and to dismiss any conflicting
views.”
Socratic Dialogue

Boss: “When coming up with premises,
it is generally most productive to work
with others, especially those who
disagree with us. According to Socrates,
it is through the process of dialogue that
we are given an opportunity to try out
our views and, ideally, come close to
discovering the truth.”
Making An Argument

Boss: “1. Develop a list of premises. In
a good argument, the premises will be
relatively uncontroversial and should be
acceptable to all or most reasonable
people. Much of the disagreement in
moral arguments stems not from
disagreement about basic moral
principles but from empirical facts or the
definitions of ambiguous key terms.”
Making An Argument

Boss: “2. Eliminate irrelevant or weak
premises. After coming up with a list of
premises, go back over them and
eliminate any that are weak or
irrelevant.”
Making An Argument

Boss: “3. Come to a conclusion. The last
step in constructing a moral argument is
drawing the conclusion. The conclusion
should take into account the information in
the premises but should not state more than
what is contained therein. Conclusions that
are too broad include more than the premises
say; conclusions that are too narrow ignore
certain premises.”
Making An Argument

Boss: “4. Try out the argument on
others. The next step is to try out your
argument. When doing this, be careful
not to slip into rhetoric. Remember, the
mark of a good philosopher is to be
open-minded. If your argument is weak,
you should be willing to revise it in your
ongoing search for wisdom.”
Example: Divorce

When studies were conducted, scholars
found that children suffered mainly from bad
divorces rather than from divorce itself. This
does not mean that divorce is a good thing or
that you need to be for it. What it does mean
is that if we want to make a good argument
against divorce we have to find good reasons
backed up by the facts. Without this we slip
into rhetoric.
Fallacies

Boss: “When an argument is
psychologically or emotionally
persuasive but logically incorrect, it
contains what logicians call an informal
fallacy.” A fallacy is mistake in thinking.
Fallacy of Equivocation

Sometimes we need to simply ask
people to clarify their thoughts. If I say
the word “bark” what do you think of?
Some of you might think of the bark of a
dog and others might think of the bark
of a tree. These are two very different
things that simply need clarification.
Appeal to Force

Boss: “The appeal to force occurs when
we use or threaten to use force whether physical, psychological, or legal
- in an attempt to coerce another person
to accept our conclusion. The phrase
‘might is right’ summarizes the
reasoning (or lack thereof) behind the
appeal to force.”
Abusive Fallacy

Boss: “This fallacy occurs when we disagree
with someone’s conclusion, but instead of
addressing their argument, we turn and
attack or slur the character of the person(s)
who made the argument. By doing so, we
attempt to evoke a feeling of disapproval
toward the person, so that disapproval of the
person overflows into disapproval of the
person’s argument. The abusive fallacy is
also known as the ad hominem fallacy.”
Avoiding Attacks

We have to remember that bad people
can make good arguments and that
good people can make bad arguments.
Circumstantial Fallacy

Boss: “The circumstantial fallacy occurs
when we argue that our opponent
should accept a certain position
because of special circumstances, such
as his or her lifestyle or membership in
a particular group based on race,
ethnicity, gender, nationality, or religion.”
Insight or Double Standard?

Ironically, sometimes those who are
suffering from an addiction make the
very best arguments for not starting
drug use!
Inappropriate Authority

Boss: “We commit a fallacy when we
appeal to inappropriate authority, to an
expert or authority in a field other than
the one under debate. The assumption
that someone who is an authority in one
field must also be knowledgeable in all
other fields is sometimes called the
‘halo effect’.”
Authority Figures

Boss: “Titles such as Doctor, Professor,
President, and Lieutenant and the visual
impact of uniforms such as white lab coats
and police or military uniforms all increase
our perception of a person’s authority. We
tend to believe and obey these authority
figures even when they overextend their
authority to the point where it would be
appropriate to question their authority.”
Popular Appeal

Boss: “The popular appeal fallacy occurs
when we appeal to popular opinion to gain
support for our conclusion. Popular appeal
can take several different forms. The most
common one in moral arguments is the
bandwagon approach, when a certain
conclusion is assumed to be right because
‘everyone’ is doing it or ‘everyone’ believes it.”
Tyranny of the Majority

Boss: “Historian Alexis de Tocqueville, after
visiting the United States in 1826, made the
observation
that,
although
democracy
liberates us from tradition, the great
democratic danger is enslavement to public
opinion. In fact, studies show the majority of
U.S. citizens define morality in terms of what
the majority believe to be right and wrong.”
Hasty Generalization

If you go on vacation somewhere such
as Hawaii and have a rotten time, this
does not mean Hawaii is a bad vacation
spot. Or just because you disliked an
actor in a film does not mean he or she
will be bad in the next film. When we
arrive at hasty conclusions we tend to
block out new experiences and close
our minds.
Stereotypes

Boss: “Stereotypes and prejudices are often
based upon hasty generalizations. Negative
stereotypes can lead to an unconscious
devaluation of whole groups of people,
particularly when not much interaction exists
between the different cultural groups. During
wartime, governments may intentionally
create negative stereotypes of the enemy,
thus justifying the dehumanization and
destruction of that enemy.”
Fallacy of Accident
Boss: “A rule that is universally
accepted as a good rule need not be
absolute. When applying both legal and
moral rules, we need to consider the
context in which the rule is being
considered. People who rigidly apply
moral
rules
regardless
of
the
circumstances
are
known
as
absolutists.”
Fallacy of Ignorance
Boss: “The fallacy of ignorance is
committed whenever it is argued that
our conclusion is true simply because it
has not been proven false or that it is
false because it has not been proven
true. However, our being ignorant of
how to prove the existence of
something such as UFOs or free will
does not mean that they do not exist.”
Agnostic

There are all sorts of open questions in
our universe and sometimes the wisest
position is to wait until we have more
evidence one way or the other.
Universal Principles?

Boss: “The ultimate source of universal moral
principles has been a source of puzzlement
to many ethicists. This does not mean,
however, that universal moral principles do
not exist. We also don’t know the source of
the laws of physics, but this ignorance on our
part does not prove that the laws of physics
don’t exist, nor does it diminish the hold that
the laws of physics have upon us as physical
beings.”
Begging the Question
Boss: “Begging the question is also
known as circular reasoning. This
fallacy occurs when a premise and
conclusion are actually rewordings of
the same proposition. In other words,
when making the argument, we assume
the truth of our conclusion rather than
offering proof for it.”
Circular Reasoning
Boss: “Voluntary euthanasia is morally
acceptable because people have the
right to choose when and how they will
end their lives. The conclusion of this
argument is a rewording of the premise.
Rather than offering proof that voluntary
euthanasia is morally acceptable, the
premise assumes that it is morally
acceptable.”
Irrelevant Conclusion
Boss: “In the fallacy of irrelevant conclusion,
the conclusions are irrelevant in a particular
way. This fallacy is committed when we
support or reject a conclusion using premises
that are, in fact, directed at a different
conclusion. In other words, we change the
topic to a related but different subject that we
feel more comfortable discussing.”
Example

Boss: “Rosa: Don’t you think that it was
wrong for Michael to copy the test
answers from the person sitting next to
him?
Katrina: Oh, I don’t know about that.
If I had been in his situation, I probably
would have done the same thing.”
Descriptive and Prescriptive
Remember that a descriptive statement
tells us what is done or even what we
might do, but a prescriptive statement is
always about what we should do. That
is why prescriptive statements are so
prevalent in ethics and morality.
Naturalistic Fallacy
Boss: “‘Only women are physically capable of
bearing and nursing children. Therefore,
women ought to be the primary caregivers of
children.’ While it may be true that women are
physically capable of bearing and nursing
children, and men are not (what is), this does
not mean that women have a moral obligation
to be the primary caregivers of children (what
ought to be).”
Appeal to Tradition
Boss: “This fallacy also goes from an ‘is’ to an
‘ought’ statement. Whereas the naturalistic
fallacy points to what is natural, this fallacy
appeals to tradition or cultural norms as a
reason for a certain practice:
‘The Negro
has never been recognized as a person in
this country or by the U.S. Constitution.
Therefore, slavery should remain legal’.”
Moral or Legal?
Boss: “The U.S. Constitution is a legal rather
than a moral document. Our constitution has
allowed slavery and prevented women from
voting and, to this day, allows people to own
handguns, but this does not necessarily
mean that these traditions are or were moral.
On the contrary, the provisions of the
constitution itself should be judged in the light
of moral principles.”
Moral Dilemmas
Boss: “In a moral dilemma, no matter what
solution we choose, it will involve doing
something wrong in order to do what is right.
Solutions to moral dilemmas are not right or
wrong, only better or worse.” For example:
one moral rule might be that we should
always tell the truth. But what if our telling the
truth will put someone in danger? What do we
do? We now have a moral dilemma!
Slippery Slope

If we are not centered in our compassion and
wisdom, one of the classic issues we often
end up facing is the slippery slope dilemma.
This is where we overlook small offences
such as little white lies, and eventually find
ourselves caught up in a pattern of
dishonesty and deceit. Eventually the
consequences can lead to the loss of trust in
a relationship.
Encountering Dilemmas
Boss: “In a study of moral reasoning
and the college experience, discussion
of real-life dilemmas was found to be
more effective in promoting moral
reasoning than the acquisition of
knowledge in specific content areas,
such as the study of different ethical
theories.”
Resolving Moral Dilemmas
Boss: “Resolving a moral dilemma is similar
to constructing an argument. It begins with
the collection of relevant facts and moral
principles and ends with a proposed solution
or conclusion. As with moral argumentation, it
is important to resist the temptation to start
with a ‘solution’ and then rationalize it by
selecting only the facts and principles that
support it.”
Describe the Facts
Boss: “In the process of gathering the
facts, we may discover that what at first
appeared to be a moral dilemma was
not a dilemma after all.”
List the Relevant Principles
The next thing we have to do is be clear
about what our values really are. This is
much more difficult if we have never
taken the time to really explore these
things before a crisis hits.
List Possible Actions
It is often by letting our minds wander
freely while brainstorming that we can
get ourselves out of a false dilemma
mode where things need to be either
one way or another and finding a third
way that meets more of our needs.
Devise a Plan of Action
Boss: “Highlight the courses of action
that seem the best and delete the
others. Your final plan of action can
include a combination of some of the
alternative courses of action, just in
case your first plan doesn’t work.”
Remain Flexible
We need to
information and
with things. If
anything in this
change.
stay open to new
new ways of dealing
we can be sure of
world, it is that things
Pragmatic
Boss: “Some of our premises or assumptions
may later prove to be false, and new facts
may come to light. Thus, we can only do our
best with the facts at hand. We also need to
be pragmatic. Lofty moral solutions may
seem ideal on paper but may not be practical
or may meet with too much resistance. Thus,
we need to ask ourselves which course of
action is most likely to work given the
particular circumstances.”
Moral Reasoning
Boss: “Logic or moral reasoning is a tool rather
than an end in itself. Moral reasoning is only
one
of
the
components
of
moral
development. Moral sentiments like sympathy
and intuitive truths are also important for
ethical decision making. Indeed, just as a
person who is deficient in moral reasoning
can make decisions that he or she later
comes to regret, so too can people who are
rational but lack sympathy inadvertently
behave in cruel and unfeeling ways.”