The Moral Point of View
University of San Diego 1/30/2006 Lawrence M. Hinman, Ph.D. Director, The Values Institute ©Lawrence M. Hinman 1 Why Study Ethics?
n Moral concerns are unavoidable in life.
n Analogy: morality is a lot like nutrition. – Principal concern: health – The role of experts – Disagreement
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 2 Ethics as an Ongoing Conversation
n Professional discussions of ethical issues in journals.
n We come back to ideas again and again, finding new meaning in them.
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 3 Ethics and Morality
n Morality: first­order set of beliefs and practices about how to live a good life
n Ethics: a second­order, conscious reflection on the adequacy of our moral beliefs.
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 4 Moral Health
n The goal of ethical reflection is moral health.
n Thus we seek to determine what will nourish our moral life and what will poison it.
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 5 Ethical Inventory
n Take the ethical inventory on pp. 8­10 now or on the web at: – http://ethics.sandiego.edu/ActiveWebSurvey/theory/ .
n Return to your answers after finishing each chapter.
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 6 The Moral Point of View
n What makes something a moral issue? – Content: • duties, rights, human welfare, suffering, character, etc. – Perspective: • impartial, compassionate, etc.
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 7 Example: Cheating Imagine a situation in which you see a classmate cheating. There are several elements from a moral point of view: – Some people are hurt by the cheating – There is deception in the situation – Cheating seems to be unfair to those who don’t cheat – There are conflicting values—honesty, loyalty, etc. – There are questions of character.
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 8 The Language of Moral Concerns
n Some philosophers have argued that moral issues are characterized by a particular kind of language—terms such as duty, obligation, right, and good.
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 9 Impartiality Many philosophers have argued that the moral point of view is characterized by impartiality, that is, I don’t give my own interest any special weight. – Immanuel Kant – John Stuart Mill
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 10 Compassion
n Other philosophers have seen the origin of the moral life to be in compassion, feeling for the suffering of other sentient beings.
n Josiah Royce: “Such as that is for me, so is it for him, nothing less.”
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 11 Universally Binding
n Moral obligations, some philosophers maintain, are universally binding and that is what gives them their distinctive character.
n Kant: morality is a matter of categorical imperatives. – Distinguish between hypothetical and categorical imperatives.
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 12 Concern for Character
n Philosophers from Aristotle onward have seen the primary focus of morality to be character.
n Two questions: – What ought I to do? (Kant and Mill) – What kind of person ought I to be? (Aristotle)
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 13 The Focus of Ethics
n Ethics as the Evaluation of Other People’s Behavior – We are often eager to pass judgment on others
n Ethics as the Search for Meaning and Value in Our Own Lives
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 14 Ethics as the Evaluation of Other People’s Behavior
n Ethics often used as a weapon
n Hypocrisy
n Possibility of knowing other people
n The right to judge other people
n The right to intervene
n Judging and caring
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 15 Ethics as the Search for Meaning and Value in Our Own Lives
n Positive focus
n Aims at discerning what is good
n Emphasizes personal responsibility for one’s own life
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 16 What to Expect from a Moral Theory Functions of theory:
n Describe
n Explain
n Give strength (Stockdale)
n Prescribe – Open new possibilities – Wonder
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 17 What to Expect from a Moral Theory, 2 What is ethics like?
n Physics – Clear­cut, definitive answers
n Engineering – Several possible ways of doing things, many ways that are wrong
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 18 The Point of Ethical Reflection
n Ethics as the evaluation of other people’s behavior – Sources of mistrust about moral judgments • Hypocrisy • Knowing other people • The right to judge • Judging and intervention • Judging and caring
n Ethics as the search for the meaning of our own lives
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 19 Conclusion: Ethics & Good Health
n Ethics is like nutrition – One studies bodily health, the other moral health – Significant disagreement in both fields – Still there is a significant common ground.
1/30/2006 ©Lawrence M. Hinman 20