Ethics
Chapter Four
Moral Theories
and Moral Character
1
Moral Theories & Moral Character
 The

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
New York Yankees and $6 Million
The Promise
• Give the $6 million to Steinbrenner
The World Relief Organization
• $6 million feeds 100,000 people dying of
starvation
The Dilemma
• What to do with the money?
2
Moral Theories & Moral Character
 The

New York Yankees and $6 Million
Let your conscience be your guide
• People’s conscience will speak to them in
different ways according to how they were
raised
• Some people believe it is alright to commit
terrorist acts
• Some people would harm a fly
3
Moral Theories & Moral Character
 The

New York Yankees and $6 Million
Do whatever is most loving
• Love is a wonderful value, but it is not
enough to guide our actions where there is
a conflict of issues
• Love alone does not solve difficult moral
issues
4
Moral Theories & Moral Character
 The

New York Yankees and $6 Million
Do unto others as you would have them do
unto you
• Or do unto others as you would have them
do unto you if you were in their shoes
• The Golden Rule doesn’t tell us to whom
we should give the money
5
Moral Theories & Moral Character
 The


New York Yankees and $6 Million
The previous heuristics or rules of thumb
frequently help us through life in ordinary
moral situations
But the more complicated situations, where
there are conflicts of interest, these rules of
thumb are limited
6
Moral Theories & Moral Character
 The

New York Yankees and $6 Million
The principle of promise keeping is called
“Deontology”
• Deontology is from the Greek meaning duty
• The locus of value is the act or kind of act
• A Deontologist would see something
essentially wrong in the very act of lying
7
Moral Theories & Moral Character
 The

New York Yankees and $6 Million
The principle of giving the money to the World
Hunger Relief Organization to save a large number
of people is called “Teleology”
• This comes from the Greek “teleos” meaning
having reached one’s end or finished
• The focus of value is the outcome or the
consequences
• A teleologist would judge whether lying was
morally right or wrong by the consequences it
produced
8
Utilitarianism
 Utilitarianism



Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory
which aims at maximizing happiness or utility
The greatest happiness for the greatest
number was the motto of Jeremy Bentham
and John Stewart Mill
They promoted penal reform, animal welfare
and women’s rights
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Utilitarianism
 Utilitarianism

Before you do anything, you should consider if
the other act would promote more happiness
• Under this concept what should you do with
the $6 million?
• What would be the greatest happiness for the
most for the greatest number of people?
• The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
WW II would be justified on Utilitarian grounds
10
Utilitarianism
 Seaman
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
Holmes and the Longboat
A decision was made that the men must be
thrown overboard to save the boat and they
would all perish
The judge instructed the jury that the law of
the sea required that passengers must always
be saved in preference to seamen except
those indispensable for operating the boat
If passengers must be sacrificed, lots must be
drawn
11
Utilitarianism
 Classical

Utilitarianism by Bentham
Of the Principle of Utility
• Pleasure and pain govern us in all we do
• This is the principle which approves or
disapproves of every action
• Either to promote happiness or oppose
pain
12
Utilitarianism
 Classical

Utilitarianism by Bentham
Value of Pleasure or Pain: Measurement
• The value of a pleasure or pain is
measured by these four circumstances
 Its intensity
 Its duration
 Its certainty or uncertainty
 Its propinquity (closeness) or
remoteness
13
Utilitarianism
 Classical

Utilitarianism by Bentham
Value of Pleasure or Pain: Measurement
• The value of a pleasure or pain is further
measured by:
 Fecundity, the chance that more
pleasure will follow
 Purity, the chance that it will not be
followed by the opposite
 Extent, the number of persons that will
be affected by it
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Utilitarianism
 Classical

Utilitarianism by Bentham
Value of Pleasure or Pain: Measurement
• So, Bentham is saying what we do when we
make a moral choice is we list all the
pleasures (pros) and results on one side and
then list all the pains (cons) and results on
the other side
• Armed with this information, we then make a
decision
• We may also take into account the number
of people affected
15
Utilitarianism
 Classical

Utilitarianism by Bentham
Value of Pleasure or Pain: Measurement
• So, Bentham is saying what we do when we
make a moral choice is we list all the
pleasures (pros) and results on one side and
then list all the pains (cons) and results on
the other side
• Armed with this information, we then make a
decision
• We may also take into account the number
of people affected
16
Utilitarianism
 Classical

Utilitarianism by Bentham
Value of Pleasure or Pain: Measurement
• Can it all be so simple as this?
17
Utilitarianism
 A Defense


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of Utilitarianism by Nielsen
Act Utilitarianism is a doctrine that says we
ought to evaluate each act on its own merits
and determine if it maximizes utility
Remember “deontology” says that there are
moral principles that should never be violated
no matter what the consequences may be
Nielsen says there are situations when the
consequences should determine the morality
of the act
18
Utilitarianism
 A Defense


of Utilitarianism by Nielsen
Some claim that a consequentialist’s view of
ethics has implications which make such a
conception of morality untenable (flawed)
A consequentialist maintains that actions and
moral principles are ultimately to be judged by
certain consequences, that by doing them
everyone involved will have greater satisfaction
and less dissatisfaction
19
Utilitarianism
 A Defense


of Utilitarianism by Nielsen
Is it always wrong to kill an innocent human
being, whatever the consequences of not
doing so may be?
Should every moral man be appalled at the
judicial execution of the innocent or at the
punishment, torture, and killing of the innocent
• What about the interviews and detention of
the Iraqi people?
• What about the bombing of Japan in WWII
20
Utilitarianism
 A Defense

of Utilitarianism by Nielsen
Could or can these people harm us?
• Can they carry bombs?
• Can they plant bombs?
• Can they conceal and support others that
may harm us?
• Is this subjectivism (morality of the individual
at the time)?
21
Utilitarianism
 A Defense


of Utilitarianism by Nielsen
Nielsen says where the good to be achieved is
great enough, he advocates violence toward
the innocent
It is not always wrong to advocate violence and
to do so would advocate for a kind of moral
absolutism
22
Utilitarianism
 A Defense

of Utilitarianism by Nielsen
The Case of the Innocent Fat Man
• Is it always wrong to kill in innocent man?
 What would the deontologist or
absolutionist say?
 What would the consequentialist say?
 Who is right and who is wrong?
23
Utilitarianism
 A Defense

of Utilitarianism by Nielsen
The Case of the Innocent Fat Man
• Would the killing of the fat man set a
precedent or would it haunt the perpetrators
forever and make them more moral?
• Killing is something which is undertaken with
the greatest reluctance
• It is only when it is quite certain that there is
not other way to save the lives of the others
24
Utilitarianism
 A Defense

of Utilitarianism by Nielsen
The Case of the Innocent Fat Man
• Blowing up the fat man is indeed monstrous,
but letting him remain stuck while the whole
group drowns is still more monstrous
25
Utilitarianism
 A Defense

of Utilitarianism by Nielsen
The Magistrate and the Threatening Mob
• The judge is faced with a large and
uncontrollable mob, demanding a culprit for
a crime
• Unless the criminal is produced, tried and
executed they will take their own bloody
revenge
• But the real culprit is unknown to police
26
Utilitarianism
 A Defense

of Utilitarianism by Nielsen
The Magistrate and the Threatening Mob
• There is within easy reach a disreputable,
disliked and useless man
• Although he is innocent, he could easily be
blamed, tried, convicted and executed
• To most of use this would be unacceptable
27
Utilitarianism
 A Defense

of Utilitarianism by Nielsen
The Magistrate and the Threatening Mob
• By framing and executing the innocent man
this would solve the immediate problem, but
in the long run cause still more suffering
through the corrupting effect on the
institution of justice
• Just like that face that we don’t negotiate
with terrorists (we set a precedent and they
use this against us)
28
Utilitarianism
 A Defense

of Utilitarianism by Nielsen
The Magistrate and the Threatening Mob
• So, the precedent may be set, but how often
would we encounter such a set of
circumstances?
• The lesser of two evils is to commit judicial
murder of the innocent man
• Is the lesser of two evils always to be
preferred to the greater of two evils
29
Utilitarianism
 A Defense

of Utilitarianism by Nielsen
The Magistrate and the Threatening Mob
• The Consequentialist is saying that as the
world goes, there are good grounds for holding
the judicial killings are morally intolerable
• But the Consequentialist is not committed to
denying the universality of moral judgments
• If the situation is the same and the people are
similar, then they should act morally, the same
30
Utilitarianism
 Against
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Utilitarianism by Williams
Utilitarians frequently require us to reject
conscience and our personal ideals in favor of
the “lesser of two evils”
This is the concept of “Negative Responsibility”
We are responsible for evil if we knowingly let it
happen when we could do something about it
even when they require us to violate moral
principles and do great harm
31
Utilitarianism
 Against
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Utilitarianism by Williams
George the PhD and his family problems
A chemist can get George a job, but the job
requires research into chemical and biological
research which is against George’s moral beliefs
If George refuses the job it will go to someone
who will pursue the research with vigor
Should George take the job, for his family and to
prohibit the other researcher from employment?
32
Utilitarianism
 Against


Utilitarianism by Williams
Jim the “Honored Visitor” has the dilemma of
killing an innocent Indian rebel or having all the
Indian rebels killed by Pedro
What should Jim do?
33
Utilitarianism
 Against
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
Utilitarianism by Williams
The certainty that attaches to these hypotheses
about possible effects is usually pretty low
They are so implausible that it would scarcely
pass if it were not being used to deliver the
respectable moral answer
34
Utilitarianism
 Against



Utilitarianism by Williams
Can we ever know the psychological effects on
the actors?
How George or Jim will be effected if they take
one course of action over the other?
The effects may be bad enough to cancel out the
initial utilitarian advantages of their course of
action
35
Utilitarianism
 Against

Utilitarianism by Williams
Integrity
• When were are measuring happiness, who’s
happiness are were measuring?
• Maybe the Indian rebels wanted to die, so that
they would become martyrs and have ten
virgins waiting for them when they died?
• The decision is so determined, but what if it
interferes with some project of mine
36
Utilitarianism
 Against

Utilitarianism by Williams
Integrity
• So, another person actions can control your
integrity?
37
Utilitarianism
 The


One Who Walks Away from Omelas
Is it acceptable to exchange all the goodness and
grace of every life in Omelas for the single
happiness of one?
Is our happiness predicated on the suffering of
poorer nations form whom we get cheap goods?
38
Utilitarianism
 The
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Utilitarian Social Engineer & the Savage
The Alpha Plus Intellectuals
The Beta and Delta Workers
The Epsilon Minus Morons
What happens when Savage attempts to
bring them freedom?
39
Utilitarianism
 The


Utilitarian Social Engineer & the Savage
Would you like to live in such a world where
people are happy?
• They get what they want, and they never want
what they can’t have
• They are well off, they’re safe, they’re never ill,
they’re not afraid of death…
A room with everything that you could possible
want would still result in a prison
40
Utilitarianism
 The


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
Utilitarian Social Engineer & the Savage
What happened when the Controllers cleared the
island of Cyprus and populated the island with all
Alphas?
What happened when they gave all the workers
in Ireland a four hour work day?
Every change is a menace to stability
Every discovery in pure science is potentially
subversive (science is treated as the enemy)
41
Utilitarianism
 The



Utilitarian Social Engineer & the Savage
What would happen if we got rid of everything
that was unpleasant instead of learning to put up
with it
• The bad makes the good, better
What is everything was free, would it be worth
anything
• What if everyone got an A in the class, what
would it be worth, a college degree?
Can we claim the right to be unhappy?
42