What is ethics?
Be aware of key words moral philosophy,
deontological, teleological, normative ethics,
applied ethics, absolute and relative morality.
 Look at the cards you have been given.
 All of these could be considered to be
‘wrong’ by some people.
 Create your own ‘Diamond 9’ (well
Diamond 18)
 Each person should take it in turns to
add and/or move a card on the chart.
 Placing a card near the top of the chart
means it is more likely to be always (or
nearly always) wrong.
 Placing a card near the bottom of the
chart means it is less likely to be always
(or nearly always) wrong.
 Continue going around until all cards
are on the chart and a consensus of
opinion has been reached about the
order.
 Look at the top three. Justify their
position at the top of the chart.
Ethics
• The philosophical study (often called Moral
Philosophy) of good bad, right and wrong.
TWO DIFFERENT TYPES
OF ETHICS
1) Normative ethics (ethical theories)
o
o
o
o
Utilitarianism
Kantian ethics
Christian Ethics (including Situation Ethics)
Natural Law
• Within Normative ethics, there are
two different ideas:
o Deontological ethics (the act itself determines the
rightness of an action) eg: Ten Commandments
o Teleological ethics (the morally right or wrong thing to
do is dependent on the consequences)
TWO DIFFERENT TYPES
OF ETHICS
• Applied Ethics
o Abortion
o Euthanasia
o War
o Medical Ethics
 Based on the picture, decide whether
the girl’s actions are right or wrong.
 The girl is shoplifting.
 The Girl is called Becky, she is 17 and
has a five month old baby called Josh.
Her boyfriend and her parents don’t
want anything to do with the her or the
child.
 Josh is desperately hungry and his
mother has had no money for some
days now
 The supermarket Becky stole from
made £16m profit last year.
Is morality absolute or relative?
To make any moral judgement we must have some sort of moral code that
depicts right and wrong. The big question is... Are there shades of grey or
absolutes?
Right
Right
Just consider Becky’s situation for a
moment and weigh up her ‘crime’ against
how much the supermarket makes each
year. She could have saved her baby’s life,
surely that’s worth £3.18 isn’t it?
Sure, Becky’s story is sad, however,
stealing is just wrong, there’re no two
ways about it. From an early age we are
taught you just cannot go out and take
what is not yours, what does or does not
belong to you. ‘Do not steal’ is both a
religious and secular principle.
Wrong
Wrong
Homework
1) Philosophy.hku.hk/think/value/quiz.php
Or google: Quiz are you a moral
relativist?
2) Read and make notes from Understanding
Religious Ethics up to page 25 by Next
Wednesday.
Exploring Relativism
• This lesson will be successful
if you can evaluate the first
of 2 types of relativism
• Cultural Relativism &
Normative Relativism
Morality…is a convenient
term for socially approved
habits. (Benedict, 1934)
• Evaluate this statement – do
you agree?
Starter
• In your groups – make a list
of all the key words and
definitions that we covered
yesterday
2 types of relative theory
• Cultural Relativity
o Spartan culture: the end, or telos of Spartan culture was to
create a strong warrior race.
• Infanticide – weak children were left to die
• Children’s education was taken over by the state at the
age of 7 when boys were forced into the wilderness to
fend for themselves
• Slavery – Macedonian people had no rights. To prove
yourself as a Spartan warrior you killed a Macedonian in
cold blood.
• Watch 300 – what can you make out about the morality
of Spartan Culture?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmOH5f1J1Uc
Diversity Thesis
• Even today it is easy to see
clashes of moral codes. To us it
seems barbaric to cut of a mans
hand as punishment for theft yet
to many Muslims, this is just the
required punishment and they on
their part will condemn what they
see as excessive liberalism and
immorality of western societies
Diversity Thesis
• In pairs, make a list of
different things that cultures
clash over either today, or in
history
Diversity Thesis
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Child labour
Sex outside marriage
Monogamy
Arranged marriages
Elderly in homes
Funeral practices
Dietary laws
Women in society
Fox hunting
Strengths & Weaknesses of Relativism
• Make a list of strengths and
weaknesses.
Strengths & Weaknesses of Relativism
• Strengths
o Allows for diversity
o A greater understanding of other cultures
o It understands that life is not black and
white
o Cultures may believe that their practices
are more justifiable than others, but by
using a relativist approach, this will allow
for acceptance between different
people
Strengths & Weaknesses of Relativism
• Weaknesses
o It implies there can be no real evaluation or
criticism of practices such as burning witches,
slavery, the Holocaust or torture of innocents
o It does not allow societies to progress – (the
realisation that slavery was unacceptable was
slow to develop – but no one would doubt that
we have made some progress
o Relativism seems to give little reason for
behaving morally except to be socially
acceptable
o Some statements ARE true absolutely. There
must be some objective good.
Plenary
• What accepted practices
today do you think that
people will look back at in
horror in the future?
Starter
• Write down 3 examples of
cultural relativity.
Normative Relativism:
Situation Ethics
• Teleological ethical theory
• In a nutshell: method of making
ethical decisions that states you
must consider ‘noble love’ (agape)
in decision making. A moral
decision is correct if it is the most
loving thing to do.
Historical Background
• What happened in British
society in the 1960s?
Normative Relativism:
Situation Ethics
• Teleological ethical theory
• In a nutshell: method of making
ethical decisions that states you
must consider ‘noble love’ (agape)
in decision making. A moral
decision is correct if it is the most
loving thing to do.
Legalism
Following
the
churches
rules
Situation Ethics
Normative Relativism:
Situation Ethics
Antinomianism
Abandonment
of all rules
Legalistic Ethics
• Has a set of moral rules and regulations.
• Judaism and Christianity both have legalistic
ethical traditions.
• Fletcher said this runs into problems – life’s
complexities require additional laws. Murder,
killing in self defence, killing in war, killing
unborn human beings etc.
• Becomes complex and like a textbook
morality that leaves people simply to check
the manual to decide what is right and
wrong.
Antinomian Ethics
• The reverse of legalistic ethics.
• It literally means ‘against law’.
• A person using antinomianism doesn’t really
use an ethical system at all.
• He or she enters decision-making as if each
occasion was totally unique. Making a
moral decision is a matter of spontaneity.
• ‘They are, exactly anarchic – i.e. without a
rule’.
• Fletcher is also critical of this approach.
Dilemma
• A teenager has become pregnant as a result of
being raped by a close family member. She’s very
poor and very young. How would legalists,
antinomians and situationists go about considering
what the moral thing to do is?
Situation Ethics
• Teleological ethical theory
• In a nutshell: method of making
ethical decisions that states you
must consider ‘noble love’ (agape)
in decision making. A moral
decision is correct if it is the most
loving thing to do.
Situation Ethics
• Associated with Joseph Fletcher (who coined the
phrase)
• Fletcher was an American Christian priest (19051991)
• He renounced his faith in later life and became an
atheist.
• His book Situation Ethics was published in 1966.
Mark 2: 23-28
• One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain
fields, and as his disciples walked along, they
began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees
said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is
unlawful on the Sabbath?"
•
He answered, "Have you never read what David
did when he and his companions were hungry and
in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he
entered the house of God and ate the
consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests
to eat. And he also gave some to his companions."
•
Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for
man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is
Lord even of the Sabbath."
Points to note…
This took place on the Sabbath
On the Sabbath it was forbidden to…
…work.
To this day certain Orthodox Jews will
observe this rule to a very high degree.
• The switching on of lights would be
forbidden on the Sabbath, for example.
• In this story, Jesus’ disciples are criticised for
picking corn on the Sabbath as they walk
through a field on their way to the
synagogue. Technically, this is harvesting.
•
•
•
•
Points to note…
• Jesus’ response to this criticism from the Pharisees is
twofold.
• First he cites a precedent, King David’s men
breaking a religious rule due to hunger.
• But the second is more significant for our purposes.
Jesus says that "The Sabbath was made for man,
not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord
even of the Sabbath."
Meaning What Exactly?
• The commandments are not to be followed
slavishly as if life is a game of Simon ( or
Jehovah) Says and that heaven is a reward
for those who obey.
• The commandments are there for the
benefit of humankind and that he Jesus has
discretion over how they should be
interpreted.
• What might have been the original intention
of the commandment forbidding work on
the Sabbath?
So what’s this got to do with
Situation Ethics?
• In another passage, Jesus says this..
•
"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the
Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your
strength. 'The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself. There is
no commandment greater than these."
• For Fletcher, this has enormous significance.
• For Christians all of the commandments are
to be seen in the light of love.
• When a Christian acts they should follow the
course of action that leads to the most love
being shown.
So in Situation Ethics…
• …the only rule is that you should act in the
way that results in the most love being
shown. (Love is the law)
• …as no two situations are exactly alike this
needs to be reconsidered every time. On
some occasions you may have to tell the
truth, on others you should not. It just
depends on the Situation…(hence the
name)
• …all you need is love (no Fletcher wasn’t a
Beatle) but it was the sixties.
Four Working Principles
Pragmatic – it must be a practical
solution
Relativist – situation ethics avoids
words like never, perfect, always
complete. BUT ALL DECISIONS
MUST BE RELATIVE TO
CHRISTIAN LOVE
Positivism – put’s Christian love
first
Personalism – puts people first.
Quick test
• Write down everything you know about situation
ethics
Six Fundamental
Principles
• Only one thing is intrinsically good, namely
love: nothing else at all.
o Only love is good in itself. Actions are not intrinsically good
or evil.
• The ruling norm of Christian decision is love:
nothing else.
o Rules of the Torah are replaced by Christian love.
• Love and Justice are the same, for justice is
love distributed, nothing else.
6 Fundamental Principles
• Love wills the neighbour’s good, whether we
like him or not.
o So, love your neighbour does not just mean people that
you like
• Only the end justifies the means, nothing
else.
o It is teleological. Situationists look at the ends, not the
means.
• Love’s decisions are made situationally, not
prescriptively.
o You don’t have to follow the rules to the letter.
So, for situation ethicists
• Consider the moral dilemmas cards. What would a
situation ethicist do?
Strengths and weaknesses
•
•
•
•
Rejects antinomian and legalistic approaches
Subjective
Individualistic
Allows for differences of opinion in ethical matters
• What are the weaknesses?
Let’s evaluate Situation
Ethics
• Do you think that Fletcher’s ethics are Christian?
• Analyse Fletcher’s views that ‘the end of love
justifies the means’.
• Is Situation ethics a useful guide for everyday ethical
decision making?
• Are moral rules totally useless n moral decisionmaking or can you see a role for them?
Key questions:
• Is all human life intrinsically valuable/sacred?
• Is the intentional killing of people always wrong?
• Is it always a duty to preserve innocent life?
• What is a person?
Panorama
• The Great Abortion Divide
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01qm34r/P
anorama_The_Great_Abortion_Divide/
What do you think the Situation Ethicist would say
about abortion?
What is abortion?
• Abortion is the induced termination of a pregnancy
that destroys the foetus
• Foetus – an organism in the womb from nine weeks
until birth
When does life begin?
• When do you think life begins?
o
o
o
o
Conception?
When it has a heartbeat at 3 weeks
When it begins to move at 9 weeks
At birth?
Diamond 9
What does the law say about abortion?
1967 Abortion Act.
Is illegal in Britain but:
It can be carried out in specific circumstances
where two doctors agree:
• There is danger to the woman’s mental or physical health
• That the foetus will be born with physical or mental disabilities
• That the welfare of existing children may be affected.
The limit for abortion to take place was
28 weeks. This was amended in 1991
(The Human Fertilisation and
Embryology Act) to a 24-week limit. In
reality, the majority of abortions take
place within the first 12 weeks of
pregnancy.
Talk to me about this
man….
Case Studies form a big part of
your ethics answers
Nick Vujicic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jai2s-8Mxk4&feature=fvst
Rev Joanna Jepson
• She was born with a cleft palate – usually very easy
correct with an operation. She campaigned –
unsuccessfully – to bring criminal charges against
two doctors who performed a late abortion at 28
weeks in 2001. The doctors argued that a cleft
palate could lead to ‘severe disability’ and
abortion was therefore legal after 24 weeks. The
CPS announced in March 2005 that it would not
bring charges against the doctors.
Case Studies
Roe vs. Wade
In 1973 (Roe v. Wade) the US Supreme Court
held that a pregnant woman has a
constitutional right, under the Fourteenth
Amendment, to choose to terminate her
pregnancy before viability as part of her
freedom of personal choice in family matters –
abortion became legal across the US. People
have been contesting this in America ever
since. It was a key issue that Obama and Mitt
Romney fought over in last year’s election.
• In 2011, 147 abortions carried out after 24 weeks
So, what would the
situationist say?
• Complete the worksheet on Situation Ethics and
Abortion.
• Try and use case study examples to help you
wherever you can.
The strengths and
weaknesses of applying
Situation Ethics to
Abortion
• Create a table that outlines the strengths and
weaknesses
What should happen to…
• What should happen to:
o A suicide bomber who kills many people in a
crowded marketplace
o A man who shoots an intruder in his house
o A soldier who kills in war
o A compulsive serial killer
Do you think that some
lives are more valuable
than others?
• How can we justify spending money on fertilisation
for a couple when the money could be used to
improve the quality of life for the sick and elderly?
• We also allow thousands to die in Africa…?
• Are some lives more valuable than others?
Before we go onto look at
another ethical theory,
you also need to know
what people think about
the sanctity of life
Text Book Challenge
o Using your books find out everything that you can about Sanctity of Life
• You have 10 minutes……
• Go!
•
The Christian religion emphasises the sanctity of
life.
GENESIS 1.27:
So God created humankind in his image, in the
image of God he created them; male and
female he created them.
•
Later, God saw everything he had made, and
indeed, it was very good (Genesis 1.31).
• The idea that humans are made in the image of
God is used to express the fact that humans are
different from other creatures; they are special.
• This concept can also be seen in Genesis 2: “Then
the Lord God formed man from the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life” (2.7).
• This story shows that humans are seen as unique
among all the creatures of the earth.
• It is through ruach, which can mean the breath of
life or the spirit of God, that humans are endowed
with divine qualities.
• Human life is sacred and so for most Christians it is
wrong to take human life without just cause.
• There are some Christians who believe that taking
any human life is wrong for any reason.
Is the foetus a person?
• Christians do not agree on the answer to this
question.
• Some Christians argue that it is only when a
foetus is physically independent of its
mother that personhood begins.
• These Christians regard abortion as, in
certain situations, the best of a number of
imperfect moral alternatives.
• Anti-abortion Christians do so from the standpoint of
the Sanctity of Life.
• They claim authority for their views on the basis of
passages in the Bible which point to the foetus
being a living person at or shortly after conception:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and
before you were born I consecrated you (Jeremiah
1.5).
Criticisms of the Sanctity of Life
theory in relation to abortion
1. All life is special and human life is no different from
that of other creatures. Peter Singer argues that the
sanctity given to human life has distorted morality.
People find it easier to accept the use of healthy
animals in experiments for cosmetics than the
termination of an abnormal foetus.
ENSOULMENT
• Some Christians argue that the foetus does
not become a person at conception, but at
ensoulment.
• Ensoulment occurs when the foetus takes on
human characteristics, when it looks like a
baby in miniature.
• It is at this point that the body and soul
become one.
• This might be when the foetus’ nervous
system has formed.
•
a.
b.
When does ensoulment actually happen?
AQUINAS – it takes place at 40 days. Forty has
religious significance (the time Jesus was in the
wilderness and the Israelites in the desert after the
Exodus). However, it has no biological
significance.
AUGUSTINE – it takes place at 80 days.
c. POPE INNOCENT III (1160-1216) – put ensoulment at
the start of the 13th week of pregnancy (116
days). This was based on the Luke passage when
Elizabeth’s baby leapt in her womb. This is known
as the QUICKENING, the first time a woman feels
the foetus move in her womb. This is the moment
that Innocent III thought that the foetus becomes
a human being. Therefore abortions were
permissible up to that time, but not after.
• Today the Catholic Church does not believe that
ensoulment occurs at this stage of pregnancy, but
at conception. Therefore abortion is against the
teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
Criticisms of ensoulment
1.
2.
It is dependent on either an Aristotelian or dualist
view that there is a body and soul.
Many fertilised eggs are conceived but are later
naturally aborted by the body. What does this say
about the nature of an omnibenevolent God if
each one is already ensouled?
3. Even if the concept was valid, how can we know
the precise moment when the soul becomes
integrated into the body?
Is it after 40 days or 80 days or when?
Is it different for males and females, as some
Medieval scholars believed?
4. Ensoulment does not have any biological or
psychological basis. Wouldn’t the creation of the
nervous system be a better and more obvious
division, as this is when the foetus can feel pleasure
and pain?