a critique of normative ethics towards a ...virtue ethics - the basis for ethical behavior is the...
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A CRITIQUE OF NORMATIVE ETHICS
TOWARDS A METAETHIC OF
SUPEREROGATION
JERAHMEEL C. CLERIGO Department of Philosophy, Aquinas University, Philippines
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Virtue Ethics
- The basis for ethical behavior is the moral character
of the person how one should live his life in this world
- Everyone is called to become virtuous
- Inculcation of good habits and character formation
- To live in virtues would assure one to have a good and happy life
- If everyone is virtuous, then we shall have a good
and harmonious society
Strength: Character Formation
Weakness: Character is built the entire lifetime
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Scholastic Ethics
- Man is good and he is bound to do moral acts
- Moral acts are directed by law and applied by conscience
- Primarily centered on the nature of the act itself
- Secondarily on the intention of the moral agent
- Human acts are all directed to their last end
Strength: Highly Systematic
Weakness: Rigorous
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Deontology
- The nature of the act is determined based on the categorical imperative
(act only on that maxim by which you can at the same time will as universal law)
- It should be an act from and based on duty
- One must act purely only from what is required of him
Strength: Universalizability
Weakness: Conflict of Values
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Utilitarianism
- ‘Actions are right in proportion, as they tend to promote happiness;
wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness’
- To say if an act is a moral act, it should be able to maximize utility
- To maximize utility, it should promote ‘the greatest good of the greatest
number’
- What matters for the utilitarian then are the consequences
Strength: Greatest Good is measured by Greatest Number
(i.e. moral rights)
Weakness: Relative Values
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Supererogation
- Saintly actions and heroic acts as those which lie far beyond the
limits of one’s duty
- By duty is meant as a minimum requirement for living
- Everyone must be able to perform supererogatory acts and at the
same time not making supererogatory obligatory
Strength: Not morally obligatory; not duty-bound
Weakness: Only for Saintly, Heroic, Martyrly Acts
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Method Qualitative research
Specifically, it is a philosophical research
using constructivist approach in order to arrive at a metaethic of supererogation
To articulate such metaethic, critiquing, reconstruction, and synthesis shall be
devised
The main texts Virtue Ethics (Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics)
Scholasticism (Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae)
Deontology (Immanuel Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals)
Utilitarianism (John Stuart Mill’s On Utilitarianism)
Supererogation (James Urmson’s Saints and Heroes)
Tools of analysis Documentary analysis (main texts)
Secondary data analysis (related literature and past studies)
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1. The four major ethical systems (virtue ethics, scholastic ethics, deontology,
utilitarianism) , which are truly basis for good human life and living, do not
promote in a higher sense the meaning of better life
2. Supererogation is a concept that can be taken as an alternative, not to
replace, the four ethical systems in terms of realizing ideal but realizable good (better) human life.
Martyrdom, sainthood and heroism, though supererogatory, are highly ideal and
not simply accessible to everyone
3. Friendship and love are the two principles for ideal but realizable
supererogatory life
4. Sacrifice is the highest supererogatory act that can be performed in everyday
human life
Objectives
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Discussion and Analysis
A View On Supererogation
Acts that are praiseworthy but not fundamentally obligatory
Arguments:
1. It promotes and focuses on Human Actions that are beyond the call of duty
2. It promotes Virtues that are realized in time
3. It Considers Ethics not solely centered on human actions but on the Ethical
Subject.
4. It is Elitist (only for exemplars)
5. it is not commonly realized by the population
6. It is taken as Moral Generally
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It promotes and focuses on Human Actions that are beyond the call of duty
Since Supererogation is done out of utmost volition with pure intention, it is
not demanded, imposed, obliged, and made compulsory
It is always to be taken as something out of Human Person’s natural
goodness for these acts are primarily intended for doing something higher than the usual good and right human actions
It is out of human conscience that one performs Supererogation
Supererogation is not Normative; it is Transformative
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It promotes Virtues that are realized in time
Everyone has the capacity to inculcate a virtue in him as long as his act is
consistent, stable, and compatible to other virtues
Everyone would seek consistency in his virtuous actions as a form of habit
establishing a certain form of stability for the right reasons seeing some
compatibility with other virtuous actions
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It Considers Ethics not solely centered on human actions but on the Ethical
Subject
It is the Human Person himself doing the act must be given credit
Supererogation Highlights knowledge, freedom, and voluntariness of the
Ethical Subject
The Ethical Subject decides to opt for good and right action transcending it as Supererogatory Actions
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It is Elitist (only for exemplars)
it is not commonly realized by the population
It is taken as Moral Generally
It seems that almost all who have lived Supererogatory are those who
have lived a moral life. Moral Life demands rigorous religious living
Not Everyone can live and intend to live a moral holy life but are capable
of doing good to others
Supererogation has to present itself not only for people who live a religious
life
Supererogation is only confined to such moral standards
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A New Supererogation
Arguments for reconstructing Supererogation:
1. Still taking Supererogation as Ideal but it should also be at the same
time as realizable 2. Supererogation has to show that Supererogatory Acts can be
performed by everyone in everyday ordinary human life
3. Supererogation has to be taken as Ethical in essence; not in moral or religious sense
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Arguments for Synthesis:
1. It aims at higher Ideals but beyond Kantian Duty and Millian common good
2. It transcends egoism , law, and culture
3. Disposition on the part of the Ethical Subject is required
4. Virtuous character traits, ethical ideals, or the goal of promoting human
happiness can in principle be always improved and be further realized in
the context of moral identity, autonomy, and authority of reflection
5. Supererogatory Acts commonly reflected in everyone’s everyday ordinary
human life are friendship, love, and sacrifice
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It aims at higher Ideals but beyond Kantian Duty and Millian common
good
Such Ethical Conception promotes Human Flourishing, Excellence, and
Ideal Human living
It is not a Moral Obligation and Social Responsibility; it is the act of full
deliberation to perform Supererogation
It calls for higher reflection; to see and act beyond what is expected
They simply flow from our values
It is the Ethical Subject that takes full responsibility for supererogation; not
even the collective good
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It transcends Egoism , Law, and Culture
It goes beyond Egoism for it Affirms and Confirms one’s capabilty to
do something good higher in valuation in such a way that it becomes
a selfless act
It goes beyond what law requires
It is not confined to common beliefs, tradition, and practices
There is a need then to affirm the central role of the Ethical Subject of
having the beneficent intention and altruistic motive clarifying
therefore the merit or demerit and the manifest or hidden nature of
the act in order for us to have it as Supererogatory or not
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Disposition on the part of the Ethical Subject is required
Virtuous character traits, ethical ideals, or the goal of promoting
human happiness can in principle be always improved and be further
realized in the context of moral identity, autonomy, and authority of
reflection.
The Ethical Subject does Supererogatory Acts as a
product of his reflection and Autonomy
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Supererogatory Acts commonly reflected in everyone’s everyday ordinary human life are friendship, love, and sacrifice.
The Greatest Union is between friends
The Greatest Human Experience is Love
The Greatest Love is Selfless in form and content
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Supererogation is not reserved only for exemplars but is
realizable to all human individuals. Every Human Person has
to learn how to form and discover his moral identity in the
light of his final end through the exercise of his autonomy.
This would lead him to do good- specific motives, value-
guided dispositions, and virtue-based actions
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Live one day at a time emphasizing
Ethics rather than Rules.
- Wayne Dyer