ethical theories e.g religious and...
TRANSCRIPT
Ethical Theories e.g (Utilitarianism and situation Ethics) are based upon Religious and Philosophical systems for making moral decisions.
TO KNOW HOW UTILITARIAN’S MAKES
ETHICAL DECISIONS
KEY WORDS:
UTILITARIANISM
CONSEQUENTIALISM
TELEOLOGICAL
DEONTOLOGICAL
HEDONIST
There are lots of different ways to
approach an ethical dilemma.
You might look at it from a deontological
point of view or a teleological viewpoint
(both branches of Normative ethics).
You might take a descriptive approach
(compare different religions / traditions)
or a meta - ethical approach (and look at
key words and explore what they might
mean)!
• A naval warship is in battle. It receives a severe hit to the
engineering section and a fire breaks out. If the fire continues, the
ships munitions could explode, killing the whole crew. The captain
can use a fast acting extinguisher that would result in blasts of
steam putting out the fire, but this will kill the men trapped in
engineering .
• What should he do?
What’s my
PURPOSE or
MOTIVE ?
Is there a RULE,
MAXIM or
Religious
Teaching that I
need to follow ?
What might be
the
Consequences
of my actions?
Utilitarianism says that the Result or the Consequence of an Act is the real measure of whether it is good or bad.
This theory looks at the consequences , the results of an action, to decide whether it’s right or wrong.
For a Teleological thinker, the end justifies the means, and thus a thinker from this school of thought would judge the rightness of an action by the end it produces.
Utilitarianism is therefore, a teleological (telos = end) or consequentialist ethical theory.
In this thinking, a choice that results in
good end is morally better than a choice
that results in bad end.
Does this mean that stealing food to
feed your starving family is justified
because it results in good end?
Because Utilitarianism focuses on the results
of an action, this makes it a consequentialist
theory as it focuses on the consequences of
an action.
Utilitarianism is thus the opposite of a
deontological ethical theories which
concentrate on moral rules that cannot be
broken….In this thinking therefore, stealing
food to feed your starving family would be
considered wrong as stealing is morally
wrong.
Jeremy
Bentham
Born into a wealthy family
Was a child prodigy and was found as a toddler
sitting at his fathers desk reading a large volume
of the history of England.
Received his degree at 15 years old.
Concerned with social conditions of his time
and was a political philosopher and a political radical.
Founded a movement called the Philosophical Radicals.
Worked on legal reform.
Wrote ‘The Principles of morals and legislation’ in 1789 in which he proposed his ethical theory of utilitarianism.
His drive and belief in equality was the inspiration for the opening of UCL in London
His preserved body is sill there in a wooden cabinet.
Although he never practiced law, he spent most of his life critiquing the existing law strongly advocating legal reform
Concerned with social reform-hospitals and prisons
Advocating that whatever is done in society should be judged on right or wrong according to how it benefits it’s citizens.
He maintained that putting this principle into practice would provide justification for social, political, and legal institutions.
He was a Hedonist.
The fact that ‘good’ is determined in terms of happiness and pleasure makes utilitarianism a Hedonistic theory.
Hedonism is a term used to describe an attitude that makes happiness the goal of life.
Epicurus founded the school of Philosophy and held that judgements we make are based on our feeling of pleasure and pain.
However the notion of pleasure was not merely a simple sensuality, Epicureans held that intellectual enjoyment was a pleasure worth seeking. They held that mental pleasure was better than physical and that fulfilment of the mind was superior to pleasures of the body.
KEY WORDS:
UTILITARIANISM
CONSEQUENTIALISM
TELEOLOGICAL
DEONTOLOGICAL
HEDONIST
Who was Jeremy Bentham?
What did he write in 1789?
On the piece of paper, write one thing you have learned today…
It could be a concept you are now familiar with.
Or, a new key term in your vocabulary. A theory that you are more confident in understanding. Developed an academic/exam skill.
If nothing, be honest. But say why you feel
nothing.
TO UNDERSTAND BENTHAM’S THEORY OF
MOTIVATION & PRINCIPLE OF UTILITY.
KEY WORDS:
MOTIVATION
HEDONISM
MORAL FACT
UTILITY
GREATEST GOOD
DEMOCRATIC
We can divide his theory into three parts:
1. Motivation - His view on what drove
human beings and what goodness and
badness was about
2. The principle of utility - (usefulness)
which is his moral rule.
3. The hedonic calculus - which is his
system for measuring how good or bad a
consequence is.
Human beings are motivated by pleasure and pain.
He is thus a Hedonist. He believes that pleasure is the ultimate motivation.
Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters
pain and pleasure
“It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do as well as to determine what we shall do” Bentham
All humans pursue pleasure and seek to avoid pain.
This is a moral fact because pleasure and pain identify what is a good or a bad action
For humans the sole good is pleasure and the sole evil is pain.
For this reason Bentham’s Utilitarianism is called ‘Hedonic Utilitarianism’.
Once Bentham identified pleasure and pain as the important qualities for identifying what is moral he developed the ‘Utility Principle’
The rightness or wrongness of an action is judged by its utility or usefulness to produce pleasure.
because pleasure produces a feeling of happiness it is used interchangeably in the utility principle.
The action that produces the most happiness is the most moral.
Often expressed as,
“the greatest good of the greatest number”.
“The greatest happiness of the
greatest number.”
Good = happiness or pleasure. So, an act is right or wrong according to the good or bad results that results from the act and the good act is the most pleasurable.
Quantitative= focuses on the greatest number.
This theory is teleological because it determines the goodness of an action by the end it produces.
Remember teleos in the Greek means ends.
By the principle of utility is meant that principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency which it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question: or, what is the same thing in other words, to promote or to oppose that happiness. I say of every action whatsoever, and therefore, not, only of every action of a private individual, but of every measure of government. Bentham
We can shorten this to: “an action is
right if it produces the greatest good
for the greatest number’
good is the maximization of pleasure.
The more pleasure that an action
produces the better it is.
the larger the number of people that
an action produces pleasure for, the
better than action is.
This theory is democratic because pleasure
can’t be for one person alone.
When facing a moral dilemma, Bentham
argued that one should choose to act in
such a way that brings about the maximum
possible happiness for the most people.
However, the possible consequences of
different possible actions must be
measured clearly to establish which option
generates the most pleasure and the least
pain !!!!!
a Doctor witnesses a car accident.
In the car are three people.
1. A pregnant woman
2. The young woman’s husband
3. The woman’s father.
All have an equal chance of survival but he can only save two person in time. One person is bound to die.
Who does he save and why?
The doctor if he was a utilitarian would save…
The pregnant woman first – this is because she and the baby would have the happiness/pleasure of two people.
The husband would be next because the happiness of a new family would outweigh the happiness of one man.
The old man would be left because he has had his portion of happiness.