Monday, August 07, 2006
PHL5: MORAL SITUATIONS
MORAL SITUATIONS
AN OVERVIEW
Contemporary Moral Trends
Might is right
Morals are mores
The individual is the measure
The human Race is the basis of right
Right is moderation
Right is what brings pleasure
Right is the greatest good for the greater number
Right is what is desirable for it's own sake
Right is indefinable
Right is what God wills
What is Ethics/Morality?
Etymology
Ethics from the greek “Ethos”
Morals from the latin “Mos”
Which means: customs or practices
Morality refers to the rightness or wrongness of an action.
Ethics refers to the study concerned with what is morally good and bad, right and wrong Encyclopedia Brittanica 1994-2002
ETHICAL SYSTEMS
Relativism
Right or wrong, good or bad is variable and relative, depending on the person, circumstance or social situation.
Cultural Relativism – Moral standards are a product of culture. What is right in one culture may be wrong in another.
Morality changes through time.
Secular Humanism
Emphasis on the human.
“A search for viable individual, social and political principles of ethical conduct, judging them on their ability to enhance human well-being and individual responsibility” (Council for Secular Humanism)
ETHICAL SYSTEMS
Virtue Ethics
Happiness is achieved through the development of “good habits:” intellectual (for example knowledge) and practical action and emotion (for example courage).
“Golden Mean” – neither excess nor deficiency.
Seeks to develop individual character. A good person will make a good decision.
Hedonism
What brings pleasure to an individual is good.
Ethical Egoism
Focuses on the pursuit of self-interest in human conduct.
Teleological Ethics
From the Greek “telos” meaning “end” or “goal.”
Concerned with the end-point or results of an action
Consequentialism
Utilitarianism (Universal Hedonism)
The greatest good or happiness for the greatest number of people.
Deontology
The good is found in the action itself and not based on its consequences or results.
Thus it is our duty to do the right action
Kantian Ethics
“Act as if the principle on which your action is based were to become a universal law of nature.”
Determinism
Everything is caused and determined (even human actions and choices) by previously existing causes that preclude free will and the possibility that humans could have acted otherwise.
Fatalism
Stoicism
Theonomous Ethics: Morality and religion go together
Divine Command
Being good is doing whatever a sacred text tells you.
Christian Ethics
Looking at the person of Christ as the norm of all thought and action.
Absolutism
It is not limited by exceptions or restrictions.
It is not to be doubted or questioned – positive, certain and unconditional.
Cultural absolutism
There exists moral absolutes that do not vary from culture to culture.
Contemporary Moral Trends
Might is right
-Relativism
-Hedonism / Egoism
-Absolutism
Morals are mores
-Cultural Relativism
The individual is the measure
-Relativism / Subjectivism
-Egoism
The human Race is the basis of right
-Secular Humanism
Right is moderation
-Aristotle’s “Golden Mean”
-Contemporary Moral Trends
Right is what brings pleasure
-Hedonism / Egoism
Right is the greatest good for the greater number
-Utilitarianism
Right is what is desirable for it's own sake
-Deontological Ethics
Right is indefinable
-Ethical Relativism
-Determinism
Right is what God wills
-Theonomous Ethics
-Absolutism
References
Ismael Ireneo Maningas. Filipino Christian Morality. St. Pauls, 1998.
Karl Peschke. Christian Ethics.
Professor Dean R. Bork. Fundamentals of Ethical Systems. Lecture Notes. http://www.lar.arch.vt.edu/Resources/courses/LAR-3034/Notes/Ethics.html
Louis D. Whitworth. Measuring Morality: A Comparison of Ethical Systems. Probe Ministries, 1995. http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/measmor.html
“Ethics” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004.
“What is Secular Humanism?” Council for Secular Humanism. Last updated 8/11/2004. http://www.secularhumanism.org/intro/what.html
AN OVERVIEW
Contemporary Moral Trends
Might is right
Morals are mores
The individual is the measure
The human Race is the basis of right
Right is moderation
Right is what brings pleasure
Right is the greatest good for the greater number
Right is what is desirable for it's own sake
Right is indefinable
Right is what God wills
What is Ethics/Morality?
Etymology
Ethics from the greek “Ethos”
Morals from the latin “Mos”
Which means: customs or practices
Morality refers to the rightness or wrongness of an action.
Ethics refers to the study concerned with what is morally good and bad, right and wrong Encyclopedia Brittanica 1994-2002
ETHICAL SYSTEMS
Relativism
Right or wrong, good or bad is variable and relative, depending on the person, circumstance or social situation.
Cultural Relativism – Moral standards are a product of culture. What is right in one culture may be wrong in another.
Morality changes through time.
Secular Humanism
Emphasis on the human.
“A search for viable individual, social and political principles of ethical conduct, judging them on their ability to enhance human well-being and individual responsibility” (Council for Secular Humanism)
ETHICAL SYSTEMS
Virtue Ethics
Happiness is achieved through the development of “good habits:” intellectual (for example knowledge) and practical action and emotion (for example courage).
“Golden Mean” – neither excess nor deficiency.
Seeks to develop individual character. A good person will make a good decision.
Hedonism
What brings pleasure to an individual is good.
Ethical Egoism
Focuses on the pursuit of self-interest in human conduct.
Teleological Ethics
From the Greek “telos” meaning “end” or “goal.”
Concerned with the end-point or results of an action
Consequentialism
Utilitarianism (Universal Hedonism)
The greatest good or happiness for the greatest number of people.
Deontology
The good is found in the action itself and not based on its consequences or results.
Thus it is our duty to do the right action
Kantian Ethics
“Act as if the principle on which your action is based were to become a universal law of nature.”
Determinism
Everything is caused and determined (even human actions and choices) by previously existing causes that preclude free will and the possibility that humans could have acted otherwise.
Fatalism
Stoicism
Theonomous Ethics: Morality and religion go together
Divine Command
Being good is doing whatever a sacred text tells you.
Christian Ethics
Looking at the person of Christ as the norm of all thought and action.
Absolutism
It is not limited by exceptions or restrictions.
It is not to be doubted or questioned – positive, certain and unconditional.
Cultural absolutism
There exists moral absolutes that do not vary from culture to culture.
Contemporary Moral Trends
Might is right
-Relativism
-Hedonism / Egoism
-Absolutism
Morals are mores
-Cultural Relativism
The individual is the measure
-Relativism / Subjectivism
-Egoism
The human Race is the basis of right
-Secular Humanism
Right is moderation
-Aristotle’s “Golden Mean”
-Contemporary Moral Trends
Right is what brings pleasure
-Hedonism / Egoism
Right is the greatest good for the greater number
-Utilitarianism
Right is what is desirable for it's own sake
-Deontological Ethics
Right is indefinable
-Ethical Relativism
-Determinism
Right is what God wills
-Theonomous Ethics
-Absolutism
References
Ismael Ireneo Maningas. Filipino Christian Morality. St. Pauls, 1998.
Karl Peschke. Christian Ethics.
Professor Dean R. Bork. Fundamentals of Ethical Systems. Lecture Notes. http://www.lar.arch.vt.edu/Resources/courses/LAR-3034/Notes/Ethics.html
Louis D. Whitworth. Measuring Morality: A Comparison of Ethical Systems. Probe Ministries, 1995. http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/measmor.html
“Ethics” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004.
“What is Secular Humanism?” Council for Secular Humanism. Last updated 8/11/2004. http://www.secularhumanism.org/intro/what.html
// posted by deeyawnah @ 6:25 AM 
