Moral Theory - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Moral Theory

An

explanation

of why an action is right or wrong or why a person or a person’s character is good or bad

Tells us what it is about an action that

makes it rightSlide2

Moral Theory cont.

Moral theories alone are

not the ultimate authority in moral deliberations.

Moral deliberations involve both the general and the

particular—

theory, principles, and considered judgments.Slide3

Moral Theory cont.

Consequentialist/Teleological

theory

—Asserts that the rightness of actions depends solely on their consequences

Categorical/Deontological

theory

—Asserts that the rightness of actions is determined partly or entirely by their intrinsic valueSlide4

Moral Criteria of Adequacy

Criterion I

: Consistency with our considered moral judgments

Criterion II

: Consistency with the facts of the moral life

Criterion III

: Resourcefulness in moral problem-solvingSlide5

Utilitarianism

“Greatest Happiness/Pleasure for the Greatest Number”Slide6

Jeremy Bentham

(1748-1832)

“Nature has placed man under the governance of two masters,

pain

and

pleasure

.”

The

only

thing intrinsically good is pleasure

The

only

thing intrinsically bad is painSlide7

Principle of Utility:

“The

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

.”

May be paraphrased simply as “The greatest good for the greatest number.”Slide8

“Calculus of Felicity/Hedonistic Calculus”

Intensity

: How strong is the sensation (of pain or pleasure)?

Duration

: How long does the sensation last?

Certainty

: How clear and distinct is the sensation?

Propinquity

: How soon will it be experienced?

Fecundity

: What other sensations of pleasure/pain will follow?

Purity

: How free from pain is the pleasure, and vice versa?

Extent

: How many persons will be affected by it, one way or the other? Slide9

Nozick’s

“Experience Machine”

The thought experiment is an argument against hedonism, i.e. the position that good is to be defined in terms of pleasure alone.

Argues that “what matters” includes more than simply having an experience, we wish to

do

certain things and

be

a certain way, and hedonism doesn’t fully answer the question of motivation/what matters. Thus hedonism is insufficient.Slide10

J.S Mill

(1806-1873)

Mill’s version of Utilitarianism seeks to respond to charges that Bentham’s moral system is a “pig philosophy,” i.e. base pleasures trump all

.

Seeks to distinguish “happiness” from mere sensual

pleasure, so for Mill “good” in the principle is equated with happiness.

Notes that there is a qualitative difference between pleasures, and this fact must be factored in if one is to try to distinguish goods based upon ability to produce happiness

.

This distinction makes it difficult to apply a “hedonistic calculus” as Bentham envisioned due to difference in values of opposing “pleasures.” What is required are competent judges who can rule between competing pleasures.Slide11

“Rule-Utilitarianism

”

Many examples can given where an act might be morally justified on an act-based system of

consequentialism

, but that would fail a test for overall

utility, e.g. “Bob for spare parts.”

Thus it seems the best way to salvage consequentialism is to argue for a rules-based system, where the rules guiding action are in place to maximize utility

.

“Each act, in the moral life, falls under a

rule

; and we are to judge the rightness or wrongness of an act, not by

its

consequences, but by the consequences of its

universalization

– that is, by the consequences of the

rule

under which this act falls.