VIRTUE ETHICS

An agent has a good will only if moral obligation based on a

An approach to Ethics that emphasizes an individual’s universally valid norm is the action’s sole motive.
character as the key element of ethical thinking, rather than rules
about the acts (deontology) or their consequences All good moral acts must be grounded in good will.
(consequentialism).
Good will indicates that the act was carried out with the best of
Aristotle intensions.
 Enrolled in Plato’s Academy at 17
 Tutored Alexander the Great Good will indicates a good action not because ultimately the
 Founded the Lyceum consequences are good but because the intensions is good in itself.
 Wrote about 200 works
 Studied literary theory, government, and logic CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
 Although your specific duty involves different things, there
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” are compulsory moral laws which everyone has a duty to
follow. These are “imperatives”.
St. Thomas Aquinas
 Combine the theological principles of faith with the  The categorical imperative is a moral law that should apply
philosophical principles of reason equally to all people in all situations= it is universal.
 Identified the three type of laws: national, positive, and
eternal.  So “Act only on the maxim through which you can at the
 Most influential thinkers of medieval period. same time will that it should become a universal law”.

“The things that we love tell us what we are.”  This is also similar to the Golden Rule.
 Kant argued that if a moral law cannot be applied to all
HAPPINESS AS THE CONSTITUTIVE OF MORAL AND CARDINAL people at all time then it is meaningless.
VIRTUES
DIFFERENT KINDS OF RIGHTS
Moral virtue – is a virtue concerned with the practical life or with the
vegetative and appetitive contrasted with intellectual virtue. Legal Rights
 Courage
 Justice These are rights laid down in law and because
 Honesty they can be defended in a national court of law, they are
 Compassion the most solid of all right. Particularly to a society or legal
 Temperance and Kindness system. It is artificially created by man.
Moral Rights
Basically, virtue is habitual and firm disposition toward by doing These arise out of general principles of fairness
what is right and good, seeking the excellence of personal perfection and justice. A moral right may or may not be enforced and
as to govern one’s actions and be the master of one’s desires. supported by the law of land. It is universal, if one has it,
 Prudence all have it equally. It is also natural, by virtue of our
 Temperance rationality.
 Justice
 Fortitude UTILITARIANISM
An Introduction to the Moral Theories of Jeremy Bentham
KANT AND RIGHT THEORIES
and John Stuart Mill
Immanuel Kant
Ethical Judgments
 Was born on April 22, 1724, in Kaliningrad, Russia Ethical philosophy differs from the sciences
 Was a German philosopher and one of the foremost because it is normative or prescriptive, rather than
thinkers of the Enlightenment. descriptive.
 His comprehensive systematic work in epistemology, In other words, ethics tell us how we ought to
ethics, and aesthetics greatly influenced all subsequent act or what we should do, while the sciences are more
philosophy, especially the various schools of Kantianism likely to observe how things are in nature or society.
and Idealism.
Making Ethical Judgments
Kant’s theory is an example of a deontological moral theory- Areas of Emphasis in Making Moral Judgments
according to these theories, the rightness or wrongness of actions  Purpose or Motive
does not depend on their consequences but on whether they fulfill  Act, Rule, or Maxim
our duty.  Results or Consequences

GOOD WILL
Making Ethical Judgments in Utilitarianism
An action has moral worthy only when performed by an agent who
possesses a good will (good intention).
 Utilitarianism says that the Result or the Consequence of Conclusion: The Act was a bad act.
an Act is the real measure of whether it is good or bad.
This theory emphasizes Ends over Means. Application of Utilitarian Theory
Theories, like this one, that emphasize the results or
consequences are called teleological or consequentialist. If you can use eighty soldiers as a decoy in war, and
thereby attack an enemy force and kill several hundred
Bentham’s Formulation of Utilitarianism enemy soldiers, that is a morally good choice even though
the eighty might be lost.
Man is under two great masters, pain and pleasure. If lying or stealing will actually bring about more happiness
The great good that we should seek is happiness. (a and/or reduce pain, Act Utilitarianism says we should lie
hedonistic perspective) and steal in those cases.
Those actions whose results increase happiness or
diminish pain are good. They have “utility.” Application of Utilitarian Theory
Actual Cases
Jeremy Bentham’s Hedonistic Calculus The decision at Coventry during WWII.
o The decision was made not to inform the town
In determining the quantity of happiness that might be that they would be bombed.
produced by an action, we evaluate the possible The Ford Pinto case: A defective vehicle would sometimes
consequences by applying several values: explode when hit.
Intensity, duration, certainty or uncertainty, propinquity or o The model was not recalled and repaired by Ford
remoteness, fecundity, purity, and extent. because they felt it was cheaper to pay the
liability suits than to recall and repair all the
Four Theses of Utilitarianism defective cars.

Consequentialism: The rightness of actions is determined Criticisms of Bentham’s theory

solely by their consequences.
Bentham’s theory could mean that if 10 people would be happy
Hedonism: Utility is the degree to which an act produces
watching a man being eaten by wild dogs, it would be a morally
pleasure. Hedonism is the thesis that pleasure or
good thing for the 10 men to kidnap someone (especially someone
happiness is the good that we seek and that we should
whose death would not cause grief to many others) and throw the
seek.
man into a cage of wild, hungry dogs.
Maximalism: A right action produces the greatest good
consequences and the least bad. John Stuart Mill’s Adjustments to Utilitarianism
Universalism: The consequences to be considered are
those of everyone affected, and everyone equally. Mill argues that we must consider the quality of the happiness, not
merely the quantity. For example, some might find happiness with a
Two Formulations of Utilitarian Theory pitcher of beer and a pizza. Others may find happiness watching a
fine Shakespearean play. The quality of happiness is greater with the
Principle of Utility: The best action is that which produces latter.
the greatest happiness and/or reduces pain.
Mill’s Quality Arguments
Greatest Happiness: We ought to do that which produces
the greatest happiness and least pain for the greatest number of “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied;
people. better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool,
or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is because they only know
Two Types of Utilitarianism their own side of the question. The other party to the comparison
knows both sides.”
Rule: An action is right if and only if it conforms to a set of
rules the general acceptance of which would produce the Mill’s Quality Arguments
greatest balance of pleasure over pain for the greatest
“As between his own happiness and that of others, utilitarianism
number. (John Stuart Mill)
requires him to be as strictly impartial as a disinterested and
Act: An Action is right if and only if it produces the
benevolent spectator. In the golden rule of Jesus of Nazareth, we
greatest balance of pleasure over pain for the greatest
read the complete spirit of the ethics of utility. ‘To do as you would
number. (Jeremy Bentham)
be done by,’ and ‘to love your neighbor as yourself,’ constitute the
ideal perfection of utilitarian morality.”
Application of Utilitarian Theory
Criticisms of Utilitarianism
A) You attempt to help an elderly man across the street.
He gets across safely. If I am to bring the greatest happiness to the greatest number, not
Conclusion: the Act was a good act. putting my own happiness above others, that may lead to a
B) You attempt to help an elderly man across the street. dilemma. I live in a neighborhood where 83% of my neighbors use
You stumble as you go, he is knocked into the path of a drugs. I could make them most happy by helping supply them with
car, and is hurt.
cheap drugs, but I feel uncomfortable doing that. What should a Mill’s rule-based view in On Liberty; having a right to liberty will
utilitarian do? bring the greatest happiness

Criticisms of Utilitarianism Consequences of Unethical Practices

Bernard Williams criticizes the implied “doctrine of negative

responsibility” in Utilitarianism. For example, a thug breaks into my
home and holds six people hostage, telling us he will kill all of us. Baucus & Baucus (2000)
“However,” the thug says, “if you will kill two of your family, I will let Singled out 67 companies out of the Fortune 500 that had at least
you and the other three live.” one illegal act – ex: antitrust, product liabilities, discrimination
With Utilitarianism, the good thing to do is to kill two members of Performance of the convicted firms were compared to
my family. unconvicted firms (five year after the fraud was
Criticisms of Utilitarianism committed)
Convicted firms experienced significantly lower return on
Utilitarianism plays fast and loose with God’s commandments. If sales (three year lag)
lying, stealing, or killing could lead to an increase of happiness for Multiple convictions are more disastrous
the greatest number, we are told we should lie, steal or kill. Isn’t Unethical activities can affect long term performance
that a rejection of God’s commands?

Mill’s Answer to the “Godless Theory” Criticism

What is the nature of God?

o Does God make arbitrary rules just to see if we

will obey?
o Does God make rules that He knows will lead to
our happiness?
If the latter statement is true, doesn’t it make sense God
would want us to use our God-given reason to look at the
situation?

Mill’s Answer to the “Godless Theory” Criticism

“If it be a true belief that God desires, above all things, the
happiness of his creatures, and that this was his purpose in their
creation, utility is not a godless doctrine, but more profoundly
religious than any other. . . . .whatever God has though fit to reveal
on the subject of morals must fulfill the requirements of utility in a
supreme degree.”

A Second Criticism of Utilitarianism

If one must decide the probable outcome of an act before knowing

whether it is good or bad, how can children learn to evaluate acts,
since they know so little of what consequences might arise from
their actions?

Mill’s “Rule” Utilitarianism

“ . . . Mankind must by this time have acquired positive beliefs as to

the effects of some actions on their happiness; and the beliefs which
have thus come down are the rules of morality for the multitude,
and for the philosopher until he has succeeded in finding better.”
Mill concludes, however, that we should always seek improvements.

Rights and Utilitarianism

Many philosophers hold that we have certain rights, either from

God, nature, or from a social contract

Can the idea of rights be made compatible with Utilitarianism?

If ignoring rights brings about more happiness to the greatest

number, should we ignore so-called rights?