Intro to Philosophy Unit 9 Review: Normative Moral Theory

Key Concepts and Definitions

• Normative ethics focuses on establishing standards or norms for moral behavior and determining what actions are right or wrong
• Moral realism asserts that moral facts and truths exist independently of human opinions or beliefs
• Moral relativism holds that moral judgments are relative to individual or cultural perspectives and there are no universal moral truths
  • Descriptive relativism observes that people's moral judgments vary across cultures
  • Meta-ethical relativism claims there are no objective moral facts
• Consequentialism judges the morality of an action based solely on its outcomes or consequences
• Deontology evaluates the morality of actions based on adherence to moral rules or duties, regardless of consequences
• Virtue ethics emphasizes moral character rather than rules or consequences, focusing on what it means to be a good person
• Ethical egoism holds that moral agents ought to do what is in their own self-interest

Historical Background

• Ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle grappled with questions of virtue, justice, and the good life
• Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics emphasized virtues as means between extremes (courage between cowardice and recklessness)
• Medieval Christian thinkers like Thomas Aquinas synthesized Greek virtue ethics with biblical principles and natural law theory
• The Enlightenment saw the rise of social contract theory in the works of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau
  • They grounded political authority and moral obligations in a hypothetical social contract
• Hume's sentimentalist moral philosophy rooted ethics in emotions and fellow-feeling rather than reason
• Kant's deontological ethics based morality on the categorical imperative and a conception of rational agency
• Utilitarianism, developed by Bentham and Mill, applied consequentialist thinking to promote the greatest good for the greatest number

Major Normative Theories

• Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical action is the one that maximizes overall happiness or well-being
  • Act utilitarianism evaluates the consequences of each individual act
  • Rule utilitarianism evaluates moral rules based on their consequences if universally followed
• Kantian deontology bases morality on the categorical imperative - acting only on universalizable maxims that treat humanity as ends-in-themselves
• Ross's prima facie duties include fidelity, reparation, gratitude, justice, beneficence, self-improvement, and non-maleficence
  • These create moral obligations but can be outweighed in particular circumstances
• Aristotelian virtue ethics focuses on cultivating virtuous character traits like courage, temperance, justice, and prudence
• The ethics of care emphasizes empathy, compassion, and attending to the contextual needs of particular relationships
• Ethical egoism, in contrast to altruism, holds that moral agents should do what is in their self-interest

Comparing Ethical Frameworks

• Consequentialist theories like utilitarianism can justify sacrificing individuals for the greater good, troubling many moral intuitions
• Deontological constraints forbid certain actions like lying even if done to produce good consequences
  • But absolute prohibitions can seem implausible in extreme "murderer at the door" type cases
• Virtue theories offer guidance for moral character but not always clear action guidance in dilemmas
• Care ethics attends to context and relationships but arguably lacks clear decision procedures
• Consequentialist theories are often seen as impartial and agent-neutral, not allowing personal obligations
  • Deontology and virtue ethics better accommodate special obligations and the separateness of persons
• Monistic theories like utilitarianism offer simplicity in moral deliberation compared to pluralistic theories with competing principles

Real-World Applications

• Utilitarianism provides a framework for analyzing public policies in terms of costs and benefits
  • Policies should be chosen to maximize overall social welfare
• Deontological principles like informed consent and individual autonomy guide medical ethics
  • Experiments on human subjects require voluntary informed consent, not just a positive risk/benefit ratio
• Virtue ethics offers guidance for professional roles and practices by specifying key virtues
  • Honesty and integrity for businesspeople, compassion for nurses, courage for firefighters, etc.
• The ethics of care highlights the contextual needs of vulnerable populations like children, the elderly and disabled
• Just war theory applies normative principles to warfare, such as just cause, right intention, proper authority, and proportionality
• Environmental ethics extends moral consideration beyond humans to ecosystems, species, and future generations
  • Anthropocentric vs. biocentric approaches to sustainability

Critiques and Challenges

• The demandingness objection charges that utilitarianism requires too much sacrifice, alienating the moral agent
• Utilitarianism's focus on aggregate welfare arguably fails to respect the separateness of persons
• The doctrine of double effect and the doing/allowing distinction challenge the consequentialist idea that only outcomes matter
  • Deontologists argue there is a morally relevant difference between intending and merely foreseeing harm
• Situationist critiques from social psychology challenge the stability of character traits assumed by virtue ethics
• Feminist ethicists object that dominant moral theories reflect masculine biases like individualism and impartiality over contextual caring
• Moral relativism challenges the objectivity and universality of moral claims
  • Descriptive relativism points to cross-cultural diversity of moral views
  • Meta-ethical relativism contends there are no universal moral truths

Contemporary Debates

• Effective altruism applies cost-benefit reasoning to charitable giving and career choice to maximize social impact
  • Critics object this alienates ordinary moral sentiments and personal projects
• Moral uncertainty addresses how to act when we are unsure which moral theory is correct
  • Maximize expected choice-worthiness rather than moral rightness
• Population ethics investigates the moral value of creating new lives and the repugnant conclusion
  • The repugnant conclusion is that large populations with lives barely worth living are better than small thriving populations
• Moral enhancement explores using biomedical means to make people more ethical
  • Objections based on the value of moral freedom and the hubris of assuming we know how to enhance
• The non-identity problem arises for person-affecting views in cases where an action affects who will exist in the future
  • A person cannot be harmed by an action if they would not exist at all otherwise
• The expanding circle traces the gradual expansion of moral concern from kin to clan to nation to all humanity and considers expansion to animals

Further Reading and Resources

• Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics for virtue ethics
• Mill's Utilitarianism and On Liberty for classical utilitarianism
• Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals for deontology and the categorical imperative
• Hume's Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals for sentimentalist moral philosophy
• Ross's The Right and the Good on prima facie duties
• Anscombe's "Modern Moral Philosophy" and MacIntyre's After Virtue for critiques of modern moral theories
• Gilligan's In a Different Voice and Noddings' Caring for the ethics of care
• Singer's "Famine, Affluence, and Morality" and The Most Good You Can Do on effective altruism
• Parfit's Reasons and Persons for the repugnant conclusion and non-identity problem
• The Expanding Circle by Peter Singer traces the expanding scope of moral concern