If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished? Rumi
Idea Transcript
Normative Ethics Utilitarianism Definition
Strengths
Weaknesses
Deontological ethics Definition
Strengths
Weaknesses
Virtue Ethics Definition
Strengths
Weaknesses
Normative Ethics Utilitarianism Definition Utilitarianism states that people should maximise human welfare or well-being ('utility'). The ethically right choice in a given situation is the one that produces the most happiness and the least unhappiness for the largest number of people.
Strengths
Weaknesses
• It is the moral side of democracy. • The principle of creating a happier life is attractive. • Most versions of the theory do not set out fixed rules and are adaptable to individual circumstances. • Preference Utilitarianism gives us the valuable principle of ‘standing in someone else’s shoes’ and thinking about the interests of others. • Rule Utilitarianism would not allow crimes against minorities which benefit the majority. • Rule Utilitarianism allows a concept of justice – the innocent cannot be hurt for the pleasure of others.
• Bentham’s claim that all pleasures are of equal value (commensurate) seems weak. However, the distinction between higher and lower pleasures (Mill) is very subjective • We cannot predict what the full future consequences of our actions will be. • Rule Utilitarianism might disapprove of sensible rule breaking, like telling white lies. What if a mad axe murderer asks you where your friend is hiding? Should you tell the truth?
Deontological ethics Definition Deontological (duty-based) ethics are concerned with what people do, not with the consequences of their actions. One should do the right thing because it's the right thing to do (what people are talking about when they refer to 'the principle of the thing')
Strengths
Weaknesses
• Kant’s distinction between duty and inclination seems sound. What is right is not always what we want. • Justice for Kant would always be safeguarded for individuals, who are always “ends in themselves”. He avoids the Utilitarian flaw of allowing the minority to suffer for the benefit of the majority. • Kant’s appeal to reason and universal values is sane and constructive. Surely it is best if we can give grounds for our ethics and share those values with others.
• The refusal to consider consequences at all seems perverse; what if certain actions have horrendous or wonderful results? Is that not important? • Deontology leaves the individual with no flexibility and no chance to consider individual circumstances. Intuitively, we seem to accept that certain rules must have sensible exceptions. For instance, sometimes we might need to lie to protect others. • We might question whether it is really possible to ‘universalise’ moral maxims. There are an infinite number of possible moral choices; is it reasonable to suppose that the same rules can be applied consistently in different circumstances?
Virtue Ethics Definition Virtue Ethics attempts to discover and classify what might be deemed of moral character, and to apply the moral character as a base for one's choices and actions rather than relying on the external laws, codes, and customs of the person’s culture.
Strengths • Virtue Ethics allows that we learn about ethics over time. Surely that’s realistic. • Virtue Ethics is flexible, because it does not prescribe absolute duties. • The theory allows that ideas of virtue will vary among cultures. • Virtue Ethics is compassionate and caring because it takes the whole person into account. It is interested in the wellbeing and fulfilment of the individual.
Weaknesses • The theory does not give clear moral rules and guidance, unlike Kantian ethics or Natural Moral Law. Virtue Ethics cannot resolve moral dilemmas, because it does not tell us what to do. • Truth and justice are not middle ways, but ethical absolutes. • Virtue Ethics does not deal with the problem of people doing wrong, thinking that they are acting virtuously. • Some things are always wrong (e.g. torturing the innocent). We need moral systems which absolutely forbid these things, but Virtue Ethics doesn’t.