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Ethics and morality in society
Major moral theories
Ethics and morality in society
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For the question on the Spring Term I will be looking at the question: What does Julia Annas mean by the ‘computer manual’ model of moral decision-making? What are the implications for moral theory? The ‘computer manual’ model is what Annas uses to describe our moral decision making. Annas says in regards to this: “The computer manual does the technical work for us and makes clear the theoretical simple grounds of the decisions we need to make when use the computer. The common model of a theory of right action, as we meet it explicitly in many introductions to moral theory, and implicitly in the work of many moral theorists can be called the computer manual model.” This idea of a computer doing the ‘technical’ work can be useful to us, due to living in an age of technology which is something that can be useful to us, as our own brains are our ‘built in computer. It is also crucial in processing our thoughts about each of our own moral decisions of what is right and wrong. I think what Annas means by the ‘computer manual’ model is that we are responsible for our own decisions. Something that I am confident about is that we are …show more content…
What are the implications for moral theory? I think that Julia Annas’ computer manual model of decision making, is our own consciences and the sense of what is right or wrong. Consequently, we have the freedom to choose as to whether or not we comply with what our conscience tells us to do in situations/ as I mentioned earlier in regards to the trolley problem, some people might say ‘it is better to save five people, as it would spare five families the loss of loved ones, and it is one person instead.’, whilst others would say ‘it is better to save one person, as five people with healthy organs to donate is much better.’ Regardless of which one is the best answer, it can be paradoxical as to how a person looks at
Wallach, Wendell and Colin Allen. Moral machines: teaching robots right from wrong. Oxford University Press, 2010.
Prudence rightly orders action because it is the insight into the world of human affairs, which allows us to relate facts to generalized principles. Conversely, the goods of human affairs cannot be ordered in ways that the scientific method can order inert objects. Modern society is saturated with the consolations of techne, a virtue that administers technical rationality. In other words, techne equips us with the “know how” which enables one to perform surgery, throw a baseball, or learn a new language. We have encouraged the all-inclusive allure of techne for the sake of a delusional fantasy in which through technology, we will finally be able to overcome the greatest obstacles which we face. What makes these technologies so hazardous is the fact that they are so “global in their effect and so discreet, becoming less and less conspicuous to both the user and those around them” (Tabachnick 118). Thus, techne should only be reserved for prosaic exercises being that the problems that vex human society cannot endure any single set of rules or
Sally’s prescriptive moral theory combines two separate and unrelated principles to create an all-encompassing moral theory that can be followed by moral agents at all times. The first is rooted in consequentialism and is as follows: 1. Moral agents should cause moral pain or suffering only when the pain or suffering is justified by a moral consideration that is more important than the pain or suffering caused. The second is an autonomous theory, where other’s autonomy must be respected, it is 2. Moral agents should respect the autonomy of moral agents.
Morality is not something that should be easy to comprehend, and philosophers such as Mackie and McDowell are taking the wrong approach when trying to describe morality in natural terms. People need to understand that morality is something supernatural that we don’t have the capacity to comprehend. However, this does not mean that all moral judgments are false. There is a right choice in every scenario, however the variety of scenarios in this world is so grand that one cannot judge it by one code of
Throughout our everyday lives whether we think about it or not. Computers and technology are and have been an integral part of our lives. Computers and technology assist us with so much, such as the way we drive and the way we learn. We no longer have to deal with the hassle of driving stick and we no longer have to be in a physical classroom with the advent of online education. In Clive Thompsons’ essay “Smarter than you think how technology is changing our minds for the better,” he discusses how the ever changing capacity of technology improves the mental cognition of human beings.
Carr captures his audience's attention by using an allusion from “Stanley Kubrick’s movie 2001, A Space Odyssey”. He stated the essay with “Dave, stop will you?” and the Supercomputer HAL plead. Any reader who has watch A Space Odyssey or interested in supercomputers to read his article. He highlights the fact that a computer could think for you. The states, “I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain(Is google making us stupid? By Carr page 2)”. He made a point that the more people are found of the internet the more we lose ability to deep think.
During Michael Sandel’s lecture, the two moral reasoning’s he described was Consequentialist and Categorical moral reasoning. According to Sandel, Consequentialist moral reasoning locates morality in the consequence of an act, while Categorical moral reasoning located morality in certain duties and rights. (Harvard University (Producer), n.d.)
When a world becomes the slave to cyberspace, there is a problem. No computer has the right to control human mind. Whether it is for work reason or social reasons, humans must be left to decide on their own rather than computers deciding for them.
Carson, Thomas. A. A. The "Ross Ethical Theory" Ross Ethical Theory. N.p., n.d. Web. The Web.
The computer has been one of man’s most influential inventions, paving the way for greater achievements with time. Today, computers have become an essential component in fulfilling everyday tasks in both our professional and personal lives. Computers are used to store vast amounts of information, and even replace humans in factories throughout the world. We must now ask ourselves, is this reliance on computers aiding the human mind in achieving its full potential or rather replacing it and hindering our progress? Society has now become dependant on computers. How does this machine affect our youth and learning process? We have invented a machine with a greater, and faster learning capacity as our own. A new generation has risen that have used computers for most of their lives so it is not surprising that they have become highly dependent on the computer. As of now, humans only use less than twenty percent of their brains, and with computers doing most of our work, this number is slowly decreasing.
The fact that a person cannot withdraw their money from a bank because of moral restraints shows that there are some serious problems with the moral theory at work. The first formulation of the Categorical Imperative “act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law” seems at face value viable. Nevertheless, the lack of guidelines to determine which maxim should be used to describe an action causes problems with the consistency of the Universal Law formulation. Moreover, the abundance of false positives and false negatives suggests a deep problem with the first formulation of the Categorical Imperative that may not be fixable. Works Cited:.. 1) Feldman, Fred.
In today’s society, moral actions are based on emotions, feelings, and our own personal decisions that better ourselves. Moral realism states that we do indeed have moral facts that exist and pertain to everyone, without ties to feelings. I will talk about basic ideas of moral realism as well as those who contradict realism. I will hit on Alfred Ayer’s emotivism ideas as well as J. L. Mackie’s ideas of skepticism that also contradict moral realism, finally backing up Mackie’s ideas as to why they are the most convincing.
Simmers, Mary P. "Chap. 2 Making Moral Decisions." Prezi.com. 24 Feb. 2014. Web. 20 May 2014. .
It has been commonly said that the computer can never replace the human brain, for it is humans that created them. Is this a good reason why the computer must be inferior to humans? Even if we just focus on a single creation of man, say the subject of this essay, the computer, there are many ways in which the computer has the edge over man. The computer has the capability to evaluate problems that man can hardly even imagine, let alone approach. Even if a man can calculate the same problems as a computer, the computer can do it faster than he can possibly accomplish. Say this man can calculate as fast as a computer, but can he achieve a 100% rate of accuracy in his calculation? Why do we now go over the human data entry into a computer when a mistake is noticed instead of checking the computer? It is because computers now possess the ability to hold no error in its operation, where mankind has not advanced in this area at all.
The entire world depends on computers and we always take answers from the computer because we think computers don't make mistakes. Even while I am typing this essay, the computer is helping me to get a result better than my results without the aid of a computer. it is said that the human mind will never be replaced by the computer because we are the ones that created them. we only know the computer wins is when it outsmarts us but till now, we are winning. Computers can calculate and evaluate problems that humans can barely think of, yet even come close to. Maybe mankind could calculate the problems that a computer can, they will always be solved way faster by the computer. Humans want the computers to do the work for them, thinking that sitting and watching everything being done in ...