Evaluate THREE approaches to the study of ethics. Which is the most suitable and why?
Ethics is the study of “moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour of the conducting of an activity.” In this essay I shall study three moral principles, morality as law, inner conviction and personal growth from Donal Harrington’s “What is Morality” (1996), and examine the effectiveness of each approach to ethics. Furthermore, I will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the three moral principles to come to a conclusion of which approach is most suitable in the contemporary society. Each approach to ethics offers a valid view, however morality as personal growth can be viewed to offer a long term to solution to corrupt morals, but I shall argue that this approach would struggle to prevail without the other approaches to ethics supporting it.
Firstly, the essay will examine Harrington’s idea of “Morality as Law.” Human beings are raised into a world of inflicted principles that determine the distinctions between right and wrong: this is known as the law. From a young age our parents act as an authority figure to guide us to act in accordance with law, because it is what is deemed as acceptable in a given society. Taking this into consideration, Harrington thinks that the law is a reflection of our morals, because we are nurtured until it becomes part of our nature to obey the law as a way of showing we have good morals. This is reinforced in the Journal of Moral Education (Murray 2012), which suggests that nature and nurture must interrelate for individuals to develop morally in society. Nurture is explained in terms of submitting to the given law during childhood, which results in actualizing your individual nature, which is shown ...
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...ould provide a long term solution to corrupt morals in a given society because it shows that individual beings make a habit of doing what is virtuous, which could potentially lead to a civilization of moral goodness. If virtue ethics is taken into consideration when assessing this idea, it could be plausible to come to the conclusion that people with under developed morals would aspire to be in a state of fulfilled moral growth because it is an admirable trait (Hooft 2005); therefore, it is something to strive after. In addition to this, it is thought by Aquinas that once an individual is in a state of grace it becomes difficult to commit sin because “their whole inclination goes against it” (Harrington). Therefore, morality as personal growth poses an idea that the world could potentially be of pure goodness, however it cannot succeed as an approach to ethics alone.
morals are acquired, and conformity to a standard of right is attained. In the novel The
While maintaining a open look of this moral law, Lewis presents two objections one would present to the moral law: “The moral law is just herd instinct” and “Morality is just social convention. The moral law is not a herd instinct due to man’s choice to suppress stronger instincts in fa...
In the book, A Practical Companion to Ethics, Anthony Weston shares his exploration in the myriad of ethical issues that we as a population have discussed and disagreed upon every day since the beginning of time. Within A Practical Companion to Ethics Weston describes several different ways that one can be mindful thinkers.
Many people have different views on the moral subject of good and evil or human nature. It is the contention of this paper that humans are born neutral, and if we are raised to be good, we will mature into good human beings. Once the element of evil is introduced into our minds, through socialization and the media, we then have the potential to do bad things. As a person grows up, they are ideally taught to be good and to do good things, but it is possible that the concept of evil can be presented to us. When this happens, we subconsciously choose whether or not to accept this evil. This where the theories of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke become interesting as both men differed in the way they believed human nature to be. Hobbes and Locke both picture a different scene when they express human nature.
Cahn, Steven M. and Peter Markie, Ethics: History, Theory and Contemporary Issues. 4th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Aristotle’s psychological types, as described in “Nichomachean Ethics,” are a categorization of different internal moral characters. These categories are a comprehensive attempt - for ancient philosophy - at identifying which internal psychologies manifest virtuous or morally bad behaviour. His moral categories are somewhat obsolete in a post-modern world, where science and politics are far more developed than in Ancient Greece. However, moral psychological ethics and normative debate still holds a relevant position in the moral undercurrent of society – it is dispersed through legal, political, military and medical activity, in relationships and familial function. It is for this reason, that Immanuel Kant examined a similar issue in “Pure Practical Reason and the Moral Law,” and that it still makes for interesting philosophical discussion.
Virtue ethics is a moral theory that was first developed by Aristotle. It suggests that humans are able to train their characters to acquire and exhibit particular virtues. As the individual has trained themselves to develop these virtues, in any given situation they are able to know the right thing to do. If everybody in society is able to do the same and develop these virtues, then a perfect community has been reached. In this essay, I shall argue that Aristotelian virtue ethics is an unsuccessful moral theory. Firstly, I shall analyse Aristotelian virtue ethics. I shall then consider various objections to Aristotle’s theory and evaluate his position by examining possible responses to these criticisms. I shall then conclude, showing why Aristotelian virtue ethics is an unpractical and thus an unsuccessful moral theory in reality.
In his article "The Schizophrenia of Modern Ethical Theories," Michael Stocker argues that mainstream ethical theories, namely consequentialism and deontology, are incompatible with maintaining personal relations of love, friendship, and fellow feeling because they both overemphasise the role of duty, obligation, and rightness, and ignore the role of motivation in morality. Stocker states that the great goods of life, i.e. love, friendship, etc., essentially contain certain motives and preclude others, such as those demanded by mainstream ethics.11 In his paper "Alienation, Consequentialism, and the Demands of Morality," Peter Railton argues that a particular version of consequentialism, namely sophisticated consequentialism, is not incompatible with love, affection and acting for the sake of others. In the essays "War and Massacre" and "Autonomy and Deontology," Thomas Nagel holds that a theory of absolutism, i.e. deontology, may be compatible with maintaining personal commitments. The first objective of this paper is to demonstrate that despite the efforts of both Railton and Nagel, consequentialism and deontology do not in fact incorporate personal relations into morality in a satisfactory way. This essay shows that Stocker’s challenge may also hold against versions of Virtue Ethics, such as that put forth by Rosalind Hursthouse in her article "Virtue Theory and Abortion." The second objective of this discussion is to examine criticisms of Stocker made by Kurt Baier in his article "Radical Virtue Ethics." This essay demonstrates that in the end Baier’s objections are not convincing.
In the history of ethics there are three principal standards of conduct, each of which has been proposed as the highest good: happiness or pleasure; du...
Ethics can be defined as "the conscious reflection on our moral beliefs with the aim of improving, extending or refining those beliefs in some way." (Dodds, Lecture 2) Kantian moral theory and Utilitarianism are two theories that attempt to answer the ethical nature of human beings. This paper will attempt to explain how and why Kantian moral theory and Utilitarianism differ as well as discuss why I believe Kant's theory provides a more plausible account of ethics.
We need a critique of moral values, the value of these values should itself, for once, be examined?. [What if] morality itself were to blame if man, as a species, never reached his highest potential power and splendour? [GM P 6]
The Theory of moral development was founded by the psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg. He argued that starting from infancy extending throughout adulthood, we develop a moral compass that guides us through our life. Each moral judgment can be categorized into three levels, pre-conventional morality, conventional morality, and post-conventional morality, with each level encompassing two stages. As we grow older and gain new experiences, we begin to view the world differently and the moral reasoning for our choices evolves.
In this paper, I argue about the applicability of virtue ethics which is one of three major branches of normative ethics. The subject of virtue ethics is normally defined as one that puts emphasis on virtues which are also known as moral character. The branch is in contrast to the majority of the approaches which places a lot of emphasizes on responsibilities and rules. The practice is also known as deontology or the practice which emphasizes on the results of actions. It is also known as consequentialism (Swanton,11).The way virtue ethics is applied in modern philosophy should be clearly evaluated.
Philosopher David Hume divided the term “ethics” into three distinctive areas; meta-ethics, which focuses on the language used when talking about ethical issues. The general approach to this area of ethics is, it explores the nature of moral judgement, and it looks at the meaning of ethical principles. Normative ethics tries to find practical moral code that we can live by. It is concerned with the content of moral judgements and the criteria for what is right and wrong. Finally applied-ethics is the application of ethical theories and using them in real life issues such as medical research or human rights (Hume D, 2011).
“All of morals comes down to the virtues.” (Keenan, 142) Keenan asserts that these virtues are the cardinal virtues, consisting of courage, temperance, justice, and prudence, and date back to Aristotle in Ancient Greece. The word cardinal is derived from the root, cardo, meaning hinge. Simply stated, the Christian moral life hinges on the cardinal virtues. Keenan suggests an updating of the cardinal virtues to become justice, fidelity, self-care, and prudence. He provides reasoning for the new virtue list. He defines each virtue with its social implications. For example, individuals should seek to set up society with equal justice for all persons. These descriptions help the Christian understand when the virtues are best applicable to self and/or others. Thomas Aquinas adds three theological virtues to the mix: faith, hope, and charity. Familiar from the thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians, these virtues seek to help Christian theologians through the ages maintain the integrity of the Gospel and continue to make it relevant in the modern world. Keenan recounts Bernard of Clairvaux’s beliefs that cultivating the virtues is a way to assimilate with the humanity of Jesus. (Keenan, 136) According to Aquinas, “Every human action is a moral action.” (Keenan, 142) The purpose of the virtues is to guide Christians, and when the Christian studies and applies the virtues to his life, his actions will demonstrate morality. The Bible heralds in Proverbs 3:32, “Devious people are detestable to the Lord, but the virtuous are his close