Phil. 201 ethics, 2:00 pm M/W/F

Class notes for Friday, 1/17/03

Basic Moral Views

Universalism/Absolutism
There are some objective moral truths. They don't necessarily think that everything has moral implications, but there are some things (absolutes) that apply to everyone.

Soft Universalism
(broader than hard universalism) A hybrid between universalism and relativism. There is one set of moral absolutes applied differently in the customs of various cultures.

Hard Universalism
(a narrower view than soft universalism) There is one set of moral absolutes that applies to everyone, but not necessarily to every act or aspect of life.

A universalist doesn't say that everybody has to live their lives exactly the same. It allows for custom.

Relativism
Cultural or Individual(subjectivism)

Cultural- Morality is defined by what the majority of a society believes or practices. Each culture has its own values which are morally legitimate to that society. None are better than others.

Subjectivism- Each person has their own individual code. The only sin you can commit is is hypocrisy i.e. not living by your own code

Soft universalism is similar to cultural relativism

Emotivism
Moral statements are neither true or false, but merely expressions of subjective feelings and attitudes. A statement of morality is not a statement of fact, but more about how you feel about something. So, the statement, "I believe in helping people." is no more important than "I believe in eating ice cream."

Universalism/Absolutism (Hard)views

Egoism
You should maximize self interest. Some teach this as a full blown moral mandate, but others are moral skeptics that say self interest is the natural way, so morality is a moot point.

Deontology
Morality is about rights and responsibility. Some feel that morality is absolute, with little or few exceptions. They say that you can justify anything if you start thinking about the consequences. Kant was an advocate of this philosophy.

Consequentialism
Utilitarianism (a form of consequentialism) Morality is about maximizing happiness. Actions are moral if they produce good consequences. The only consequence that is important is happiness, the most happiness for everyone or others, even if it doesn't make you happy.

Divine Command Theory
Morality is about obeying God's commands, or command. Morality has to be based on the divine or there would be no basis for morality.

Virtue Ethics
Morality is about being a good person with a good character. You think less about action and more about qualities.