I Ethics
A. Preliminary Definitions
1. Morality - Class of rules held by society to govern right conduct of
members
2.Ethics - Branch of philosophy that seeks to understand the
nature,purposes, justification and founding principles of moral rules and
the systems they comprise.
3. Preferences - Personal preferences are subjective, can only be false
if here is dishonesty or self-deception on the agent's part, and are not
taken to have others act with the same preferences as the agent.
4. Moral judgements - Often construed ass concerned with objective
matters of bheavioral assessment, and others are expected to conform to the
agent's moral convictions; lack of conformity and/or violation typically
results in moral censure, condemnation and derision of the violator's
character.
B Non-Normative Ethics
1. Scientific/Descriptive
a. Factual investigation of moral behavior
Approach adopted by social sciences, especially
anthropology and psychology.
b. Ethical Absolutism
i)Unique moral standard that is universal, eternal, and
static.
ii)Undiscovered but there is only one true moral
standard.
c. Simple Ethical Relativism
i) No single objective moral standard that applies to
all human behavior, claims that morality is always
relative to time,place and social group.
ii) Whatever a particular group ( in a specific tiem and
place) thinks is right, is right.
d. Functional Ethical Relativism
i) What a society deems good or right reflects its
historical experience that behaviors conforming to
these moral dictums have been functionally beneficial
to it in that they are conducive to social order,
stability, peaceful coexistence and well-being.
ii)Behaviors may have lost their contemporary
functional efficacy and are erroneously judged as
"good" based upon an historical precedent which has
presently beomce an anachronism.
e. Objectivism
an objectivist theory holds that:
i) "Ethical judgments" are either true or false, but
not both; or
ii) Ethical judgments are bearers of truth values and
are never about psychology of person who expresses
them and only that person's psychologal state.
f. Subjectivism
i) What are ordinarily called ethical judgments lack a
truth value in that they are neither true nor false;
or
ii)Ethical judgments are true or false but are only
about psychology of person who utters them.
2. Meta-Ethics
C Normative Ethics
1. Applied Normative Ethics
2. General Normative Ethics
D. Consequential/Teleological Theories
1.Ethical Egoism
2.Ethical Altruism
3.Utilitariaism
4.The Theory of Valuation:Dewey
E. Non-Consequential/Deontological Theories
1.Classified into 4 Divisions
a. Extreme
b. Moderate
c. Act
d. Rule
2. Intuitionism
a. Realistic Value Theory (G.E. Moore)
b. Idealistic Value Theory (Prichard)
c. Prima Facie Concepts ( Ross )
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