Exercise books!

• Can you put your name and ‘ToK’ on the front?

• Write the date inside (underlined with a ruler!

• Write the title ‘Utilitarianism’ (underlined with a ruler!)

Ethics; What SHOULD we do?

• Dogs can’t/don’t ask this!

What is theft/stealing?

Moral Dilemmas

What would you do?

How did you decide?

The Sinking Lifeboat

• You're in a lifeboat with several other people. The boat is overloaded and will capsize soon killing everyone aboard unless you lighten the load by one person. One of the passengers is grievously injured and is certain to die soon, but is fully alert and aware of everything that is going on.

• Should you throw that person overboard, knowing that that would save everyone else?

• Could you?

Fat man

• A fat man leading a group of people out of a cave and is stuck in the mouth of that cave. There is no chance of rescue and no other way out. They are starting to die through lack of water. The only way out is to kill the man and hack his body out of the hole. What should they do?

Fat man

• A fat man leading a group of people out of a cave and is stuck in the mouth of that cave. There is no chance of rescue and no other way out. They are starting to die through lack of water. The only way out is to kill the man and hack his body out of the hole. What should they do?

• What if it was pregnant woman?

The Crying Baby• It's war time, and you're hiding in a basement with a

group of other people. Enemy soldiers are approaching outside and will be drawn to any sound. If you're found, you'll all be killed immediately. A baby hiding with you starts to cry loudly and cannot be stopped. Smothering it to death is the only way to silence it, saving the lives of everyone in the room. Assume that the parents of the baby are unknown and not present and there will be no penalty for killing the child.

• Could you be the one who smothered it if no one else would?

• What if the baby was your own child?

Sophie’s Choice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ9bht5H2p4

• Sophie is arrested and sent to Auschwitz with her two children. Upon arrival, the Germans make Sophie decide which child will be sent to the childrens’ camp (and live) and who will be sent to the gas chambers (and die).

• How would you decide?

Hostage

• A terrorist has taken this class hostage. The terrorist has given YOU the choice. Either YOU shoot someone in the class (dead) and he will spare everyone else, or the terrorist will kill 2 members of the class (chosen at random).

• What would YOU do?

• How would you decide?

How did you decide?What part did self preservation play?

Did it make a difference because it was a baby and not an adult?

Would it make a difference if it you did know the child and parents?

Did it make a difference if you actually had to push the man?

How important is the qualification: “is fully alert and aware of everything” ?

What if you changed the numbers of people?

Would it make a difference was your own baby?

Difficult questions?

• Is abortion ever justified?

• Should drugs be legalised?

• Should alcohol be made illegal?

• Are there limits to free speech?

• Is there such a thing as a “just” war?

• Should we execute murderers? Rapists?

• How do we justify our opinion?

Ways we could use to decide

Utilitarianism

• The greatest happiness of the greatest number

• YouTube - TOK Ethics--Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism

• Simple and coherent theory

• Rational

• Egalitarian

Utilitarianism

• How would a utilitarian justify the following;

• Eating ice-cream every day

• Wearing seat-belts in a car

• Forcing a child to learn the piano

• Voluntary euthanasia

• Involuntary euthanasia

• Abortion

• Can you write the answers in your exercise book please!

Utilitarianism – problems?

Utilitarianism – problems?

• Hard to quantify – 20 scoops of ice-cream = ⅓opera?

• Do we want to be happy all the time. CAN we be happy all the time?

Can we have pleasure without

pain?

Pleasure v happiness

• Is happiness the sum of pleasures? Can you have many pleasures and still be unhappy?

• What is the connection between money and happiness?

• Would you be happier in a world where you earn $50 000 a year and all your friends earn $25 000, or a world where you earn $100 000 and all your friends earn $250 000?

Bertrand Russell

“To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness”

Other arguments against

• Bad pleasures?

Moral relativism

• There are no universal values; our values are determined by the society we grew up in

Moral relativism

• In your books can you list two arguments for moral relativism?

Arguments for moral relativism

• Diversity argument – The shear variety of moral practices means that morals must be relative.

• Eg. Burning widows, keeping slaves, genital mutilation, killing adulterers, cannibalism etc.

Arguments for moral relativism

• Lack of foundations argument – There is no independent moral reality to test our decisions against. We cannot see or perceive right or wrong or measure it.

• We cannot use reason to get from “is” to “ought” (People are starving, I have plenty of food, therefore I ought to give some of my food to the starving)

Against moral relativism?

Can you write down 2

arguments against moral

relativism?

Arguments against moral relativism

• There seem to be in fact some core values accepted by all cultures (limit violence, protect property, promote honesty)

• Moral intuition tells us some things are wrong?

• Tribe v tribe?

• What moral overlap is there between the world’s largest religions?

Cultural imperialism

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmXUmdrhAIk

Cultural imperialism

To what extent do you think

American values are being adopted in

Poland? Can you write three

examples in your book?

‘Laws’ of morality?

• believers/ theists understand God’s laws through prayer, sacred text and authority figures

• atheists/ social scientists understand natural laws though study of socio-biological behaviour

in both cases arguments are usually about interpreting, defining or understanding generally

agreed principles e.g.

• killing another human is right under certain circumstances e.g war

• sexual urges should be controlled sexual relations e.g. marriage are mainly between man and women as the basis for family

• parents have control over their children under certain circumstances e.g. while they live at home

Kant

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwOCmJevigw

Kant

Can you summarize

Kant’s view in your books?

Consequentialism v Deontology

• Consequentialism – Only the consequences of an action matter

• Deontology – the consequences don’t matter – the moral judgement is in the act alone

Attempted murder?

Kant = Deontologist

• Morality is derived from rationality – there IS an objective morality. Categorical imperative - there are no grey areas – only right and wrong.

3 maxims

1. Universality – something is only OK if you think it would be OK for everyone to do it all the time

3 maxims

2. Every human being is an end rather than a means to an end – you are NEVER allowed to use a person for the goals of others – there is no ‘greater good’ and you can never lie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IglUmgYGxLM

3 maxims

3. You should therefore behave as if you are the moral authority of the Universe

The role of reason in ethics• Facts and evidence, data and statistics, are

used to support ethical decisions; but are they used to make them?

• Problems of social science e.g; correlation does not equal causation, ethics of experimenting…

• Problem of distinguishing principles from practice: i.e: evidence helps us apply moral positions, not determine the principles.

• Use (and misuse) of logic e.g: deduction and induction used to justify positions.

• Problems of premises and false logic.• Is reason and logic the best way to make ethical

decision anyway?

Or should we reason harder?

Reason is and ought only to be, the slave of the

passions, and can never pretend to any other office

than to serve and obey them.

David Hume,

18th century Scottish philosopher,

Self-interest - Darwinism

Egoism/altruism

We build ethical arguments and decisions around chosen principles

Egoism or Altruism

• egoism- self interest first

• altruism – benefits others first, by sacrifice

Problem:

• paradox – ultimately, anything can seen as egoistic e.g we are ‘good’ to others because of our benefit. But if egoism explains everything it explains nothing

Is good behaviour simply motivated by fear?

Do we expect moral consistency?• An anti-abortionist who supports the death

penalty?• A vegetarian who buys leather shoes?• A socialist who educates their children at a

private school?• A politician whi advocates “family values”

but who has an extra-marital affair?• An environmental activist who drives an

SUV?

Quotations

• Stuck on the walls and windows between here and Mr Porter’s room are quotations about ethics (14 in all)

• Read them and COPY into your book your favourite 3 quotations. Be prepared to explain to the class why you chose those 3 quotations (and you CANNOT say ‘because they were the shortest’!)

• You have 15 minutes!

Next lesson?