Philosophy & Your Conscience

Values, Self & KnowledgeLecture 2

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◉ Module blog◉ Comprehension exercise

➤ To be discussed in class next Monday (22/7)

Please share:1. One action that is clearly morally wrong

in your view 2. One action that is clearly morally

permissible in your view3. One action that you’re not sure if it’s

morally wrongPlease be ready to justify your view

Moral philosophy – the big picture

Applied ethicsMeta-

Ethics

What is ethics?

Applied Ethical Theory

Recap: Why should I be moral?

Typical responses◉“I should be

moral only because it benefits me.”

◉“I should be moral only because it helps me get what I want.”

Why? Why??What reason is there to treat your friends well?

“Because I care about my friends.”

What reason is there to care about your friends? “None”

Lack of foundation

Treating friends well

Care for friendsJustified by

Justified byNothing!

No reason to do this!

Lack of foundation

Treating friends well

Care for friendsJustified by

Justified byNothing!

Treating friends well

Care for friendsJustified by

Justified byIntrinsic value of

friendship

The calculated pursuit of Hello Kitty

1. I want the Hello Kitty figure

2. I would get the figure if I queue at McDs

3. Therefore, I should queue at McDs

I should try to get what I want.

Rationality principle◉“I should be

moral only because it benefits me.”

◉“I should be moral only because it helps me get what I want.”

I should do only what benefits me

I should do only what satisfies

my wants

Putting them together

Rationality Principle

Observation About

MoralityMoral Conviction

Our wants decide what we should do.

Moral action doesn’t always get us what we want.Moral obligation doesn’t depend on our wants.

Conflict

Coming up…

Why should I be moral?

What is morality?

Morality, according to Bundy

“Then I learned that all moral judgments are "value judgments," that all value judgments are subjective, and that none can be proved to be either "right" or "wrong." I even read somewhere that the Chief Justice of the United States had written that the American Constitution expressed nothing more than collective value judgments. Believe it or not, I figured out for myself - what apparently the Chief Justice couldn't figure out for himself -- that if the rationality of one value judgment was zero, multiplying it by millions would not make it one whit more rational.

“And I quickly discovered that the greatest obstacle to my freedom, the greatest block and limitation to it, consists in the insupportable "value judgment" that I was bound to respect the rights of others.”

What is morality?

◉ Is it merely a social construct?

◉Or is its reality independent of us?

How do we tell?

What do these mean?

Empirical claims◉There are chairs in this

room.◉Singapore has a smaller

land area than Russia.◉Aliens exist◉Economic growth leads

to higher income for everyone

The nature of moralityWhat is it for something to be true independently of us?◉ “The Earth revolves around

the Sun.”➤Its truth doesn’t depend on us

◉ “Golf is extremely enjoyable.”➤Its truth doesn’t depend on us?➤Depends on whether we in fact enjoy it?

Are moral judgments absolutely true?

Its truth doesn’t depend on us?

Strange & Stranger“But there was one man who liked to work and liked to be helpful. The compulsion was too strong for him to repress it in favour of the opposite tendencies of his culture.

Men and women never spoke of him without laughing; he was silly and simple and definitely crazy. Nevertheless, to the ethnologist used to a culture that has, in Christianity, made his type the model of all virtue, he seems a pleasant fellow…”

“Morality differs in every society, and is a convenient term for socially approved habits.”

Ruth Benedict, Patterns of Culture

Criterion

How do we tell if we have

the right answer?

What is the right

criterion?

Are moral judgments absolutely true?

Stepping back

How do we tell if we have the right answer?

Are moral judgments absolutely true?

How do we tell if the claim/theory is right?

Claim/Theory

Observation/Evidence Theory

Gravity

What’s the evidence

Moral Relativis

m

Moral Absolutism

“All moral judgments are relative”

What does this mean?

◉Situational relativism◉Descriptive relativism◉Meta-ethical relativism

Situational relativism◉Whether an action is

right depends on the situation➤Entering a home➤Killing a person

◉“If I throw a pen, it will fall.”➤Depends on the situation?

Situational relativism◉ General claims have exceptions

➤Should be revised to account for exceptions

◉ “X will happen if these conditions are met.”➤E.g. Higher and lower laws of nature

◉ “X is wrong if these conditions are met.”➤Higher and lower moral laws?

Descriptive relativism◉ What people accept as

moral depends on their culture, upbringing, external circumstances

◉ Sociological claim➤Can be verified by empirical observation

Meta-ethical relativism◉ Whether a moral judgment

is right fully depends on the culture in which the judgment is made

◉ The rightness/wrongness of moral judgments are not independent of culture➤Not right ‘simpliciter’

What the difference?◉ Descriptive relativism

➤What people actually accept something as moral

◉ Meta-ethical relativism➤What determines if the judgments people accept are right/wrong

➤When people should accept something as moral

Good argument?Descriptive relativism◉ What people

actually accept

Meta-ethical relativism◉ What people

should accept

Different cultures consider different actions moral/immoral

What’s moral/immoral depends on culture

Good argument?Culture A: “Cross-dressing is wrong”Culture B: “Cross-dressing is not wrong”

Cross-dressing is neither right nor wrong in itself Whether it is wrong depends on culture

Culture A: “The Earth is flat”Culture B: “The earth is not flat”

The Earth is neither flat nor not-flat in itself Whether it is flat depends on culture

Good argument?Culture A: “The Earth is flat”

Culture B: “The earth is not flat”

The Earth is neither flat nor not-flat in itself

Whether it is flat depends on culture

Different people have different beliefs about the Earth’s shapeTheir beliefs are relative to cultureSince they have different beliefs, therefore the Earth has different shapes depending on their culture?

Culture A: “The Earth is flat”Culture B: “The earth is not flat”

Hidden principle“When people have different views about something, then there is no fact of the matter?”

Everyone is always correct?

Culture A: “The Earth is flat”

Culture B: “The earth is not flat”

The Earth is neither flat nor not-flat in itself

Whether it is flat depends on culture

Good argument?Culture A: “Cross-dressing is wrong”

Culture B: “Cross-dressing is not wrong”

Cross-dressing is neither right nor wrong in itself

Whether it is wrong depends on culture

Culture A: “The Earth is flat”

Culture B: “The earth is not flat”

The Earth is neither flat nor not-flat in itself

Whether it is flat depends on culture

Good argument?Culture A: “Cross-dressing is wrong”

Culture B: “Cross-dressing is not wrong”

Cross-dressing is neither right nor wrong in itself

Whether it is wrong depends on culture

No way to know who is right?

Physical & Moral Realities?

◉ “There is a bottle in this room.”

◉ “The Earth is not flat.”

◉“Bullfights are morally ok.”

◉“Slavery is immoral.”

We can verify these claims by our senses!

We cannot verify these claims by our senses!

Further scrutiny◉ “There is a bottle in

this room.”◉ “The Earth is not

flat.”

We can verify these claims by our senses!

How do you know this?

Because it seems to you that there is a bottle in this room?

Further scrutinyWe can verify these claims by our moral sense!

How do you know this?

Because it seems to you that it is wrong to cause animals suffering for our recreation?

◉ “Bullfights are morally ok.”

◉ “Euthanasia is immoral.”

Parity?◉ In both domains, we acquire our

views through how the world seems to us

◉Why allow verification by our physical senses, but not by our moral sense?

Because the physical world is all there is!

But how do you know that?

Review◉ Aspects of ethics

➤Applied ethics, applied ethical theory, meta-ethics, moral motivation

◉ Moral relativism & absolutism◉ How should we evaluate a

theory?◉ Kinds of relativism◉ An argument for meta-ethical

relativism

Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.

- United States President Lyndon Johnson, 1965.

An argument for meta-

ethical absolutism

Argument for moral realism

◉Meta-ethical absolutism = moral objectivism

◉Argument: Moral realism is the best explanation of 3 features of reality

◉ There seems to be a diversity of contradictory moral judgments

◉ Ruth Benedict’s description of the culture of paranoia, etc

(1) Convergence of moral judgments

Secondary moral judgment

Primary moral judgment

Non-moral judgment

It is morally right to eat the dead

It is morally right to ensure the

wellbeing of the dead

Eating the dead will ensure their

wellbeing in the afterlife

(1) Convergence of moral judgments

‘Every culture has a concept of murder, distinguishing this from execution, killing in war, and other “justifiable homicides.” The notions of incest and other regulations upon sexual behavior, the prohibitions upon untruth under defined circumstances, of restitution and reciprocity, of mutual obligations between parents and children – these and many other moral concepts are altogether universal.’

Clyde Kluckhohn

(1) Convergence of moral judgments

◉ Convergence of perceptual judgments

= There is an objective physical reality which we are all making judgments about

◉ Convergence of moral judgments= There is an objective moral

reality which we are all making judgments about

(1) Convergence of moral judgments

(2) Justified Intervention“A young Muslim mother in Bosnia was repeatedly raped in front of her husband and father, with her baby screaming on the floor beside her.

When her tormentors seemed finally tired of her, she begged permission to nurse the child. In response, one of the rapists swiftly decapitated the baby and threw the head in the mother’s lap.”

(The Mirror of Evil, by Eleonore Stump)

(2) Justified InterventionSuppose you are able to stop them from harming the mother and child due to your supernatural powers.

◉ Would you stop them?

◉ We not only would stop them, but it seems entirely justified for us to stop them.

(2) Justified intervention

Are you justified to stop her from eating durian ice-cream because you hate such ice-cream?

A girl is enjoying her durian ice-

cream. You know she loves durian

ice-cream.

You hate durian ice-cream.

(2) Justified InterventionImplication:

It is unjustified to stop someone else from doing something simply because doing that thing is subjectively bad to you.

Rape & Murder

Eating durian ice-cream

(2) Justified intervention

“Causing great suffering to the

innocent”

“Eating durian ice-cream”

Action Personal

preference

Action Personal

preferenceMORE

(2) Justified Intervention◉ We are aware of when it is not justified

to intervene.◉ We are aware of when our judgments

are merely subjective and it would be inappropriate to impose them on others.

◉ But, we also seem aware of when it would be appropriate, and indeed our duty, to intervene.➤This requires that our judgment is objective true

“It is immoral to marry someone of another race.”

“Grass-flavoured ice cream is nice.”

Flawed view?Flawed view?

(3) Moral disagreement◉ In moral matters, we don’t seem

to have merely different tastes➤No disagreement if it is just a matter of personal taste

◉Disagreement seems possible only if there is a fact of the matter

(3) Moral progressSlavery in

America◉Treated as

property◉Forced labor

for life◉Brutal

treatment◉Breeding◉Lynching

◉ Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)➤Aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against African-Americans in the United States

(3) Moral progressWas that moral progress in the United States,

OROne moral code taking over another

1. Moral progress implies moving from a morally worse state of affairs to a morally better one

2. Moral progress makes sense only if there is an objective criterion for determining progress.1. Otherwise, it becomes one person’s

progress against another’s regress

(3) Moral progress

Moral disagreement & progress

◉We seem able to disagree on moral issues, and make progress.

◉But this implies an objective truth which we’re disagreeing about, and progressing towards.

Taking stock

Moral Objectivism best explains the existence of

these 3 features of reality

Convergence of moral judgments

Moral disagreem

ent & progress

Justified intervention

Ethics = Social conventions

◉ What does this mean?➤Social conventions = what the majority in society are for/against

➤Example: Shaking hands as a form of greeting

◉ Ethics are simply what the majority in society are for/against➤Vandalism is wrong simply because the majority in society are against it

What ethical reflection seems like

◉What about having dolphins in theme parks?

If you’re unsure whether it is wrong, can you determine it by conducting a poll?

“Ethics = social conventions”

1. We cannot determine what is ethical to do simply by checking what the relevant social convention is.

2. If ethics are simply social conventions, then we can determine what is ethical to do simply by checking what the relevant social convention is.

3. Therefore, ethics are not simply social conventions.

Worries◉ If morality is a part of reality, and

it isn’t physical, what is it?➤What explains its existence?➤How do we have moral knowledge?➤Why do some lack it?➤Why are there deep moral disputes?