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Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Mälardalen University2006

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

CD5590 LECTURE 3

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The Ethics of Character:Virtues and Vices

Moral Reasoning and Gender

Based on: Lawrence M. Hinman, Ph.D.Director, The Values InstituteUniversity of San Diego

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The Ethics of Character:Virtues and Vices

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Introduction

Concern for character has flourished in the West since the time of Plato, whose early dialogues explored such virtues as courage and piety*.

Plato (by Michaelangelo)

* fromhet

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Two Moral Questions

The Question of Action:– How ought I to act?

The Question of Character– What kind of person ought I to be?

Our concern here is with the question of character

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An Analogy from the Criminal Justice System

• As a country, we place our trust for just decisions in the legal arena in two places:– Laws, which provide the necessary rules– People, who (as judge and jury) apply rules judiciously

• Similarly, ethics places its trust in:– Theories, which provide rules for conduct– Virtue, which provides the wisdom necessary for

applying rules in particular instances

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Virtue Strength of character

(habit) Involving both feeling,

knowing and action Seeks the mean

between excess and deficiency relative to us

Dynamic balance Secure desirable

behaviorAristotle (by Michaelangelo)

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Virtues and Spheres of Existence (1)

Sphere of Existence

Deficiency Mean Excess

Attitude toward self

Servility Self-deprecation servilitet, kryperi brist på självaktning

Proper Self-Love Proper Pride Self-Respect motiverad egenkärlek självkänsla; självaktning

Arrogance Conceit inbilskhet Egoism Narcissism Vanity fåfänga

Attitude toward offenses of others

Ignoring them Being a Doormat dörrmatta, strykpojke

Anger Forgiveness Understanding

Revenge hämnd Grudge avund agg, ovilja, groll Resentment förtrytelse, harm, förbittring

Attitude toward good deeds of others

Suspicion misstro Envy avund Ignoring them

Gratitude Admiration beundran

Over indebtedness overdriven tacksamhetsskuld

Attitude toward our own offenses

Indifference Remorselessness Downplaying

Regret, Remorse Making Amends Self-Forgiveness

Toxic Guilt Scrupulosity Shame

Attitude toward our friends

Indifference Loyalty Obsequiousness inställsamhet

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Virtues and Spheres of Existence (2)

Sphere of Existence

Deficiency Mean Excess

Attitude toward our own good deeds

Belittling Disappointment

Sense of Accomplishment Humility

Self-righteousness

Attitude toward the suffering of others

Callousness känslolös, okänslig, känslokall

Compassion Pity “Bleeding Heart”

Attitude toward the achievements of others

Self-satisfaction Complacency självbelåtenhet, egenkärlek Competition

Admiration Emulation [ädel]tävlan; efterliknande,

efterbildande

Envy

Attitude toward death and danger

Cowardice feghet, rädsla Courage Foolhardiness

dumdristighet

Attitude toward our own desires

Anhedonia Temperance Moderation

Lust Gluttony frosseri

Attitude toward other people Exploitation Respect

Deferentiality undfallande

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Two Conceptions of Morality

In a simplified scheme, we can contrast two approaches to the morality.– Restrictive conception:

• Child vs. adult• Comes from outside (usually parents).• “Don’t touch that stove burner!”

• Rules and habit formation are central.

– Affirmative conception:• Adult vs. adult• Comes from within (self-directed).• “This is the kind of person I want to be”• Virtue-centered, often modeled on ideals.

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The Purpose of Morality

Both of these conceptions of morality are appropriate at different times in life.

Teenage years are the time when people make the transition from the adolescent conception of morality to the adult conception.

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Rightly-ordered Desires and the Goals of Moral Education

Moral education may initially seek to control unruly desires through rules, the formation of habits, etc.

Ultimately, moral education aims at forming and cultivating virtuous conduct.

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Virtue As the Golden Mean

Strength of character (virtue), Aristotle suggests, involves finding the proper balance between two extremes.– Excess: having too much of something.– Deficiency: having too little of something.

Not mediocrity, but harmony and balance.

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Virtue and Habit

For Aristotle, virtue is something that is practiced and thereby learned—it is habit (hexis).

This has clear implications for moral education, for Aristotle obviously thinks that you can teach people to be virtuous.

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Courage

The strength of character necessary to continue in the face of our fears– Deficiency:

• Cowardice*, the inability to do what is necessary to have those things in life which we need in order to flourish

• Too much fear• Too little confidence

– Excess• Too little fear• Too much confidence• Poor judgment about ends worth achieving

*feghet, rädsla

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Nichomachean Ethics, 3.7

What is terrible is not the same for all men; but we say there are things terrible even beyond human strength. These, then, are terrible to every one- at least to every sensible man; but the terrible things that are not beyond human strength differ in magnitude and degree, and so too do the things that inspire confidence. Now the brave man is as dauntless* as man may be.

*oförfärad

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Nichomachean Ethics, 3.7

Therefore, while he will fear even the things that are not beyond human strength, he will face them as he ought and as the rule directs, for honor's sake; for this is the end of virtue. But it is possible to fear these more, or less, and again to fear things that are not terrible as if they were.

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EN, 2

Of the faults that are committed one consists in fearing what one should not, another in fearing as we should not, another in fearing when we should not, and so on; and so too with respect to the things that inspire confidence.

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EN, 3

Of those who go to excess he who exceeds in fearlessness has no name (we have said previously that many states of character have no names), but he would be a sort of madman or insensible person if he feared nothing, neither earthquakes nor the waves, as they say the Celts do not..

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EN, 3

… while the man who exceeds in confidence about what really is terrible is rash. The rash* man, however, is also thought to be boastful** and only a pretender to courage.

At all events, as the brave man is with regard to what is terrible, so the rash man wishes to appear; and so he imitates him in situations where he can.

*överilad, obetänksam, förhastad , överdådig, dumdristig

**skrytsam

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EN, 5

The brave man, on the other hand, has the opposite disposition; for confidence is the mark of a hopeful disposition. The coward, the rash man, and the brave man, then, are concerned with the same objects but are differently disposed towards them; for the first two exceed and fall short, …

*överilad, förhastad

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EN, 5

…while the third holds the middle, which is the right, position; and rash men are precipitate*, and wish for dangers beforehand but draw back when they are in them, while brave men are keen in the moment of action, but quiet beforehand.

*överilad, förhastad

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Hercules (Heracles) – A Role Model

Heracles in Greek mythology, was a hero known for his strength and courage

The son of the god Zeus and a human mother Alcmene

Hera, Zeus’ jealous wife, was determined to kill Hercules, and after Hercules was born, she sent two great serpents to kill him. Hercules, while he was still a baby, strangled the snakes.

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Hercules (Heracles) – A Role Model

Hercules conquered a tribe that had been demanding money from Thebes. As a reward, he was given the hand in marriage of the Theben princess Megara and they had three children.

Hera, still filled hatred of Hercules, sent him into madness, which made him kill his wife and children.

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Hercules (Heracles) – A Role Model

In horror and remorse at what he did, Hercules was about to kill himself. But he was told by the oracle at Delphi that he should purge himself by becoming the servant of his cousin Eurystheus, king of Mycenae.

Eurystheus, urged by Hera, planned as a punishment the 12 impossible tasks, the “Labors of Hercules.”

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Hercules (Heracles) – A Role Model

The first task was to kill the lion of Nemea, a lion that could not be hurt by any weapon. Hercules knocked out the lion with his club first, then he strangled it to death. He wore the skin of the lion as a cloak and the head of the lion as a helmet, a trophy of his adventure.

The second task was to kill the Hydra that lived in a swamp in Lerna. The Hydra had nine heads. One head was immortal and when one of the others was chopped off, two grew back in its place. ..

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Hercules (Heracles) – What can we learn?

The impossible deeds were defined by gods.

Gods define “the rules of the game” Gods show both virtues and vices. Hera

is jealous in a typical human way. Gods do not hesitate to use intrigue to

fight humans

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Hercules (Heracles) – What can we learn?

Great hero Heracles could go mad at times

He was however forgiven for his good deeds sake (justice of compensation)

Heroic deeds were both to help other people or to overcome ones own fear and weakness

Courage was a typical male virtue

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Courage as a contemporary virtue

Both children and adults need courage. Without courage, we are unable to take

the risks necessary to achieve some of the things we most value in life.– Risk to ask someone out on a date.– Risk to show genuine vulnerability.– Risk to try an academically challenging

program.

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Courage and the Unity of the Virtues

To have any single strength of character in full measure, a person must have the other ones as well.– Courage without good judgment is blind, risking

without knowing what is worth the risk.– Courage without perseverance* is short-lived, etc.– Courage without a clear sense of your own

abilities is foolhardy.

*ihärdighet, uthållighet, ståndaktighet

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Courage

Excess Mean Deficiency

Underestimates actual danger Correctly estimates actual danger

Overestimates actual danger

Overestimates own ability Correctly estimates own ability

Underestimates own ability

Undervalues means, what is being placed at risk

Properly values means that are being put at risk

Overvalues the means, what is being placed at risk

Overvalues goal, what the risk is being taken for

Properly values goal that is being sought

Undervalues goal, what the risk would be taken for

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Issues of Courage

Fears, dangers, and rightly-ordered fears Seeking out danger: mountain climbing Courage and nonviolence: Gandhi Courage and gender

– Women’s courage is often undervalued– Men’s courage is tied to their gender identity

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Compassion and Pity

Pity* looks down on the other.– Consequently, no one wants to be the

object of pity. Compassion** sees the suffering of the

other as something that could have happened to us.– Consequently, we welcome the

compassion of others when we are suffering.

* ömkan **medlidande

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Compassion

Etymology: to feel or suffer with… Both cognitive and emotional Leads to action Contrast with pity

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Compassion

Emotion is often necessary:– to recognize the suffering of others

• emotional attunement

– part of the response to that suffering• others often need to feel that you care

Compassion and gender– Men’s compassion is often suppressed– Women’s compassion is tied to their gender

identity

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Cleverness and Wisdom

The clever person knows the best means to any possible end.

The wise person knows which ends are worth striving for.

Wisdom and gender– Equally distributed– Often expected from old men and women

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Self-LovePrincipal Characteristics

Characteristics of self-love– Valuing yourself – from feelings of self-love– Knowing yourself – a long, often arduous,

and never completed task– Acting in ways that promote your genuine

flourishing– Having feelings of care, appreciation, and

respect for others

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Self-Love:Deficiency

Deficiency– Too little feeling: self-loathing– Too little self-valuing: self-deprecating– Too little self-knowledge: unwilling or

unable to look at one’s own motivations, feelings, etc.

– Too little acting: not taking steps to insure one’s own well-being

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Self-Love:Excess

Excesses of self-love take many forms: arrogance, conceit, egoism, vanity, and narcissism are but a few of the ways in which we can err in this direction.

Too much caring: self-centeredness Too much self-valuing: arrogance, conceit Too much self-knowledge: narcissistic Too much acting for self: selfishness

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Forgiveness

This, too, is a virtue indispensable for human flourishing– In any long-term relationship (friendship, marriage,

etc.), each party will do things that must be forgiven by the other.

– Long term relationships are necessary to human flourishing.

– If we cannot forgive, we cannot have continuing long term relationships

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Forgiveness:Excess and Deficiency

Excess: the person who forgives too easily and too quickly– may undervalue self– may underestimate offense

Deficiency: the person who can never forgive– may overestimate his or her own importance– usually lives a life of bitterness and anger

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Concluding Evaluation

Virtues are those strengths of character that enable us to act according to ideals of good and right

The virtuous person has practical wisdom, the ability to know when and how best to apply these various moral perspectives.

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Footnotes to Plato (and Aristotle)

"The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."

Alfred North Whitehead, the great 20th-century British philosopher

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Moral Reasoning and Gender

The Kohlberg-Gilligan Debate and Beyond

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An IntroductionVirtue Ethics: Freud on Femininity

“Thus, we attribute a larger amount of narcissism to femininity, which also affects women's choice of object, so that to be loved is a stronger motive for them than to love. The effect of penis-envy has a share, further, in the physical vanity of women, since they are bound to value their charms more highly as a late compensation for their original sexual inferiority.”

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Virtue Ethics: Freud on Femininity

“It seems that women have made few contributions to the discoveries and inventions in the history of civilization; there is, however, one technique which they may have invented – that of plaiting* and weaving.”

Freud, S. (1933). New introductory lectures on psychoanalysis. Lecture 33: Femininity. Standard Edition, v. 22. pp. 136-157.

*fläta

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Le Deuxième Sexe - The Second SexSimone de Beauvoir 1949

Woman as Other – “For a long time I have

hesitated to write a book on woman. The subject is irritating, especially to women; and it is not new. Enough ink has been spilled in quarrelling …”

Simone de Beauvoir

http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/beav.htm

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Lawrence Kohlberg

American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg (Harvard) studied under Swiss psychologist and philosopher Jean Piaget (1965), who had developmental approach to learning. Kohlberg extended the approach to stages of moral reasoning.

Using surveys, Kohlberg presented his subjects with moral dilemmas and asked them to evaluate the moral conflict. He was able to prove that youth at various ages, as youth proceed to adulthood, they are able to progress up the moral development stages presented, Lawrence Kohlberg

(1927 - 1987)

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Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

LEVEL STAGE SOCIAL ORIENTATION

1 Obedience and Punishment

Pre-conventional 2 Individualism, Instrumentalism, and

Exchange

3 "Good boy/girl" Conventional

4 Law and Order

5 Social Contract Post-conventional

6 Principled Conscience

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Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

Kohlberg believed that individuals could only progress through these stages one stage at a time. That is, they could not "jump" stages. Kohlberg's ideas of moral development are based on the premise that at birth, all humans are void of morals, ethics, and honesty.

He identified the family as the first source of values and moral development for an individual.

He believed that as one's intelligence and ability to interact with others matures, so does one's patterns of moral behavior.

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Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development Preconventional Morality

– Stage 1: Punishment-Obedience Orientation• Avoid (physical) punishment• High school example: One middle school teacher

has latecomers do pushups (50 of them) in front of the class.

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Kohlberg’s Stages:Preconventional Morality

– Stage 2: Personal Reward Orientation• “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”• High school example: A group of high school

students involved in a cooperative learning activity get upset because one of their group members is repeatedly absent and did not do any work.

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Kohlberg’s Stages:Conventional Morality

– Stage 3: The “good boy/nice girl” Orientation• "I am going to work harder in school so I won't let

you down because if you think I can make it then I can make it"

– Stage 4: A “Law and Order” Orientation• "Move carefully in the halls". This rule reinforces

the fundamental purpose of government to protect the health and welfare of its citizens

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Kohlberg’s Stages:Post-conventional Morality

– Stage 5: Social Contract Orientation

• "Please remember that this is your room and your class. The behavior and participation of each person will shape the type of learning that will occur. Since one person's behavior affects everyone else, I request that everyone in the class be responsible for classroom management. To ensure that our rights are protected and upheld, the following laws have been established for this classroom..."

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Kohlberg’s Stages:Post-conventional Morality

– Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principle Orientation

• An orientation toward universal ethical principles of justice, reciprocity, equality, and respect

• Examples: Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr.

• "I will not tolerate any racial, ethnic, or sexual slurs* in this classroom. In this room, everyone is entitled to equal dignity as a human being.”

*nedsättande anmärkning

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Kohlberg’s Method

Initially, Kohlberg administered his test to people all over the world, being careful to include all races, to include rural as well as urban dwellers, etc.– a Malaysian aboriginal village,– villages in Turkey and the Yucatan, and – urban populations in Mexico and the United States

There was only one thing he forgot:– He only administered his dilemmas to males!

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Gender and Kohlberg’s scale

When Kohlberg’s instrument was administered on a large scale, it was discovered that females often scored a full stage below their male counterparts.

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Gender and Kohlberg’s scale

Women are more likely to base their explanations for moral dilemmas on concepts such as caring and personal relationships. These concepts are likely to be scored at the stage three level. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to base their decisions for moral dilemmas on social contract or justice and equity. Those concepts are likely to be scored at stage five or six.

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Carol Gilligan

University Professor of Gender Studies, Harvard University (1997-present)

In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development, book 1982.

Carol Gilligan, 1936 - present

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Gilligan’s Initial Research

Gilligan began with an interest in moral development as a teaching assistant for Erik Erikson.

She was particularly interested in the issue Kohlberg raised: why do some individuals recognize a higher moral law, while others simply are content to obey the rules without question?

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Gilligan’s Initial Research

Here initial research project was directed toward draft resisters during the Vietnam war.

Nixon cancelled the draft just as her project was getting started.

She switched to study women who had made difficult moral choices about abortion.

Not originally concerned about gender issue.

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Gilligan’s CritiqueIntroduction

In light of the differences between the scores of males and females on the Kohlberg scale, one could draw either of two conclusions:– females are less morally developed than

males, or– Kohlberg’s framework is biased against

women.

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Gilligan’s CritiqueIntroduction

Gilligan began to look more closely at the responses she was receiving in her work, and began to suspect that Kohlberg’s framework did not illuminate the responses she was encountering. It was like trying to put round pegs* into square holes.

* pinne; sprint, tapp, plugg

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Gilligan’s Concept of Voice The metaphor of “voice” in her book In a

Different Voice– Concrete and specific– Allows harmony without imposing sameness– Not competitive or combative but collaborative– Combines both emotion and content– Voices may be described in a wide vocabulary that

has nothing to do with right or wrong, true or false– Voices may be different without excluding one

another.

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Differences between Men’s Moral Voices and Women’s Moral Voices

Men Women

Justice Care

Rights Responsibility

Treating everyone fairly and the same Sensitive for everyone’s suffering

Apply rules impartially to everyone Preserve specific emotional relation

Responsibility toward abstract codes of conduct

Responsibility toward real individuals

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Differences between Men’s and Women’s View of the Self

Men Women

Autonomy Relatedness

Freedom Interdependence

Independence Emotional connectedness

Separateness Responsiveness to needs of others

Hierarchy Web of relationships

Rules guide interactions Empathy and connectedness guide interactions

Roles establish places in the hierarchy

Roles are secondary to connections

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Differences between Men’s and Women’s View of Moral Safety

Men Women

Sense of gender identity grounded in initial act of separation from mother

Sense of gender identity grounded in initial act of identification with mother

Threatened by anything that threatens sense of separation

Threatened by anything that undermines sense of identification

Being at the top of the hierarchy is appealing

Experience top of hierarchy as isolated and detached

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Stages of Women’s Moral Development

Concern for individual survival– Transition from selfishness to

responsibility Goodness equated with self-sacrifice

– Transition from self-sacrifice to giving themselves permission to take care of themselves

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Stages of Women’s Moral Development

Goodness seen as caring for both self and others– Inclusive, nonviolent– Condemns exploitation and hurt

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How do we understand Gilligan’s claims?

First of all there are historical differences in the roles of females and males.– Females give birth to children– Females traditionally take care of family– Females traditionally dominate the private

sphere with close (short-range) relationships– Females have developed perseverance and

patience

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How do we understand Gilligan’s claims?

Traditionally– Males take care of the “foreign affairs”– Males protect family from the outside threat– Protective function is realized through groups

of males – military and other societal organizations

– Males dominate official (public) sphere– Males as a group have developed strength

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How do we understand Gilligan’s claims?

Plato: Meno

SOCRATES: (…) By the gods, Meno, be generous, and tell me what you say that virtue is; (…)

MENO: (…) Let us take first the virtue of a man--he should know how to administer the state, and in the administration of it to benefit his friends and harm his enemies; and he must also be careful not to suffer harm himself. A woman's virtue, if you wish to know about that, may also be easily described: her duty is to order her house, and keep what is indoors, and obey her husband. Every age, every condition of life, young or old, male or female, bond or free, has a different virtue (…)

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How do we understand Gilligan’s claims?

With the advent of industrial revolution, and welfare state where all children are given education, and physical strength has no dominant role, women have entered the public sphere traditionally dominated by males.

Female professionals have encountered a culture that was historically male territory. It caused cultural shock.

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How do we interpret Gilligan’s claims?

Four possible positions about female vs. male moral voices:

Separate but equal Superiority thesis Integrationist thesis Diversity thesis

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The Separate but Equal Thesis

Separate but equal: Men and women have different but equally valuable moral voices

Criticisms:– Reinforces traditional stereotypes– Hard to retain the “...but equal” part– Suggests that men and women have nothing to

learn from one another, since each has its own exclusive moral voice

– Devalues men with a “female voice” and women with a “male voice”

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The Superiority Thesis

Superiority thesis– Women’s moral voices are superior

Criticisms– Equal rights for men and women?– Inversion of traditional claims of male superiority– Exclusionary– Demands that one side of the comparison be the

loser

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The Integrationist Thesis

Integrationist thesis– Only one moral voice, same for both men and

women– Morality is androgynous

Criticisms– Loses richness of diversity– Tends to assimilation in practice, reducing other

voices to the voice of the powerful majority

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The Diversity Thesis

– Suggests that there are different moral voices

– Sees this as a source of richness and growth in the moral life

– External diversity• Different individuals have different, sex-based moral

voices• Males with female voices and females with male voices

are admitted

– Internal diversity• Each of us have both masculine and feminine moral

voices within us• Minimizes gender stereotyping

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Exclusive Models of Internal Gender Diversity

Traditionally, we have thought of gender in exclusionary terms– The more masculine a person is, the less

feminine that person is– The more feminine a person is, the less

masculine that person is

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Exclusive Models of Internal Gender Diversity

In this model, which is the most common traditional model, an increase in masculinity is bought at the price of a decrease in femininity, and vice versa.

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Sandra Bem Scale

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Conclusion “The Show must go on” (Freddy Mercury)

Kohlberg – Gilligan controversy is but a beginning of a long process of re-thinking position of women in a post-modern society.

The end of industrialist era and the emergency of new information technology results in conditions that even more favor female professionals.

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Conclusion “The Show must go on” (Freddy Mercury)

Two processes go on concurrently– Females being a part of the public world for almost

a century gradually win strong positions and take part in defining of the “rules of the game”. That improves the conditions for new generations of women professionals to come.

– Female as a part of scientific establishment contribute with new insights in classical scholarship that will in the long term radically change our ideas (a critical mass of women is far from achieved yet)

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Conclusion Contemporary Research

http://www.hope.edu/academic/psychology/335/webrep/moraldev.html Moral Development's Development: Recent Research

http://www.duke.edu/jscope/paplutz.htm Rival Traditions of Character Development: Classical Moral Philosophy and Contemporary Empirical Science