Rachels Chapter 12 and 13

1. EPHE 536 SEMINAR – CHAPTER 12 + 13 Xiwen Wang & Matt Carlson

2. Seminar Outline • Chapter 12 – “The Ethics of Virtue” • Chapter 13 – “Would would a Satisfactory Moral Theory Be Like?” • Pertinent Questions

3. Chapter 12 “Virtue Ethics”

4. The Ethics of Virtue and the Ethics of Right Action “In thinking about any subject, it matters greatly what question we begin with” (Rachels, p. 158) Aristotle discusses virtues such courage, self control, character, generosity and truthfulness.

5. The Virtues (Greeks): What traits of character make someone a good person? With the coming of Christianity Divine Law (14th century): Obedience to the will of God After Renaissance Moral Law (17th century and on ): What is the right thing to do?

6. Philosophers developed theories out of rightness and obligations instead of virtues: Ethical Egoism: Each person ought to do whatever will best promote his or her own interest. Utilitarianism: One ought to do whatever will lead to the most happiness Kant’s Theory: Our duty is to follow rules that we could constantly will to be universal laws-that is, rules that we would be willing to have followed by all the people in all circumstances. Social Contract Theory: The right thing to do is to follow the rules that rational, self-interested people can agree to establish for their mutual benefit.

7. Should We Return to the Ethics of Virtue? Moral philosophy is misguided because it rests on the incoherent notion of a "law" without a lawgiver, therefore we should return to virtue ethics. However, the first step is to take a look at what Virtue Ethics is like.

8. What is a Virtue? A trait of character, manifested in habitual action, that it is good for anyone to have Source: virtueagency.com

9. What Are the Virtues? (See P160, 7th version) Benevolence Civility Compassion Conscientiousness Cooperativeness Courage Courteousness Dependability Fairness Friendliness Generosity Honesty Industriousness Justice Loyalty Moderation Patience Prudence Reasonableness Self-discipline Self-reliance Tactfulness Thoughtfulness Tolerance The list can be expanded.

10. What do these virtues consist in? 1. Cowardice-Courage-Foolhardiness: Facing dangers at the right place, right time and for the right purpose. • Issue: Were 9.11 bombers brave? Macher: yes Geach: no • To solve the dilemma, we should say the terrorists’ behavior displayed two qualities of character: Admirable (steadfastness in facing danger) Detestable (a willingness to kill innocent people) 2. Stinginess-Generosity-Extravagance: Sharing or giving what we have with right amount. • Issue: what is the right amount? Jesus: we have to give everything we have to the poor. (Too demanding so that few people follow)

11. Modern utilitarian: we should be generous with our money until further giving would harm us as much as it would help others. (People resist this idea due to their self-interests. It is not only about money, but also time and energy. We don't have to be saint to give up our own lives for others. 3) Dishonesty - Honesty - Tactlessness: telling the truth with full justification • Issue: Does honesty simply means not telling lies? Geach: an honest person never lies, but he approves of Athanasius' deception Rachels: an honest person never lies except in rare circumstances with full justification

12. 4. Loyal to friends and family : stand by one another even when others would turn away • Issue: when it comes to friends and family members, justice (another virtue) becomes challenging. Impartiality is rising. • How to balance these two virtues (Justice and loyalty)?

13. Why Are the Virtues Important? The virtuous person will fare better in life. The virtues are all qualities needed for successful living. Are the Virtues the Same for Everyone? Virtues may vary from person to person, society to society, culture to culture.However, major virtues flow from our common human condition.

14. Two Advantages of Virtue Ethics • Moral Motivation The case of Smith (the dutiful hospital visitor) There is nothing’s wrong with what Smith did. The problem is why he did it Right action cannot provide a completely satisfactory account of the moral life. Therefore, we need virtues to fulfill our psychological needs as well.

15. 2. Doubts about “ideal” of impartiality This book treats impartiality is the fundamental ethical requirement. In the first chapter, impartiality is included the “minimum conception” of morality. However, impartiality is too ideal to realize in reality. What is needed is not general impartiality, but an understanding of how these virtues are related to one another.

16. Virtues and Conduct What can Virtue Ethics tell people about the assessment, not of character, but of action? On one hand, we might combine the best features of the right-action approach with insights drawn from the virtues approach, e.g. improve Utilitarianism or Kantianism. If so, we may assess right action simply by counting on Utilitarianism or Kantianism. On the other hand, some writers believe that Virtue Ethics should be understood as a complete moral theory which might be called Radical Virtue Ethics. Concept of “morally right action” should be got rid of (Anscombe) “ v.s. “Retain the term but given a new interpretation within the virtue framework”

17. The Problem of Incompleteness • Radical Virtue Ethics is incomplete in three ways: • It cannot explain everything it should explain. e.g. why something is a virtue • 2. It cannot give the full interpretation of the virtues. e.g. what someone’s best interests are • 3. It cannot help us deal with cases of moral conflict. e.g. conflict between honesty and kindness in certain situation

18. CONCLUSION It seems best to regard Virtue Ethics as part of our overall theory of ethics rather than as being a complete theory itself.

19. CHAPTER 13 “What Would a Satisfactory Moral Theory Be Like”

20. Morality without Hubris • Moral Philosophy has a rich and interesting past • “Almost all the classical theories contain plausible elements, which is hardly surprising, since they were devised by philosophers of undoubted genius” (Rachels, p.173, 2010). • However, many theories do conflict with one another, leaving one to think, what is the truth?

21. Human beings are now deemed as “rational” • “Racism is an offense against morality because it is an offense against reason” (p.175) 3 ways in which morality is not only possible but natural for us: 1. Reason requires impartiality 2. When people adhere to the rules 3. Our natural instinct to care about others, even if it is only modest

22. Treating People as They Deserve • “Human beings are rational agents who can make free choices. Those who choose to treat others well deserve good treatment; those who choose to treat others badly deserve ill treatment” (175). • Sound harsh? • What do you think?

23. Source: urgentevoke.com/

24. We are more likely to help people who have helped us before. • “Because we live in communities, how each of us fares depends not only on what we do but on what others do as well. If we are to flourish, we need others to treat us well” (176). • If we behave well, we are entitled to good treatment from others because we have earned it. Respect will promote dignity.

25. A Variety of Motives • “Only a philosophical idiot would want to eliminate love, loyalty, and the like from our understanding of the moral life” (p.177) • The idea of “promoting the interests of everyone alike” may have inherent failure

26. Several motives such as pride in one’s job, wanting to create something of value have equal importance of love and friendships and should not be eliminated.

27. Multiple-Strategies Utilitarianism • “Perhaps the most single moral standard is human welfare…And this standard can be used to assess a wide variety of things, including actions, policies, social customs, laws, rules, motives, and character traits” (178). • Our day to day lives will go better if we enjoy our friends, children, take pride in our work – This implies the ethic that values, “the interests of everyone alike”.

28. Henry Sidgwick (1838-1900) who was a great utilitarian theorist of his time said: “The doctrine that Universal Happiness is the ultimate standard must not be understood to imply that Universal benevolence is the only right or always best motive of action…

29. it is not necessary that the end at which we constantly aim: and if the experience shows that the general happiness will be more satisfactorily attained if men frequently act from other motives than pure universal philanthropy, it is obviously that these other motives are reasonably to be preferred on Utilitarian principles” (178).

30. HENRY SIDWICK

31. This view claims we should act from the motives that best advocates the general welfare • However, it is argued this viewpoint does not exclusively focus on motives and it doesn’t focus entirely on acts or rules

32. Multiple-Strategies Utilitarianism • The theory recognizes that we may use several different strategies to achieve the goal of a maximized general welfare • Sometimes we do this, sometimes we do not think about the general welfare of all. Sometimes we just think about ourselves.

33. At any given rate, there are some combination of motives and virtues that are best “for me”. Best in the sense it would be the best for me and the people around me. But our best plans do not have to be identical. We are all different, unique and have our own set of rules to follow. Source: marchpr.com

34. The Moral Community • Author brings about the fact that one million children die annually because of measles. This number can be easily cut in half if people in affluent countries worked to prevent this, but they don’t. • “If the moral community is not limited to people in the one place, neither is it limited to people at any one time. Whether people will be affected by our actions is irrelevant. Our obligation is to consider all interests equally” (181).

35. “Impartiality requires the expansion of the moral community not only space and time but across the boundaries of species as well” (181). The single moral standard is not just human welfare but sentient welfare as well. Source: facebook.com

36. Justice and Fairness • Utilitarianism has been overtly criticized over the years for being too unfair and unjust • The Theory of punishment is just one aspect of justice • “In a just society, people could improve their circumstance through hard work, but they would not benefit from a lucky birth” (183).

37. 3 Questions 1. You are a member of the police and you have found that a family member has committed a serious crime by mistake. Will you cover him/her (loyalty to family) or you will report him/her (justice)? Why? What will you do in this dilemma? 2. Among the four theories presented (Ethical Egoism, Utilitarianism, Kant’s Theory and Social Contract Theory), which one do you usually adopt in your daily life or how do you integrate them to your daily life? 3. What are your “top three” virtues? Please give an example of each virtue from your professional or day to day work life where you have clearly demonstrated each virtue.