ETHICAL SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT (Part 2)

A. Kant’s Ethics

• a brilliant German thinker

• wrote Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals

• What makes an act moral as distinguished from a non-moral one? (What is the
difference between a person who act morally and one who does not?)

• Kant maintains that one acts morally (performs a moral act) if and only if one does
whatever one is obliged to do.

But what is that act which an individual is obliged to do? An act is

moral if it is being done out of duty. Anyone who does something merely because
one feels like doing it (inclination):

a) is not acting morally;

b) is not a moral person, and

c) is not performing a moral act.

• Act done in accord with duty is different from an act done from a sense of duty

1) Duty is that which an individual ought to do, despite the inclination to do

otherwise. Doing one’s duty is doing what one is obliged to do. Hence, duty is
also known as obligation.

2) For Kant, the essence of morality is to be found in the motive from which
an act is done. In other words, the rightness or wrongness of an action is
determined by the motive from which it is carried out, regardless of the
consequences which doing so or not doing so will produce. The motive here refers
to the duty that one ought to perform – it is what makes the act morally good. A
person who does such an act is a person of good will.

3) Categorical Imperative (mandates an action without any conditions)

a) “Act only on that maxim which you can at the same time will to
become a
universal law”
 b) “Always act so as to treat humanity, either yourself or others, as
an end and
never as only a means.”

Application:
a) Medical researchers should not lie to their patients.
b) In medical experimentation, a patient must be informed of the procedure
to be
undertaken and must give voluntary consent to become a subject.
c) It is unethical to volunteer to undergo a risky experiment that threatened
the
subjects’ lives without first knowing the nature, safety and legitimacy
of the experiment.

B. Ross’s Ethics

• a British Aristotelian scholar and moral philosopher

• wrote The Right and the Good

• rejected the utilitarian precept that an action is validated as right by its

consequences

• The outcomes of an act – however beneficial and pleasant they may be for
individuals – may not determine the act’s rightness

• Moral rules should not be so absolute and inflexible that there are no exceptions
whatsoever.

o “Moral rules serve as moral guidelines in such a way that they must be
adjusted or modified, if not set aside in some situations, depending upon
our perception of what is right and good.”

• Absolute rules are often insensitive to the consequences of an act; at times, not
only are they in conflict with one another but they are also inflexible that they
become irrelevant to ever- changing situations.

Is it right to tell a lie to a terminally ill patient about his/ her

condition? Knowing that it would cause him/ her useless anguish and
apprehensions, should we tell the truth?

1) Right and good are distinct, indefinable and irreducible objective

qualities:
a) For Ross, rightness belongs to acts, independent of motives; hence
we speak
of right acts.
b) Moral goodness belongs to motives; hence we speak of good
motives.
 2) For Ross, an act is that which is done, while an action is the doing of an
act. Thus, the
doing of a right act can be a result of a morally bad motive or
inversely.

3) Rightness and goodness are the only two moral properties. Neither can
be explained
or replaced by other properties. In considering the rightness of an act,
as well as the goodness of a motive, the nonmoral properties or
circumstance surrounding such the act should be considered.

4) In resolving cases of conflicting duties, Ross offers two principles:

First, act in accordance with the stronger, more stringent or more

severe prima
facie duty.
Second, act in accordance with the prima facie duty, which has a
greater
balance of rightness over wrongness compared to other prima
facie duty.

Seven Types of Prima Facie Duties:

1) Duty of fidelity

2) Duty of reparation

3) Duty of gratitude

4) Duty of justice

5) Duty of beneficence

6) Duty of self-improvement

7) Duty of nonmaleficence

C. Rawls’s Theory of Justice

• a Harvard philosopher

• synthesis wrote A Theory of Justice (1971)

• attempted a brilliant synthesis of the strengths of utilitarianism and deontological

views of Kant and Ross

• Theory of Justice:

1) “Every individual is inviolable.”

 o This inviolability, which is founded in justice, is so sacrosanct
that not even the general welfare of society can override and
supersede it.

o The greater good to be shared by all members, for example,

should not be used to justify the loss of freedom of others.

o Or, the larger sum of advantages which is supposedly to be

enjoyed by the many should not outweigh the sacrifices or
inconveniences to be imposed on a few.

2) “An erroneous theory is tolerable in the absence of a good one.

- When given two erroneous laws, one should choose the better
and the less
erroneous one.

3) “Individual liberties should be restricted in order to maintain equality and

opportunity.
- Liberties of equal citizenship are of paramount importance in a
just society.
- Restrictions are intended not to destroy but to preserve freedom;
and amidst
these restrictions, equality of opportunity among the citizens to
develop
themselves will best be served.

• Principles of Justice
First, equal access to the basic human rights and liberties.
- This principle defines and secures equal liberties and citizenship

Second, fair equality of opportunity and the equal distribution of socio-

economic inequalities.
- As much as the availability of resources will allow, everyone
should be given an opportunity for self-development or to receive
medical treatment.
- This principle deals with the distribution of social good and/ or
medical resources than with liberty.
• Justice in human relations
Aware of the need for principles that bind and guide individuals in making
moral decisions, Rawls cites 4 types of duties:
1) fairness in our dealings with others
2) fidelity
3) respect for persons
4) beneficence

He also mentions what he calls “natural duties”.

a) the duty of justice
b) the duty of helping others in need or jeopardy
c) the duty not to harm or injure others
d) the duty to keep our promises
D. Natural Law Ethics
• referred sometimes as Christian Ethics, Thomistic Ethics or Scholastic Ethics

• it is also called natural law ethics, precisely because it claims that there exists a
natural moral law which is manifested by the natural light of human reason,
demanding the preservation of the natural order and forbidding its violation.

• In Aquinas view, the source of moral law is reason itself. Reason directs us
towards the good as the goal of our action, and that good is discoverable without
our nature

• Reason recognizes the basic principle: “do good, avoid evil”

• Aquinas used the term “synderesis” to describe this inherent capacity of every
individual, lettered or unlettered, to distinguish the good from the bad.

Right reason/ Voice of reason as the moral norm, insofar as an

individual’s natural capacity to determine what is right from what is wrong.

How are we to determine whether we are acting rightly or wrongly?

We know we are acting rightly if we heed the voice of reason; we
know we are acting wrongly if we act against it.
- other Thomists would view the voice of reason as the voice of
conscience.

Man’s threefold inclination:

a) Man is inclined to do the good. When an act is suitable to human nature

as such, then it is good and must be done; whenever it is not proper for
human nature, then it is evil.

b) Reason by nature leads us to treat others with the same dignity and
respect that we accord ourselves.

c) We are naturally inclined to perpetuate our species which is viewed as a

natural good.

• The natural moral law is universal; it is accessible to all.

• The ultimate source of the moral law is divine wisdom and God’s eternal law
Three determinants of moral action
1) The object
2) The circumstances (who, what, where, by what means, why, how, when)
3) The end of the agent/ purpose

Moral Principle of Natural Law Ethics

a) double effect principle
b) principle of totality
 c) principle of stewardship
d) principle of inviolability of life
e) principle of sexuality and procreation

Reference:
Timbreza, Florentino T. (1993) Bioethics and Moral Decisions. Manila: De la Salle
University Press.