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Professional
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Ethics and the
Underlying
Philosophies
First,
The story of some philosopher who set the background to
ethics today
source: http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Bios/Plato.html
Plato
Plato (427 BC 347 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of
Socrates, a teacher to Aristotle, writer, and the founder of the
Academy in Athens. (In Arabic, Turkish or Persian, he is known
as Eflatun).
Plato wrote mainly in the form of dialogues.
Socrates is often a character in the dialogues of Plato. It is
usually disputed how much of the content and argument of
any given dialogue is his teachers point of view, and how
much of it Plato's.
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Plato: Crito
The Crito is Platos well-known dialogue - a dialogue
between Socrates and his follower the rich Athenian
Crito regarding the source and nature of political
obligation.
Set after Plato's Apology (which is another dialogue),
in which Socrates was sentenced to death for charges of
corrupting the young and for impiety, Crito tries in this
dialogue to convince Socrates to escape his
imprisonment and go into exile.
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Source: http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/LX/PlatoApology.html
The dramatic action of the Crito begins just before daybreak, in the dark prison cell where Socrates
awaits his execution. Crito, a wealthy friend of Socrates, has come to speak with him; but, finding
him asleep, he waits patiently by Socrates bedside. On his waking, Socrates asks: Why have you
arrived at this hour, Crito? Or is it still early yet? Crito reports that he is in great sleeplessness and
pain and finds himself wondering at the pleasant temperament of Socrates, who must die shortly.
It seems peculiar that while Crito is suffering and dreading the arrival of the ship from Delos the
one which determines the day Socrates must be executed Socrates sleeps peacefully. This contrast
between the two characters establishes an important relationship between them.
As Crito reveals his true intention for coming to help Socrates escape this relationship is explored
and developed in the ensuing conversation involving justice and ones moral obligation. Crito, a man
of wealth and status, regards himself above Athenian law, a law controlled by the opinions of the
many, i.e. the poor and uneducated. He finds it disgraceful that Socrates should be subjected to their
mindless and unjust judgments. Crito is fervent in his desire to convince Socrates to escape;
however, as the dialogue continues, Crito finds himself contradicting his arguments, and instead
being persuaded by Socrates.
Through this refutation, Socrates establishes himself as a moral authority, an expert on matters of
justice and law. With his insightful knowledge, Socrates is able to persuade Crito to follow the laws of
Athens, despite their being ruled by the imprudent many. His later use of what he calls the laws and
the community of the city as a defender for lawfulness demonstrates Socrates skills as a politician.
Such a demonstration suggests that Athens was highly mistaken in thinking Socrates corrupted the
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young. Instead, he shows a deep desire to strengthen the attachment of Crito to the justice of the
law.
Socrat
es
To escape
OR Not to
escape
The
Law
Socrates' responses
Next,
Understanding ethics and its underlying philosophies.
Important terms
Society
Association of people organized under a system of rules
A large group of people who live together in an organized way, making decisions about how to do things
and sharing the work that needs to be done
Rules: advance the good of members of the society over time
Morality
A societys rules of conduct
What people ought / ought not to do in various situations
Taken from the Greek word ethikos from ethos, which means "custom or habit".
Rational examination of morality
Evaluation of peoples behavior
An area of study that deals with ideas about what is good and bad behavior : a branch of philosophy
dealing with what is morally right or wrong (Merriam-Webster)
a.k.a. moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending and
recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
The Relationship
Between ethics and moral
Moral is the good or bad of a behavior / beliefs while Ethics examine the behavior to
decide whether it is good or bad
Between ethics and etiquette
Business ethics is a code or a set of standards that a business adheres to. This code
essentially states what is considered ethical, and what is considered unethical in terms of
how the business is conducted in relation to what is best for human beings, the
community, the environment, and so on. Business etiquette, on the other hand, is
essentially conducting business affairs in a polite manner. For example, dinner table
etiquette, exchange of business cards etiquette, palace protocol
Between being unethical and being illegal
Illegal is against the law. Unethical acts might be against the law, but not always.
Unethical is also subjective (sometimes a matter of opinion) whereas illegal is objective
(it either is, or it isn't). Most things that are illegal are also considered unethical. For
example: Prostitution is illegal (and unethical). A married man going to a strip club is
unethical but not illegal.
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Between Ethical and non Ethical
More on Ethics
Ethics: rational, systematic analysis
Doing ethics: answers need explanations
Explanations: facts, shared values, logic
1-12
1-13
Now,
Lets list out all the theories and get a grasp of what they
are about.
Command
Theory
Act
Utilitarianism
Ethical
Egoism
Rule
Utilitarianism
Kantianism
Social
Contract
Theory
Subjective Relativism
What Is Relativism?
Relativism
No universal norms of right and wrong
One person can say X is right, another can
say X is wrong, and both can be right
Subjective relativism
Each person decides right and wrong for
himself or herself
Whats right for you may not be right for
me
Subjective Relativism
Case Against
Case for
Cultural Relativism
Cultural Relativism
Case for
Case Against
Because two societies do have different moral views
doesnt mean they ought to have different views
Case Against
Ethical Egoism
Ethical Egoism
Case for
Case Against
People who take the good of others into account lead happier lives
Kantianism
2nd Formulation of
Categorical Imperative
Plagiarism Scenario
Carla
Single mother
Works full time
Takes two evening courses/semester
History class
Requires more work than normal
Carla earning an A on all work so far
Carla doesnt have time to write final report
Kantian
Case for
Case Against
Rational
In a conflict between a
perfect duty and an
imperfect duty, perfect
duty prevails
In a conflict between two
perfect duties, no solution
Act Utilitarianism
Principle of Utility
Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill
An action is good if it benefits someone
An action is bad if it harms someone
Utility: tendency of an object to produce
happiness or prevent unhappiness for an
individual or a community
Happiness = advantage = benefit =
good = pleasure
Unhappiness = disadvantage = cost =
evil = pain
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Principle of Utility
(Greatest Happiness
Principle)
An action is right (or wrong) to the extent
that it increases (or decreases) the
total happiness of the affected parties.
Principle of Utility
Act Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism
Morality of an action has nothing to do with intent
Focuses on the consequences
A consequentialist theory
Act utilitarianism
Add up change in happiness of all affected beings
Sum > 0, action is good
Sum < 0, action is bad
Evaluation
Costs
$20 million to compensate homeowners
$10 million to construct new highway
Lost wildlife habitat worth $1 million
Benefits
$39 million savings in automobile driving costs
Conclusion
Benefits exceed costs
Building highway a good action
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Act Utilitarian
Case for
Focuses on happiness
Down-to-earth (practical)
Comprehensive
Case Against
Rule Utilitarianism
Anti-Worm Scenario
August 2003: Blaster worm infected thousands of
Windows computers
Soon after, Nachi worm appeared
Rule Utilitarian
Case for
Case Against
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
In ideal society, no one above rules
That prevents society from enacting bad rules
Kinds of Rights
Negative right: A right that another can guarantee by
leaving you alone
Positive right: A right obligating others to do something
on your behalf
Absolute right: A right guaranteed without exception
Limited right: A right that may be restricted based on
the circumstances
Plan A
Plan B
$20,000
$15,000
Income taxes paid
$10,000
$5,000
$-
Personal income
Case Against
Kantian Perspective
Everyone wants to be treated justly
Imagine rule: I may break a law I believe to be unjust
If everyone acted according to this rule, then laws
would be subverted
Contradiction: Cannot both wish to be treated justly and
allow laws to be subverted
Have a great
philosophical
weekend!!!!
Hey, dont overthink it!