THEORIES OF MORALITY

Ethical Schools of Thought

Teleological and Deontological Ethics

Situation Ethics

Ethical Relativism

Pragmatism

Utilitarianism

A. Teleological/ Consequential Ethics

Greek telos, teleos which means end or purpose

stresses the endresult, goal or consequence of an act as determining factor of its rightness and wrongness

Deontological Ethics
Greek deon, deontos which means discourse on duty or obligation stresses duty as the norm of moral actions, hence it is also known as duty ethics

underscores the feature of the act or kind of the act itself rather than the balance of harm and good

Ethical Relativism
also known as moral relativism there are no universal or absolute moral principles

standards of right and wrong are always relative to a particular culture or society
the moral opinion of one individual is as good as any other

When one refuses lifesaving medical treatment, the propriety of one decision is not in question, but rather whether a physicians act which is a violation of that decision is morally proper and legitimate

Should the doctor, in such instances, simply allow the patient to die?

Is the saving of human life, under these circumstances, morally wrong?

Situation Ethics
Advocated by Joseph Fletcher, an American Protestant medical doctor and the author of Situation Ethics: The New Morality

The moral norm depends upon a given situation, but whatever the situation may be, one always act in the name of Christian love

A situation in this context refers to a human condition or any state of moral affairs and issues that demands a moral action or decision

To abort or not to abort a fetus conceived by accident rather than by design exemplifies a given situation.

To inject a lethal drug into a terminally ill patient at his own request in order to relieve him completely from terrible pain and suffering is another.
One must decide on any of these situations in the name of Christian love.

What is Christian Love?

Three Types of Love

1) Erotic love sexual love which normally relates a man to a woman 2) Filial love affection that binds a parent to his/ her child, a brother to his sister, etc. 3) Agapeic love ones care and concern and concern towards others

For Fletcher, Christian love best exemplifies agape.

It is characterized by charity, respect and responsibility towards the other.

This is a kind of love by which an individual should act, should settle what is right and wrong, just and unjust in any complicated situation.

Six Propositions:
1) Only one thing is intrinsically good, namely love: nothing else.

2) The ultimate norm of Christian decision is love: nothing else.

3) Love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed. 4) Love wills the neighbors good whether we like him or not. 5) Only the end justifies the mean: nothing else. 6) Decisions should be made situationally, not prescriptively.

Pragmatism
It holds that the true and valid form of knowledge is one which is practical, workable, beneficial and useful.

Produces practical results

Benefits people

Can be put to work

Be used to attain results

Truth happens to an idea; it becomes true and is made true by events. Its verity is, in fact an event, a process: the process namely of its verifying itself, its verification.
(William James)

Truth is a part of experience that can provide workable guides to practical behavior. By tying truth to life, to action, James makes truth a part of the process of experience, of living.

Truth is a part of experience that can provide workable guides to practical behavior. By tying truth to life, to action, James makes truth a part of the process of experience, of living.

As part of a process, truth is made by the process of successful experience or behavior.

Experimentalism
- Truth must always be verified and tested.

Instrumentalism
- Ideas are instruments of actions and tools for solving problems

Reconstructionism
- Ideas are instruments in reconstructing experiences

1) Is it useful and beneficial to the patients involved in the process, as well as to others who will benefit from the knowledge to be gained?

2) Is it workable and practical?

Utilitarianism

there is only one and one moral principle the principle of utility

states that the rightness or wrongness of the action is determined by the goodness and badness of their consequences.

Actions are good insofar as they tend to promote, bad as they tend to produce unhappiness.

Consequences, effects, results are most important.

No action seems to be either intrinsically right or intrinsically wrong; nor does the goodness or badness of an act depend upon the motive, intention or past action of the doer.

Some unhappiness may possibly result from the action we take, but what matters is the greatest possible balance of happiness over unhappiness for all individuals affected.

Rule and Act Ethics

a recent classification influences by utilitarianism

Rule ethics appeals

to a set of criteria, norms or rules to settle what is right and just, and ethical decision to make.

Act ethics determines

the rightness and wrongness of the act by weighing the consequences of the act itself

Ten Commandments

Utilitarianism Situation ethics