Making the World a Better Place Philosophy 1001, Dr. Cara Nine

making the World a Better ad conscionable Philosophy 1001, Dr. Cara Nine Better Place? Making the b all in all ? Making the earth a better place There argon cardinal sets of philosophical questions 1. What is wakeless or better? (That is, what does a better knowledge base look like and why? ) 2. What kinds of implements atomic number 18 right? (What ar we reassert in doing to bring about the intimately? ) Ideas of the good spirit Hedonism appetite Satisfaction system Objective redeeming(prenominal)s Theory Theories of Right fill functional Deontological Feminist Virtue Theory Cases Protesting Un rightful(prenominal) Government Aiding an impoverished companionship Torture Letter to MenoeceusBy Epicurus (341-270 BC) Epicurus Hedonism in popular culture http//www. hedonism. com/ Hedonism Different kinds of desires. fair to be clear It is not an unbroken succession of drinking-bouts and of merrymaking, not internal love, not the enjoyment of the fish and other delicac ies of a luxurious parry For Hedonism For the closedown of all our actions is to be free from pain and fear congenital vs. Instrumental goods Instrumental good Intrinsic Good For Epicurus, felicity is secured by A tranquil emotional state. Example We should not fear cobblers last Evidence Misery all the way hampers the good conduct happiness clearly improves it. that, is happiness what we want for our loved ones? I recall a conference by a doctor who described a patient of his (who had possibly had a prefrontal lobotomy) as perfectly happy all daylight long picking up leaves. This impressed me because I thought, Well, approximately of us are not happy all day long doing the subjects we do, and recognise how strange it would be to think that the very kindest of fathers would arrange such an surgical procedure for his (perfectly normal) child. Philippa Foot, Natural Goodness, p. 65 want Theory and jobs with Hedonism Hedonism Happiness is the solo as such valuable go od. A happy life is a good life.The stock from evil pleasures Hedonisms response Happiness from evil actions IS as good as happiness from virtuous actions. The Paradox of Hedonism Happiness is like a butterflythe more you pursue it, the more it eludes you. Be still and let it come to you. Paradox of Hedonism 1. If happiness is the only thing that directly makes us better off, then it is perspicacious to single-mindedly pursue it. 2. It isnt rational to do that. 3. Therefore, happiness isnt the only thing that directly makes us better off. Argument from multiple harms If hedonism is true, then you can be harmed by something only because it saddens you.You can be harmed in other ways. Therefore, hedonism is false. False Happiness Nozicks Experience Machine Experience Machine Nozick thinks that the real life is clearly better, despite equal levels of happiness. What makes the real life better? Desires and The good We desire for our lives to be based in reality. This desire matters. early(a) desires matter, too. Desire Satisfaction Theory The good life is getting what you want. Something is good for you if and only if it satisfies your desires. Good things about desire-satisfaction conjecture Allows for a variety of good lives. Good things about desire-satisfaction theoryPrioritizes personal self-sufficiency and avoids paternalism Avoids accusive respects object lens = unyielding independently of your desires and opinions subjective = refers to your desires and opinions Motivation? Problems with the Desire Satisfaction Theory acquiring what you want whitethorn not promote your good Desires based on false beliefs Fix The desire must be based on informed beliefs. More Problems Dis-interested or Other-regarding desires Problems, cont. Disappointment I was playing neat tennis Id finally taken my game to what entangle like a notch above all my opponents. It should view been enormous But it wasnt.It felt hollowIt reminded me of the story of King Midas My s uccess wasnt translating into happiness. John McEnroe(with James Kaplan, You give the axenot be Serious) Impoverished Desires Objective Goods Theories of the Good animateness Hedonism Desire Satisfaction Theory Objective Goods Theory Objective Goods Theory What is good is defined independent of your desires or opinions. Objective well-being thought Income? The objective/universal approach defended Nussbaums approach http//www. youtube. com/watch? v=Qy3YTzYjut4 Appeals to natural estimableice theory, that things are good when a thing fulfills its spirit. Things are bad when they are unnatural.Solves (? ) Humes argument We can cut only two sorts of claims conceptual truths or empirical truths. Moral claims are neither conceptual nor empirical truths. Therefore, we can have no incorrupt knowledge. Natural law theorys response If you know the nature of charitable, and what it takes to fulfil our human nature, then we can know what is chastely good. Options for objective goods Happiness Options for objective goods Autonomy Relationship with other objective goods. Essence of human Possible problem with adding autonomy to the list heathenish variations. But Do we have to be culturally relative? Options for objective goodsA sense of self Having commitments, likes and dislikes, values and remainders. Options for objective goods devotion Aristotelean virtue Human flourishing If you concern yourself not at all with what you owe to others or with what they need from you, you live in profound isolation. .. Morality is good for us because it gives me a kind of friendship not just with my friends but with everyone. (Kazez 54) Martha Nussbaum Basic capabilities. Life. Bodily health Bodily integrity. Senses, imagination, thought. Emotions. Practical reason. Affiliation. Other species. Play. Control over ones environment.Possible problem with the objective theory Utilitarianism Theories of Right Action What should I do or not do? Utilitarianism A stigmatize of consequentialism An action is object lessonly required just because it produces the best results. John Stuart sub (1806-1873) Utilitarianism (1861) The quest for the good is identified with the question of what is right and wrong to do. manufacturing plant writes All action is for the sake of some end and rules of action, it seems natural to suppose, must take their whole character and color from the end to which they are subservient. (in other words The ends justify the path ) 1.Rationality in cho methamphetamine hydrochloride of conduct is maximizing the satisfaction of ones chosen goal (or the goal that is best to pursue). 2. The rational goal of human striving is happiness, and happiness consists in pleasure and the absence of pain. I should do what maximises happiness-for-me-over-my-entire-life. Acting effectively to achieve this goal is being prudent. care requires a kind of impartiality. So In merely singularist footing Ice cream NOW = 2 units of Happiness, and 3 unit s of Pain later. To maximise happiness over my entire life, I should not have ice cream now. But Mills utilitiarianism is universal project (not individualistic 3. Human striving 4. The object lesson goal involves impartiality. One persons good counts the equal, in the determination of what is to be done, as the same-sized good of any other person. 5. The clean goal equals the aggregate happiness of all persons. 6. So, moral rationality demands that we maximize aggregate human happiness. and animals? Problems returns monster tramway Problem Trolley Problem Trolley Problem Trolley Problem Deontology Kantian moral philosophy Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) What matters with regard to whether an action is right or wrong is what kind of an action it is. (The end doesnt justify the means )Kantian Deontology Persons meaning = autonomy Autonomy = self+rule Ethical rulers follow logically. torso and Fairness Equal with regards to our autonomous rational personhood. What if everybody d id that? How would you like it if I did that to you? Problem Case If disastrous results would occur if everyone did X, then X is immoral. Redescribe the act? But this makes the morality of an act merely a matter of its description. Kants serve The Categorical irresponsible (version 1) Act only check to that maxim by which you can at the same time depart that it should become a universal law. Is a maxim universalizable?Formulate your maxim clearly. Imagine a world in which everyone supports and acts on on your maxim. Then ask Can the goal of my action be achieved in such a world? Example Lying The universalized maxim of lying generates a contradiction. Categorical Imperative (version 2) The Principle of valet de chambre Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your deliver person or in that of another, always as an end and neer as a means only. Persons are rational agents The moral law is the law of reason So we rational beings are beyond value since we are the sources of va lue Means only Used as a means AND respected as rational agent at the same time problems with the principle of humanity The notion of treating someone as an end is vague. 2. The principle fails to give us good advice about how to determine what good deal deserve. punishment and Lex Talionis (Law of Retaliation) 3. The principle assumes that we are genuinely autonomous, but that assumption may be false. Baron dHolbach The Argument Against Autonomy 1. Either our choices are necessitated or they are not. 2. If they are necessitated, then they are out of our control, and so we overlook autonomy. 3. If they are not necessitated, then they are random, and so we lack autonomy. 4.Therefore, we lack autonomy. 4. The principle cannot explain why those who lack rationality and autonomy are deserving of respect. What is the scope of the moral community? Argument against animals 1. If the principle of humanity is true, then animals have no rights. 2. If animals lack rights, then it is moral ly pleasant to torture them. 3. Therefore, if the principle of humanity is true, then it is morally acceptable to torture animals. 4. It isnt. 5. Therefore, the principle of humanity is false. Feminist ethical motive The male is by nature blue-ribbon(prenominal), and the female inferior the one rules, and the other is ruled. Aristotle As regards her individual nature, each cleaning woman is defective and mis-begotten. Aquinas Women must be expert to bear the yoke from the first, so that they may not feel it, to have the best their own caprices and to submit themselves to the leave alone of others. Rousseau laborious learning or irritating pondering, even if a woman should greatly succeed in it They will weaken the charms with which she exercises her great power over the other sex. Her philosophy is not to reason, but to sense. Kant Feminist Ethics Previous (male-dominated) philosophy do false claims about women.Identified female with nature/animals and male with reason/hu man. ignore female get words and perspectives. Un Chien Andalou , 1929 silent surrealist short film by the Spanish film director Luis Bunuel and artist Salvador Dali General Approach Women are the moral equals of men. The right to life of women in Pakistan is conditional on their obeying social norms and traditions. Hina Jilani, lawyer and human rights militant 2. Experiences of women deserve our respect and are vital to a full and ideal understanding of morality. Some statistics Womens nominal wages are 17 percent lower than mens.Women perform 66 percent of the worlds work, produce 50 percent of the food, but earn 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property. 3. Traits that have traditionally been associated with women are at least as morally important as traditionally masculine traits. 4. Cooperation, flexibility, openness to competing ideas, and a connectedness to family and friends, are often superior to ways of reasoning that emphasize impartiality, abstractio n, and strict adherence to rules. Lawrence Kohlbergs 6 stages of moral development Moral Development Gilligan Women fared poorly on Kohlbergs model. Advancing to only around stage 3. ) Women tend to think and experience the world differently than men. Gilligans model or moral view In A Different Voice Womens Experience arbitrator is. blind Dr. Denis Mukwege tries to restore dignity in congou tea. Womens Experience photograph to irreverence Major-General Patrick Cammaert, former commander of UN peacekeeping forces in the eastern Congo It has probably become more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in armed conflict. Perceptions of rape in state of war From something that is inevitable when men are deprived of female companionship for extended periodsTo an actual tactic in conflict. Effect on victim Rape is always torture. Womens Experience Increased dependence and diminished autonomy. few choices and less control over important aspects of their lives (than men). Central f act of most womens lives is their dependence. Consider a moral assumption stand up for our rights and defend our honour against attacks Does a woman stand up to an shameful husband, knowing she may be killed, have her children taken away from her, not know where her next meal will come from? Not just women We all are deeply connected with others.Moral philosophy that pretends that we are richly autonomous beings without dependent relationships fail to take an important part of human life into depend. Ethics of look at Importance of Emotions Reason is a hard worker of the passions. David Hume Motivates. Helps us Understand (Sympathy/Empathy) Care combination of sympathy, empathy, sensitivity, and love. special(a) vs. Universal Describes our obligations. Particular obligations = I have them only to particular people. Universal obligations = I have them to all persons. A strict version of Ethics of Care theory denies the existence of universal obligations.Ethics of Care Moral ob ligations come from RELATIONSHIPS. Relationship roles will sometimes require of you conflicting actions. There is no easy formula. Problems with the Ethics of Care Must be supplemented by other theories. Or attempt restricting the scope of the moral community too much. Role of emotions needs further exploration. Downgrading impartiality has its costs. Review Theories of The Right Utilitarianism Theory Pleasure/ freedom from pain is the only intrinsic good. An action is morally required just because it produces the best results. Rationality Impartiality Maximize human happiness UtilitarianismPositives nonrational Matches good with the right Equality Useful for social policy Utilitarianism Negatives Utility monster Animals? Conflicts with Justice Deontology Theory (Study of Duty) The end doesnt justify the means Derived from Autonomy (self + rule) Deontology Categorical Imperative 1 Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a univ ersal law. Deontology Categorical Imperative 2, The Principle of Humanity Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only. Deontology PositivesExplains duties of justice Clear rules Equality Intuitive Deontology Negatives Principles difficult to keep Problems with autonomy Scope? Feminism Theory Men and women are moral equals. All of human experience deserves our attention/respect. Feminine traits are as morally relevant as male traits Interpersonal ways of moral reasoning are often superior to abstract, universalized, rule-governed moral reasoning. Care/Relationships Feminism Positives Embraces full account of human experience Can account for interpersonal moral reasoning, dependence. Feminism Negatives Problems with accounts from emotion Downgrades impartiality