Chapter One: Why Be Ethical?Taylor SmithMiki RomanovschiAsfa Shaikh Wardah Malik

In Search of the GoodThe device depicted on the cover of the

textbook, In Search of the Good: A Catholic Understanding of Moral Living is a sextant The device is used by sailor to aid navigation

Why is this an appropriate image for this specific course?

EthicsStems from the Greek word “ethiko”, which means

a “Focus on Good Character”

Ethics can be defined as the “should”; what we feel is the good and the just thing to do

Ethics is about searching for the good in all things, such as day to day actions, and responsibilities. This good is infinite.

Catholic Ethics- relates to the Ten commandments, which state how people are meant to act.

Ethics leads to morality

MoralityFrom the Latin word: “Moralitas”

Putting our ethics (search for good) into actions through our works and words (our conduct)

Focuses on our actions shaping life, and how they lead us to attain the good

Catholic MoralityAn objective right (values, virtues, patterns of

life) and wrong ( sins, vice, faults)

Not all moral issues are clear cut, but good over evil should be the main focus

Our conscience is something we do

Morality is learned from others, and taught to others through our actions

Four Types of Ethical Experiences

•There is a spontaneous decision to help

• it is not a decision that you make•There is an AUTOMATIC RESPONSE which urges you to you not to think but to ACT•You are aware of your RESPONSIBILITY to the “other”

The ScreamThe Experience of Personal Response

Four Types of Ethical Experiences

The BeggarThe Experience of Other

• ALL FACE TO FACE INTERACTIONS ARE ETHICAL• RESPONSIBILITY FOR OTHERS.

• THE OTHER PERSON TAKES YOU HOSTAGE AS THEY ELICITS A RESPONSE FROM YOU (it can be guilt) and make you responsible

• The face stays with you even after you decide what to do • he or she is inside you while you are

busy defending your decision to give or not to give.

Four Types of Ethical Experiences

ObligationThe Experience of Duty (Change of Ethical Framework)• This experience of feeling obliged to

obey a rule or law has everything to do with your ethical side. YOU ARE FORCED TO RESPOND.

• You feel an intrinsic duty to oblige (i.e. To follow parent’s rules). THE “RIGHT THING TO DO.”

• If you choose to ignore the ethical response, the unrest stays with you.

Four Types of Ethical Experiences

IntolerableThe Experience of Contrast

• This experience occurs when you feel outraged by something unfair happening to yourself or to others. IN CONTRAST TO WHAT WE EXPECT OF FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS.

• When you feel overwhelmed by the unjust suffering of others, the indignation you feel is an experience of contrast with what the world should look like.

Four Types of Ethical Experiences

These experiences lead us to thoughts of “This is intolerable!”

HOW WE BELIEVE THINGS NOT “OUGHT TO BE”.

Aristotle (384-322 BCE)•Happiness lies within community•Pleasure is simply moment’s response to stimuli, while happiness is long lasting, and is when humans are most human.•Humans always try to do good

AristotleThe highest capacity of humans is to be rational

the highest form of happiness is rational behaviour

Central issue was question of character or personality What does it take for an individual human to be a

good person?

Since good is finite, there must be a highest good at which all human activity ultimately aims. This end could be called happiness.

AristotleGood in human beings must involve the entire proper

function of human life as a whole, and this must be an activity of the soul that expresses genuine virtue or excellence.

To act ethically is to engage our capacity to reason as we develop good character

A person who is truly happy exhibits a personality between reason and desire with moderation characterizing it all. True happiness can only be attained through

cultivation of virtues that make human life complete.

AristotleTHE MEAN

“ virtuous habit lies between the vices of excess and deficiency”. Basically, life must be balanced between too good and not good enough.

HAPPINESS the condition of a good person who succeeds in

living and acting well.

Virtue of character is the habits of behaving in a certain way.

AristotleGood conduct arises from habits arising from

repetition and correction.

A person is not responsible for their actions if: Produced by some external force or against the person’s

will Actions are performed under ignorance

Voluntary decisions involve careful thought about the choice and alternative actions. Moral actions are in our power to perform or avoid

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

•Theoretical reason- examines what people actually do•How humans come to learn things, as a result of the laws of nature and the laws of cause and effect•Practical reason-how to evaluate moral choices•Beyond scientific knowledge, focus on moral directions guiding behaviour 

Kant’s Ethics Cannot be quantified like math, and therefore cannot be proven

rationally

Ethics is based off of practical certainty based of 3 areas:

1. GOD Humans cannot achieve supreme good by the selves, so God is

needed to control the uncontrollable circumstances

2. FREEDOM Humans are free, so therefore to achieve supreme good we have a

duty to do something if we are able to do it

3. IMMORTALITY Achieving supreme good is impossible to do in one life, so there is a

life beyond so we can achieve the supreme good

Kant’s EthicsGood will

The will to do our duty for no other reason than it is our duty

This is the only thing unconditionally good, it is an independent and internal factor

Deontological A human action is morally good when it is done for

the sake of dutyTherefore moral worth is not measured by the

results of actions, but by the motive behind

Kant’s EthicsMoral Maxims

Duty is determined by principles/maximsAn ethical action must have an ethical principle and

apply to everyone So an ethical maxim would be how rational

beings act they were solely using reason

Ends, not a meansTreats people as a means for productions sake,

but also combine this with treating

a person as a an end never just as a meansMEANS: Providing benefit, providing a service/

purpose, to be usedENDS: take into consideration the

life and dignity of the person providing the means

Emmanuel Levinas (190-1993)

According to Levinas his philosophy as a whole is ethicalFor Levinas the good is the central of all philosophy Levinas went in search of the Good which he said goes beyond the BeingFor Levinas the concept of Being is dangerous, because it takes away from the reality Levinas calls these unique things and persons traces of the Good or GodWe do not encounter God anywhere, but only a trace of God

Emmanuel Levinas: The Face as Witness of the GoodThe experience of a face to face

encounter is significant in our lives

The other has power over us

God has the responsibility to do goodfor us, so we also have to do good

for the other

Ethics is found when people have face to face contact

Emmanuel Levinas: The Face as EthicalThe face of the stranger demands that you recognize

it and provide it hospitality

The face reveals you as someone concerned mostly about yourself and this is the face that makes us responsible

The face suggests that there is another order of existence

-the order of an incredible good calling us to be responsible for the beggar with bent head and a mumbling voice

The face is the trace of God, who has already passed by

Emmanuel Levinas: Made responsible by the face For Levinas the face makes us responsible and this

responsibility is our human vocation

Scenario A young African American man was shot

outside of his apartment by a random pedestrian. Witness claim that it that the victim was breaking and entering and the shooting occurred in order to stop a felony. The victim was found innocent of all charges and the random pedestrian is still under inspection by authorities. How would Aristotle, Kant and Levinas approach this action from a moral standpoint?

Chapter One Discussion Is it important to study ethics and morality?

How does one succeed at living the “good” life?

Definition of “good” is universal or subjective to each individual?

Vocabulary Teleology

Empiricism

Subjective

Objective

Ethics

Morality

Obligation

Responsibility

Revelation

Autonomy

Deontological Ethics

Desire

Good

Passions

Universal Law

Amoral

Infinite

Duty

Beautiful