Ethics, Morals and Morality

Open-Ended Questions:

What are ethics?Are ethical decisions important?What happens without ethics?What is the relation between society – ethics – morals – moral judgment?What specifically do we mean by

“Christian Ethics”?

Definitions:Ethics – A branch of philosophy concerned with ways of thinking philosophically about morality, and moral judgment.

It is the study of the moral dimension ofvalues,

principles, judgments

and standards by which to measure right or

wrong.

Morality – Human conduct and character referring to “those acts which it makes sense to describe as right or wrong, good or bad.”

Moral Judgment – Judgments based on considerations of how other people are to be treated, and how others interests are to weigh against our own.

Read page 1 of your handout.

Using the game of soccer as a metaphor -

• What are the ethics of the game?

• What is the morality of the game?

• In the game of soccer what might an example of “moral judgment” be?

Whereas ethics refers to principles and ‘rules’ of conduct and order, morality refers to behavior and performance. moral judgment refers to decisions individuals make within the game (these may be good,

bad or neutral depending on motives, physical/mental condition and maturity).

Simply Ethics = rules of the game

Morality= performance within the game (personal & group)Moral Judgment= individual & collective decision-making (effects self & group)

Absolute Morality – a fundamentalist understanding of right and wrong,

determined solely by religious dogma or doctrine; there’s an absolute right/wrong in every situation;

“Divine Command Ethics”

Relative Morality– The other extreme based on the belief that anything can be right or wrong depending on the situation;

“Situation Ethics”

Absolute Morality -

Leviticus 20:9

“For anyone who curses one’s father or mother shall be surely put to death.”

Leviticus 24:17"Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death.”

Relative Morality/ Moral Relativism - The position that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect objective/ universal moral truths, but instead make claims relative to personal or cultural circumstances.

Moral relativists hold that there is no universal standard (e.g., Divine) by which to assess truth. This is moral subjectivism; it is the opposite of moral absolutism.

Relative Morality -- sees moral values as applicable in the

context of individual or cultural preferences (= moral subjectivism) ---

e.g., terminating an “inconvenient pregnancy”; honor killing.

Catholic Morality – is based on the belief in “Natural Law” --- i.e., an objective, divine moral order in the universe.

But right and wrong have to be determined by weighing out various circumstances and principles within any situation.

Therefore, it is neither absolute or purely relative.

Rather, the use of CONSCIENCE (moral judgment using reason) is emphasized.

Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)

Taught that real faith seeks understanding ("fides quaerens intellectum”)

Understanding requires REASON to discern

right from wrong, good from evil,

truth from falsehood.

Reason employs CRITICAL THINKING.

The consistent ethic of life

is a clear example of faith seeking understanding in that it adheres to the principle of Natural Law (following what is natural, as God’s will).This ethic does not contradict itself.

Take out a piece of scrap paper!

Do not put your name on the paper, this is anonymous!Would you cheat on an important exam?

“Yes or No”A survey of American students showed that 65% would cheat!Were you truthful?

Why do people cheat?

Is it ever ethical to answer falsely?

Who gets hurt when people are unethical?

What if GM cheated you when they built your car?

Where do ethics come from?

ParentsReligionPeersTechnology

Parents

Parents instill ethics and morals in children. Example: A child yells at their friend – calling them a name. How does the parent respond?Other ways?

Religion

Most religions set guidelines on how to make moral judgments.Example: In Judeo-Christian religion the Ten Commandments serve as guidelines for making ethical and moral judgments.What do Muslims, Hindus, and those in other religions use?

Religion

Christians have “the Golden Rule”

What do Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and those in other religions use?

Peers

Friends effect your moral judgments. Example: A friend or acquaintance might coax you to use drugs.Peer pressure can sometimes cause people to make moral and ethical decisions.Others?

Technology

Technology provides many opportunities to make moral and ethical decisions. Example: Copying computer games and violating copyright laws.

1. Does having a radar detector give you the right to break the law and speed?

2. Is it ethical to slash and burn the rain forests to feed more people?

3. Should you drive your car to work or school when it is in within walking distance?

Right, Wrong and Grey areas?

Unclear situations in ethics, many times they are personal and

hotly debated in politics (e.g., right to die).Black and white – Fairly clear – straight forward, most people feel the same way about (e.g., stealing, murder, honesty, charity).

Any others?

Grey areas!

Separation of Church and stateEnvironmental impacts of technologyInternetCrimeGun controlOthers?

What about these?

Drunk driving?Radar detectorsYour father illegally dumping pollutants. What would you do?

Examples of Ethical Decisions

Small Group -

Newspaper: Do any stories involve ethical issues/decisions?

Any employing either Absolute or Relative Morality ?

Be prepared to explain.

An American journalist, the first, to visit the Soviet Union after the Chernobyl accident found a very provocative story. He was taken on a tour of the plant with some American engineers after the 1986 explosion. What he found out about what happened the night the reactor exploded was frightening. It seems that night two of the engineers were playing around with one of the reactors, in what later the Soviets described as an "Unauthorized experiment." The engineers were trying to see how long a turbine would free-wheel if they took the power off it. To do this they had to take reactor four off-line. They by- passed six different security systems with warning lights saying "extremely dangerous do not continue." They shut off the alarms rather than the experiment. The engineers even padlocked open the valves on the reactor so they wouldn't automatically close. These engineers were two of the people considered excellent in their field. If they had been in America they would have been seen as Yale, Harvard, or MIT, graduates. They would have had 4.0 GPA's and highly revered.

Examples of Ethical Decisions

Based on the definitions you just learned--

• what is the morality in this situation?

• what is the particular moral judgment

applied in this situation?

• what are the ethics of this situation?

What ethical decisions were involved

in this story?

What kind of ethical decisions

did the engineers make?

Think back to the Engineers

How ethical were the Engineers?How moral were the Engineers?What is the difference?