Greg Detre
Wednesday, 25 April, 2001
Dr Roger Crisp, South Schools
e.g. Freud � moral commands = the internalisation of parental commands (see Stanley Shepherd, Human morality)
Anscombe, 1958, Modern moral philosophy � �ought� = a legal notion, and only makes sense in the context of a divine law-giver
what are philosopher ethicists trying to do?
philosophical ethics arises out of reflection on/in lived morality
ethics = often used as equivalent to morality, but Williams distinguishes ethics and morality:
ethics covers all aspects of how we should live our lives, including aesthetics (should I wear this tie with that shirt) and should I go into this career
but narrow notion of morality (see Ethics in the midst of philosophy, last chapter): morality system
first-order judgements, e.g. �It�s wrong to drop litter in the countryside�
meta-ethics: (= about the status of those first order judgements) e.g. could claims like �It�s wrong to drop litter in the countryside� be universal?, or �Is the property of wrongness real, or does it arise out of our behaviour?�
What should I do, what�s the right thing to do?
But what about things beyond just actions, e.g. the kind of character I have, motives for action, my beliefs
so: How should I live?
includes actions, and character/motives/beliefs
every human being always acts to best advance/promote what they see as their own interests (Hobbes, Essay on human nature � �every man�s end is some good to himself�)
Conceptual argument
what about people who jump on grenades to save comrades
Evolutionary argument
But the genes are more likely to survive in a group of non-self-interested individuals.
Common sense argument
Saving an innocent babe is neither a good nor bad action, but is purely about one�s own guilt
psychological egoism is unfalsifiable � can always see a justification, e.g. afterlife
Hume, Enquiry concerning principles of morals, appendix 2 � psychological egoism seems to be an elegant but misleading simplification
Assume that people can act unselfishly sometimes. According to rational egoism, this behaviour is irrational.
Ethical egoism
It�s morally right to pursue your own good, and wrong not to. Nagel (who does think that altruism is possible) gouty toe seems to support belief in altruism, but other people as a factor may not outweigh self-interest. Dictator captures you, puts you in a room watching videos, he offers to stop torturing people elsewhere if you stop watching the videos you�re enjoying.
In trenches in WWI, small group of people left to hold the enemy back while the second trenches marshall themselves, chained themselves together so that no one could run away (mediocre option in Prisoners� Dilemma) � is this how morality works in general?
Hobbes, Leviathan � contractualist
the free-rider has little to say to convince the free-rider, since it�s about being publicly moral � if no one sees you commit a bad act, there�s nothing to stop you
Prichard intuitionist. moral reasons are self-standing, couldn�t be justified in terms of something else.
Nietzsche immoralist: there are moral reasons, but they are quite different to how we think. benevolence derives from the ascetic ideal.
Examples may never prove beyond reasonable doubt. But they enable you to sort out your own position, test your own views.
happiness
consequentialism
deontology + Kant
virtue
metaethics I
metaethics II