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Ethics. . What is the Good Life?. . INTRODUCTION TO THIS OVERVIEW Moral philosophy (or the study of Ethics) is a systematic branch of Philosophy that attempts to understand rivaling theories that seek to prescribe “how we ought to live.”
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Ethics . What is the Good Life?
. INTRODUCTION TO THIS OVERVIEW Moral philosophy (or the study of Ethics) is a systematic branch of Philosophy that attempts to understand rivaling theories that seek to prescribe “how we ought to live.” First, it is generally accepted that a moral theory should, at the very least, be grounded on the notions that (a) reason is the guide for determining one’s conduct and that (b) the interests of all individuals who will be affected by some action be considered equally and impartially. In other words, reason and impartiality should be foundational to any ethical theory. While both are present in the last four general theories, these missing two ingredients are part of the “problems” with the first two theories.
. RELATIVISM is the doctrine that the moral rightness or wrongness of an action varies from society to society and that there are no absolute universal moral standards binding on all men (and women) at all times. Accordingly, it holds that whether or not something is “right” for an individual to act in a certain way depends on or is relative to the society to which one belongs or is relative to the particular situation in which one finds oneself. 1. Morality is relative to its culture. 2. There is no independent basis for criticizing the morality of any other culture. 3. Therefore, we ought to be tolerant of the moralities of other cultures.
. SUBJECTIVISM is the view that right or wrong are not relative to the standards of a culture but rather relative to the attitude of each individual person. Our moral opinions are based on opinions at the time of the event’s occurrence in our lives. A subjectionist would claim that anyone who declares that something is right or wrong is merely expressing nothing more than a personal preference, taste, or attitude. 1. If Person A says “X is wrong,” she is simply stating that she does not like X. 2. If Person B says “X is not wrong,” he is simply stating that X does not bother him. 3. “X is wrong” and “X is not wrong” cannot both be true at the same time (according to the law of non-contradiction). 4. “X is wrong” and “X is not wrong” are both statements of opinion and not fact anyway. 5. Therefore, X is neither right nor wrong but simply a matter of personal opinion.
Confucius’ Starting Point: Rethinking “self” (and society) • Each ‘self’ needs cultivation • We should seek inner-sageliness and outer-kingliness • It requires a process of daily renewal and “renovation” • It has transforming potential (for itself & for affecting others) • It is always in a process of becoming - from “what is” to “what should be” Confucius says,All of the above pertains to ‘society’ as well, and, all this begins with a good education
A Few Definitions dao– the Way (implied assumption is that we are all working it out together) li– ritual propriety and proprius language yi – appropriate or appropriating (proprietal) ren– authoritative personing (an activity) in relationship with others; the conduct of an exemplary person (junzi) he(harmony) – optimizing the intersection between the propensity of things and spontaneity to make the most of way-making (dao)
… xiao– filial piety; sonship (brotherly love); similar to Greek notion of storge’ zheng– proper governing; governing properly hsueh– learning (education); learning is not about reading books but rather about creating ourselves through relationships and through understanding the processes of change in life cheng– (i) co-creativity; (ii) sincerity (affective tone, perspectivity) – ourselves as individuals; (iii) integrity (making and/or becoming whole) – ourselves with others
Ren + li + yi = he We all must deal with these ritualized & hierarchical relationships in order to have personal and societalharmony (he) A flourishing & balanced community (with peace and tranquility) and/or an individual person is the result of the integrated concepts of ren, li, and yi.
Quick Summary An exemplary person (junzi or chun-tzu) with a virtuous character (jen) bases his character on righteousness (yi) and conducts himself with ritualized propriety (li) in order to establish harmony (he) within himself and within his relationships with other people (paraphrase of Analects XI, 17). He will cultivate and cherish wisdom (chih), a love of learning or study (hsueh), good faith (hsin), and filial piety (hsiao). He will exhibit moral authority (de) and pursue the arts of peace (wen) as he seeks to imitate the way (tao) of the universe. This is the lesson Confucius wants the leaders to learn. An junzi represents the fusion of all qualities in such a way that a person can respond to every situation benefiting mankind without sacrificing his principles.
Some Confucian “basics” • The five cardinal human relationships (wu-lun) • The five constant virtues in Confucianism: • Justice, Humility, Order, Prudence, and • Rectitude (moral uprightness, especially in judgments) • The physical, natural order and the social, moral order are identical and often both are spoken of as one and the same.
The concept of “filial piety” (Hsiao) • Complete devotion, honor, respect, and obedience to one’s parents, living and deceased. • Filial piety is the model for the Five Relationships.
Five Great Relationships (wu-lun) Ruler & Subject -to govern is to correct like a father; to be ruled is to obey like a son Father & Son -children must obey their parents, but they also must dissuade their parents from doing any wrongs Elder & Younger Brothers -elder brothers must be responsible (while fathers are alive or dead); younger obey Husband & Wife -husbands must love and take care of wives; wives must respect and learn from their husbands Friend to Friend -while this seems “equal,” rarely are friendships between “true” equals [Student-Teacher is here] All are based on ritual expectation and respect; each relationship should promote self-actualization.
Family (jia) as the Governing Metaphor In Western thinking, private & public spheres are not seen as interconnected. In classical China, the family serves as the pervasive metaphor (and model) for social, political, and even religious relations.
Circle of Relationships-there are hierarchies on each level . SelfFamily Community Cosmos
Five Great (or constant) Virtues While Confucius said that there was no specific list or code which would identify the virtues of ajunzi,there were five he frequently mentioned as virtues that would be possessed by any exemplary person. Justice Humility Order Prudence Rectitude(moral rightness, especially in judgments)
Key concepts in understanding Chinese culture: Ren仁 – authoritative conduct: acting appropriately for your role (yi 宜); observing ritual propriety (li 礼); doing your utmost (zhong 忠) and making good on your word (xin 信) Xiao 孝 – filial piety, which is the grounding relationship upon which the others are based Guanxi馆系 - Throughout much of Chinese history, the fundamental glue that has held society together is the concept of guanxi, relationships between people. Mianxi 面洗 - Face - Losing face (Duiren 丢人), saving face and giving face is very important and should be taken into consideration at all times.
What are Aristotelian Virtues? What should I be?.....a virtuous person. What does a virtuous person do?.....virtuous things. What you are (be) is what you do.
Are the Virtues the same for everyone? Yes, but….They are relative to the person and to the situation. Aristotle said, “There are an infinite number of Vices but only one Virtue.”
KANT & “The Categorical Imperative” • The Formula of Universal Law : Act only on that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become universal law.
. A “maxim” is a general rule by which the agent intends to act and which explains what he is doing at the time. First, you decide what rule you would be following if you do that action (ex: If you are currently driving 10 miles an hour over the speed limit, then your maxim would be, ‘Whenever I am in this situation, I should drive 10 miles an hour over the speed limit.’); Next, you ask yourself if you would be willing (or truly want) to have everyone else follow that same rule (which would make it a universal law); And, lastly, if you could truly be willing for everyone to follow your little rule (maxim), then you are contemplating a permissible act (if not, the maxim and action must be rejected).
. For Kant, moral rules have no exceptions (which is why they are “absolute”). A paraphrase of the first formulation of the CI could be stated as a question: Would I really want it to be a law that everyone else in the world must do what I am doing right now? If your answer is No, I would not it to be a law that everyone else in the world must drive 10 mph over the speed limit (or tell a little white lie to your best friend or fail to return a tool you borrowed from your neighbor or look out for your own interests only and so forth), then I should not be doing that thing either, because I have already reasoned out that such behavior would be morally wrong.
CI – Version 2 2. Formula of the End in Itself: Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of another, never as a mere means but always at the same time as an end in itself.
It is your DUTY to do the Right Thing because it is the Right Thing – No Exceptions! Consequences do not matter!!! Making you or someome else happy does not matter!!! All that matters is that you chose to do the right thing! If you have done the right thing and something bad happens, it’s not your fault – because you did the right thing. But if you did the wrong thing (such as lied) and something bad happens, it IS your fault that something bad happened, because YOU chose to do the wrong thing; your lie (or whatever) was the cause of the bad thing happening.
Duties Because Perfect Duties can be performed only one way (i.e., Don’t do it!), Perfect Duties always win out if there is a conflict between duties (since you can always find another way to fulfill an imperfect Duty). And remember that there will never be a conflict between Perfect Duties.
UTILITARIANISM Mill Bentham
SUMMARY Confucian – I should do whatever is the appropriate behavior that a virtuous person (junzi) would do in this social role because it is my duty. Aristotelian – I should be a virtuous person and do whatever a virtuous person would do in this situation because it is rational. Kantian – I should do only that which I would want everyone else to do (including to me). Utilitarian – I should do whatever results in the most amount of happiness for everyone who is concerned.
