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What Would a Satisfactory Moral Theory Look Like?

What Would a Satisfactory Moral Theory Look Like?. PHIL 2525 Lec 22. Derek Parfit. Some people believe that there cannot be progress in Ethics, since everything has already been said... I believe the opposite. 13.1 Morality without Hubris. Timothy Vermeulen 2002.

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What Would a Satisfactory Moral Theory Look Like?

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  1. What Would a Satisfactory Moral Theory Look Like? PHIL 2525 Lec 22

  2. Derek Parfit Some people believe that there cannot be progress in Ethics, since everything has already been said...I believe the opposite..

  3. 13.1 Morality without Hubris • Timothy Vermeulen 2002

  4. “Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?”

  5. Carl Sagan 1934 - 1996

  6. Carl Sagan’s Cosmic Time ChartsPre December Dates (approximate, of course) January 1 Big BangMay 1 Origin of the Milky WaySeptember 9 Origin of the Solar SystemSeptember 14 Formation of the EarthSeptember 25 Origin of life on EarthOctober 2 Formation of the oldest rocks known on EarthOctober 9 Date of oldest fossils (bacteria and blue-green algaeNovember 1 Invention of sex (by micro-organisms)November 12 Oldest fossil photosynthetic plantsNovember 15 Eukaryotes (first cells with nuclei) flourish From The Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan

  7. December

  8. “The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.” David Hume (1711-1776)

  9. Charles Darwin

  10. We are rational beings... • We consider options • We weigh consequences • We choose to behave one way rather than another • We can articulate the reasons for our choices

  11. Ethical Egoism: prescriptive • Psychological Egoism: descriptive

  12. Rachels says that psychological egoism is not true...we do not always act only for our own self interest.

  13. P 193: Pleasing theoretical fit... • A) What reason requires: impartiality • B) The requirements of social living: the golden rule • C) Our natural inclination to care about others

  14. 13.2 Treating People as They Deserve... • Remember Kant’s ‘respect for persons’ • If we don’t adjust our actions to reflect our judgments of others’ actions we may be denying their status as free agents... • But...

  15. 13.3 Multiple-Strategies Utilitarianism • Our lives will go better if...we love our children, enjoy our friends, take pride in our work, keep our promises.....

  16. 13.4 The Moral Community

  17. 13.5: Justice and fairness

  18. The Trolley Problem...

  19. Harvard’s Moral Sense Test

  20. Bertrand Russell If when a man writes a poem or commits a murder, the bodily movements involved in his act result solely from physical causes, it would seem absurd to put up a statue to him in the one case and to hang him in the other.

  21. Decisions…

  22. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; ………. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Decisions…

  23. Without freedom there can be no morality. Carl Jung…

  24. Challenges to the existence of free will • The challenge from Logic • The challenge from Theology • The challenge from Science

  25. Nature has played a devious trick on us. Dennett’s book suggests we should grin and bear it. Daniel Dennett: Elbow Room:The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting

  26. Barry Schwartz on Practical Wisdom • Jonathan Haidt o

  27. Jonathan Haidt on

  28. Marc Hauser on Moral Minds

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