Moral Philosophy & Applied Ethics

1. Moral Philosophy & Applied Ethics Preliminaries, Misconduct, and Integrity

2. Questions we face: • What does living a moral life consist in? • Does a moral life consist in following the law? • Does a moral life consist in following the rules of one’s religion? • Does a moral life require moral reflection? • Is X morally permitted? Does morality allow me to do X? • Does morality allow me to marry some one of the same gender as myself? • Does morality allow me to forgo a pregnancy through abortion? • Does morality allow me to put someone to death for committing a crime? • Is X morally obligated?Does morality require me to do X? • Does morality require me to give my excess resources to those that are less fortunate than myself? • Does morality require me to follow the law? • Does morality require me to consider the emotions of another in deciding what to do?

3. What is moral philosophy and applied ethics? • Moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy. • Logic: how should we reason? • Metaphysics: what is X? what things exist? • Epistemology: what do we know? how can we know? • Aesthetics: what makes things beautiful? • Ethics: what makes something right or wrong? • Political Philosophy: how should we organize a society? • There are three main areas of moral philosophy: • Applied ethics • Normative ethics • Meta-ethics

4. Applied Ethics Applied ethics is concerned with specific questions of ethical concern. Is the death penalty morally permissible? Is abortion morally permissible? Is government surveillance morally permissible? Is universal health care for all morally obligated? Is free education for all morally obligated? Should taxes be set so as to be to the advantage of the least well off? What constitutes ethical behavior in the context of war?

5. Normative Ethics Normative ethics aims to offer a theory of what makes something morally right or wrong, or what constitutes a good life. Some Key works of Normative Ethics: • Western-Philosophy Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals Mill’s Utilitarianism • Eastern-Philosophy The Bhagavad Gita of Indian Philosophy Confucius’s The Analects of Chinese Philosophy

6. Meta-Ethics Meta-ethics is concerned with the metaphysics of ethics, the nature of the subject matter of ethics as well as how we know about morality and are psychologically related to being moral. Is morality subjective or objective? Is there more than one correct moral theory? How can one know what is morally correct? Why should we be motivated to be moral? Is it irrational to be immoral?

7. Assumptions of our course • It is better to know and reason from multiple moral theories. • Moral philosophy requires moral argumentation. • Although moral conclusions can vary widely on a topic, arguments for moral conclusions can be judged to be better or worse. • A person that is able to reason critically about morality is in a better position to make a good moral decision than a person that cannot reason critically about morality. • Moral philosophy is about opening one’s mind to moral discourse. That is to be drawn in by talking about morality.

8. Living a life with Integrity • What is integrity? • What are examples in which we have a failure of integrity? • What are examples in which we have no-failure of integrity? • Why is integrity important? • How can we cultivate a life of integrity? • What can integrity do for us?

9. Causes of Personal Misconduct • Ignorance • Type 1: The person does not know whether it is wrong to do X. • Type 2: The person knows that it is wrong to do X, but does not know whether action A is an instance of X. • Malice • One does something that is wrong because one wants to do something that is wrong. Their intention is to do wrong. • Weakness of Will • One wants to do what they believe to be the right thing, but one also has desires that conflict with doing the right thing.

10. Causes of Group Misconduct 1 • A few bad apples • A few people cause problems in a group • The presence of evil • There is a malicious person in the group • Focus on insiders • People are only focused on the group and not others • Focus on the short term • People are not looking far enough ahead to see what will happen • Failure of leadership • No one is leading the group with a moral compass • Dilution of Personal Responsibility • No single person is personally responsible

11. Causes of Group Misconduct 2 • Organizational Process and Structure • The structure of the organization makes it easy to go wrong • Organizational Culture • The culture of the group is not interested in being good • Lack of oversight • No one outside of the group is watching • Misalignment of incentives • The motivations for activity make it easy to go wrong • Corrupt Political Environment • The group is housed in a larger corrupt political system • Influences of Globalization • Some parts of the world are corrupt while others are not

12. Cures for Group Misconduct 1 • Isolate bad apples through an emphasis on integrity • Make integrity an important personal value • Leadership with Integrity and Personal Responsibility • Make people take personal responsibility • Systems Organized for Moral Risk Management • Organizations should allow for moral risk management • Ethical Cultures • Create a culture where talking about the right thing to do is common • Meaningful Oversight • Without micromanaging groups and individuals make sure that there is some mechanism by which they are watched and held accountable for wrongdoing

13. Cures for Group Misconduct 2 • Realignment of Incentives • Align the motivations for activity with doing good • Responsible Political Environment: The Just Society • Foster and aim for a just society • Integrity in Globalization • Foster and aim for a globally just society

14. Applied Ethics: Main Groups Applied ethics: Business Ethics Medical Ethics Journalism Ethics Legal Ethics Engineering Ethics Accounting Ethics Research Ethics Personal Ethics A question about business ethics: Isn’t it true that being ethical in business is impossible?

15. Is “Business Ethics” an Oxymoron? Argument 1: Conceptually Contrary A good business transaction involves taking advantage of the others involved in the transaction. One party, the buyer, wants the lowest price possible, and another party, the seller, wants the highest price possible. A good exchange for the seller is extracting the highest price, and a good exchange for the buyer is extracting the lowest price. Ethics is about not taking advantage of others. So, a business transaction cannot be ethical. That is, in so for as what counts as a good exchange for each party is taking advantage of the other, it appears that ethics is not possible.

16. Is “Business Ethics” an Oxymoron? Response 1: Conceptually Contrary Being a good person is not in conflict with wanting to make a profit. In the long run being ethical can lead to a better business environment for everyone. Although our motivation for engaging in business is to make a profit, it does not follow that we are only acting from the profit motive in all of our transactions.

17. Is “Business Ethics” an Oxymoron? Argument 2: Useless to alter behavior By the time most people start studying business ethics or moral philosophy they already have a conception of what is right and wrong. It is hard, if not impossible, to change a person’s moral outlook once they pass a stage when they have a solid conception of what is right and wrong. Recalibrating a moral compass is very difficult. So, business ethics is useless.

18. Is “Business Ethics” an Oxymoron? Response 2: Useless to alter behavior People can change through the culture that surrounds them. People do go through dramatic shifts in how they see things because of powerful experiences. Knowledge has the power to alter how we behave. People working together from the same set of beliefs will likely help each other act appropriately.

19. Is “Business Ethics” an Oxymoron? Argument 3: Indeterminate because of pluralism Ethical pluralism allows for the application of contradictory principles to a given situation. Since different principles give different results about what to do, business ethics does not lead to conclusive answers. So, business ethics is indeterminate.

20. Is “Business Ethics” an Oxymoron? Response 3: Indeterminate because of pluralism Sometimes all the theories agree. Disagreement can teach people about the differences that drive them to different conclusions. Even if in some cases it is indeterminate what to do because theories give opposing conclusions, running through the process of reasoning can lead one to an understanding of why there are opposing views about what is wrong.

21. Is “Business Ethics” an Oxymoron? Argument 4: Misses the point What is important is getting people to behave the right way, not teaching them how to think the right way about what to do. Business ethics is about teaching people how to think about what to do, and not about making them act the right way. So, business ethics misses the point.

22. Is “Business Ethics” an Oxymoron? Response 4: Misses the point Sometimes we don’t know what we should do. Sometimes past cases are not exactly like the new problems we face. Sometimes knowledge helps in changing the behavior. Sometimes we can only enforce behavior by explaining what is wrong.