Transcript Document 7117784

Evaluating actions
 When we try to determine whether an
action, practice, policy, etc. is right (good or
desirable) or wrong (bad or undesirable), we
are evaluating it, or making moral
judgments about it.
 The ‘moral value’ or ‘moral worth’ of an
action, etc. depends on whether and to what
extent it is right or wrong.
Evaluating actions
 Broadly speaking, there are 2 main
theoretical approaches to moral reasoning
and moral judgments: [1] evaluation based
on rules and/or duty (deontology) or [2]
evaluation based on consequences
(consequentialism).
Evaluating actions
 Deontology: the rightness or wrongness of
an action, etc. depends on whether it follows
a particular rule or principle.
 Let’s say, if all rational people accept the
principle ‘You should be nice to those
people who are nice to you.’ An action is
right if it follows this principle, and wrong if
it does not follow this principle.
Evaluating actions
 Deontological ethics asserts, additionally,
that we have the duty to do what is
intrinsically right.
 On the contrary, if an action is intrinsically
wrong, we have the duty not to do it.
Evaluating actions
 From the standpoint of deontology, an
action is intrinsically right or wrong; it is
right if it is based on a universal ethical rule
or principle, and wrong if it is not.
 Thus, for example, an act of truth-telling has
moral value or moral worth in itself because
it is the right thing to do.
Evaluating actions
 Consequentialism: actions themselves are
not intrinsically right or wrong; whether or
not it has moral value or moral worth
depends on its consequences.
 For example, an act of lying is not wrong in
itself, it is wrong only if it produces bad
consequences.
Evaluating actions
 From the point of view of consequentialism,
when we evaluate an action, we should
consider neither the nature of the action nor
its underlying motive, but rather the overall
consequence of the action.
Classical utilitarianism
 Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism.
The emphasis is on consequences, not
intentions.
 Morality is about producing good
consequences, not about having good
intentions. A morally right action is an
action which produces good consequences.
Classical utilitarianism
 Classical utilitarians such as Jeremy
Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill
(1806-1873) were dissatisfied with the rulebound character of law and morality in
eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Great
Britain.
Classical utilitarianism
 The classical utilitarians treated their theory
of ethics as a basis for legal and social
reforms.
 They wanted to reduce suffering and
promote happiness. They wanted to make
law serve human needs and interests. They
wanted social policy to work for the good of
all persons.
Classical utilitarianism
 Bentham, for example, objected to laws
regulating the sexual conduct of ‘consenting
adults’ on the grounds that such conduct is
not harmful to others, and because such
laws diminish rather than increase
happiness.
Classical utilitarianism
 3 main propositions of classical
utilitarianism:
 First, actions are to be judged right or wrong
solely in virtue of their consequences.
Nothing else matters. Right actions are,
simply, those that have the best
consequences.
Classical utilitarianism
 Second, in assessing consequences, the only
thing that matters is the amount of
happiness or unhappiness that is caused.
Everything else is irrelevant. Thus, right
actions are those that produce the greatest
balance of happiness over unhappiness.
Classical utilitarianism
 Third, in calculating the happiness or
unhappiness that will be caused, no one’s
happiness is to be counted as more
important than anyone else’s. Each person’s
welfare is equally important.
Classical utilitarianism
 From the standpoint of utilitarianism,
happiness (pleasure) is intrinsically good
and unhappiness (pain) is intrinsically bad.
 Actions, however, are not intrinsically right
or wrong. An act is right if it promotes a
balance of pleasure over pain, and wrong if
it brings about more pain than pleasure.
Classical utilitarianism
 John Stuart Mill: “The utilitarian doctrine is
that happiness is desirable, and the only
thing desirable, as an end; all other things
being desirable as means to that end.”
Classical utilitarianism
 Greatest happiness principle: We ought to
do that which produces the greatest amount
of happiness for the greatest number of
people.
Classical utilitarianism
 According to the greatest happiness
principle, we must measure, count and
compare the consequences likely to be
produced by various alternative actions.
 The morally right or best action is the one
that produces the greatest overall positive
consequences for everyone affected by the
action.
Classical utilitarianism
 Utilitarianism demands impartiality: We
should treat all persons as equal. So
everyone’s happiness should be counted as
one, and nobody’s happiness should be
counted as more than one.
Classical utilitarianism
 In other words, utilitarian ethics requires us
to treat every person as equal and put aside
our self-interest for the sake of the whole. It
demands that we sacrifice our own pleasure
or happiness for the greater good.
Classical utilitarianism
 Utilitarians believe that policymakers
should make decisions based on calculation
of the effects of policies on society as a
whole. They should not choose policies that
favor themselves or their families.
 Needless to say, many corrupt Chinese
government officials fail the test of
impartiality.
Classical utilitarianism
 The method of cost-benefit analysis is an
example of a contemporary use of utilitarian
ideas – one policy is better than another if it
is the least costly compared to the benefits
expected.
Questions and objections
 According to utilitarian reasoning, you
should sell your iPhone (or you should not
have bought it in the first place) and donate
the money to the “Save the Children Fund”.
Why? Because the poor children need the
money more than you need your iPhone.
Questions and objections
 Most of us are aware that spending $1000 on
food for some unknown person in Africa
would create more happiness than spending
it on entertainment or toys for our children.
But most of us would not make the
utilitarian choice because we think that our
own happiness (or the happiness of our
families) is more important.
Questions and objections
 Is there any qualitative difference between
various kinds of pleasure?
 How can we know the consequences of
actions?
 How are the consequences judged and who
judges them?
 Can we weigh everything, including human
life?
Questions and objections
 Should we take into account the
consequences for future generations as well
as the present one?
 Should we take into account the
consequences for all sentient beings,
including animals?
 Does the end justify the means?
Questions and objections
 In the movie Saving Private Ryan, Captain
John Miller (Tom Hanks) and seven other
men are sent on a mission to find and bring
to safety Private James Francis Ryan (Matt
Damon), whose three other brothers have
already been killed in combat.
Questions and objections
 One member of the unit asks Captain Miller:
“Explain the math of this to me – risking the
eight of us for one life?” What would a
utilitarian say about the mission to save
Private Ryan?
Questions and objections
 A friend of yours installed a hidden camera
in your bathroom without you noticing it.
He enjoys watching you take showers but
you are not aware of it. From the utilitarian
point of view, it seems that there is nothing
wrong about your friend’s actions. What do
you think?
Questions and objections
 A kid asks Alice for money to get home.
Alice buys a train ticket home for the kid.
Unfortunately, the train is involved in an
accident and the kid is killed. Was it morally
wrong for Alice to buy the train ticket for the
kid?
Questions and objections
 A doctor has five patients under his care.
One of the patients needs to have a heart
transplant, one needs two lungs, one needs
a liver, and the last two need kidneys. Now
into his office comes a young healthy man
who just wants to have a flu shot.
Questions and objections
 Doing a utility calculus, there is no doubt in
the doctor’s mind that he could do more
good by injecting the healthy man with a
sleep-inducing drug and using his organs to
save the patients. Is there anything wrong
with this line of thinking?
Questions and objections
 In response to these (and other) questions
and objections, a distinction is often drawn
between ‘act utilitarianism’ and ‘rule
utilitarianism’.
Questions and objections
 Act utilitarianism: An action is right in so far
as it maximizes happiness in a particular
situation.
 Rule utilitarianism: An action is right in so
far as it conforms to a certain rule, the
application of which will bring about the
greatest amount of happiness.
Questions and objections
 In the case rule utilitarianism, it is necessary
to have a clearly-defined rule of action that
can be followed consistently by every
member of a society, group or profession.
 Broadly speaking, a ‘rule’ can be a law, a
social norm, a custom or convention, a
regulation, or any item from a professional
code of conduct or code of practice.
Questions and objections
 Thus, according to rule utilitarianism, an act
is morally wrong if it violates a rule whose
public acceptance maximizes the good.
Questions and objections
 Like deontology, rule utilitarianism holds
that moral behavior involves following
certain rules. However, rule utiltarianism
evaluate rules based on the (real or expected)
consequences of following those rules.
Questions and objections
 For example, in the previous example of
‘killing one to save five’. A rule utilitarian
may propose a professional code of ethics
that prohibits the transplant of organs from
a healthy person without consent or forbids
doctors from betraying the trust of patients.
More dilemmas…
 You are the senior sales manager. It has
come to your attention that a young sales
representative is very talented and his
performance is far better than the other
sales representatives. But you also notice
that every other member of the sales team
does not like him. Should you promote this
man to the position of sales manager?
More dilemmas…
 Chinese people, in general, enjoy better
standard of living as a result of high rates of
economic growth in recent years. However,
rapid economic development also leads to
depletion of natural resources and
destruction of the environment. If you are a
policymaker, would you favor policies that
aim at rapid growth and development?
More dilemmas…
 You are a lawyer. An old lady owns a very big
house. She wants her dog to inherit the
house after she dies. You promise her you
will see to it that the dog will be the only
future owner of that house. But you also
notice that there are not enough schools for
children in the district.
More dilemmas…
 What would you do when the old lady dies –
keep your promise and honor her wish, or
break the promise and convert the house
into a school for poor children?
More dilemmas…
 You are a doctor. A wealthy person phones
you because he has a heart problem. If you
do not rush to his rescue, he will die in a few
hours; but if you hurry to save him, he may
live another 5 to 10 years. The man is not a
particularly likable person, and he does not
have any children or relatives. So if he dies,
all of his wealth will be donated to charity.
What would you do?