Chapter 9What are Right ActionsConstructing an Ethica.docx

Chapter 9
What are Right Actions?
Constructing an Ethical Theory
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Expanding Your Knowledge
of Moral PhilosophyPhilosophical attempts to construct an
overarching theory That can guide our moral
decisionsAlternative ways to evaluate moral actionsThe most
difficult decisions we will face challenge us to answer the
question:“What are right actions?”
Character: Virtue EthicsAristotle, from The Nicomachean
EthicsReason from the physical world to the moral worldHow
do we discover the Golden Mean?An approach that also raises
serious questionsAnalyzing Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics

Thinking Philosophically
Aristotle
(384–322 b.c.e.). This ancient Greek philosopher and student of
Plato charted a different direction from his teacher. Aristotle
made major contributions to metaphysics, ethics, politics, logic,
and aesthetics. He is also responsible for conceptualizing the
different branches of philosophy.
*
Maxims: Duty to Moral LawsIs lying always morally
wrong?Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the
Metaphysics of MoralsHypothetical imperativeCategorical
imperativeHow can we apply the categorical imperative to
environmental issues?

Consequences: UtilitarianismThe Greatest Happiness for the
Greatest Number: BenthamJeremy Bentham, from An
Introduction to the Principles of Morals and LegislationWhen is
censorship ethically appropriate?Higher Pleasures Have Greater
Worth: MillConsider the Interests of Animals: Singer
Jeremy Bentham
(1748–1832). Bentham was a British philosopher who developed
the moral theory of utilitarianism in response to the ills of
industrialization.
*
John Stuart Mill
(1806–1873). A British philosopher and student of Jeremy
Bentham who expanded on Bentham’s concept of utilitarianism.
*
Peter Singer

(b. 1946). Singer is an Australian philosophy and professor at
Princeton University. His writing addresses issues in bioethics,
animal rights, and world poverty.
*
Authenticity: Existentialist Ethics“The Crowd Is Untruth”:
KierkegaardSoren Kierkegaard, “On the Dedication to ‘That
Single Individual’”Soren Kierkegaard, from The Present
AgeBeyond Good and Evil: NietzscheAuthenticity and Ethical
Responsibility: Sartre
Authenticity: Existentialist EthicsOur Interplay with Others
Defines Us: de BeauvoirAnalyzing de Beauvoir on Moral
ChoicesCamus, from The Myth of SisyphusCourage Is the
Highest Value: CamusAnalyzing the Myth of Sisyphus
Soren Kierkegaard
(1813–1855). This Danish philosopher challenged much of
Christian philosophy while remaining deeply religious.

Kierkegaard argued that life has meaning only when people
reject the pursuit of pleasure and seek moral truth by looking
within and recognizing their connection to the divine.
*
Friedrich Nietzsche
(1844–1900). Nietzsche was a German philosopher who
challenged the ideals of Western philosophy, including science,
morality, and the notion of God.
*
Simone de Beauvoir
(1908–1986). A French existentialist philosopher and feminist,
in The Second Sex (1949), de Beauvoir argued that women,
historically subordinate to men, have been relegated to the
category of the Other Sex.
*
Albert Camus

(1913–1960). A French existentialist known for essays and
novels, Camus dealt with what he felt was the absurd situation
of human beings in which the world is essentially irrational, yet
we still need to find meaning within it.
*
Empathy: The Ethics of CareWhat is “natural caring”?Nel
Noddings, Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral
EducationWhat Does It Mean to Care?From Natural to Ethical
CaringAnalyzing Noddings on the Ethics of Care
Nel Noddings
(b. 1929). This American feminist philosopher writes on issues
surrounding ethics and the philosophy of education. In Caring:
A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education (1984) and
Women and Evil (1989), Noddings argues that ethics should be
founded on caring and interpersonal relationships.
*
Making Connections: Your Moral Compass RevisitedVirtue
EthicsDeontologyUtilitarianismExistentialismEthics of
CareWhat is your moral compass?

Chapter Nine
What Are Right Actions? Constructing an Ethical Theory
9.1 Expanding Your Knowledge of Moral Philosophy
(i) This survey of moral theories opens us to the human project
of creating one self to be a person of moral, making morally
enlightened choices that express deep convictions and high
aspirations.
9.2 Character: Virtue Ethics
(i) Virtue ethics focuses on the moral quality of individual
character rather than individual actions.
(ii) Aristotle argued that everyone should pursue happiness, i.e.,
an activity of the soul in accordance with complete and perfect
virtue.
(iii) For Aristotle, the world is teleological, which is a
philosophical perspective in which all things have a design or
purpose.
(iv) What drives teleology is entelechy, which is the principle
that reveals that all events occur according to a natural design.
(v) According to this view of teleology, he argued that it is
natural for all humans to strive to realize their full potential as
reasonable, happy, virtuous people.
(vi) Aristotle divided virtues into two categories:
a. Intellectual virtues—these are developed through education,
social interaction, and practice.

b. Moral virtues—these are developed through modeling and
practice.
(vii) To truly act morally, it requires on knowing what one is
doing, deliberately choosing to take correct moral action, and
performing the action for is own sake.
(viii) Accumulation of these moral actions gradually builds a
consistent moral character.
(ix) To be virtuous is to seek the “Golden Mean,” the middle
ground between two vices.
9.3 Maxims: Duty to Moral Laws
(i) Deontology focuses on the notion of duty and obligations as
the standard for determining the moral value of actions. Moral
value is determined by following the maxims—a moral law—
prescribed by reason.
(ii) Kant argued that moral maxims are a priori—laws that are
true independent of experience.
(iii) According to Kant to become a moral person one must meet
the following conditions:
a. Develop a clear understanding of the necessary and universal
moral laws and
b. Develop the “good will” to actually follow these moral laws.
(iv) Kant distinguishes two kinds of moral imperatives:
a. Hypothetical imperative—actions that are “good” only as
means to something else; not good in and of themselves.
b. Categorical imperative—command actions that are
intrinsically good and prescribe actions that all rational beings
are morally required to follow.
(v) Moral maxims for Kant focus on the logical form of the
principles, not the content, consequences, intention of the
action, or even the character of the agent. Moreover, these
moral maxims apply not only to duties toward ourselves, but
toward others in the world which we live.

9.4 Consequences: Utilitarianism
(i) Utilitarianism is the view that we should act to promote the
greatest happiness and create the least amount of suffering for
the greatest number of people.
(ii) Hedonism is the view that pleasure is the only thing truly of
value.
a. Aristippus believed that the meaning of life is pleasure, pure
and simple.
b. Epicurus believed that there were higher pleasures and lower
pleasures. Higher pleasures are those pleasures derived from
intellectual pursuits. Lower pleasures are those pleasure
derived from physical gratification.
c. Psychological hedonism is the view that all human desire is
necessarily directed to achieving pleasure and avoiding pain.
d. Ethical hedonism is the view that an action’s consequences
determine its moral value.
(iii) Bentham argued that an action is moral when it produces
the most pleasure and least suffering or pain.
(iv) Bentham developed a “hedonistic calculus” to quantify the
pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. A “hedon” is unit
of pleasure or pain. To calculate the “greatest happiness,” six
factors of a pleasure or pain must be considered:
a. Intensity
b. Duration
c. Certainty
d. Remoteness
e. Fecundity
f. Purity
g. When considering experience of pleasures or pains by a
group of people, the calculus must consider extent.
(v) There are two shortcomings of this “hedonistic calculus.”
a. It creates a false sense of scientific objectivity since it cannot
distinguish between kinds and degrees of pleasure or pain.
b. Since it solely focuses on consequences, it disregards
intentions or motivations creating difficulties in evaluating real-
world actions.

(vi) Mill, in the spirit of Epicurus, refined Bentham’s theory by
distinguishing between higher levels of pleasure and lower
levels of pleasure. The higher levels of pleasure are
intellectual, literary, aesthetic, and philosophical. The lower
levels of pleasure are physical and sensual.
(vii) Mill argued that individuals and societies that pursue and
encourage the higher pleasures are more ethically sound and
morally correct.
(viii) Consequentialism is the view that an actions consequences
determines its moral value.
(ix) The principle of utility, according to Mill, is to be applied
not only to humans but to nonhuman animals as well.
(x) Singer “speciesism” is a prejudice or attitude or bias in
favor of the interests of one’s own species and against those of
another species. Singer believes this is morally wrong and
employs the principle of utility as justification.
9.5 Authenticity: Existentialist Ethics
(i) Existential ethics concerns itself with the following
questions:
a. How do I live my life authentically?
b. How can I create myself to be a uniquely significant
individual?
c. How can I invest my life with meaning while existing in a
universe that lacks ultimate meaning?
d. How can I develop an approach to moral philosophy that is
grounded in my absolute freedom of choice?
(ii) Kierkegaard’s responses to the questions:
a. Individual recognition of choice and responsibility for those
choices is paramount.
b. Never succumb to the values of the “crowd.”
c. Exercising my freedom.
d. Develop one’s own internally consistent set of moral values.
(iii) Nietzsche’s responses to the questions:
a. Recognize the primal force manifest in all living things. This

is the “will to power,” i.e., “the will to grow, spread, seize,
become predominant.”
b. Exercise my “will to power.”
c. Honor the desire to control others and impose my values on
them.
d. Exercise my “will to power” to the fullest possible extent.
(iv) Sartre responds to the questions by arguing that even
though we are condemned to be free, we must determine our
individual essence by adopting freedom and recognize that the
moral choices we make are for all humankind, not just oneself
in isolation. Sartre believes that it is imperative we avoid the
inauthentic life and resist the urge to escape this responsibility
for all humankind.
(v) De Beauvoir argues that our freedom only has meaning in
relationship to others who are exercising their freedom of
choice.
(vi) Camus, who believes that existence is absurd, believes that
we must make free choices that are courageous and work to
discover meaning.
9.6 Empathy: The Ethics of Care
(i) Ethics of care is the view that other-centered theories that
emphasize the role of others in moral relationships ought to be
the primary focus of moral reasoning.
(ii) Noddings argues that individual actions are motivated by
what she coins a “caring response” rooted in “natural caring.”
Empathy and caring are the most important virtues.
a. Developing the capacity to be empathetic is necessary if one
is to act in a caring way toward others.
b. There is a distinction between natural caring and ethical
caring.
i. Natural caring involves relationships that we as humans feel
for family members, children, and some romantic liaisons.
ii. Ethical caring involves broadening one’s sense of care to
those toward whom you would not naturally have a feeling of
care.

9.7 Making Connections: Your Moral Compass Revisited
(i) Becoming a morally enlightened person requires a
commitment to use one’s moral compass to navigate through
moral life. Through critical thinking, individuals can be
conscious of their choices and reasons they make them.
Key Terms
Virtue Ethics Teleological
Entelechy Deontology
A priori Hypothetical Imperative
Categorical Imperative Maxim
Utilitarianism Hedonism
Psychological Hedonism Ethical Hedonism
Chapter Four
Are You Free? Freedom and Determinism
4.1 Are You the Master of Your Fate?
(i) Whether or not we are free is a philosophical question that
necessitates deep reflection and analysis.
(ii) Beliefs about whether or not we are free effects our ability
to change and grow as a person, develop a moral outlook, and
participate in a fair and just society.
(iii) Determinism is the view that every event, including human
actions, are brought about by previous events in accordance
with the natural laws that govern the world. Human freedom is
an illusion. Some common causes as put forth by determinists

are:
a. Human nature
b. Environment
c. Psychological forces
d. Social dynamics
(iv) Compatibilism is the view that all events, including human
actions are caused. However, we can consider human actions
free if they are a result of internal motivations, not the product
of external influences or constraints.
(v) Indeterminism is the view that some events, including
human actions, are not necessarily determined by previous
events in accordance with the natural laws that govern the
world.
(vi) Libertarianism is the view that humans are able to make
authentically free choices that are not determined by previous
events in accordance with the natural laws that govern the
world. In other words, given a choice, “we could have done
otherwise.”
4.2 Determinism
(i) Determinism is based on a scientific model of the physical
universe.
(ii) In general, determinists, such as Skinner, Freud, and Mill,
use the following reasoning:
a. Events in the physical world consistently display well-
defined causal connections.
b. Events in the biological world also consistently display
causal connections.
c. Because humans are a part of the physical and biological
worlds, it is reasonable to assume that all human actions are
causally determined.
(iii) Baron d’Holbach exemplifies this reasoning when he argues
that humans are “connected to universal nature” and subject to
“necessary and immutable laws that she imposes on all the
beings she contains.”
(iv) Determinists hold that human freedom is inhibited by

external and internal constraints. External constraints are those
imposed by your environment and circumstances. Internal
constraints are the limitations to our autonomy imposed by
ourselves.
4.3 Compatibilism
(i) In general, compatibilists, such as Stace, argue that if human
actions are the result of internal motivations and not the product
of external constraints, then they are considered “free.”
(ii) Schlick disagreed with some compatibilists and argued that
some internal constraints can limit our freedom. However, he
did argue that we are free when our actions are a result of our
“unimpeded rational desires.”
(iii) Dennett, a materialist, argues that human freedom is “an
evolved creation of human activity and beliefs…and an
objective phenomenon, distinct from all other biological
conditions and found in only one species, us.”
4.4 Indeterminism and Libertarianism
(i) James argues that determinism cannot account for “the
testimony of our direct, lived experience,” which is exhibited in
our beliefs about the possibility of self improvement,
determining our moral outlook, choosing spiritual destiny, and
social improvement.
(ii) Determinism contradicts our lived human experience, i.e.,
the rational belief that we can make judgments and do make
them.
(iii) Sartre argues that “we are condemned to be free,” i.e.,
humans are absolutely responsible to create their own
meaningful existence. As a result of this, the human response
to this is anguish, abandonment, and despair. Humans are
uncertain whether their actions and choices are right or wrong,
there is no authority to guide us. This results in angst.
4.5 A Feminist Analysis of Freedom

(i) Grimshaw provides a feminist analysis of freedom in
which she argues that repressive social forces can erode an
individual’s psychological autonomy. She holds that this
psychic coercion has forced women to think they are inferior to
men.
(ii) Psychic coercion is an internal constraint that compromises
one’s autonomy and limits their personal freedom.
(iii) Free choice is contingent on becoming aware of repressive
forces and liberating oneself from them.
4.6 Making Connections: Creating a Synthesis
(i) To increase personal freedom, one must confront and
analyze external and internal constraints, thus creating options
from which to choose.
Key Terms
Determinism Compatibilism
Indeterminism Libertarianism
Existentialism Responsibility
Internal constraints External constraints
Chapter 4

Are You Free?
Freedom and Determination
Are You the Master of Your Fate?Human natureThe
environmentPsychological forcesSocial
dynamicsCompatibilismIndeterminismLibertarianism
Views of Free Will
DeterminismJohn Stuart MillBaron d’Holbach, The System of
NatureMotives and the Determination of the WillAbsence of
Restraint Is Not Absence of NecessityThe Complexity of Human
Conduct and the Illusion of Free Agency

Paul Henri Thiry, Baron d’Holbach
1723–1789) This French philosopher and translator played a
major role in the Enlightenment as a contributor to the
Encyclopedie, a compendium of progressive ideas and
knowledge. He published his own radical writings anonymously,
and his System of Nature and Common Sense were publicly
condemned and burned. (Paul Henry Tiry (1723–1789) Baron
d’Holbach, 1766 [wic on paper] by Carmontelle [Louis
Carrogis] [1717–1806]
*
CompatibilismExternal Constraints May Limit Freedom:
StaceW. T. Stace, Religion and the Modern MindInternal
Constraints May Also Limit Freedom: Schlick
CompatibilismWhen are choices free and when are they
unfree?Unimpeded rational desiresDegrees of freedomFree Will

Is a Human Creation: DennettEvaluating Compatibilism
W.T. Stace
(1886–1967) This British philosopher wrote influential books
on Hegel, mysticism, aesthetics, and philosophy of religion. His
books include Mysticism and Philosophy and The Meaning of
Beauty.
*
Mahatma Gandhi
(1869–1948) A political and spiritual leader, Gandhi helped
India achieve independence through nonviolent civil protest and
disobedience. What were the factors in his background that
influenced his decisions? Were these choices free?
*
Daniel C. Dennett

(b. 1942) The research of this American philosopher centers on
the philosophy of mind, particularly as it relates to evolutionary
biology and cognitive science.
*
Indeterminism and LibertarianismWe Live in a World of
Possibilities: JamesSelf improvementMoralityReligionSocial
improvementWilliam James, The Will to BelieveA universe of
actualities
Indeterminism and LibertarianismA universe of
possibilitiesPsychological, astrological, sociological, and
economic theoriesAnalyzing James on Free WillWe Create
Ourselves Through Our Choices: SartreExistentialism
Indeterminism and LibertarianismJean-Paul Sartre, from
Existentialism Is a HumanismHuman nature; the environment;
psychological forces; social dynamicsAnalyzing Sartre on
Freedom, Choice, and Responsibility
William James

(1842–1910) An American thinker whose work blends science,
psychology, and philosophy. James was one of the founders of
Pragmatism, a school of philosophy that connects questions of
meaning and truth to practical applications and consequences.
Among his writings is The Principles of Psychology (1890), a
1,200-page work that introduced the concept of “stream of
thought.”
*
Jean-Paul Sartre
(1905–1980) Sartre was a French philosopher and founder of
Existentialism, a school of thought based on the idea that
“existence precedes essence.” His Being and Nothingness
(1943) offers a full exploration of this view. Sartre also wrote
literary criticism, plays, and novels and was awarded the Nobel
Prize for Literature in 1954 (which he declined.)
*
A Feminist Analysis of FreedomJean Grimshaw, Autonomy and
Identity in Feminist ThinkingMary DalyMarilyn FryeKate
MilletAnalyzing Jean Grimshaw on Autonomy

Making Connections: Creating a SynthesisOvercoming
Limitations to Your FreedomIs heredity destiny?Confronting
External ConstraintsConfronting Internal ConstraintsHow can
personal freedom transcend physical limitations?

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