Week 2 Kantian & Virtue Ethics

1. Week 3
Dr. Russell Rodrigo
Kantian
Ethics
1

2. Deontology or Kantian Ethics
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
German philosopher
non-consequentialist
Did not believe that looking at the consequences of
an action was how to decide whether it was wrong or
right
Kant focuses on motives, rules and the
way we treat people.

3. DEONTOLOGY: An Ethics Of
Rights And Duties
Supplements the
utilitarian approach.
We ought to follow rules even if doing so
prevents good consequences from
happening or even if it results in some bad
consequences.
Principle-based

4. • What rules should we follow?
Legal rules
Institutional Rules
Role-based rules (Business)
Professional rules
DEONTOLOGY
These rules are gatekeepers that ensure
integrity and proper functioning of economic,
legal or financial system

5. Immanuel Kant:
“Respect the dignity of each individual human
being.”
Human Rights And Duties
Act according to those rules that could
be universally agreed to by all people.
Treat each person as end in
themselves and never only as means
to our own ends.
How?

6. Fundamental human rights are derived from our
nature as free and rational beings:
Kantian Tradition
How they live their lives.
Their own ends.
Humans are said to have a fundamental human
right of autonomy, or self-rule.

7. Since all humans possess this fundamental characteristic,
equal treatment and equal consideration is also a
fundamental right.
Human Rights And Duties
Autonomy
or
Self-rule
human
nature
freedom to make our
own choices deserves
special protection as a
basic right.

8. Distinguishing Between Moral Rights
And Legal Rights
• granted on the basis of legislation or
judicial rulings.
• arise from contractual agreements.
• One cannot contract away one’s moral rights -
moral rights lie outside of the bargaining that
occurs in a contract.
• Establish the basic moral framework for legal
environment itself, and more specifically for
any contracts that are negotiated within
business.
Legal rights
Moral Rights

9. Let’s look at what this means…
How do we decide what is right?
Look at the intentions behind any act to see whether it was right or wrong.
Why do consequences not count?
The consequences of actions couldn’t be used to decide what was
right because consequences were not totally within our control.
Being moral was something we did as rational human beings and was
something which applied equally to all such rational beings.
Right Intentions Right Actions

10. Think about a man who saves another from drowning and the
man he saves then goes and kills his family. If we were just
looking at the consequences – the first man could be said to
have done something wrong, not right.

11. If consequences don’t count what does?
For Kant, the only way to decide what is right is to look at
why you are doing it. Kant says that the only reason which
counts as a moral one is to act out of duty.
What does this mean? What is it to act out
of duty?
Acting out of duty is acting only because you know
that it is the right thing to do, not from any
other motive.

12. Why Duty?
Think about the different natures people have.
Kind
nature
Unkind nature
It follows then that if what was right and wrong was decided by looking at
whether people acted out of kindness, some people would find it much
easier than others would. They would be more inclined to be kind.
This means that being moral would be a lot easier for
some.

13. The Categorical Imperative
- a command, like ‘Go to your class’ or ‘Keep
your promises’.
There are 2 main ways in which the categorical
imperative is stated.

14. Universal Moral law
You should only do things, which it would make sense to
apply to everyone.
You should only do things that you would make a
moral law for everyone.

15. Treating People as ends not means.
The idea here is that you should not use people to suit
your own purposes. You should make sure that you are
treating them as individuals who have their own lives to
lead and deserve respect.

18. So what do you think of Kantian Ethics? Is it a
good way to decide what is right and wrong?
Strengths:
No problem of consequences
Motives matter
We should act out of duty not just do what we want
Justice matters

19. Are consequences totally irrelevant?
Is duty the only correct motive?
What happens when duties conflict?
Weaknesses

20. EXERCISE

21. Euthanasia

22. Definition and handout distributed

23. Jim’s Story
Jim was lying in a hospital bed, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. His brain cells had
seriously deteriorated and he was unable to speak or care for himself. He was being kept
alive by food and water being fed through a tube into his nose and stomach. Jim was a
retired army officer who had fought in the Second World War. He was now 75 and his
family accepted that his death was only a matter of time. Jim had contracted Alzheimer’s
not long after he had retired and he knew that it would cause helplessness and
eventually his death. Well before it got to this stage, Jim had written a letter to his
doctor saying that he wanted the doctor to put him to sleep forever, if he got to a stage
of total helplessness and dependence on others.
Given the legal position, however, the doctor could not carry this out.
Jim’s younger brother, Sam, another retired army officer visited regularly. There was only
3 years age difference and the brothers had always been very close. One day Jim, was
very distressed and kept making mouth movements as if he was trying to say something.
A few minutes later, Sam went to his car and came back with his pistol. When Jim saw
this, he nodded. Sam fired 3 shots through his brother’s head and another into his
stomach. Calmly he put the gun down and waited for the police to arrive.

24. The greatest happiness principle and the issue of euthanasia.
Utilitarians will look at the short term and long term
consequences of allowing euthanasia.
Rule Utilitarians would look for rules to cover euthanasia as a
whole.

25. The Categorical Imperative and the Issue of Euthanasia –
Arguments AGAINST Euthanasia
Universalisation.
The Kantian only accepts as moral laws, those which can be
universalised i.e. it makes sense to apply to everyone.
Treating people as ends not means.
The Kantian says the only situations which are moral are those which allows
people to act as rational human beings. They have to be respected and
valued.

26. Virtue Ethics is a tradition within philosophical
ethics that seeks a full and detailed description
of those character traits, or virtues, that would
constitute a good and full human life.
VIRTUE ETHICS:
Making Decisions Based On
Integrity And Character

27. VIRTUE ETHICS
What a person should do Who that person is
Personal
Identity
WANTS
beliefs
values
ATTITUDES
The affective side of our character.

28. VIRTUE ETHICS
Greek philosopher
Socrates was a pioneer in
virtue-ethical thinking.
enotes.com
What does it do to us?
Understands how our traits are formed and
which traits bolster and which undermine a
meaningful, worthwhile, and satisfying human
life.
Encourages a fuller description,
rather than simply describing
people as good or bad, right or
wrong.
Reminds us to examine how character traits are
formed and conditioned.

29. 29
Virtue Ethics: Robert Solomon
• Ability Being dependable and competent
• AcceptanceMaking the best of a bad situation
• Amiability Fostering agreeable social contexts
• Articulateness Ability to make and defend one’s case
• Attentiveness Listening and understanding
• Autonomy Having a personal identity
• Caring Worrying about the well-being of others
despite power
© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

30. 30
Virtue Ethics (Cont’d)
• Charisma Inspiring others
• Compassion Sympathetic
• Cool headedness Retaining control and reasonableness in
heated situations
• Courage Doing the right thing despite the cost
• Determination Seeing a task through to completion
• Fairness Giving others their due; creating harmony
• Generosity Sharing, enhancing others’ well-being
© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

31. 31
Virtue Ethics (Cont’d)
• Graciousness Establishing a congenial environment
• Gratitude Giving proper credit
• Heroism Doing the right thing despite the
consequences
• Honesty Telling the truth; not lying
• Humility Giving proper credit
• Humor Bring relief; making the world better
• Independence Getting things done despite bureaucracy
© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated,
or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

32. 32
Virtue Ethics (Cont’d)
• Integrity Being a model of trustworthiness
• Justice Treating others fairly
• Loyalty Working for the well-being of an organization
• Pride Being admired by others
• Prudence Minimizing company and personal losses
• Responsibility Doing what it takes to do the right thing
• Saintliness Approaching the ideal in behavior
© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

33. 33
Virtue Ethics (Cont’d)
• Shame (capable of) Regaining acceptance after wrong
behavior
• Spirit Appreciating a larger picture in situations
• Toughness Maintaining one’s position
• Trust Dependable
• Trustworthiness Fulfilling one’s responsibilities
• Wittiness Lightening the conversation when
warranted
• Zeal Getting the job done right; enthusiasm
© 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned,
copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole
or in part.