PROMOTING HUMAN WELFARE

I. DOING GOOD TO OTHERS

.

ETHICS is the branch of Philosophy that is devoted to

the study of morality
THREE GENERAL KINDS OF ETHICS:
1. Normative Ethics which studies the principles or standards
used as bases for making moral judgments (judgments
that actions are good or bad).
2. Meta Ethics which studies the nature of moral judgments
in terms of how they are known and acquire their
meanings
3. Applied or Practical Ethics which studies the
application of moral principles in some specified areas
such as medicine, business, law and the environment
THREE STANDARD NORMATIVE ETHICAL THEORIES:
1. Consequentialism
accordingly for consequentialism it should be the
consequences of actions; and so this theory claims that
a good action is one that results in good or desirable
consequences while bad action is one that results in
bad or undesirable consequences
2. Deontology
Believes in the rules followed or violated by actions; so this
theory claims that a good action is one that follows a good or
right rule or violated a bad or wrong rule, while a bad action is
one that follows a bad or wrong rule or violates a good or
right rule
3. Virtue Ethics
It should be the character traits of the agent or doer of the
action; so this theory claims a good action is one that is
performed by a virtuous person( a person with good character
traits), while a bad action is one that is performed by a vicious
person ( a person with a bad character traits)
• CONSEQUENTIALISM has many forms arising from
differences in understanding what a good consequence is.
• TWO GENERAL CLASSIFICATIONS:
• 1.Concerns the role of pain and pleasure
• A. Hedonistic…when good consequences are defined
solely in terms of experience of pleasure and avoidance of
pain
• B. Non-hedonistic…when good consequences are defined
not solely in terms of experience of pleasure and
avoidance of pain but also in terms of other desirable
things such as the acquisition of knowledge and power,
establishment of good relationships and the satisfaction
of interests
2. Concerns the role of the agent of the action
A. Agent-relative or Egoistic… when good
consequences are defined solely in terms of the good
or welfare of the agent (or doer of the action)
B. Agent-neutral or Non egoistic… when good
consequences are defined not in terms of the good or
welfare of the agent but interms of the good or welfare
of all affected persons
FOUR KINDS OF CONSEQUENTIALISM
1.Agent-relative Hedonism-action is good if it brings
pleasure to its agent
2.Agent-neutral Hedonism-action is good if it brings the
maximum pleasure to the greatest number of affected
persons
3.Agent-relative Non Hedonism- an action is good if it
brings any form of benefits to its agent
4.Agent-neutral Non Hedonism– an action is good if it
brings the maximum benefits of any form to the
greatest number of affected persons
• UTILITARIANISM is the most influential and ideal form
of consequentialism.
• UTILITARIANISM generally claims that an action is
morally good if it maximizes the aggregate good or
welfare of all affected persons or that the action
promotes the greatest good of the greatest number of
people
DEONTOLOGY…duty based or right based
• Duties respect rights and rights impose duties
• DEONTOLOGY can be:
• 1. RELIGIOUS DEONTOLOGY-defines good rules as the rules or laws of
God; and thus defines a good action as one which follows the laws of
God and a bad action as one which violates these laws
• 2. RATIONAL DEONTOLOGY-defines good rules as the laws of reason
and thus defines a good action as one which follows the laws of
reason and a bad action as one which violates these rules
• “DOING OUT OF RESPECT FOR THESE LAWS AND NOT OUT OF THE
DESIRE FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF FOLLOWING THEM”…Immanuel
Kant
• KANT’S PRINCIPLES OF RESPECT FOR PERSONS
• “An action is morally good if it does not use persons merely
as means but always as ends at the same time.
• Principle of Universalizability…states that an action is morally
good if its maxim can be made universal or as a law for
everyone without contradiction
• VIRTUE ETHICS
• ARISTOTLE….ultimate end or goal of humans is to be happy
or to flourish
• VIRTUE the excellence of a thing in terms of the exercise of
its proper functions
• KANT’S PRINCIPLES OF RESPECT FOR PERSONS
• “An action is morally good if it does not use persons
merely as means but always as ends at the same
time.
• Principle of Universalizability…states that an action is
morally good if its maxim can be made universal or
as a law for everyone without contradiction
• VIRTUE ETHICS
• ARISTOTLE….ultimate end or goal of humans is to be
happy or to flourish
• VIRTUE the excellence of a thing in terms of the
exercise of its proper functions