Morals and Ethics

What is morality?

• What is morality? And where our moral rules come from?

• What is the purpose of moral rules and moral values in a society?

• Can we live without morality?

• Three adjectives: moral , amoral and inmoral. 

Where do moral rules come from?

Do we create (or invent) our moral rules? Or do we discover them? Or are they given to us by someone with authority?

• • Do different people, living in different societies, have different moral rules? Can you give some examples?

  • How did you learn the moral rules of your society? Which are the sources of moral knowledge?

Moral disagreements

Rule conflicts

• • People are sometimes unsure about what to do. In some situations we are not sure about what is the right thing to do.

  • Two moral rules may collide: you must decide which one of the two rules is more important.

  • Moral dilemmas are situations in which these conflicts between rules arise:

• • Which rules are in conflict in each of these cases?

  • What would you do?

Social changes

• • Sometimes, moral uncertainty arises from new situations. Our society changes and our moral rules may not be ready for those changes. We must improvise and develop new moral rules to cope with new situations.

  • Science and technology may allow us to do things our parents and grandparents could not do, and we must think for ourselves what is the right thing to do.

• • What social change is presented in each of these videos?

  • What would you do?

Moral changes

• • And on other occasions, our sense of what is right and what is wrong changes, our morality changes. But not everybody changes in unison.

• • What moral rule is under change is this case?

  • From the three options presented, Which one would you choose? Is it different from the one chosen in previous decades or centuries?

The Golden Rule

Some people think that our moral uncertainties will disappear if we employ a single and simple rule: the Golden Rule.

Besides, the Golden Rule appears with slight variations in many different cultures and religions:

• • What does the Golden Rule say? Also explain it with an example.

  • Is the Golden Rule the answer to all our problems about doing the right thing? Try to apply the Golden Rule to the first two dilemmas above. Does the Golden Rule help you to take a decision?

  • What is the basic fault of the Golden Rule? And how this fault is precisely the reason many people find appealing the Golden Rule? Exemplify the faulty reasoning with the debate about same-sex marriage.

What is Ethics?

• • In daily situations, we use the words "morals" and "ethics" interchangeably. Also the adjectives "immoral" and "unethical" have very similar meanings.

  • However, it is important to have two different words for naming two very different activities.

  • What is the key difference between morals and ethics?

  • Which factors facilitate ethics? And which ones hinder this activity?

Moral reasoning

The Golden Rule may be considered just a first approximation to the complex task of reasoning about our morals.

We expect that our reasoning capabilities may help us to solve our moral dilemmas.

Pre-requisites for moral reasoning

In order to initiate and participate in moral reasoning (aka ethics), several conditions or pre-requisites must be met:

• 1. Rationality. We must be capable of comprehending, discussing and accepting reasons in order to participate in moral reasoning.

  2. Freedom. From ourselves (basic emotions, biological impulses) and from others (slavery, coercion, social pressure). If we are not free, there is no point in reasoning what should we do. 

  3. Sociability. We reason with others in order to cooperate and solve disputes. Hypothetical rational, free but lonely beings do not need nor can to argue about their hypothetical moral customs. 

Ethical theories

Although many moral philosophers have attempted to formulate an ethical theory capable to solve all our moral questions, such a global theory has not been reached and it is doubtful that it will ever be. But even without a global ethical theory, moral reasoning is a very important tool against our moral prejudices and errors.

We will present, apply and evaluate several theories:

1. The categorical imperative of Immanuel Kant. 

2. Utilitarianism, the theory of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.

3. The discourse ethics of Jürgen Habermas.

4. The theory of justice of John Rawls.

Some contemporary ethical issues

Ethical theories are worth studying for the insights and answers they give us when we apply them to our moral questions. As we study the theories mentioned above, we will try to apply each of them to an important and actual moral problem:

1. Kant: The defense of human dignity and the universal nature of human rights.

2. Utilitarianism: The right to choose our own way to die. Animal rights.

3. Habermas: Democracy versus totalitarianism.

4. Rawls: Inequality in a global world.

In addition to these contemporary ethical issues, we will apply moral theories to the analysis (and eventual answer) of moral dilemmas.