The Nature of Ethics

1. The Nature of Ethics • Descriptive in its focus on moral situations • Focus given to ‘choice’ of behavior involving human values • Grounded in interpretation, perspective, and cultural beliefs • Often enacted “without consideration to the appropriateness or reasonableness of those beliefs”

2. The Nature of Ethics • Underlying ethics-based choices is that varying degrees of responsibility are associated with one’s actions

3. The Need for Ethics Ethics (defined) • The study of choices people make regarding right and wrong • The nature of the choices may be long lasting… • …but are not always choices involving matters of great consequence

4. The Need for Ethics Should I… • Wait for the traffic light to change from red to green at 2 o’ clock a.m. when there’s no traffic around or go through the light? • Spend the extra money I earned in this week’s pay check on entertainment for me or pay a friend who lent me the same amount in cash last week?

5. The Need for Ethics Should I… • Put quotes around borrowed phrasing or pretend the words are my own? • Be straight-forward about my limited skills or abilities or “embellish” the truth to get the job I really want?

6. Who Should Judge ‘Right’ or ‘Wrong’? • Institutions? • The government? • The church? • Others? • Social systems? • Society/community • Family? • Others? • Individuals themselves? • ‘Moral relativism’ (p. 3)

7. Who Should Judge ‘Right’ or ‘Wrong’? • ‘Moral relativism’ is the idea of “who can say?”, so live and let live • “Decisions about right and wrong are purely personal and subjective” • And, to judge other people’s conduct is considered intolerant

8. Who Should Judge ‘Right’ or ‘Wrong’? • Pros, Cons to moral relativism?

9. Laws and Ethics • Why should ethics be a point of discussion if laws exist to protect individual rights? • “Law is not possible without ethics” • “The only way for a law to be enacted or repealed is for one or more people to make a decision about right and wrong”

10. Religion and Ethics • Morality is the basis of both modes of thought • However, “to be productive, ethical discourse must take place on common ground, that is using understandings and intellectual procedures and judgment criteria that all participants affirm.”

11. Summarizing the Need for Ethics • To refine and perfect our legal system • To help us reach sound decisions based on reasonable thought processes • To facilitate discussions with others who may not share our theological position • To help us interpret everyday human actions and determine which we want to emulate

12. The Role of The Majority • Does majority imply the ‘wisest’, ‘most informed’ view? • Consider how laws are passed in a democratic society? • By representative majority

13. The Role of Majority • There must be more to right and wrong than a showing of hands • Majority is no guarantee of correctness

14. The Role Feelings & Conscience in Ethics • Should each person make decisions on the basis of her or his own feelings, desires, and preferences?

15. For Discussion • Rogers claimed that “one becomes a person by self-affirmation, rather than self-evaluation or self-criticism • “If it feels worth doing, it is worth doing” • “Am I living in a way which is deeply satisfying to me, and which truly expresses me?” • What are the implications of this approach on self? On others?

16. For Discussion • …” when we speak of the right to choice, we mean that there are no necessary consequences, that disapproval is only prejudice and guilt only a neurosis…” (p. 27) • To what extent do you believe this is true? • What are the ‘it depends’ aspects of this quote, if any?

17. For Discussion • Where do feelings fit in ethical evaluation? • Should ‘feelings’ be altogether dispensed with as an ethics compass?

18. The Role of Conscience • Conscience is defined as the faculty by which we determine that we are guilty of a moral offense. • Shame is described as an appropriate emotional response to lapses of conscious

19. The Role of Conscience • The intensity of conscience differs from person to person’ • And, quite possibly from circumstance to circumstance… • Without conscience, satisfaction of and for oneself becomes a driving motivator in existence

20. Ingredients for Conscience • Natural endowment (internal) • Temperament • Intelligence (practical vs. philosophic) • Social conditioning (external) • People, places, institutions, ideas, and values that we are exposed to as we mature

21. A Balanced View of Conscience • “…when feelings are allowed to overrule conscience, conscience loses its moral bearings…” (p. 40) • At the same time, “for all its imperfections, conscience is the most important single guide to right and wrong and individual can have…” • Follow your conscience, but not blindly…

23. Differences in Opinions Call for Rules for Engagement • Productive conversation on topics mean approaching each topic with an understanding that differences of opinion exist… • …and that an individual’s opinions are not necessarily right or wrong, merely different • Therefore advance preparation makes one better ready for what opinions that may be presented

24. Rules for Engagement • Simplify your expectations • About changing others’ opinions or about the idea of ‘winning’ the debate • Leave egotism and personal agendas at the door • Modus operandi of mutual respect and civility in a context of healthy engagement • Contribute, but don’t dominate the discussion

25. Rules for Engagement • Avoid distracting mannerisms • Be an active listener • Judge ideas based on their merits, not on your personal feelings or impressions • Resist the urge to shout or interrupt