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MORAL SITUATIONS

AN OVERVIEW. MORAL SITUATIONS. WHAT AM I TO DO?. WHAT IS THE RIGHT CHOICE?. IS IT RIGHT?. IS IT WRONG?. Contemporary Moral Trends. Might is right Morals are mores The individual is the measure The human Race is the basis of right Right is moderation Right is what brings pleasure

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MORAL SITUATIONS

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  1. AN OVERVIEW MORAL SITUATIONS

  2. WHAT AM I TO DO? WHAT IS THE RIGHT CHOICE? IS IT RIGHT? IS IT WRONG?

  3. Contemporary Moral Trends • Might is right • Morals are mores • The individual is the measure • The human Race is the basis of right • Right is moderation • Right is what brings pleasure • Right is the greatest good for the greater number • Right is what is desirable for it's own sake • Right is indefinable • Right is what God wills

  4. What is Ethics/Morality? • Etymology • Ethics from the greek “Ethos” • Morals from the latin “Mos” • Which means: customs or practices • Morality refers to the rightness or wrongness of an action. • Ethics refers to the study concerned with what is morally good and bad, right and wrong Encyclopedia Brittanica 1994-2002

  5. ETHICAL SYSTEMS • Relativism • Right or wrong, good or bad is variable and relative, depending on the person, circumstance or social situation. • Cultural Relativism – Moral standards are a product of culture. What is right in one culture may be wrong in another. • Morality changes through time. • Secular Humanism • Emphasis on the human. • “A search for viable individual, social and political principles of ethical conduct, judging them on their ability to enhance human well-being and individual responsibility” (Council for Secular Humanism)

  6. ETHICAL SYSTEMS • Virtue Ethics • Happiness is achieved through the development of “good habits:” intellectual (for example knowledge) and practical action and emotion (for example courage). • “Golden Mean” – neither excess nor deficiency. • Seeks to develop individual character. A good person will make a good decision. • Hedonism • What brings pleasure to an individual is good. • Ethical Egoism • Focuses on the pursuit of self-interest in human conduct.

  7. ETHICAL SYSTEMS • Teleological Ethics • From the Greek “telos” meaning “end” or “goal.” • Concerned with the end-point or results of an action • Consequentialism • Utilitarianism (Universal Hedonism) • The greatest good or happiness for the greatest number of people. • Deontology • The good is found in the action itself and not based on its consequences or results. • Thus it is our duty to do the right action • Kantian Ethics • “Act as if the principle on which your action is based were to become a universal law of nature.”

  8. Ethical Systems • Determinism • Everything is caused and determined (even human actions and choices) by previously existing causes that preclude free will and the possibility that humans could have acted otherwise. • Fatalism • Stoicism • Theonomous Ethics: Morality and religion go together • Divine Command • Being good is doing whatever a sacred text tells you. • Christian Ethics • Looking at the person of Christ as the norm of all thought and action.

  9. Ethical Systems • Absolutism • It is not limited by exceptions or restrictions. • It is not to be doubted or questioned – positive, certain and unconditional. • Cultural absolutism • There exists moral absolutes that do not vary from culture to culture.

  10. Contemporary Moral Trends • Might is right • Relativism • Hedonism / Egoism • Absolutism • Morals are mores • Cultural Relativism • The individual is the measure • Relativism / Subjectivism • Egoism • The human Race is the basis of right • Secular Humanism • Right is moderation • Aristotle’s “Golden Mean”

  11. Contemporary Moral Trends • Right is what brings pleasure • Hedonism / Egoism • Right is the greatest good for the greater number • Utilitarianism • Right is what is desirable for it's own sake • Deontological Ethics • Right is indefinable • Ethical Relativism • Determinism • Right is what God wills • Theonomous Ethics • Absolutism

  12. References • Ismael Ireneo Maningas. Filipino Christian Morality. St. Pauls, 1998. • Karl Peschke. Christian Ethics. • Professor Dean R. Bork. Fundamentals of Ethical Systems.Lecture Notes. http://www.lar.arch.vt.edu/Resources/courses/LAR-3034/Notes/Ethics.html • Louis D. Whitworth. Measuring Morality: A Comparison of Ethical Systems. Probe Ministries, 1995. http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/measmor.html • “Ethics” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004. • “What is Secular Humanism?” Council for Secular Humanism. Last updated 8/11/2004. http://www.secularhumanism.org/intro/what.html

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