Moral Philosophy & Applied Ethics

1. Moral Philosophy & Applied Ethics Reasoning and Communicating about Values

2. Moral Arguments • The conclusion has one of the following forms: • X is morally obligated. • X is morally permissible. • We ought to do X. • We ought not to do X. • The set of premises has at least one moral principle. • A moral principle is a principle of a moral theory. The principle gives us conditions on how to decide what to do. Example: Perform only those actions that increase the welfare of the most number of people involved.

3. Mistakes To Avoid • Avoid arbitrary argumentation. Don’t argue from the claim that because something is thought to be right or wrong, it is in fact right or wrong. • Avoid arguing from gut feeling. Don’t argue that something is wrong simply because you feel that it is wrong in your gut. • Avoid arguing from authority. Don’t argue that something is wrong simply because an authority says so. • Avoid arguing from religion. Don’t argue that something is wrong simply because the religion you believe in says so. Always try to offer an argument with premises that someone can engage through argument.

4. Moral Egoism is not a live option • It is impossible to be motivated to do something that is not in one’s self-interest. • If one ought to do X, then one can do X. • So, one ought only to do those things that are in their self-interest. Simple version: Because it is impossible to be altruistic, one ought morally to only do what is in their self-interest. While there is a substantial debate in moral psychology about moral egoism, for the purposes of applied ethics it is not a live option. • It cannot account for apparent acts of altruism. • It makes the world far more combative. • It doesn’t engage moral reasoning.

5. Cultural Relativism is not a live option Culture X says that Y is morally wrong. Culture Z says that Y is morally right. So, there is no fact of the matter about whether Y is morally right or morally wrong. Not a good argument Culture X says that the Earth is flat. Culture Z says that the Earth is round. So, there is no fact of the matter about whether the Earth is flat or round. You cannot use mere variation in belief to show that there is no fact of the matter. We are not interested in belief variation.

6. Communicating about values To communicate about your own values you need to do two things: Understand your own values. To understand your own values you have to think critically about what you believe in general and how that relates to specific situations. Understand the values of others. To understand the values of others you have to think critically about what values they are communicating. You must listen carefully, ask questions, and not jump to conclusions. You must be open to investigationand to clarification.

7. Moral Consideration and Moral Decision Sometimes we know what we want to do. We have made a moral decision. But in knowing what we want to do, we have not gone through the process of moral consideration. Moral consideration requires investigating the reasons why we should do what we have chosen to do. I know that I don’t want to give the homeless person my extra 12 dollars. But I have never ever gone through a process of moral reflection or considered my decision and outlook from the perspective of different moral theories or considerations. We want to be reflective instead of unreflective, even if the outcome is the same. We want moral reflection as a way of understanding our own moral decisions and choices.

8. Moral Consideration and Moral Decision Moral Reflection and Moral Consideration requires • Knowing a variety of moral theories. • Applying these moral theories in coming up with a decision about what to do. • Making sure that one occasionally revisits their firm moral beliefs in order to consider them again in light of new experiences. • Being open to how other people think about morality and engage in moral decision making • Having and maintaining a critical moral identity.

9. Critical moral identity Each of us as part of a community of thinkers needs a critical moral identity A critical moral identity contains and requires the following: • Making moral decisions on the basis of moral reflection • A system of moral principles for making moral decisions and offering moral feedback. • A principle of how to reason critically and engage in critical reasoning with others. • An openness to moral disagreement and moral feedback.

10. Moral Disagreement Moral disagreement is not the end of a conversation, it is the beginning of the process of hard moral reflection. When we reach moral disagreement, we should • Recognize that morality requires giving reasons in the face of initial disagreement, even though there may be ultimate brute disagreement. • Seek to understand the disagreement in terms of the source of the disagreement. • Aim to formulate hinge point questions, questions that if answered would resolve the debate. • Learn to tolerate ultimate brute disagreement, and recognize the difference between reasonable and unreasonable disagreement.