Teleological Theories

SIS IB Philosophy
 Key Concept: Teleological
Theory
 Concerned with the ends or consequences
of actions [sometimes called consequentialist]
 Link between the ACT and the
CONSEQUENCE as extremely important in
moral decision-making
 Rightness or wrongness of an action is
decided by the consequences that it produces
 Includes SITUATION ethics and
UTILITARIANISM
 Joseph Fletcher (1905-91)
 Anglican Priest
 Rejected Legalistic
approach
 Rejected
Antinomian
Approach (‘Against
Law’) - go by
intuition or ‘inner
voice’
Fletcher’s Situational Approach
A situationist enters into a moral
dilemma with the ethics and principles
of his or her particular tradition, but is
prepared to set these laws and
principles aside if love is better served.
‘Do whatever is the most loving thing’
Only one duty to love ‘your neighbour
as yourself’
 AGAPE LOVE
 Self-giving love,
tolerance and
respect towards all
people.
 For Christians,
agape is God’s love:
perfect, total,
unconditional and
eternal.
 The six fundamental principles
of situation ethics
1. ‘Only one thing is intrinsically good, namely love,
nothing else at all’
2. ‘The ruling norm of Christian decision is love, nothing
else.’
3. ‘Love and justice are the same, for justice is love
distributed, nothing else.’
4. Love wills the neighbour’s good, whether we like him
or not.’
5. ‘Only the ends justifies the means, nothing else.’ ie.
The most loving result
6. ‘Love’s decisions are made situationally, not
precriptively.’
‘The situationist enters into every decision- \
making situation fully armed with the ethical
maxims of his community and its heritage,
and he treats them with respect as
illuminators of his problems. Just the same,
he is prepared in any situation to compromise
them or set them aside in the situation if love
seems better served by doing so.’
Joesph Fletcher, Situation Ethics: The New
Morality (1966)
 Think it through
A fire is uncontrollably destroying a house.
Inside it are my elderly father and a skilled
surgeon. I have time to enter the house and
rescue one of them but not enough time to
rescue both. Which one should I rescue?
Notice the question! Not who do I want to
rescue but who should I rescue.

In pairs, consider how a situationist would

approach this dilemma.
WHAT ARE
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
SOME
ADVANTAGES
OF
SITUATIONIST
APPROACH?
 WHAT
What areISsome
PHILOSOPHY?
Criticisms of Situation
Ethics?
 WHAT
BIG IS PHILOSOPHY?
QUESTION:

Is Lying Always
Wrong?

or ‘Is honesty always

the best policy?’
 Liar Liar...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=s3coytl081c
Do you think there can be a
WHAT for
good reason IS PHILOSOPHY?
a lie? Why or
why not?

Make a list of times when you

think it might be OK to lie.
Acceptable / Unacceptable
 WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
Describe an example of a lie
that was wrong. Suppose
someone did not think it was
wrong. How would you
explain to her why you
thought it was?
 Lesson Objectives 11/3
To understand the theory of
Utilitarianism
To evaluate and assess the strengths &
weaknesses of Utilitarianism
To develop a personal response to the
theory of Utilitarianism
 Group Presentation Task
Prepare a presentation of maximum 20minutes in
length on an ethical theory, covering the following:

1. A clear explanation of what the ethical theory is

and how it works.
2. A link of the theory to a video clip of your choice
which illustrates how the theory works (can be
from film / TV / or homemade)
3. An evaluation of the theory (do include a mention
of the strengths and weaknesses and your personal
response).
4. An application of the theory to the ‘ROBIN HOOD
Scenario’. How would someone living by that
ethical theory rank the characters in the scenario
and WHY?
 Ethical Theories:
1. Utilitarianism : Paul, Giancarlo, Sadiyya
2. Natural Law : John, Monique, Elizabeth
3. Kantian Ethics : Tommy, Louise, Marrissa
4. Duty / Dharma : Edward, Ella

You have the whole of Friday’s lesson to work

on your presentations. At the end of your
presentation, your classmates should be
able to apply the theory successfully to
discussion questions and different
scenarios.
The UTILITARIAN
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
PRINCIPAL:

A good action is one that

maximises general happiness
or minimises pain.

A bad action is one that

maximises general pain or
minimises happiness.
Health or Wealth? : The Scenario

Newtown Hospital is frequently required to

make difficult decisions about it’s
patients. It has established an Ethics
Committee to help decide which patients
should be treated and to help justify
these decisions.

YOU are part of this committee!

 Health of Wealth?
 Object of the game is to score the most points. The
team with the highest score is the winner.
 3 rounds will be played.
 Teams score points by strictly applying and adhering to
the principle of UTILITARIANISM. Point’s will be
awarded at the end of each round.
 For each round, teams must decide both of the
following:
1) Which of the patients on it should be treated
2) How to resolve the special dilemma
 To treat a patient costs money, and each team has only
ECU 64,000 to spend TOTAL. This limits your choices.
 At end of each round the team members must be
prepared to justify their choices (you can score
bonus points for this).
 Health or Wealth: Round One
pg.69 of Workbooks
Team 1 :G’s team Team 2: Sadiyya’s

125 points 80 points

 Health or Wealth: Round Two
RUNNING TOTAL
Team 1 G Team 2 Saddiyya

195 points 100 points

Health or Wealth: FINAL SCORE
Team 1 Team 2

255 110
Reflect on Your experience of
WHAT
‘Health IS PHILOSOPHY?
or Wealth?’ :

What issues / difficulties did

you face in trying to act as a
UTILITARIAN?
 Discussion Questions
 Were some of the decisions made counter-intuitive?
 How do we actually determine what the
consequences of an action are – should we only
count the direct consequences, or all the foreseeable
consequences?
 How are we supposed to measure pleasure?
 Are all pleasures equal?
 Should we be trying to maximise happiness and
pleasure, or to minimise pain?
 How should pleasure be distributed – over many
people, or over a few?
 BLOG reflection
‘An action is right if it produces the
greatest good for the greatest number.’

A reflection on the Utilitarian Principal…

Read and anotate pg.86-87

WHAT makes an action come
withinWHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
the scope of morality?
WHAT sorts of things is morality
all about?
WHAT makes an act enter the
moral arena?
WHAT criteria do we use in order
to identify moral actions?
 KEY CONCEPT:

AGENCY : The capacity to reflect and decide

what to do.

Can only humans be moral AGENTS?

 IS IT ALL RELATIVE?

IS IT ALL
RELATIVE?
Are there situations when an action
might be WHAT IS other
right and PHILOSOPHY?
situations
when the same action might be wrong?
Is one culture or religious view of
morality as good as that of another
culture or religion?
Are there some actions which are
ALWAYS right?
Are there certain moral rules that exist
for all times and for all places?
The nomadic Masai of East
Africa practice polygamy
and wife-lending between
men of the same age
group.
Some Westerners practise
open marriages, whereby
spouses engage other
spouses in shared and
open sexual relations.
Christians practice
monogamy.
Is any one way morally
better or morally worse
than another?
 KEY CONCEPT:

RELATIVISM : Theory that the truth is different

for different people

ABSOLUTISM : Theory that there are moral

principles that are always and everywhere
applicable
 KEY CONCEPT:

ETHICAL RELATIVISM : Morality relative to the

norms of ones culture. No universal moral
standards.

 Individual ethical relativism

 Cultural ethical relativism
 IS IT ALL RELATIVE?
Can you think of
any criticisms of
relativism?
 KEY CONCEPT:

ETHICAL ABSOLUTISM : Theory that there are

moral principles that are always and
everywhere applicable.
 Right and wrong based on constant objective
moral principles
 Moral quality of an act inherent in the quality
of the act itself.
 IS IT ALL RELATIVE?
Can you think of
any criticisms of
absolutism?
 Research Task
Visit
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ethics/
Find out more about ‘Honour Crimes’ and
‘Forced marriage’, ‘Slavery’
Summarize the cases / issues for the
class
What is your response to the issues?
How would a Ethical relativist respond?
How would a Ethical absolutist respond?