SOURCES OF

AUTHORITY IN
MORALITY
GE 8 - ETHICS
 INTRODUCTION

•The standards of moral valuation are

imposed by a higher authority that
commands our obedience.
•The LAW, RELIGION, and CULTURE
 LAW

• Rules and regulations that are posited or put forward by an

authority figure that require compliance.
• CRITICISM: Can one simply identify ethics with the law? (The
prohibitive nature of law)
• The Parable of the Good Samaritan
• One should think of ethics in a way that does not simply identify it
with the obedience to the law.
CONT.

• Breaking the LAW is not always an immoral act, just as

following the LAW is not necessarily doing what is
morally right.
• An action that is legal can be morally wrong.
 RELIGION

• The Divine Command Theory

• Not prohibitive but permissive in the ideals to pursue
• CRITICISM: Conflicting ethical standards due to the multiplicity
of religions; the problem of ethics and the divine.
CONT.

• Moral directives given by the world’s great religions are general and
imprecise.
• Example: ‘’Thou shall not kill’’
• Can we really be certain what GOD wants us to do?
• As RATIONAL beings, we are doing ourselves a disservice if we simply
base our judgment of right and wrong on what our religion dictates.
• Morality should transcend religion; a matter of REASON.
 CULTURE

• What is ethical is relative to one’s culture. (Cultural Relativism)

• Culture as a clear basis for valuations.
• CRITICISM: the reality of difference; no position to render any
kind of judgment on the practices of another culture; no
position to render any kind of judgment on the practices of
one’s own culture; culture as something fixed.
THE SELF AS AN AUTHORITY
Subjectivism, Psychological Egoism, and Ethical Egoism
 SUBJECTIVISM

• The individual thinking person is at the heart of all moral valuations. The
individual is the sole determinant of what is morally good or bad, right or
wrong.
• No one can tell me what is right and wrong
• No one knows my situation better than myself
• I am entitled to my own opinion
• It is good if I say it is good.
 PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOISM

• Human beings are naturally self-centered, so all our actions are always
already motivated by self-interest.
• The ego or self has its desires and interests, and all our actions are
geared toward satisfying these interests.
• All actions are self serving.
• CRITICISM: a cynical view of humanity; a gloomy description of human
nature.
 ETHICAL EGOISM

• One may act in a way that is beneficial to others, but we should do that
only if it ultimately benefits us.
• Why should I have any concern about the interests of others?
• The Myth of Gyges
• An imposition of a will to power that is potentially destructive of both
self and of others.