An

Introduction
to Ethics

Jim Sutherland, PhD

 What is right and wrong?

• A 12-year-old girl was taken in marriage in the village of

Lohutok, S. Sudan. Is that good or bad? Why?
• Should the death penalty apply for a man or woman
engaged in consensual homosexual acts?
• Is it good for a husband to donate his sperm to his infertile
wife, so that she can be artificially inseminated and perhaps
bear their child?

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 Religion Philosophy
• Founded upon revelation • Founded upon reason
• Concerned with morals • Concerned with ethics
– Morals are absolute. – Ethics are relative. (School of
– Have to do with person- to-God Morals?)
• – Are person-to-person
Concerned with “supranature”
• • Not concerned with nature, but
Miracles are a part
with “metanature” (science
• Goal is to find God
concerned with nature)
• Arthur A. Custance, Noah’s • Miracles are irrelevant
Three Sons, p. 29.
• Goal is to find truth

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 Ethics (Moral Philosophy) Defined

• It concerns the nature of the right [deontology] and the

nature of the good [utility].
• Theories of the good are of two basic types:
– Theistic ( based upon the assumption of a God)
– Philosophical/anthropological (based upon reason)

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 Theistic ethics

• Monotheistic (believing in one god) religions, such as

Judaism, Christianity and Islam, believe that one God exists,
can be accessed, and is in control of earthly events.
– Their holy books provide detailed guidance as to what God considers to be right
and good.
– This guidance is taken as absolute, and may be in the form of commands.

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 Absolute and Relative Theistic Ethics

• Some theists believe in moral absolutes—that certain acts,

thoughts and failures to act are always wrong. Absolutes are
contained in books believed to have been transmitted from
God.
• Other theists consider “absolutes” more as guidelines and
would consider absolutists as presumptuous or even
arrogant.

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 Indo-European Origins of Philosophy

• Indo-European tribes conquered India from the northwest

from about 1800-1500 BC. They produced the Vedas
(“knowledge”) which are the oldest of Hindu sacred books.
(Noss & Noss, p. 73-74).
– The Greeks are another branch of these tribes. (Noss, p. 73).
– “Only Indo-Europeans have continually returned to the fundamental problems of
metaphysics, the Aryans in India (giving rise to Hindu Philosophy), the Greeks in
Greece….” Arthur A. Custance, Noah’s Three Sons, Zondervan, 1975, p. 31.

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 Hindu/Buddhist philosophy

• “The gods of the early Indo-Europeans were gods of light,

but this light was not moral light but rather the illumination of
the mind or understanding.”
• Philosophy can be defined as “strictly rational speculation,
concerned with the ultimate nature and meaning of reality,
apart from revelation, to satisfy a purely intellectual need…”
Custance, p. 30.

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 3 Stages in the History of Ethics

• First stage: moral authority shifted from above humans (the

divine), to humans.
• Second stage: extending the belief that humans are
responsible only to humans
– Rise of nihilism and relativism
• Third stage: focus shifting from individual to public ethics—
toward utilitarianism.
– Applied ethics is popular
– Virtue ethics is gaining ground
• From J. B. Schneewind, “Modern moral philosophy,” ch. 12 in A Companion to Ethics,
Peter Singer, ed. ISBN: 0631187855

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 Philosophical ethics--Assumptions

• Assumes that humans are basically good, and can be more

ethical.
• Reason is a sufficient basis for developing ethics.
• Humans are accountable only to other humans.

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 Philosophical ethics--Assumptions

• Carl F.H. Henry noted these assumptions:

1. “nature is the ultimate reality”

2. Humans are essentially animals.

3. “truth and right are intrinsically time-bound and
changing”

Carl F. H. Henry, Christian Personal Ethics, 1957, p. 23

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Locating Ethics Within Philosophy

Meta-ethics “What is goodness?”

(philosophical How are good and bad
questions) determined?
Normative ethics “What should we do?”
(“moral” questions) Deontology
Ethical theory Utility, Virtue,
(Teleological=+goals)
Applied ethics What is right and
wrong in specific
Adapted from “Metaethics” situations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MetaEthics accessed 3/3/10
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Theological/philosophical worldviews
  Monotheistic Philosophical/ Animistic
Anthropological/
Utopian

Kingdom Divine Kingdom is Political, social Balancing between

coming human & spirits

God Is sovereign We are the gods God is gone

Power Is God’s & Is ours, by reason, Belongs to the

delegated majority, force spirits

Goal Please God Please people or self Please spirits

People Sinful (Islam--less Basically good-- Basically good

so) optimistic

Accountable To God To people To spirits

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 Moral Facts [Truth]

• Ethicial philosophers can be classified in one of two ways:

– (1 those who believe that moral facts exist, and
– (2 those who either deny that moral facts exist, or, if they exist, deny that they
can be known.

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 Schools of Those Who Accept Moral Truth

• A further division--for those who have come so far as to

believe that moral good exists--is among those who
emphasize
– what is right (deontologists)
– what is good (utilitarians or consequentialists)
– virtue or character as the basis for ethics.

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Theories of Moral Truth
Ethical Moral Truth Exists: Moral Truth Doesn’t Exist:
Theories:
Cognitivism (“moral facts” can be Non-cognitivism (“Moral facts” are just
discovered by reason expressions of desire.)

Descriptivism (“Moral judgments can Non-descriptivism (Moral judgments are

be true or false.”) neither true or false.)
Sources in , A
Companion to
Intuitionism (We know right and Projectivism (We project our values upon a
Ethics, Peter wrong innately—”moral sense theory.”) world that has none.)
Singer, Ed.

“Relativism” by
David Wong, pp.
Naturalism (Moral facts are found in Nihilism (Moral facts don’t exist and morality
442-450 nature and are scientific or social is false.)
scientific.)
Realism”,
Michael Smith, p
Absolutism (Bible, Relativism (Morality is a function of culture
399-410 Prescriptivist) (There is one truth-- and history—it isn’t absolute.)
two sides can’t be right.)
“Intuitionism” by
Jonathan Dancy,
Moral Realism (moral facts validated Irrealism (There are no moral facts.)
pp. 411-419 by the consensus of behavior and
bycircumstances—”
“Universal
Prescriptivism”,
Consequentialism (Try to find the Error theory (“denies that moral sentences
by R.M. Hare, most good for the most people.) express propositions”) Wikipedia “Ethical
pp. 451-463 Naturalism” 16
Moral Deontological (of Consequential Virtue, Character
Theories that
theories: the “right” exists
“Right”) (of the “Good”)

Basis: Absolutes Consequence Character

Activity: Obeying Weighing Being

Example: Universal Greek (Plato)

prescriptivism Utilitarianism Aquinas
(Kant)
Natural law Egoism Humanistic
Franklin
Hedonism
Naturalism Biblical
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Arguments against absolutes: Diversity
– Because moral standards differ so much among cultures, morality derives from
local ethics, not from innate moral absolutes
– But diversity can say nothing about what is right and wrong, only about what is.
– Diversity does not rule out absolutes. One system can still be right.
– An overall pattern or morality is there, despite differences in details. Generally,
stealing and murder within the in-group and adultery are wrong, while penalties
differ. (Ethics: Approaching moral decisions. Arthur F. Holmes. 2nd ed., 2007,
ISBN: 978-0-8308-2803-6, p. 136)

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Arguments against absolutes: Diversity
– Local moral standards have been transformed by Christian teaching, reducing
diversity. Examples are slavery and cannibalism. (Holmes, citing William
Frankena, p. 20)
• Other examples are killing twins and albinos in Africa, and burning widows (sutee).
– "[T]he relativist cannot consistently reject all intolerance. In tolerating other
moralities than his own, he must tolerate their intolerance....Further, at least one
virtue, tolerance, is then not entirely relative; and at least one moral belief, the
belief that we ought to be tolerant, is taken to be true." (Holmes, p. 23)

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 Argument against absolutes: Dependency
(determinism)
• Humans are socialized into accepting moral/ethical
practices, which they must accept.
– People cannot believe otherwise—beliefs are determined by environment.
– If so, how do non-conformists, reformers and prophets arise?
– Determinism is not a view that can be chosen, since those who believe it have
no choice but to believe it. If so, the determinist cannot say that this view is
independently better than another. (Holmes, p. 139)

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 Argument against absolutes: Dependency (determinism)

The Holy Spirit, by the power and grace of God, can overcome
any environmental upbringing and social norms, as well as
ethics generated by sin.

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 Lack of consensus among philosophers

• Moral philosophers tend to pull down one another's theories,

while confidently highlighting their own. You find that few
agree as to what moral facts there may be, and some
cannot even agree that moral facts are possible. Even if
such facts could somehow be discovered by reason alone,
ethicists would probably not rally around them. They have
been trying for at least 2500 years, but have reached no
consensus.

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 Human value in Hinduism

• Hinduism: everything is one (monism), so humans have no

special value.
– One creation account reads: “In the beginning this [universe] was the Self alone
—in the likeness of a man.” “He was afraid,” and lonely, so he created a woman.
Self split into man and woman and then had intercourse, creating human beings.
Further relations produced the animals. “He knew that he was [the whole of]
creation, for he had brought it all forth. Hence he became [all] creation.”
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad I, iv:1-5

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 Human value in Buddhism

• The first step on the Eightfold Path is “anatta”—there is no

“self” or “atman.”
– The corollary is that all is an illusion--“maya.”
– Individuality is ignorance. Bentley-Taylor, p. 172-173
• However, since Buddha claimed no special revelation, he
went on to propose an extremely difficult ethic, based upon
his reasoning. E.A. Burtt, p. 27
– How can one follow step two, renouncing lust and ill-will, if the self is illusory?

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 Human value in Islam

• Individual value seems to be based upon performance and

obedience to Allah.
– Allah loves those who do right but does not love the transgressor or prodigals
(Surah 2:195, 222; 5:87). Human worth is conditional, not based upon God’s
grace.

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 Evolutionary ethics

• If the material universe is the product of nothing, plus time,

plus chance, or if matter itself is eternal, there is no
necessary value to that universe, or anything in it.
– Ethics becomes a matter of personal choice, plus culture, plus a point on the
time spectrum.
– Right and wrong are defined by the majority and enforced by sanctions.

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 Valentine (March 2010)

• He is a physics student in a European university.

– He accepts no absolutes, not wanting anyone to tell him what to do. Religion is
used to control people, he believes.
– He repeated several times that he didn’t know the difference between right and
wrong, and used those terms as if they had definable content. I suggested that
he would not want me to steal his wallet or to abduct his sister, with whom he
was traveling. He thought that in some circumstances taking his money would be
justified [situation ethics], but did not respond to the abduction statement.
– Individuals had value because they formed communities. He seemed to be
concerned for minorities. A weakness of utilitarian ethics is that minorities are not
protected, if good is defined by doing the most good for the greatest number.

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 Valentine

• He claimed that the UN hurt developing peoples by providing

free commodities, hurting businesses providing these items,
revealing concern for owners of small businesses.
• He advocates going to a tribe or people to help them to
clarify their own values, for each individual to determine what
is right and wrong.
– How each person formulating his own ethical system would foster community he
did not say. This seems instead to be the worst possible foundation for
community.
– The person has no intrinsic worth.
• So is the terrible task of defining good and evil for one’s self,
with its inevitable inconsistencies.
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