CHAPTER 8.

CONTEMPORARY MORAL
PHILOSOPHIES
Table of Contents
 Introduction

 Contractarianism

 Prisoners Dilemma

 Integrated Social Contract Theory (ISCT)

 Feminist Care Ethics

 Difference between Traditional and Feminist Ethics

 Cognitive Moral Development

 Robert Hogan’s Theory of Moral Character Development

Contractarianism

 The moral theory of contractarianism claims that moral norms derive their normative force from
the idea of contract or mutual agreement.

 According to 20th century British philosopher, Thomas Hobbs, Morality is not a primitive or
natural phenomenon rather it can emerge any time when a group of free, rational and self
interested people find that there is more merit in cooperating than in not cooperating.

 Contractarianism considers all those acts as right which does not violate the free and rational
agreements, which make the life of people better.
Types of Contracts in Contractarianism
There are two types of contracts that exist in contractarianism:
 Explicit contracts
 Implicit contracts
 Explicit contracts: It is a contracts, which are agreed upon with mutual consent.
 Implicit contracts: It is a contracts to which one has never agreed to but still becomes a party
to it or in other words, implicit contracts are those contracts which are binding upon parties, even
though they have not agreed to it.
 Example: penal codes, constitutional or other rules, which are binding upon each and every
citizen of a particular state.
Integrated Social Contract Theory (ISCT):
 Integrative Social Contract Theory(ISCT) developed by Professor Thomas Donaldson and
Professor Tom Dunfee
 This theory aims to provide a framework for taking good and effective managerial decisions
which not only respect the ethical norms of relevant communities but which also conform to the
universal moral standards.

 ISCT is based on three basic concepts.

 Authentic norms which clarify culturally specific norms.
 Priority rules which determine the rules of engagement when authentic norms clash.
 Hypernorms which measure the value of authentic norms against a set of universally upheld
values.
The steps of applying ISCT to a concrete business situation have been
explained by Donaldson, Dunfee and Ross in the following figure:

Ethical Ethical judgement Ethical

Evaluation based on judgement based
required dominance on a legitimate
legitimate norm norm
Priority Rules:
a. Adverse effects on others
b. Priority rules adopted as norms
within communities
c. Relative size of communities
d. Indispensable to transaction
environment
e. Patterns of consistence across
Remaining communities
Approproate
legitimate norms
relevant f. whether norm is well defined
screened for
communities If no clearly dominant norm,
dominance under
identified may base decision on any
priority rules
legitimate norm in moral free
space

Multiple
All norms
Community
screened for
Norms identified
legitimacy under
and tested for
hyper norm test
authenticity
Feminist Ethics

 The term 'feminist ethics' was coined for the first time by Mary Wollstonecraft in her book titled
'Vindication of the Rights of Women published in 1792.

 It was further developed by writers such as John Stuart Mill, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Catherine
Beecher, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton etc.

 According to Feminist ethicists, moral agents are emotional, attached, active and interdependent in
nature and they give utmost importance to maintaining ties, without sacrificing the integrity of self.
Feminist Care Ethics
 Carol Gilligan and Nel Noddings are the main exponents of the Feminist care Ethics.
 Gilligan holds that men and women look at the ethical situations through different 'lenses' or
perspectives.
 For men, ethics is morality based on abstract universal principles like rights and justice even at the
sacrifice of people's well being but, for the women, ethics is morality based on care.
 The ethics of care is different from the traditional ethics because women focus more on the
relationships of people involved and consider morality as a tool to take care of people in relationship
and nurture good ties, however, men consider it as the rules that are abstract and should be followed
and applied impartially
Difference between Traditional and Feminist
Ethics
 Traditional Ethics believe that moral agents are rational and detached, whereas Feminist Ethics
believe that moral agents are emotional and attached.
 Traditional Ethics assume that Moral agent is impartial and his partiality is suspected, whereas in
Feminist Ethics the impartiality of moral agent is suspected because moral agent is considered to
be emotional and attached.
 Traditional Ethics emphasize on the universal standards of ethics, like- rights and justice whereas
Feminist Ethics stress on maintenance of ties through virtues, like- love, care, empathy etc,
wherever possible without sacrificing the integrity of self.
 Traditional Ethics is mainly an extension of work that have been traditionally associated with men
(i.e. the market place) whereas feminist ethic is an extension of that work that are traditionally
associated with women (i.e. family life).
Cognitive Moral Development

 Lawrence Kohlberg propounded the Theory of Cognitive Moral Development and was an
American psychologist and Professor at Harvard University.
 Lawrence Kohlberg have tried to study the process of how an individual thinks, reasons and
decides about his course of action in the case of any moral.
 Kohlberg's theory proposes that moral development happens sequentially in three broad levels
and each level comprises of two stages.
 Individuals start at the lowest stage and keep moving exactly one stage upward at a time till he
reaches the highest stage.
 Every higher stage is more useful than the predecessor stage in responding to the problems of
moral dilemmas
 Levels and Stages of Kohlberg's Theory of
Cognitive Moral Development
Level Stage Summary Characterization
Stage I: Punishment and Obedience Stage Person obeys the authority and rules because he
fears of getting reprimanded and punished if
being caught violating them. He tries to avoid
punishment by adhering to the rules.
Pre
conventional
Morality Stage II: It is also known as Stage of Reciprocity and the

Self Interest/ Reciprocity/ Instrumental Purpose talisman for the person placed in this stage is
and Exchange Stage "You scratch my back I will scratch yours." In
this stage the interest of an Individual shifts to
rewards rather than punishment. He considers
those decisions as 'right' which may be
rewarding or beneficial for him.
 Stage III: It is also known as Good Boy-Nice Girl Orientati
Individual tries to maintain good interperso
Conformity/ Mutual Expectations and Interpersonal
relationship by being considerate, nice and k
Accord/ Good Interpersonal Relationship
because he becomes image conscious and consid
that action as 'right', which portrays his good boy
good girl image in the society. He starts think
about doing good and being fair to others because
Conventional
will be appreciated and praised in the society.
Morality

Stage IV: Law and Order Orientation/ Social Accord and He considers those actions as 'right' which are
System Maintenance accordance to the rules, laws and social conventio
He believes that it is his duty to uphold the rules a
regulations and fulfill all his social obligations. It is a
called 'law and order morality.'
 Stage V: Social Contract and Individual Rights/ He considers those actions as 'right' which are
Utility and Prior Rights not only lawful but which also uphold the
basic individual rights and promote the
general welfare. Laws are regarded more as
social contracts which are amenable to
Post change in-order to maximize the welfare of
Conventional greater number of people.
Morality

Stage VI: Universal Human Ethics He considers those actions as 'right' which are in
accordance to the universal ethical principles.
Robert Hogan’s Theory of Moral Character
Development
 Robert Hogan (born 1937) an American psychologist is credited for his socio-analytic theory of
personality testing.

 Hogan proposed five dimension model of moral character development, which helps in explaining the
development of moral character and can predict moral conduct.

 The Five dimensions are moral knowledge, socialization, empathy, autonomy, and ethical attitudes.
Dimensions Summary Characterization

Moral knowledge It is the extent of one’s knowledge of moral values and rules; highly related to intelligence.

Socialization The degree to which the rules, values prohibitions of society are regarded as mandatory

Empathy The extent of one’s capacity and disposition to regulate actions in accordance with the
expectations of others-to put oneself in another’s place.
Autonomy The extent to which an individual’s moral actions are governed by his own personal moral codes
and not by immediate social pressures or the dictates of authority.

Ethical Attitude A bipolar dimension of moral judgment. At one end is the “ethics of responsibility,” stressing
the instrumental view of laws as a means of promoting the general welfare of society. At the
other end is the “ethics of conscience” emphasizing belief in higher laws that are not always
well represented in human legislation.
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