Introduction to Ethics Part 1: History of Ethics Evangel University Spring 2006 Professor Douglas F. Olena Character of Ethics Ethics can be conceived of as: a general pattern or way of life. a set of rules of conduct or moral code. an inquiry about ways of life and rules of conduct. Character of Ethics Our discussion will generally be limited to an inquiry about ways of life and rules of conduct, or Ethics conceived as Meta Ethics or Philosophical Ethics. This includes the search for meaning and standards of good in general, and of well-being, right conduct moral character and justice in particular. Character of Ethics 2 The study of ethics may make possible better informed decisions.* 3 Ethics, or moral philosophy, asks basic questions about the good life, about what is better and worse, about whether there is any objective right and wrong, and how we know there is. 3 Normative Ethics asks what is right or wrong. 3,4 Metaethics asks what we mean when we use a moral term like ³good² in a sentence. Reasons to Study Ethics 5 For at least three reasons, we all must be able to develop our natural moral reasoning skills. Reasons to Study Ethics Reason One: 5 We should be able to evaluate critically our own and other views of what is thought to be good and bad, just and unjust including religious views in some cases. Reasons to Study Ethics Reason Two: 5 Believers and nonbelievers of many types ought to be able to discuss moral matters together. Reasons to Study Ethics Reason Three: 5 Living in our society requires of us a reason-based connection to issues such as justice, fairness and moral ideals. Reasons to Study Ethics 7 When we make a moral judgment, we need to be prepared to give reasons for it, to be able to give reasons for our moral position is essential to the ethical project. That does not mean, however, that our reasons must be purely rational. Reasons to Study Ethics 7 We need to be able to justify our position. To merely make a judgment or to hold strong feelings is not sufficient. We should know how to reason well in thinking or speaking about ethical matters. A Course on EthicsŠ 11 ³Šshould help students understand the nature of an ethical problem and help them think critically about ethical matters by providing certain conceptual tools and skills.² ³It should enable them to form and critically analyze ethical arguments.² A Course on EthicsŠ This class will add balance to your moral evaluations and judgments. It will give you perspective for decision making. You will learn to both justify your beliefs and develop your own theories. A Short History of Ethics Before we begin the formal work of reading essays and discussing them, let¹s look at a few historical views. Greek Ethics Transition of Greek Society from a largely agrarian one to a commercial one; from an Aristocracy to a Democracy: Dramatic social upheaval. Rise of teachers, Sophists as agents of change and as inquirers into the nature of change. Traditional values were in opposition to the Sophists and Sceptics. Greek Ethics Socrates (BC 469-399) ³believed that by the use of reason man could arrive at a set of ethical principles that would reconcile self-interest with the common good and would apply to all men at all times.²* But, perfect clarity about what constitutes moral perfection is no more of this world than is moral perfection itself. Greek Ethics The Sophists GOOD was a matter of personal decision and law. It was a convention, like green means GO or red means STOP. We decide what is good. Man is the measure of all things. The good is not a natural quality but an artifact of personal choice and culture. Greek Ethics Socrates asked what Good, Love, Piety, Justice is? He concluded that earthly justice is only a shadow of true justice which is the idea of justice in its pure form. Greek Ethics Plato (BC 427-347), student of Socrates suggested that there is an ideal world where the true forms of Love, Justice, Piety and Good reside. Any instance of Love in our world is an imperfect copy of the true form of Love. Ethical concepts can never be adequately defined in terms of observable fact alone. Greek Ethics Since Socrates, all Ethical theories may be considered alternative explanations of the relation between facts and values. Non-naturalistic theories stress the differences between facts and values. Naturalistic theories stress interdependence between facts and values. Greek Ethics Socrates, in demanding rational grounds for ethical judgments, brought attention to the problem of tracing the logical relationships between values and facts‹creating ethical philosophy. Plato¹s goal in ethical philosophy is to lead the way toward a vision of the Good. Aristotle (BC 384-322), unlike Plato, found the standards of value in the basic needs, tendencies and capacities of man ‹ fostering the naturalist tradition. Greek Ethics Aristotle took biology and observable nature to be the model of his ethical system unlike Plato who modeled his system after mathematics. ³Aristotle identifies the supreme good with Œhappiness,¹ which he defines as the exercise of natural human faculties in accordance with virtue.² Greek Ethics Virtue is defined as the golden mean between extremes of emotion or tendencies to action: Transition Free will and responsibility were not subjects of great concern for the Greek moralists. Only later, with the rise of Christian thought did free will and responsibility take a major role in ethical discussion. Hellenistic and Roman Ethics Fourth century BC to the third century AD: Skepticism: No judgments of fact or value can be adequately proved. (Pyrrho of Elis) Cynicism: (from gr. cunos - dog) The good life is one of indifference to pleasure or pain. (Antisthenes, Diogenes) Epicureanism: By use of reason, one could plan one¹s life, and sacrifice momentary pleasures for long-run benefit. (Epicurus, later Lucretius) Hellenistic and Roman Ethics Fourth century BC to the third century AD: Stoicism: The concept of duty acquired a central place in ethics, as conformity to moral rules which they identified with laws of human nature. (Zeno, Cleanthes, Chrysippus) Roman Jurisprudence was largely based on a Stoic theory of natural law. Hellenistic and Roman Ethics Third century AD: Neoplatonism: Plotinus concluded that evil does not exist in an absolute sense but only as incompleteness or lack of Good. Virtue is the means to the metaphysical state of blessedness‹finding unity with the One. This is somewhat like Plato¹s forms but personal. Medieval Ethics Human reason and divine will were juxtaposed in one system of ethics. The tension between these two forces was reflected in different theologies. Fourth Century AD, Augustine: Augustine rejected the claims of bodily pleasure and community life. Life is a Test! Medieval Ethics Augustine: Virtue is the denial of sensual pleasure in preparation for reunion with God. Note: This view of virtue runs counter to Biblical Christianity and is essential to much of the mistrust of pleasure in modern versions of Fundamentalist, Holiness and Evangelical thinking. Medieval Ethics Fourth Century AD, Augustine: Reason has a secondary place to faith in God in generating virtues such as: Prudence, justice, wisdom and fortitude. The seeming conflict between freedom, divine foreknowledge and predestination is resolved in Augustine by claiming that free will in man is a primary cause in nature that God created. Moral right and virtue are interpreted in light of obedience to divine authority. Medieval Ethics The fourth to the eleventh Century AD is dominated by Neoplatonic mysticism and preoccupied with faith and salvation. In the eleventh century, with St. Anselm, faith is not incompatible with reason but rather prepares the soul for rational understanding. Peter Abelard suggests that virtue can be attained through reason as well as through faith. Medieval Ethics Thomas Aquinas reconciled Aristotle¹s and Augustine¹s ethics. Aristotle¹s and Augustine¹s ethics explained two different domains of ethical discourse ‹ Natural and Theological. Medieval Ethics Thomas Aquinas: 1. Natural law is the divine law as discovered by reason. The Church, the Bible, scientific knowledge of the universal needs and tendencies of man provide complementary standards of ethical judgment. 2. Free will was formulated like Augustine¹s view, though the natural processes of internal causality and deliberation are part of the character of free choice. 3. More congenial to the scientific view of man.