Philosophy 160C Fall 2008 jayme johnson

Handout for Rachelss The Elements of Moral Philosophy: Chapters 1 and 2

Chapter 1: What is Morality? The Problem of Definition Its an unfortunate fact that it is impossible to give a definition to the word ethics. What we can do, however is formulate, through examples, what kinds of things ought to be included in a minimum conception of morality. to formulate a minimum conception of morality we explore our moral intuitions by looking at cases in which tough moral decisions had to be made, and also through thought experiments.

A little bit of Logic. An argument is a collection of statements or propositions, some of which are intended to provide support or evidence in favor of one of the others. The premises of an argument are those statements or propositions in it that are intended to provide the support or evidence. The conclusion of an argument is that statement or proposition for which the premises are intended to provide support. (In short, it is the point the argument is trying to make.) (Important note: premises are always intended to provide support or evidence for the conclusion, but they don't always succeed! It's still an argument, and there are still premises and a conclusion, even if the premises don't really provide any support at all.) An argument is valid if it actually is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false, or if the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises. Otherwise, the argument is invalid. A rough test for argument validity: - First imagine that the premises were truewhether or not they actually are. -Ask yourself, without appealing to any other knowledge you have, could you still imagine the conclusion being false? -If you can, the argument is invalid. - If you can't, then the argument is valid. The best arguments are those that are both valid AND have all true premises. We call such arguments sound.

Case 1. Baby Theresa: an anencephalic infant. Should her organs be harvested? The Benefits Argument 1. If we can benefit someone without harming anyone else, we ought to do so. 2. Transplanting the organs would benefit the other children without harming Baby Theresa. 3. Therefore we ought to transplant the organs. The Argument That We Should Not Use People as Means 1. It is wrong to use people as means to other peoples ends. 2. Taking Baby Theresas organs would be using her to benefit other children. 3. Therefore it should not be done. The Argument for the Wrongfulness of Killing 1. It is wrong to kill one person to save another. 2. Taking Baby Theresas organs would be killing her to save others. 3. Therefore it should not be done. Case 2. Jodie and Mary: conjoined twins, both of whom will die if one is not killed. Is it morally right to separate the twins? The Argument that we should save as many as we can 1. By separating the twins we will be saving as many lives as possible. 2. We should always save as many lives as we can. 3. Therefore the twins should be separated. The Argument from the Sanctity of Human Life 1. It is always wrong to kill an innocent human being . 2. Separating the twins would be killing an innocent human being. 3. Therefore the twins should not be separated. Case 3. Tracy Latimer: 12 year victim of cerebral palsy, humanely killed by her father, Robert. Was it morally wrong for Robert to kill Tracy? The Argument from the Wrongness of Discriminating Against the Handicapped 1. It is wrong to discriminate against the handicapped. 2. By killing Tracy, Robert was discriminating against a handicapped person. 3. Therefore it was wrong for Robert to kill Tracy. The Slippery Slope Argument 1. Allowing it to pass as morally right that Robert killed Tracy will set a precedent, making it morally permissible for people to kill others out of mercy. 2. If this happens, we will go down a slippery slope ultimately cheapening the value of human life. 3. We dont want that to happen. 4. Therefore it cannot be morally right that Robert killed Tracy. The Minimum Conception of Morality Morality is, at the very least, the effort to guide ones conduct by reasonthat is, to do what there are the best reasons for doingwhile giving equal weight to the interests of each individual who will be affected by what one does (14). 2

Chapter 2: The Challenge of Cultural Relativism. According to Cultural Relativism (CR), an action is morally right if and only if that action abides by the moral code of the society in which that action is performed. 5 claims that cultural relativists have made: 1. Different societies have different moral codes. 2. The moral code of a society determines what is right within that society; that is, if the moral code of a society says that a certain action is right, then that action is right, at least within that society. 3. There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one societys code as better than anothers. In other words, there is no universal truth in ethics; there are no moral truths that hold for all people at all times. 4. The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is but one among many. 5. It is mere arrogance for us to judge the conduct of other peoples. We should adopt an attitude of tolerance toward the practices of the other cultures. The Cultural Differences Argument 1. Different cultures have different moral codes. 2. Therefore, there is no objective truth in morality. Right and wrong are only matters of opinion, and opinions vary from culture to culture. (i.e. CR is true). Three Consequences of Accepting Cultural Relativism 1. We could no longer say that the customs of other societies are morally inferior to our own. 2. We could decide whether our actions are right or wrong just by consulting the standards of our own society. 3. The idea of moral progress is called into doubt. Homework Assignment 1: In 2 pages (double-spaced) max, answer all of the following questions. Please submit your homework to me via an attachment to my email address. jamesj@philos.umass.edu Please make clear in the email who you are, and that hw 1 is attached. State, and in your own words, describe Cultural Relativism. Why is the view so appealing? Finally give at least 2 reasons why Cultural Relativism cannot be true. Show how these reasons can be made into arguments against Cultural Relativism. 3