Science of Thinking and Ethics

(SGDN1043)
Schools of Thought in Ethics
 Philosophy of Ethics
 Ethics (or Moral Philosophy) is concerned with
questions of how people ought to act, and their
definition of right conduct for a good life.
 Ethics
is the branch of study dealing with what is the
proper course of action for man to take in order to
enjoy what is thought of as a desirable life for one’s
choice.
 Ethics
is a system of moral principles. They affect how
people make decisions to lead their lives.
 Consequentialism
 Consequentialism (or Teleological Ethics) argues
that the morality of an action depends on the action's
outcome or result.
A morally right action is one that produces a good
outcome or consequence.
 Consequentialist theories must consider questions
like:
 "What sort of consequences count as good
consequences?",

 "Who is the primary beneficiary of moral action?",

 :
Consequentialist theories
1. Utilitarianism
 It holds that an action is right if it leads to the most
happiness for the greatest number of people.
“Happiness” here is defined as the maximization of
pleasure and the minimization of pain).
 The origins of Utilitarianism can be traced back as far as
the Greek philosopher including;
1. Epicurus – principle of pain and pleasure
2. Jeremy Bentham – provided the foundation for utilitarianism
3. John Stuart Mill – expanded the original idea.
 Utilitarianism
 Its
core idea is that whether actions are morally right
or wrong, all depends on their effects.
 Is a doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or
if they benefit the majority in society.

 Thisdoctrine suggests that an action is right as far as it

promotes happiness, and that the greatest happiness
of the greatest number of people should be the
guiding principle of conduct.
 Utilitarianism
 Utilitarians
believe that the purpose of morality is to
make life better by increasing the amount of good
things (such as pleasure and happiness) in the world
and decreasing the amount of bad things (such as pain
and unhappiness).
 They reject moral codes or systems that consist of
commands or taboos that are based on customs,
traditions, or orders given by leaders or supernatural
beings.
 Utilitarianism
 Instead,
utilitarians think that what makes a morality to be
good or justifiable is its positive contribution to human
beings.

 Utilitarianismis a form of consequentialism because it rests

on the idea that it is the consequences or results of actions,
laws, policies, etc. that determine whether they are good or
bad, right or wrong.
 In
the language of utilitarians, we should choose the option
that “maximizes utility,” i.e. that action or policy that
produces the largest amount of good.
Consequentialist theories (Hedonism)
 A school of thought that argues that the pursuit of pleasure and
intrinsic goods are the primary or most important goals of
human life.

 A hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure (pleasure

without pain).

 Ethical hedonism is the idea that all people have the right to do
everything in their power to achieve the greatest amount of
pleasure possible to them

 The condition of being unable to experience pleasure

is anhedonia.
Consequentialist theories
 Hedonism posits that the principal ethic is maximizing
pleasure and minimizing pain.
Associated with a Greek philosopher Epicurus (342-270 BCE.)
who taught that our life's goal should be to minimize pain and
maximize pleasure.

The ethical theory that pleasure (in the sense of the

satisfaction of desires) is the highest good and a proper aim
of human life
 Hedonism
 Hedonism states that all and only pleasure is intrinsically
valuable and all and only pain is intrinsically not valuable.
 Itis a theory of value and theory of replacing pain with
happiness.
 It is a theory that values happiness most.
 Bentham’s greatest happiness principle states that actions
are immoral if they do not appear to maximise the
happiness of all the people likely to be affected; only the
action that appears to maximise the happiness of all the
people likely to be affected is the morally right action.
 Existentialism
 Existentialism originated with the 19th century philosopher
Søren Keirkegaard.
 Søren Keirkegaard is generally considered to be the first
existentialist philosopher, though he did not use the term
existentialism.
 He proposed that each individual is solely responsible for
giving meaning to life and living it passionately and sincerely.
 In the 1940s and 1950s, French existentialists such as Jean-
Paul Sartre, Albert Camus and Simone de Beauvoir wrote
scholarly and fictional works that popularized existential
themes.
 Existentialism
 The notion is that humans exist first and then each
individual spends a lifetime changing their essence or
nature (of what they become).
 It
centered upon the analysis of existence and of the
way humans find themselves existing in the world.
 Existentialismis a philosophy concerned with finding
self and the meaning of life through free will, choice,
and personal responsibility.
 Existentialism
 The belief is that people are searching to find
out who and what they are throughout life as
they make choices based on their experiences,
beliefs, and outlook.
 An existentialist believes that a person should
be forced to make a choice of what to become
and be responsible without the help of laws,
ethnic rules, or traditions.
 Existentialism
 We are born biological beings but we must become
existential individuals by accepting responsibility for our
actions.
Existence precedes essence. What you are (your essence) is
the result of your choices (your existence) rather than the
reverse.
Essence is not destiny. You are what you make yourself to
be or what you choose to become.
It shares the same thought and value with Humanism
 Nihilism
 Theterm ‘Nihilism’ come from the Latin word – nihil,
which means nothing.
 From
the word “annihilate” which means to destroy
completely
Jacobi (19th century) advanced the concept
 Friedrich
of metaphysical nihilism- an idea that nothing is real.
 Moralvalues are based on nothing and as such life is
inherently and completely meaningless.
 Nihilism
 Fromthe moral nihilism view, nothing should be
considered right or wrong.
A process of reassessing a concept or value of
something or anything in this life.
 Also
referred to as a stage any thinking person can go
through and start reconstructing their own value
about life.