WHAT
KIND OF REASON/JUSTIFICATION IS THERE FOR ME TO BE MORAL?
A.
Internal Reasons/Justifications
Example: Moral Tradition Justifications.
B. External
Reasons/Justifications:
Example: Pragmatic Vindication
Two Potential Problems with Pragmatic
Approach:
(1) For any goal, there seem to be moral and
immoral ways of achieving it.
(2) For any goal, I can ask: Why should I adopt it as my goal?
Question: Could there be a PROOF from non-moral
premises that I ought to be moral (e.g., that I ought not to murder)?
LEVELS
OF MORAL DISAGREEMENT
(From
previous edition of Beauchamp)
1.
Basic, Fundamental, or Ultimate Principles (e.g., Utilitarian Principle: Maximize Total Happiness)
+
Very General Facts à
2.
General Principles (e.g., Respect Life)
+
General Facts à
3.
Rules/Maxims (e.g., Do not kill.)
+
Facts of Particular Situations à
4. Particular
Judgments (e.g., Even in a situation in which they have requested it, one ought
not to kill one's parents.)
THE
SEARCH FOR THE MISSING LINK BETWEEN (NON-SUPERNATURAL) PURELY DESCRIPTIVE
PREMISES AND NORMATIVE CONCLUSIONS
Naturalistic Terms = Purely Descriptive Terms
that are not Supernaturalistic.
1. First (Flawed) Statement of the
"Naturalistic Fallacy": It is
a fallacy to think you can derive an "ought" from an "is",
because you can't.
TRIVIAL DERIVATION OF A
MORAL "OUGHT" FROM AN "IS"
1. It is
one's duty to tell the truth in most situations.
2. [If
doing X is one’s duty, then one [morally] ought to do X.]
________________________________
3.
Therefore, one [morally] ought to tell the truth in most
situations.
2. Second (Flawed) Statement of the
"Naturalistic Fallacy": It is
a fallacy to think that moral terms can be defined using only
(non-supernatural) purely descriptive terms, because moral terms cannot be
defined using only (non-supernatural) purely descriptive terms--that is, there
is no true definition of the form:
Act A is moral [I ought to do A] =df
A is X [where X is stated in (non-supernatural) purely descriptive terms].
a.
G.E. Moore's "Open Question" Argument shows that this claim is true,
but no naturalist need deny it.
MOORE'S
OPEN QUESTION ARGUMENT HAS TWO PARTS
(1) The 'Open Question' Test for the Adequacy of
a Definition:
(a)
Consider the question: Is an A an
A? Even without any investigation there
could be no reasonable doubt by anyone who knew the meaning of the words that
the answer to this question is "Yes", so the question itself is
CLOSED, not OPEN.
(b) Suppose someone
proposes the following definition of a term A:
A =df B
(c) If it is a true definition, it should mean the same as A = A. So the following question should be a CLOSED, not OPEN question: Is a B an A?
If this question is a
CLOSED question, we will say that the definition B PASSES the Open Question
Test and is an adequate definition of A.
If this question is an OPEN question, we will say that B fails the Open
Question Test and is not an adequate definition of A.
(2) The 'Open Question Argument' is Moore's
argument that for the evaluative term "good" or the moral terms
"right" and "wrong", ANY attempt to define them in purely
naturalistic terms (i.e., in non-supernatural, purely descriptive terms) will
always fail the Open Question Test for the Adequacy of a Definition.
Example: Suppose someone offers the following definition of "good
strawberry":
Good strawberry =df sweet, juicy, firm, red, and
large strawberry. Does this definition
pass the Open Question Test?
Consider
the question: Is a sweet, juicy, firm,
red, and large strawberry a good strawberry?
Could there be any reasonable doubt by anyone who knew the meaning of
the words about the answer to that question.
The answer is "Yes".
Because the question is an Open Question, the definition FAILS the Open
Question Test. Therefore, it is not an
adequate definition.
3. Third (Best) Statement of the
"Naturalistic Fallacy": It is
a fallacy to think that there is a (non-supernatural) purely descriptive
sufficient condition for moral rightness [or moral wrongness], because there is
no (non-supernatural) purely descriptive sufficient condition for moral
rightness [or moral wrongness]--that is, no (non-supernatural) purely
descriptive condition X such that:
Act A is X Act A is right
[wrong].
IS
IT A FALLACY?
Attempts to formulate PURELY DESCRIPTIVE
sufficient conditions (or necessary and sufficient conditions) for moral
rightness [or wrongness] that we have discussed:
(a) Divine Command Theory
(b) Golden Rule #1: Love your neighbor as yourself.
(c) Utilitarianism (18 different varieties)
(d) Golden Rule #2: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
(e) Kant's First Version of the Categorical
Imperative.
(What about the 2nd and 3rd versions?)
(f) Rawls's Principle of Reasonableness?
(g) Talbott's Universalizability Principle: In a CAP, one ought not to freeride.
(h) Aristotle's Formula for the Golden Mean?
(i)
The intentional, premeditated act of permanently destroying all life is wrong.
(j) Engaging in sexual intercourse with a live
human being against their will and not aimed at the survival of human kind is
wrong.
FINAL PROBLEM:
Could any of these statements be used to persuade someone who rejects
all moral claims that they ought to be moral?
Even
if they are true, they are substantive moral claims, and thus cannot be
expected to persuade someone who rejects all moral claims.
MORALITY:
INVENTION OR DISCOVERY
MACKIE'S
Anti-Realism vs. McNAUGHTON'S Realism
I.
MACKIE'S ANTI-REALISM: Morality
is a Social Invention
Two main arguments:
(1) the argument from
diversity (Chap. 2)
(2) the argument from
queerness (Chap. 3)
Conclusion:
Moral standards are cultural inventions.
II. McNaughton's Realism: Morality is Something that We Discover
Two important arguments:
(1) the is-ought
(fact-value) gap is bridged because the non-moral properties of actions fix or
determine their moral properties. They
are emergent properties (like consciousness).
(2) If we think that
we can make moral mistakes (Talbott's addition: and that societies can make moral mistakes), then we are
committed to objective moral truth.
(3)
Talbott's addition: If we think that we
(and societies) can make moral progress, then we are committed to objective
standards of moral progress.
ULTIMATE ISSUE:
IS THERE MORAL PROGRESS?
THE
EPISTEMOLOGICAL QUESTION
How can we come to know moral truths or at least
make progress getting closer to the truth?
A.
Intuitionism (e.g., Kant and Ross)
B.
Rawls's Alternative: The Process
of Reflective Equilibrium.
MATRIX REPRESENTATION
OF CHOICE OF WHAT KIND OF PERSON TO BE
Everyone else
|
|
is a Virtuous Person (V) |
is a Ruthless Person (-V) |
|
I am a Virtuous Person (V) |
+100, +100 |
-101, -99.9 |
|
I am a Ruthless Person (-V) |
+101, +99.9 |
-100, -100 |
Matrix 3. Choosing To Be or Not To Be Virtuous--a
Potential Collective Action Problem .