Week Eleven Blog

Week 11 class discussion on Ethics and Social Philosophy

In our class discussions, our group was diverse. It was interesting to know that we both commonly shared the same value of some ethical and moral philosophy even though we both have totally two different social and educational backgrounds. My group mate is an English literature teacher grows up in western culture. On the other hand, I am a math and computer science major and grow up in a south Asian culture. I would like to discuss here how we feel about different philosophers’ beliefs on ethics and moral in education and society.

I would like to reflect on what Aristotle’s approach to ethic is. Aristotle described ethic as “virtue is central to the good life because virtuous persons-persons of good character-exhibit virtues in every aspect of their lives, children should be trained to respond virtuously to life’s demands.” We feel the same way that one becomes virtuous by behaving virtue in life. I also support Aristotle’s notion that human beings persistently seek better ways than their ancestors have bequeathed them. The characteristic of a good society’s exemplars is that they go beyond their traditions and seek fuller, richer descriptions of the good. I am an example of this notion. I left my ancestors and flew 13000 miles to come to this country for better and richer of good life. My group mate liked the argument against virtue is that it leads to elitism. She liked MacIntyre’s analogy is that different practices demand different excellences and even different virtues.

Kant ethical approach emphasizes human rationality. It enhances the notion of autonomy and individualism. It guides ethics on logic. Kant believed that certain types of actions such as stealing, lying and murder etc were absolutely prohibited, even in cases where the action would bring about more happiness than the alternative.  Kant’s theory is an example of a ‘deontological ethics’–according to these theories, ethics emphasize duty and attempt to describe its scope and its relation to other ethical concepts. The rightness or wrongness of actions does not depend on their consequences but on whether they fulfill our duty.

On the contrary to Kantianism, utilitarianism believes that a vision of the good must precede determination of what is right. For them, happiness is the greatest and most obvious human good, and ethic should guide us toward producing as much happiness as possible. It speaks to both individual behavior and the moral behavior of whole societies. Instead of defining the duty of ethical agents in terms of doing what is right, utilitarian’s define the right in terms of optimizing this ratio of happiness to pain.

Dewey’s pragmatic ethics is consequentialist-an act is judged ethically acceptable or unacceptable according to the consequences it produces. He thought that “it was an error to posit one greatest good, even one so obvious and desirable as happiness.” He objected to the calculation inherent in utilitarianism. Because human events and needs are dynamic, changing events bring new needs and interests. He put more emphasis on the responsibility of individuals and institutions than is usual utilitarianism. According to him the primary criterion of ethical behavior is willing to accept responsibility for the full range of anticipated outcomes.

References:

Hollis, M. (1997). The philosophy of Social Science. Cambridge university Press. London.

Noddings, N. (2007). Philosophy of Education. Westview press. USA.