Ethics

1. Slides prepared by Cyndi Chie and Sarah Frye. Fourth edition revisions by Sharon Gray.
An Introduction to Ethics

2. Corresponding page number:
What We Will Cover
What we covered last week
The Pace of Change
Change and Unexpected Developments
Themes
What we will cover this week
Ethics

3. Corresponding page number:
New
technology
– and ethics
• Questions and how to make ethical decisions
• Should you download movies/music from
unauthorized websites?
• Should you talk on your mobile phone when
driving on a motorway?
• Should you hire foreign programmers who
work at low salaries?
• Should you fire an employee who criticizes
your business in social media?
• Should you attempt to prosecute an employee
who whistle-blows by downloading and
releasing data to the press?

4. Corresponding page number:
Socrates – Born 469
BC – Athens - Greece
• Socrates developed a method of
questioning designed to expose
weaknesses in the interrogated. He
believed circumspect use of language
and endless self-questioning are
crucial in the quest for wisdom. He
was the teacher of Plato.

5. Corresponding page number:
Plato – Born circa 428/9
BC – Athens? -Greece
Plato, saw philosophy as a way of life, the
highest calling of a select few. For him the
highest good is knowledge. He wrote nothing
but dramatically influenced the course of
intellectual history. The, teacher of Aristotle, he
set forth his philosophy in dialogues, the chief
protagonist of which was Socrates, his mentor;
Most famous for his Theory of Forms ( the
phenomenal world of matter being an imperfect
reflection of an immutable, transcendental world
of ideas). Plato believed that knowledge is a
process of remembering; the objects of
knowledge are ideal and immutable.

6. Corresponding page number:
Aristotle – Born circa 384 BC –
Stagirus - Greece
• Aristotle theorized on a vast range of subjects:
biology, ethics, logic, metaphysics, politics. He's
considered history's first logician and biologist. His
thinking influenced numerous theologians and
philosophers. He was a naturalist who revised Plato's
theory of form and matter; for Aristotle, the form is
what makes matter what it is (as the soul defines a living
body). He put forth two general principles of proof: the
excluded middle (everything must either have or not
have a given characteristic), and the law of contradiction
(nothing can both have and not have a given
characteristic).

7. Corresponding page number:
Ethics
• What is Ethics?
• Study of what it means to “do the right
thing”.
• Assumes people are rational and make free
choices.
• Rules to follow in our interactions and our
actions that affect others.

8. Corresponding page number:
Ethics
• What is Ethics:
• Most ethical theories attempt to enhance
human dignity, peace, happiness and well
being
• Ethical rules apply to all of us
• Ethical rules are intended to achieve good
results for people in general and for
situations in general – not just for
ourselves, not just for one situation

9. Corresponding page number:
Ethics
• What is Ethics - differing viewpoints:
• We could view ethical rules as
fundamental and universal, like the laws
of science
• OR
• We could view ethical rules as rules we
make up like the rules of football or
netball

10. Corresponding page number:
Ethics
• Some ethicists (philosophers who study
ethics) make distinctions between:
• Ethical theories that view certain acts as
good or bad because of some intrinsic aspect
of the action – deontological (or non
consequentialist) theories
• AND
• Ethical theories that view acts as good or
bad because of their consequences –
consequentialist theories

11. Corresponding page number:
Immanuel Kant(born 1772 –Germany; John Stuart Mill(born 1806 – London, England);
John Locke (born 1632 – Somerset, England )

12. Corresponding page number:
Ethics – A Variety of Ethical Views
Deontological or non
consequentialist theories
Immanuel Kant proposed an
emphasis on absolute rules –
not whether or not they lead
to good or bad consequences
1
Utilitarianism -
consequentialist - John Stuart
Mill – emphasis on increasing
happiness (“utility”) – we
should consider the
consequences rather than
just the actions.
2
Natural rights – rights come
from nature – John Lock –
includes the right to life,
liberty and property
3

13. Corresponding page number:
Ethics - A variety of ethical views:
• Social contracts and a theory of political justice
• People willingly submit to a common law in order to live in a civil
society.
• The foundations of this are in the writings of Socrates and Plato
• In the 1660’s a philosopher called Thomas Hobbes stated that:
• “Man is rational and will seek a better situation even at the cost of
giving up some independence in favour of common law and accepting
some authority to enforce this ‘social contract’”

14. Corresponding page number:
Ethics – Deontological Theories
• Non consequentialist
• Immanuel Kant proposed three important ideas
• The principle of universality – We should follow rules of behavior that
we universally apply to everyone.
• Logic or reason should determine ethical behavior - not emotion
• One must never treat people as merely means to an end but rather as
ends in themselves
• Kant took an extreme position on the absolutism of ethical rules, for
example he argued it is always wrong to lie. Do you agree?

15. Corresponding page number:
Ethics - Utilitarianism
• Utilitarianism is the main example of consequentialist theory
• John Stewart Mill provides guiding principles:
• Main purpose is to increase happiness or utility
• A person’s utility is what satisfies a person’s needs and values
• An action may decrease utility for some people and increase it for
others.
• Mill suggested that we can accept a decrease in utility for some
provided the majority benefit. ‘The greatest good for the greatest
number’.

16. Corresponding page number:
Ethics -
Utilitarianism -
the Act
version
We should consider the
consequences of individual acts
(Act utilitarianism)
The benefits / damages to all
affected people
We should calculate the change
in aggregate utility (happiness)
An act is right if it tends to
increase aggregate utility
An act is wrong if it tends to
decrease aggregate utility

17. Corresponding page number:
Ethics -
Utilitarianism
– the Act
version
• Problems with Act utilitarianism
• Can we determine all consequences of an
act?
• Who determines what increases the
happiness (utility) of people affected by an
action – the decision maker[s] or the people
affected?
• How do we know what they would
choose?
• Should some peoples utility carry more
weight than others?
• Should a thief's gain of utility be equal to
the victims loss of utility?

18. Corresponding page number:
Ethics - Utilitarianism –
the Act version
• Problems with Act utilitarianism
• A fundamental (and ethical ) objection to act
utilitarianism is that it does not recognize or
respect individual rights. It has no absolute
prohibitions.
• Would you kill one innocent person to distribute
their organs to several people who will die
without an organ transplant?
• Should you take the property of a rich person
and distribute amongst poorer people? Does
this differ if it is the state that redistributes
wealth compared to individuals or ‘Robin Hood’
style groups?

19. Corresponding page number:
Utilitarianism – the Rule version
• Rule utilitarianism is a variant form of utilitarianism which applies the utility
principle not to individual actions but to general ethical rules.
• Thus a rule utilitarian might argue that the general rule “Do not lie” will
increase total utility; similarly a rule utilitarian might argue that the general rule
“Do not kill” will increase total utility.
• Recognizing that wide spread lying, killing and stealing decrease the security
and happiness (utility) of all, a rule utilitarian can devise rules (or laws) against
these acts .
• In general a rule utilitarian will be more comfortable than a deontologist in
breaking a rule in circumstances where doing so would have good consequences

20. Corresponding page number:
Are there ‘Natural Rights’ that we think
should apply to all citizens?
• Suppose we wish to treat people as ends rather than means to an
end and we want to increase people’s ‘happiness’ as a way of having
a better society. Unfortunately this is a rather vague goal.
• One approach to improving overall happiness might be to let people
make their own decisions and choose their actions wherever
possible.
• We could try to define a “sphere of freedom” in which people can
act according to their own judgment without the coercive influence
of others.

21. Corresponding page number:
Ethics – Natural Rights
• This approach respects a set of fundamental
rights of others, called “natural rights” because
in the opinion of some philosophers we can
derive them from the nature of humanity.
• Examples include the US Constitution that
includes the rights to life, liberty and property.
People often talk about a ‘right to free speech’
or the ‘right to life’ and even the ‘right to die’.
• John Lock, argued that we each have an
exclusive right to ourselves, our labour, and to
what we produce with our labour.
• He saw protection of private property as a
moral rule. Without it, for example, he claimed
no one would clear land or plant food.

22. Corresponding page number:
Ethics – Natural Rights
• Respect for the rights to life, to liberty and the protection of property lead to
ethical rules against killing, stealing, deception and coercion
• Those that emphasize natural rights tend to emphasize the ethical character of
the process by which people interact.
• They see acts generally as likely to be ethical if they involve voluntary
interactions and freely made exchanges where the people involved are not
coerced or deceived.
• This contrasts with other ethical standards that tend to focus on the result or
state achieved by the interaction, for example, seeing an action as likely to be
unethical if it leaves some people poor

23. Corresponding page number:
Different
sorts of
‘Rights’
• When people talk about rights they are often
• speaking about two different kinds of rights.
• In philosophy these are usually called
• Negative rights (liberties)
• The right to act without interference; these imply merely
a negative duty on others not to prevent the action.
• Positive rights (claim-rights)
• These impose a positive obligation on people to act or
provide certain things for others; e.g. students have a
‘right to appeal’ if the assessment process is not fairly
conducted. Similarly, the Disability Discrimination Act
legislates positive rights for disabled citizens. Some
positive rights arise through contracts.

24. Corresponding page number:
Ethics -
Negative
Rights
• Negative rights (liberties)
• The right to act without interference. The
only obligation they impose on others is not
to prevent you from acting.
• Negative rights include:
• the right to life (in the sense that no one
may kill you)
• the right to be free from assault
• the right to use your property
• the right to use your labour, skills and mind
to create goods and services and to trade
with people in voluntary exchanges
• freedom of speech and religion
• the right to privacy
• Is the ‘right to knowledge and information’
(e.g. through access to the internet) a ‘negative
right’/entitlement?

25. Corresponding page number:
Ethics – Positive
Rights
• Positive rights (claim-rights)
• Impose an obligation on some people to
provide certain things for others
• a positive right to a job could mean that
someone must hire you
• a positive right to life may mean that others
have to pay for your food or medical care
• a positive right to freedom of speech may
mean that we require to BBC to broadcast,
my, your, everyone’s views
• a positive right to freedom of information
for all may mean no confidentially allowed
• a positive right to access the internet could
result in others having to pay for your
internet access ( was this a positive right in
the 19th Century?)
• Essentially these are entitlements that impose a
duty on someone else to facilitate them for you.

26. Corresponding page number:
Ethics – Conflict Between Negative and
Positive Rights
• We might believe that privacy is a negative right (or liberty) while
also believing that freedom of information is a positive (claim) right?
• A possible conflict?

27. Corresponding page number:
Ethics
• A variety of ethical views (cont.):
• No simple answers
• Human behavior and real human situations are
complex. There are often trade-offs to consider.
• Ethical theories help to identify important principles or
guidelines.
• Ethical theories do not provide clear, incontrovertibly
correct positions on most issues. We can use the
approaches we described to support opposite sides of
many an issue.
•

28. Corresponding page number:
Ethics
• A variety of ethical views (cont.):
• Do organizations have ethics?
• Ultimately, it is individuals who are making decisions and taking actions.
However, we can hold both the individuals and the organization responsible
for their acts.
• For example are there ethical principles that a University should
follow?

29. Corresponding page number:
Ethics
• Some important distinctions:
• Dilemmas in how to act / behave / decide
• Right (ethically obligatory?)
• or Wrong (ethically prohibited?)
• or Okay (ethically acceptable?)
• Distinguishing wrong and harm
• What if you, or your company, were to
develop a new product that puts a
competitor out of business – people will
lose their jobs (harm) . Is this wrong?

30. Corresponding page number:
Ethics
• In analysing a situation we should consider
separating ‘goals’ from ‘constraints’; for
example:
• Our ‘goal’ – financial success
• Working hard and making sensible investments
may achieve this
• So might stealing - ethically prohibited and
hence a ‘constraint’
• You, or the company you work for, should
strive to achieve goals by ensuring that both
your and the companies actions are consistent
with ethical constraints.

31. Corresponding page number:
Personal preference and Ethics
• We might find something distasteful but is it ethically wrong?
• Some people may not consider a job opportunity in, for example,
the arms industry because they do not like the products the company
produces, e.g. nuclear bombs
• Are they doing this on ethical grounds or is it a personal
preference?
• Two people with opposing political or social views may both claim
they are morally and/or ethically correct – i.e. claim the “moral high
ground”

32. Corresponding page number:
Law and Ethics
• What is the connection between law and
ethics?
• Sometimes very little
• History allowed the slave trade?
• New law lags behind new technology for
good reason.
• It takes time to recognize new problems
associated with the new technology,
consider possible solutions, think and
debate about the consequences of
various proposals and so on

33. Corresponding page number:
Law and
Ethics
• Ethics precedes law in the sense that ethical
principles help determine whether or not we
should pass specific laws.
• Ethics fills the gap between the time when
new technology creates new problems and the
time when legislatures pass reasonable laws
• Libertarians argue that a good law will set
minimal standards that can apply to all
situations, leaving a large range of voluntary
choices.
• Others argue that we need to foresee possible
dangers and promote fair outcomes even at the
cost of constraining freedom to act for some.