Ethics

Ethics Study Guide 4. Principle of Justice – One ought always to act justly. 5. Natural Law Ethics – One ought always to act in accordance with nature. 6. Utilitarianism – One ought to always act to maximize the general good. Moral Particul sm contends moral principles are secondary to outcomes. The rightness of an act depends solely on the situations in which it is performed, and is not derived from rules, principles, or commandments. Moral particularism is predominantly consequentialist by may be guided by moral principles. Natural Law Theory refers to a type of moral theory, as well as to a type of legal theory, but the core claims of the two kinds of theory are logically independent. According to natural law moral theory, the moral standards that govern human behavior are, in some sense, objectively derived from the nature of human beings and the nature of the world. While being logically independent of natural law legal theory, the two theories intersect. The first is a theory of morality that is roughly characterized by the following theses: • First moral propositions have, what is sometimes called objective standing, in the sense that such propositions are the bearers of objective truth-value. Moral propositions can be objectively true or false. • The second thesis constituting the core of natural lawmoral theory is the claim that standards of morality are, in some sense, derived from the nature of the world, and the nature of human beings. Thomas Aquinas, for example, identifies the rational nature of human beings as that which defines moral law: the rule and measure of human acts is the reason, which is the first principle of human acts. According to natural law legal theory, the authority of legal standards necessarily derived, at least in part, from considerations having to do with the moral merit of those standards. Classical natural law theory, such as the theory of Aquinas focuses on the overlap between natural law moral and legal theories. Plato (424-348 B.C.E.) uses the myth, The Ring of Gyges, to illustrate the concept of morality and egoism in his book, The Republic. To Plato, the soul has three parts: desire, spirit, and reason. Plato, following the ideas of his teacher, Socrates, considered the soul as the essence of people, and responsible for deciding how we behave. Plato considered the soul to be an eternal occupant of our being that is continually reborn in subsequent bodies after our death. The Platonic soul is made up of three parts: the logos (mind), thymos (emotion), and eros (desire). Each part has a specific defined function in a balanced and peaceful soul. Plato saw the soul as a ghostly occupant of the body. Rawls, John (1921-2002 C.E.) attempted to associate Kantian philosophy with the law. Unlike Kant, he was concerned with the issue of fairness and social justice. He developed a social contract theory of justice. Social contract describes a broad class of theories that try to explain the ways in which people form state and/or maintain social order. ©2018 Achieve Page 112 of 116