Lecture 1 morals & ethics
Morality: is humans’ ability to distinguish between right and wrong
Ethical theories: are principles and rules that determine right and wrong in different
satiations
normative ethics: the study of how we ought to behave
ethics: the systematic study of morality:
- Ongoing discussion about morality with a very long history
- Ethics typically examines right and wrong from the perspective of a human being
instead of for instance nature
- Key questions:
o What kind of moral principles should guide our actions?
o What kind of aims should we have?
- Ethics is not just the theorization of morals but the aim is also to affect practice
- Ethical theories can give contradictory solutions to the same problem
- Business ethics is the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where
issues of right and wrong are addressed
Do we need ethics when we have the law?
- In society, morality is the foundation of the law
- Law and ethics are partly overlapping. Nonetheless:
o The law does not cover all ethical issues (e.g., cheating on your partner)
o Not all legal issues are ethical (e.g., driving on the right side of the road)
o Law and ethics can involve contradictions (e.g., apartheid)
- The road from unethical to illegal is short and slippery
- Companies can operate in locations with lacking legal infrastructure
Perspective 1: Ethical egoism
- Usually not considered as an ethical theory, although this view is very influential in
economics
- An action is morally right if the decision-maker freely decides in order to pursue
either their (short-term) desires or their (long-term) interests
- Authors: Thomas Hobbes, Adam Smith, popularized by Ayn Rand
- The influence of egoism is related to the perception of ideal markets and Adam
Smith’s “invisible hand”
,Problems with ethical egoism:
- Inconsistent as it condones blatant immoral wrongs, since anything goes violence
against the vulnerable, theft, even murder – as long as the egoist’s needs are served
- A moral view based on short term satisfaction of need is contradictory with our
moral principles
- Enlightened egoism focuses on the meeting of long-term human interests
- Enlightened egoism does not take a stance on the nature of the interests and desires
of individuals, which can still lead to problems due to conflicting interests
- Although taking care of your needs and interests is morally important, the theory
needs to be complemented by more developed ethical theories
Theory 2: utilitarianism:
- Greatest good principles
- An act is morally right if It results in the greatest amount of good to the greatest
amount of people affected by the action
- Important authors Jeremy Bentham and john Stuart mill
- Utilitarianism is very influential in normative economics which is related to the
egoistic view of humans in economics
- Egoism in economics tends to function within a utilitarian societal moral theory
- Act utilitarianism: whether a single act is right or wrong depends on the amount of
common good it produces
- Rule utilitarianism: focuses on creating rules that produce the most common good
- In practice, utilitarianism becomes an analysis of advantages and disadvantages, a
cost/benefit analysis
Problems of utilitarianism
- A utilitarian good is subjective, context-dependent, and difficult to compare between
people
- Utilitarianism runs into difficulties in questions related to the just distribution of
wealth
- Utilitarianism can be contradictory with the idea of respecting basic rights
- Maximizing is generally speaking not the best approach to addressing all values
- Utilitarianism does not include the idea of reciprocity
Theory 3: ethics of duties:
- Most famous author: Immanuel Kant
, - Central concepts to Kant’s moral philosophy are duty, consistency, dignity, and
universality
- Duties do not involve human’s ability to develop moral law and moral rules
- Kant’s deontological theory develops principles or categorical imperatives to guide
our actions
Ethics of duties: categorical imperatives:
- Universal applicability
o Categorical imperative: act only so that the will through its maxims could
regard itself at the same time as universally lawgiving
o Main idea: check that the principle is acceptable to every human being (e.g.,
tomorrow’s newspaper test)
- Respect for persons:
o Categorical imperative: act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own
person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only
o Main idea: a human being is a valuable autonomical being, and not a means
to an end or a tool
Problems with ethics of duties:
- Ethics of duties is a rather difficult and abstract theory
- Morality can be seen as a heavy burden to bear
- Morality is founded perhaps too strictly on the use of reason
- Ethic of duties undervalues outcomes of actions
Theory 4: rights and justice:
- Natural human rights are certain basic, important inalienable entitlements that
should be respected and protected in every single situation. These are based in
human dignity and lead to a duty for others to protect, respect, and support them
- Main natural rights: right to life, freedom, property, speech, privacy, conscience, and
fair trial among others
- Central authors: John Locke and John Rawls
- Right-based thinking are a central part of western political and ethical thought and
the foundation of universal human rights
- Justice: the simultaneous fair treatment of individuals in a given situation with the
result that everybody gets what they deserve
- Key ideas: procedural vs distributive fairness; veil of ignorance; social contract;
system of basic liberties, judgment of society by the state of the least advantaged,
and equal opportunity
Morality: is humans’ ability to distinguish between right and wrong
Ethical theories: are principles and rules that determine right and wrong in different
satiations
normative ethics: the study of how we ought to behave
ethics: the systematic study of morality:
- Ongoing discussion about morality with a very long history
- Ethics typically examines right and wrong from the perspective of a human being
instead of for instance nature
- Key questions:
o What kind of moral principles should guide our actions?
o What kind of aims should we have?
- Ethics is not just the theorization of morals but the aim is also to affect practice
- Ethical theories can give contradictory solutions to the same problem
- Business ethics is the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where
issues of right and wrong are addressed
Do we need ethics when we have the law?
- In society, morality is the foundation of the law
- Law and ethics are partly overlapping. Nonetheless:
o The law does not cover all ethical issues (e.g., cheating on your partner)
o Not all legal issues are ethical (e.g., driving on the right side of the road)
o Law and ethics can involve contradictions (e.g., apartheid)
- The road from unethical to illegal is short and slippery
- Companies can operate in locations with lacking legal infrastructure
Perspective 1: Ethical egoism
- Usually not considered as an ethical theory, although this view is very influential in
economics
- An action is morally right if the decision-maker freely decides in order to pursue
either their (short-term) desires or their (long-term) interests
- Authors: Thomas Hobbes, Adam Smith, popularized by Ayn Rand
- The influence of egoism is related to the perception of ideal markets and Adam
Smith’s “invisible hand”
,Problems with ethical egoism:
- Inconsistent as it condones blatant immoral wrongs, since anything goes violence
against the vulnerable, theft, even murder – as long as the egoist’s needs are served
- A moral view based on short term satisfaction of need is contradictory with our
moral principles
- Enlightened egoism focuses on the meeting of long-term human interests
- Enlightened egoism does not take a stance on the nature of the interests and desires
of individuals, which can still lead to problems due to conflicting interests
- Although taking care of your needs and interests is morally important, the theory
needs to be complemented by more developed ethical theories
Theory 2: utilitarianism:
- Greatest good principles
- An act is morally right if It results in the greatest amount of good to the greatest
amount of people affected by the action
- Important authors Jeremy Bentham and john Stuart mill
- Utilitarianism is very influential in normative economics which is related to the
egoistic view of humans in economics
- Egoism in economics tends to function within a utilitarian societal moral theory
- Act utilitarianism: whether a single act is right or wrong depends on the amount of
common good it produces
- Rule utilitarianism: focuses on creating rules that produce the most common good
- In practice, utilitarianism becomes an analysis of advantages and disadvantages, a
cost/benefit analysis
Problems of utilitarianism
- A utilitarian good is subjective, context-dependent, and difficult to compare between
people
- Utilitarianism runs into difficulties in questions related to the just distribution of
wealth
- Utilitarianism can be contradictory with the idea of respecting basic rights
- Maximizing is generally speaking not the best approach to addressing all values
- Utilitarianism does not include the idea of reciprocity
Theory 3: ethics of duties:
- Most famous author: Immanuel Kant
, - Central concepts to Kant’s moral philosophy are duty, consistency, dignity, and
universality
- Duties do not involve human’s ability to develop moral law and moral rules
- Kant’s deontological theory develops principles or categorical imperatives to guide
our actions
Ethics of duties: categorical imperatives:
- Universal applicability
o Categorical imperative: act only so that the will through its maxims could
regard itself at the same time as universally lawgiving
o Main idea: check that the principle is acceptable to every human being (e.g.,
tomorrow’s newspaper test)
- Respect for persons:
o Categorical imperative: act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own
person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only
o Main idea: a human being is a valuable autonomical being, and not a means
to an end or a tool
Problems with ethics of duties:
- Ethics of duties is a rather difficult and abstract theory
- Morality can be seen as a heavy burden to bear
- Morality is founded perhaps too strictly on the use of reason
- Ethic of duties undervalues outcomes of actions
Theory 4: rights and justice:
- Natural human rights are certain basic, important inalienable entitlements that
should be respected and protected in every single situation. These are based in
human dignity and lead to a duty for others to protect, respect, and support them
- Main natural rights: right to life, freedom, property, speech, privacy, conscience, and
fair trial among others
- Central authors: John Locke and John Rawls
- Right-based thinking are a central part of western political and ethical thought and
the foundation of universal human rights
- Justice: the simultaneous fair treatment of individuals in a given situation with the
result that everybody gets what they deserve
- Key ideas: procedural vs distributive fairness; veil of ignorance; social contract;
system of basic liberties, judgment of society by the state of the least advantaged,
and equal opportunity
