Phil21 wk5 values & the good life

VALUES AND THE GOOD LIFE

The good, the right, & the Virtuous

WHAT ARE YOUR VALUES?WHAT ARE YOUR PRIORITIES?

Accomplishmen

t

Love

Fun

Money

A fulfilling sex

life

A good job

Children

Long life

Travel

Recognition

Enjoyment

Happiness

Spirituality

Contribution to

something outside

the self

Friendship

Entertainment

Safety

Intelligence

Recreation

 Honesty

Adventure

Romance

Creativity

Knowledge

Generosity

Self-discipline

Talent

Good health

Respect

Meaningful

work

Nice car

Freedom

Fame

Good

education

Big house

Vacations in

the Bahamas

Leisure

GOOD STATES OF AFFAIRSIt’s good to eat. It’s better to eat well. It’s best that all eat well.

The best classes are those that are not just interesting and relevant, but teach you something about who you are and how you should be.

Replacing the drug war with a health-based approach would help preserve families, lower prison costs, and help addicts kick the habit.

We need the death penalty in order to deter would-be murderers from committing murders. Death penalty = less murders.

WHAT IS VALUABLE AND HOW IS IT VALUABLE

What type(s) of thing are valuable?

Individualism – Only individual beings can have intrinsic moral value (e.g. higher mammals, sentient beings, all living things)

Holism - Collective entities can also have intrinsic moral value (e.g., ecosystems, wilderness or endangered species)

In what way is it valuable?

intrinsic value: The worth objects have in their own right, independent of their value to any other end.

instrumental value: The worth objects have in fulfilling other ends

VALUING WHOLES

SOME (POTENTIAL) NONMARKET VALUES

THE RIGHTAs a parent, I have to look out for my children’s well-being first.

I have the right to be treated with respect like everyone else

It would be wrong to tell you what she said – I promised!

Give more to charity. You know that it’s the right thing to do.

Killing innocent people is wrong, no matter how much it lowers the price of oil.

It’s wrong to allow a murderer to live. Justifies demands retribution.

THE GOOD LIFE

The enviable life – a life that we would like to have when viewed from the inside

The admirable life – a life that we admire and respect.

THE GOOD LIFE

1.Are there many kinds of desirable lives

2.Are there many kinds of admirable lives?

3. Is the admirable life the enviable life?

4. Is the enviable life the admirable life?

KEY QUESTION: What is the connection between good states of affairs, right actions, and a good character?

Sample approach 1: consequence-based ethics

o Start/focus on good states of affairso Right actions are those that bring about good states of

affairso A good character is one that leads you bring about good

states of affairsSample approach 2: duty-based ethics

o Start/focus on right actionso Good states of affairs are those in which right actions

are takeno A good character is one that leads you to perform right

actionsSample approach 3: character-based ethics

o Start/focus on good charactero Good states of affairs are those in which good

characters are developedo Right actions are those that bring about (arise from)

good character

SELF-INTEREST & MORALITY

1. Are we universally selfish?

(descriptive question)

2. Should we be universally

selfish? (prescriptive

question)

PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOISM

(PE)Every person only cares intrinsically about him or herself. All human motivations are selfish. Objection: Sometimes people truly behave altruistically

Reply: People help others because it makes them feel good, not from altruism. Objection: That pleasure can be the biproduct, rather than the motivation

ETHICAL EGOISM

ETHICAL EGOISM – One ought to do what is in his or her own rational self-interest.

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“The achievement of his own happiness is man’s highest moral purpose”– Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness (1964)

ARGUMENT 1: THE RING OF GYGES

P1. Everyone would pursue their self-interest if they could

P2. Whatever everyone would do is what anyone should do.

C. We ought to pursue only our own interests.

ETHICAL EGOISM

ETHICAL EGOISM - Everyone ought to do what is in his or her own rational self-interest.

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ARGUMENT 2: BEST FOR EVERYONE

P1. It is by pursuing our own benefit that we best help others achieve theirs

C. We ought to pursue only our own interests.

ETHICAL EGOISM

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ARGUMENT 3: RESPECTING INDIVIDUAL INTEGRITY (Rand)

P1. A person has only one life to live. If we value the individual then we must treat this life is of supreme importance – it’s all one has and is.

P2. The ethics of altruism regards the life of the individual as something one must be ready to sacrifice for the good of others

C1. Therefore, the ethics of altruism doesn’t properly value the individual.

P3. Ethical Egoism, which allows each person to view his or her own life as being of ultimate value, is the only philosophy that takes the life of the individual seriously.

C2. Thus, Ethical Egoism is the philosophy that ought to be accepted

ETHICAL EGOISM

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ARGUMENT 4: EGOISM UNDERLIES COMMON MORALITY

P1. The hodge-podge of various duties prescribed by common sense morality requires an explanation

P2. The best explanation of common sense morality is that all of our duties are ultimately derived from the fundamental principle of self-interest

C. Therefore, we should accept Ethical Egoism

Morality requires that we sometimes act against our own best interest…

Option 1: … and morality is right

Problem: Why should I do what is against my self-interest?

Option 2: … and morality is wrong

Problem: Morality seems like it has force and can’t be ignored.

The morally right thing to do is also what is in our best interest. Being a good person leads to rewards and being a bad person leads to punishments.

Problem 1: It seems easy to come up with some potential act that will benefit me, but wrongly harm others.

Problem 2: Implausibly implies that moral and immoral people have same motivation, but one is just smarter.

WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MORALITY AND SELF-

INTEREST?

Conflict Harmony