Philosophy 3820F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Geoffrey Warnock, Deontological Ethics, Primum Non Nocere
26 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Philosophy 3820G Lecture 1
Ethics
John Rawls
The most important political philosopher 20th century writing on Political
Justice
Tries to outline what justice is as setting out a few alternatives, arguing in
favour of one and opposing the others
“A Theory of Justice”
Justice as fairness
The Major Unsatisfactory theory: Utilitarianism
One Rule: Maximize happiness
Consequentialist
Taught as providing a guide as to how to act on personal decisions,
evidently not a good guide
The founder of Utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham (late 18th) “Principals Of
Morals And Legislation”
Typically not good in the eyes of the philosopher
But in the context of Public Policy and Business is good
In Western states and bureaucracy, Utilitarianism is highly influential
We should pass pieces of legislation to make the greatest amount of
people happy
We expect governments to use our information to make informed
decisions
Politician’s and bearcats do not use the term but instead use
Cost/Benefit analysis
The standard difficulty is that it demands too much
The 5 to 1 vacation family example, Snow boarding v. New York
Forces people to make decisions against his own interests
If your preferences are minority preference’s then they may never come
to light
Objection: Suppose there’s a racial and ethnic minority, hated by the
majority, by Utilitarian standards if the majority hates the minority, the
government should persecute the minority
Producing happiness for the majority could cause great unhappiness for
the minority
Deontology
Multiple rule based decision making
Says that the right and wrong of an action is not seen in how people are
doing, it lies within the action
Just consider what kind of action is at stake
Divine command theories
not popular with philosophers but with religious people
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The most important political philosopher 20th century writing on political. Tries to outline what justice is as setting out a few alternatives, arguing in favour of one and opposing the others. Taught as providing a guide as to how to act on personal decisions, evidently not a good guide. The founder of utilitarianism jeremy bentham (late 18th) principals of. Typically not good in the eyes of the philosopher. But in the context of public policy and business is good. In western states and bureaucracy, utilitarianism is highly influential. We should pass pieces of legislation to make the greatest amount of people happy. We expect governments to use our information to make informed decisions. Politician"s and bearcats do not use the term but instead use. The standard difficulty is that it demands too much. The 5 to 1 vacation family example, snow boarding v. new york. Forces people to make decisions against his own interests.
