Ethics
An Ethical Overview--It's Not Just Numbers
Ethics is a far more complex topic than simply a question of what is right and what is wrong. There has been a long history of people who have grappled with difficult ethical questions. It is important that you have an overall understanding of ethical perspectives. The three documents below give an easily digested overview.
Hypothetical versus the Practical
One view of ethics is the consequentialist view. Although there are many variations and nuances, it is essentially this--whatever action brings about the best consequence is the right action. This works well in theory. For example, If either one person has to die or five people have to die, the logical choice would be the one person because the consequence would be that five people live. As long as the example remains in abstraction, there is little moral dilemma. Once you put actual humans into the equation, the emotional response changes. What if the one person was your brother or sister and the other five were 90+ year old men with terminal cancer? Would your decision be the same or would other factors influence your decision? On what, then, would you say you base you base your actions? The video lectures from Harvard explore some of these exact issues. Consider what your own responses would be--and why. What is consequentialist moral reasoning?
What is categorical moral reasoning? Which philosophers most prominently represent these perspectives? What is utility according to Jeremy Bentham? Do you agree with Bentham's approach? Why or why not? |
The Morality of Murder
Putting a Price Tag on Life |
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Consider what you would do if confronted with this situation to the left. Why would you respond that way?
How valid is the following quote? "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"--Edmund Burke Are there times when inaction is the right action? |
The multiple perspectives articulated in the essay by Isaac Asimov below is a great example of the exploration needed in a ToK Essay. It also puts scientific progress into more of a continuous timeline, rather than dramatic jumps in paradigms.
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The podcast below deals with some rather disturbing dilemmas. A question, though...when we analyze the processes of our brains, are we noticing what primitive functions we naturally have or are we noticing the established pattern our brains have created? How would we be able to determine the difference?
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Universal Ethics?
Are ethics universal? Can they be? Should they be? There is a Universal Declaration of Human Rights that is supposedly agreed upon across cultures, but is it? Should it be? Do you agree with it? Why or why not? Should there be a universal agreement about what is ethical behavior?