ethics.html

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“Rich, comprehensive and provocative, with illustrative examples that are original and stimulating… altogether a fine and authoritative introduction to the subject.”

Michael Clark – Emeritus Professor of Philosophy,
University of Nottingham

“A must-read. It is thorough and complete, yet always accessible and entertaining, written in Cave’s signature sharp style. No matter what your background, this book will inform and challenge you – just as moral philosophizing should.”

Andrew Pessin – Professor of Philosophy,
Connecticut College

“Readable and entertaining… With characteristic verve, Peter Cave surveys a wide range of topics and challenges readers to think their way through complex moral problems. For those seeking to make sense of life’s dilemmas, as well as for students enrolled in philosophy courses, this is an ideal guide.”

Dan Cohn-Sherbok – Professor Emeritus of Judaism,
University of Wales

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A Oneworld Paperback Original

Published in North America, Great Britain and Australia by
Oneworld Publications, 2015
This ebook edition published by Oneworld Publications, 2015

The moral right of Peter Cave to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

ISBN 978-1-78074-576-3
eISBN 978-1-78074-577-0

Typesetting and eBook by Tetragon, London

Oneworld Publications
10 Bloomsbury Street
London WC1B 3SR
England

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Written for
those who anguish about
doing what is right –
and for those who do not

In memory of
Laurence Goldstein (1947–2014),
good friend, good philosopher,
good humoured –
and now, sadly,
goodbye

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Some Ethics

Tzu Kung asked, ‘Is there any single saying that one can act upon all day and every day?’

The master said, ‘Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.’

Confucius (c. 551–479 BC)

The unexamined life is not worth living.

Socrates (c. 469–399 BC)

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gaine the whole world, and lose his owne soule?

Jesus (c. 5 bc–27 AD)

That Action is best, which procures the greatest Happiness for the greatest numbers; and that, worst, which, in like manner, occasions Misery.

Francis Hutcheson (1694–1746)

Two things fill me with wonder: the starry sky above and the moral law within.

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804)

If we possess our why of life we can put up with almost any how. – Man does not strive after happiness; only the Englishman does that.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)

Our duty can be defined as that action which will cause more good to exist in the universe than any possible alternative.

G. E. Moore (1873–1958)

Grub first; then ethics.

Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956)

A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.

Albert Camus (1913–60)

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‌Prologue:

the moral medley

Noel Coward, so the story goes, sent postcards to a selection of distinguished establishment people. The cards said, ‘We know what you’ve done. Leave London or all will be revealed.’ They all left London – well, so it is reported. Nothing was revealed – save, later, the facts here presented.

Whether or not the report is true, most of us – if not all – recognize that we have done things we ought not to have done, or failed to do things we ought to have done. Those ‘ought’s could be read in terms of securing our own advantage. Many, though, recognize that such ‘ought’s and ‘ought not’s possess moral flavours, not those of any obvious self-interest. Perhaps we let someone down or betrayed a confidence; broke a promise or were not quite honest about payments received; or passed by on the other side. We readily recognize how we may be ashamed of certain behaviours – certain hopes, motives and emotions – and yet proud of others. Such reflections place us in the realm of ethics, of morality; such reflections show our ready awareness of morality, of ethics – and hence of this book’s subject.

Ethics, as an academic discipline, is, of course, the study of ethics, of morality; it is a reflection whereby we self-conscious beings seek to make sense of how to live. In our everyday lives, we often wonder what we ought morally to do. That can lead into questions of what would be fair or just – yet also, whether one should be loyal or impartial, courageous, compassionate… Would it be beneficial overall to lie on a particular occasion? Is it sometimes better not to insist on our ‘rights’? And so on… The ‘and so on’ leads into the nature of goodness, of moral responsibility, and into life and death dilemmas – abortion, sexuality, assisted dying, our treatment of non-human animals. Ethics embraces a medley of moral concepts, concerns and questions.

The terms ‘ethics’ and ‘morality’ are typically used interchangeably – as they are here, until Chapter Ten – though ‘ethics’ perhaps hints at the ethos of a life whereas ‘morality’ focuses more on duties and rights. For completeness, let us mention political philosophy: although its central concern can be procedures for effective government, underlying must be the moral justification of a state’s authority and how it prioritizes moral values such as liberty, welfare and the democratic will. European states, for example, reject capital punishment, the death penalty, considering it morally repulsive, whereas some US states have no qualms at all in applying that penalty of finality.

Ethical study sometimes focuses on particular businesses, professions or cultures; professionals – nurses, teachers, journalists – refer to their professional ethics. A profession carries special duties, duties of care that apply to their charges, but not thereby to outsiders. Individuals may also speak of their own ethics by which they endeavour to live, ashamed when they fall below the standards set. Ethics, as a discipline, would then be studying the ethos advanced.

Banks, for example, promote codes of ethics, codes which merit analysis and evaluation. We may reflect – sadly reflect – how bad things have come to pass when such institutions need to declare explicitly that they treat customers fairly and with honesty. We may worry about their true intentions, just as suspicions arise when individuals repeat, ‘Trust me’. Codes of ethics can be but marketing masks to help generate greater profits, enhanced power or increased membership and recognition; witness financial institutions’ free portfolio reviews, manufacturers’ ‘improved’ products quietly designed with built-in obsolescence, and fun cartoon downloads for children – all devised to stimulate sales.

This book confines itself to ethical approaches currently examined in Western philosophy. Although current, they are grounded in ideas discussed by philosophers for over two thousand years, ideas manifested in everyday lives across the world – East and West, North and South. After an introductory chapter, six chapters review the major positions, including stances sceptical of the whole moral enterprise. The outcome, it is hoped, is greater awareness of the medley of concerns – all correctly understood as moral – yet concerns that, in the author’s view, inevitably conflict and lack common measure; they are a muddle. Of course, the selection and weight given to objections and replies are the author’s, the aim being to stimulate readers into further reading and reflections. The last three chapters and Epilogue explore the medley’s relevance to practical matters, from the human to the ecological, returning finally to the fundamental ethical concern of how to live. Inevitably in that finality, the author’s stamp, a somewhat melancholic stamp, is there to see – for readers to take to task and show where mistaken, or for readers to explore and enhance, based on their own experiences and reflections.

Philosophy, it has been said, is thinking in slow motion. With ethical problems there are temptations to blurt out quick answers, as if something is obviously right or clearly wrong. We need to think slowly, reflect and imagine possibilities; we need to take our time. Humility can be a virtue. It certainly is where philosophical thinking is concerned and when trying to see morality aright – and hence what is morally right.

‌WHAT DOES MORALITY DEMAND?

The Tram: A driverless tram is hurtling towards five workers trapped on the rails. They will all be killed, unless… You are at the points; you could divert the tram onto a siding, where only one worker is trapped. If you divert, one person is killed. If you do nothing, five are killed. You could walk on by, keeping your hands clean – or would they be so easily cleansed? What ought you to do?

Here is a revision. The only way you can stop the tram – saving the five – is by throwing a bulky man onto the track. He will be killed, but the five will be saved. Ought you to throw?

The Bear: Two friends are hiking through woods when they become aware of a hungry bear heading their way, eager to eat. ‘We’d better run for it,’ says one. ‘What’s the point?’ sighs the other, ‘We can’t outrun a bear.’ ‘No need to do that,’ is the smug reply, ‘I just need to outrun you.’

Morally it would surely be wrong for one deliberately to trip up the other; but is it morally permitted for one to ‘save her own skin’, leaving the friend to fend for herself?

The Violinist: After minor medical procedures, you awake to find a violinist attached to you via a tube. You learn he was in urgent need of cells that only your blood can supply. If you unplug, he dies. The tubing is inconvenient: wherever you go, the violinist goes too. He pleads with you not to unplug.

Are you within your rights to unplug, although it leads to his death? Even if within your rights, is it morally permissible for you to unplug? May the answer rest upon the duration he must remain plugged and the length of tubing? Maybe the hospital often does involuntary pluggings; if so, did you know?

Extending the tubing, so to speak: reflect on how, as consumers, we are plugged into others, their lives and environments, thousands of miles away, affecting those others and being ourselves affected.

Contents

‌Prologue:

the moral medley