What is Ethics?

And why is it important?

Ethics vs. Morality I
The two concepts are sometimes used interchangeably, but sometimes they
are used to make distinctions.

There is no universally agreed open meaning of the terms, but here are two
that are interesting and relevant:

● Morality refers to the set of moral rules, customs, conceptions of right/wrong

and good/bad(/evil) in a given community - the rules telling us how we ought to live
and act if we want to be good or decent people

● Ethics is the rational, systematic study of moral rules and ideas - a branch of
philosophy (sometimes also called ‘moral philosophy’), philosophizing about
morality and what a good life is
Ethics vs. Morality II
● Ethics deals with the the questions “What is a good life?”, “How should I live?”
in the broadest sense - the overriding concern is “what is a life well lived?”

● Morality deals with a system of obligations and concrete rules of conduct that
people are required to follow - the overriding concern is “what makes someone a
decent/good person?”

In this sense, it may be the case that a certain ethical approach denies the
importance of morality.

For example: The general maxim “Always put yourself first!” expresses a general
approach to a life well lived (and hence potentially a part of ethics), but it denies
the importance of morality for such a life.
Two fundamental questions/approaches in ethics
1) What makes for a good life, a life well lived?

(more holistic, mostly prevalent in antiquity) - closer to the second meaning of

ethics above

2) How should we act? What are the moral principles of individual actions and
decisions?

(less holistic, more prevalent in modern times) - closer to the second meaning
of morality above
Why is ethics (I) (especially today) so important?
Modern societies have two characteristics that make ethics especially
relevant:

● Modern societies tend to be pluralistic, i.e. there is not one single

authoritative tradition (like Christianity in medieval Europe) binding on
everyone, but there are several competing systems of values

● Modern societies tend to be individualistic, i.e. they give the individual

a lot of freedom to make choices, to find find their own way etc.

Both of these aspects seem to make ethics as the rational (hence,

a-traditional) search for a good life and right conduct especially important
Is there an objective morality, a rational account
of right and wrong / good and bad that is valid
and binding for everybody?

(This view is sometimes called moral universalism or moral absolutism.)

Common objections to the pursuit of ethics (I)
There are two common views as to why the need for ethics is often
denied:

1) The religious objection: We already (for the most part) know all
we need about morality from religion. (This objection was more
common in the past.)
2) There is no point to philosophical ethics, since all morality is
subjective, and hence relative anyway. (This objection is very
common nowadays).

In order to take ethics really seriously, we need to at least

consider it possible that both of these objections are not valid.
Is morality radically subjective?
The view that morality is ultimately purely subjective is called moral relativism

There are different arguments for this view, the most important being:

1) Morality seems to differ from culture to culture, from historical era to

historical era, etc. How could we claim that there is one objective morality?
2) The only source of objective truth is science, and there is no science of
morality. Science only deals with “how things are”, however, morality is
interested in “how things ought to be” or “should be.” Science investigates
things that are “out there”, but the objects of ethics are not like that. Hence
there can be no objective account of morality.
3) The universe is indifferent to human goals and preferences. All ideas of
good/bad, right/wrong etc. originate in the human mind, and since humans
can’t agree on these ideas we have no standard to prefer one to the other.
Again, in order to take ethics really seriously, we
need to at least consider the possibility that these
arguments are not conclusive.
Program for the semester:
1) Introduction to ethics
2) The philosophic search for a good life: Ancient theories of eudaimonia
3) The search for the foundations of doing the right thing: Modern theories of
morality
4) Freedom, determinism, and responsibility
Intro to Ancient Greek Ethics I
● Ancient Greek Ethics tends to take a very holistic approach to ethical matters

● The central question is “How should I live?”, “What kind of life is the best life for
a human being?”

● The prevailing answer in Ancient Greek culture was that the best kind of life is
one of success and distinction in political and military matters that brings honor
and recognition.

● All of the philosophic conceptions of a good life are critical of this ideal in varying
degrees.

Warm up reflection: What do you think is nowadays the most widespread

conception of “a good, successful life”? What do YOU think makes for such a life?
Ancient Greek Ethics II
● The first philosophers (the so-called ‘Presocratics’) were, as far as we can tell,
not very much concerned with ‘human things’ including ethics.

● They were mostly concerned with giving an account of nature, or the world
independent of human involvement.

● The first philosopher who is reputed to devote most of his attention to ‘human
things’ is Socrates.

● According to the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero, Socrates was “the
first who brought philosophy down from the heavens, placed it in cities, introduced
it into families, and obliged it to examine into life and morals, and good and evil."

● The first philosopher who wrote a whole treatise on the subject of ethics that
systematically discusses it is Aristotle. His book is called Nicomachean Ethics.
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 1, Beginning:
“The highest good/The ultimate purpose”
● All human activities (and the kinds of knowledge that deal with them) have some kind of
goal or purpose, something they are supposed to achieve, something for-the-sake-of-which
they are done

● Some activities are subordinate to others (e.g. bridle-making to horse-riding, and

horse-riding to war or agriculture); in this case the higher-order purposes are more important
than the lower order ones, the higher we get in the hierarchy of purposes the more important
the activities get

● If the chain of purposes has no end (we do one thing for the sake of another, and in turn
for the sake of another etc. ad infinitum), human desire and would be empty and vain and life
would be pointless.

● There must be a highest good or purpose for-the-sake-of-which we do everything we do.

Aristotle’s alternative
Either

There is a highest good, an ultimate purpose that gives meaning and direction to
all human activities, something for-the-sake-of-which everything is done

or

Human desire and striving is ultimately empty and pointless.

As Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Macbeth:

“Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the
stage, and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing.”
Why is knowledge of the highest good important?
● The science that deals with the highest good is, according to Aristotle, political
science (episteme politike), a part of which is ethics.

“Will not the knowledge of [the highest good], then, have a great influence on life?
Shall we not, like archers who have a mark to aim at, be more likely to hit
upon what is right? If so, we must try, in outline at least, to determine what it is
...”

● Knowledge of the highest good would then provide human beings with guidance
and orientation, a mark to ai at, in leading their lives.

→ Ethics is a fundamentally practical discipline. It is supposed to help us lead

good, meaningful lives.
What is the highest good? Is there an ultimate point to life?
Why happiness (eudaimonia) is the highest good
● Everything we do we do either for its own sake (then it it a ‘final end [or
purpose]) or for the sake of something else

● Those things that are done for their own sake ore of higher value or dignity than
the things that are done for the sake of something else

● There are things we do for their own things AND for the sake of something else
(honor, pleasure, reason, virtue)

● There is only one thing we desire without any further purpose, namely
happiness

● Therefore happiness is the highest good.