PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING CDT409 LECTURE 4 Utilitarianism, Rights, Justice Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic Department of Computer Science and Engineering Mälardalen University 2007 Repetition on Virtue Ethics Emphasizes character, rather than rules or consequences, as the key element of ethical thinking. In the West prevailing approach in the ancient and medieval ethics. Today one of the three dominant approaches to normative ethics (the other two being deontology and utilitarianism/consequentialism). Concern for virtue appears in several philosophical traditions, notably Chinese and Indian. 1 2 Virtue Ethics The Seven Virtues In the West found in work of Plato and Aristotle. Main concepts include: arête (excellence or virtue) phronesis (practical or moral wisdom), and eudaimonia (flourishing). Eudaimonia (Greek: εὐδαιμονία) is a classical Greek word commonly translated as 'happiness'. Etymologically, it consists of the word "eu" ("good" or "well being") and "daimōn" ("spirit, meaning one's fortune). Although popular usage of the term happiness refers to a state of mind, related to joy or pleasure, eudaimonia refers to the less subjective "human 3 flourishing. The Seven Virtues were derived from the Psychomachia ('Contest of the Soul'), an epic poem written by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (c. 410 CE) involving the battle of good virtues and evil vices. The intense popularity of this work in the Middle Ages helped to spread the concept of Holy Virtue throughout Europe. Practicing these virtues is alleged to protect one against temptation from the Seven Deadly Sins, with each one having its counterpart. 4
The Seven Virtues Chastity (Latin, Castitas) (purity, opposes Lust, Latin Luxuria) - Moral wholesomeness and purity of thought. Temperance (Latin, Frenum) (self-control, opposes Gluttony, Latin Gula) - Mindfulness of others; practicing self-control. Charity (Latin, Liberalitas) (will, generosity, opposes Greed, Latin Avaritia) - Generosity. A nobility of thought or actions. Diligence (Latin, Industria) (opposes Sloth, Latin Acedia) - A zealous and careful nature in one's actions and work. Decisive work ethic. Guard against laziness. Patience (Latin, Patientia) (peace, opposes Wrath, Latin Ira) - Endurance through moderation. Resolving conflicts peacefully. The ability to forgive, show mercy. Kindness (Latin, Humanitas) (satisfaction, opposes Envy, Latin Invidia) - compassion, friendship, and sympathy. Humility (Latin, Humilitas) (modesty, opposes Pride, Latin Superbia) - Modest behavior, selflessness, and the giving of respect. Giving credit where credit is due; not unfairly glorifying one's own self. The Seven Capital Virtues as Opposites to The Seven Capital Sins The Roman Catholic church recognized the Seven Capital Virtues as opposites to the Seven Capital Sins or the Seven Deadly Sins. According to Dante's The Divine Comedy the sins and their respective virtues have an ordering based upon their importance. In order of descending importance:. Sin Virtue Pride (vanity) Humility (modesty) Envy (jealousy) Kindness (admiration) Wrath (anger) Forgiveness (composure) Sloth (laziness) Diligence (zeal/integrity) Greed (avarice) Charity (giving) Gluttony (over-indulgence) Temperance (self-restraint) Lust (excessive appetites) Chastity (purity) Self-control is the keystone of the seven holy virtues. 5 6 The Essential Virtues Defining Moral IQ Overview Empathy Conscience Self-Control Respect Tolerance Fairness Kindness Wisdom* Courage* Temperance* Justice* Integrity Responsibility Honesty Utilitarianism Rights Justice Based on: Lawrence M. Hinman, Ph.D. Director, The Values Institute University of San Diego *Aristotles cardinal virtues 7 8
Utilitarianism Basic Insights of Utilitarianism The purpose of morality is to make the world a better place. We should do whatever will bring the most benefit to all of humanity. 9 10 The Purpose of Morality The utilitarian has a simple answer to the question of why morality exists at all: The purpose of morality is to guide people s actions in such a way as to produce a better world. Fundamental Imperative The fundamental imperative of utilitarianism is: Always act in the way that will produce the greatest overall amount of good in the world. Consequently, the emphasis in utilitarianism is on consequences, not intentions. (At times, the road to hell is pawed with good intentions!) 11 12
The Emphasis on the Overall Good Utilitarianism is a demanding moral position that often asks us to put aside self-interest for the sake of the whole. It always asks us to do the most, to maximize utility, not to do the minimum. It asks us to set aside personal interest. The Dream of Utilitarianism: Bringing Certainty to Ethics Utilitarianism offers a powerful vision of the moral life, one that promises to reduce or eliminate moral disagreement. If we can agree that the purpose of morality is to make the world a better place; and If we can scientifically assess various possible courses of action to determine which will have the greatest positive effect on the world; then We can provide a scientific answer to the question of what we ought to do. 13 14 Standards of Utility: Intrinsic Value Jeremy Bentham Many things have instrumental value, that is, they have value as means to an end. However, there must be some things which are not merely instrumental, but have value in themselves. This is what we call intrinsic value. What has intrinsic value? Four principal candidates: Pleasure - Jeremy Bentham Happiness - John Stuart Mill Ideals - George Edward Moore Peoples Preferences - Kenneth Arrow Bentham believed that we should try to increase the overall amount of pleasure in the world. Jeremy Bentham 1748-1832 15 16
Pleasure John Stuart Mill Definition: The enjoyable feeling we experience when a state of deprivation is replaced by fulfillment. Advantages Easy to quantify Short duration Bodily Criticisms Came to be known as the pig s philosophy Ignores spiritual values Could justify living on a pleasure machine or happy pill Bentham s godson Believed that happiness, not pleasure, should be the standard of utility. John Stuart Mill 1806-1873 17 18 Happiness Ideal Values Advantages A higher standard, more specific to humans About realization of goals Disadvantages More difficult to measure Competing conceptions of happiness George Edward Moore suggested that we should strive to maximize ideal values such as freedom, knowledge, justice, and beauty. The world may not be a better place with more pleasure in it, but it certainly will be a better place with more freedom, more knowledge, more justice, and more beauty. Moore s candidates for intrinsic good remain difficult to quantify. G. E. Moore 1873-1958 19 20
Kenneth Arrow, a Nobel Prize winning Stanford economist, argued that what has intrinsic value is preference satisfaction. Preferences May This Help? Lets Make Everyone Happy! The advantage of Arrow s approach is that, in effect, it lets people choose for themselves what has intrinsic value. It simply defines intrinsic value as whatever satisfies an agent s preferences. It is elegant and pluralistic. Kenneth J. Arrow Stanford University 21 Happy pill as a universal solution? 22 The Utilitarian Calculus What Do We Calculate? Math and ethics finally merged: all consequences must be measured and weighed! Units of measurement: Hedons: positive Dolors: negative Hedons/dolors defined in terms of Pleasure Happiness Ideals Preferences 23 24
What do we calculate? For any given action, we must calculate: How many people will be affected, negatively (dolors) as well as positively (hedons) How intensely they will be affected Similar calculations for all available alternatives Choose the action that produces the greatest overall amount of utility (hedons minus dolors) How Much Can We Quantify? Pleasure and preference satisfaction are easier to quantify than happiness or ideals Two distinct issues: Can everything be quantified? The danger: if it can t be counted, it doesn t count. Are quantified goods necessarily commensurable? Are a fine dinner and a good night s sleep commensurable? 25 26 the problems of three little people don t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Criticisms of Utilitarianism 1. Responsibility Utilitarianism doesn t always have a cold and calculating face. Besides, in a way we perform utilitarian calculations in everyday life too. Utilitarianism suggests that we are responsible for all the consequences of our choices. The problem is that sometimes we can not foresee consequences of other people s actions that are taken in response to our own acts. Are we responsible for those actions, even though we don t choose them or approve of them? 27 28
Criticisms of Utilitarianism 2. Integrity Criticisms of Utilitarianism 3. Intentions Utilitarianism often demands that we put aside selfinterest. Sometimes this may mean putting aside our own moral convictions. Integrity may involve certain identity-conferring commitments, such that the violation of those commitments entails a violation of who we are at our core. Utilitarianism is concerned almost exclusively with consequences, not intentions. There is a version of utilitarianism called motive utilitarianism, developed by Robert Adams, that attempts to correct this. 29 30 Criticisms of Utilitarianism 4. Moral Luck By concentrating exclusively on consequences, utilitarianism makes the moral worth of our actions a matter of luck. We must await the final consequences before we find out if our action was good or bad. This seems to make the moral life a matter of chance, which runs counter to our basic moral intuitions. Criticisms Of Utilitarianism 5. Who Does The Calculating? Historically, this was an issue for the British in India. The British felt they wanted to do what was best for India, but that they were the ones to judge what that was. See Ragavan Iyer, Utilitarianism and All That Typically, the count differs depending on who does the counting. 31 32
Criticisms Of Utilitarianism 6. Who Is Included? When we consider the issue of consequences, we must ask who is included within that circle. Classical utilitarianism has often claimed that we should acknowledge the pain and suffering of animals and not restrict the calculus just to human beings. Concluding Assessment Utilitarianism is most appropriate for policy decisions, as long as a strong notion of fundamental human rights guarantees that it will not violate rights of minorities, otherwise it is possible to use to justify outvoting minorities. 33 34 Rights Rights: Changing Western History Many of the great documents of the last two centuries have centered around the notion of rights. The Bill of Rights The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen The United Nation Declaration of Human Rights 35 36
Human Rights Human Rights After the King John of England violated a number of ancient laws and customs by which England had been governed, his subjects forced him to sign the Magna Carta, or Great Charter, which enumerates what later came to be thought of as human rights. Among rights of Magna Carta were the right of the church to be free from governmental interference, the rights of all free citizens to own and inherit property and be free from excessive taxes. It established the right of widows who owned property to choose not to remarry, and established principles of due process and equality before the law. It also contained provisions forbidding bribery and official misconduct. 37 38 Many of the great movements of this century have centered around the notion of rights. The Civil Rights Movement Equal rights for women Movements for the rights of indigenous peoples Children s rights Gay rights Rights: A Base for Moral Change Justifications for Rights Self-evidence Divine Foundation Natural Law Human Nature 39 40
Self-evidence Divine Foundation We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776 41 We have granted to God, and by this our present Charter have confirmed, for us and our Heirs for ever, That the Church of England shall be free, and shall have her whole rights and liberties inviolable. We have granted also, and given to all the freemen of our realm, for us and our Heirs for ever, these liberties underwritten, to have and to hold to them and their Heirs, of us and our Heirs for ever. The Magna Carta, 1297 42 Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. http://www.un.org/overview/rights.html Freedom of Speech Death Penalty The Disappeared Economic & Social Rights Terrorism & Anti-Terrorism Corruption Rights-related Questions 43 44
Natural Law According to natural law ethical theory, the moral standards that govern human behavior are, in some sense, objectively derived from the nature of human beings. Natural Law Human Nature Arguments for natural rights that appeal to human nature establish the following: Some characteristic of human nature, such as the ability to make free choices, is essential to human life. Certain conditions, such as freedom from physical constraints, are necessary for the existence or the exercise of that human ability; Conclude that people have right to live in conditions which allow for essential characteristics of human. 45 46 Two Concepts of Rights The distinction depends on the obligation that is placed on those who must respect your rights. Negative Rights Obliges others not to interfere with your exercise of the right. Positive Rights Obligates others to provide you with positive assistance in the exercise of that right. Negative Rights Negative rights simply impose on others the duty not to interfere with your rights. The right to life, construed as a negative right, obliges others not to kill you. The right to free speech, construed as a negative right, obliges others not to interfere with your free speech 47 48
Positive Rights Positive rights impose on others a specific obligation to do something to assist you in the exercise of your right The right to life, construed as a positive right, obliges others to provide you with the basics necessary to sustain life if you are unable to provide these for yourself The right to free speech, construed as a positive right, obligates others to provide you with the necessary conditions for your free speech--e.g., air time, newspaper space, etc. Welfare rights are typically construed as positive Positive Rights: Critique Who is obligated to provide positive assistance? People in general Each of us individually The state (government) rights. 49 50 The Limitations of Rights Concept Rights, Community, and Individualism Rights and Close Relationships The Limitations of Rights Concept Contradicting Rights: Athos and Women Greek public community is indignant at the decision recently taken by the Dutch court and at the resolution of European parliament. In January, a Greek law that allows monks from the Athos Monastery not to let women to the Holy Mount was officially declared in court as contradicting human rights. 51 52
The Limitations of Rights Concept Contradicting Rights: Athos and Women An official response to the declaration was immediate: governmental spokesman told European human rights activists that the right of the Athos monastery republic not to let women to the Holy Mount was confirmed in the treaty of Greece-s incorporation into the European Union. Concluding Evaluation Rights do not tell the whole story of ethics, especially in the area of personal relationships. Rights are always defined for groups of people (humanity, women, indigenous people, workers etc). 53 54 Personal Integrity vs Public Safety Justice 55 56
Introduction Conceptions of Justice All of us have been the recipients of demands of justice. My students expect just grading policy. All of us have also been in the position of demanding justice. I told the builder of my house that, since he replaced defective windows for a neighbor, he should replace my defective windows. Distributive Justice Benefits and burdens Compensatory/Recompensatory Justice Criminal justice 57 58 Distributive Justice Subject of Distribution The central question of distributive justice is the question of how the benefits and burdens of our lives are to be distributed. Justice involves giving each person his or her due. Equals are to be treated equally. What is to be distributed? Income Wealth Opportunities 59 60
Subjects of Distribution Basis for Distribution To whom are good to be distributed? Individual persons Groups of persons Classes On what basis should goods be distributed? Equality Individual needs or desires Free market transactions Ability to make best use of the goods 61 62 Strict Egalitarianism The Difference Principle Basic principle: every person should have the same level of material goods and services Criticisms Unduly restricts individual freedom May conflict with what people deserve More wealth may be produced in a system where those who are more productive earn greater incomes. Strict egalitarianism may discourage maximal production of wealth. 63 64
The Difference Principle The Difference Principle Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all. If a system of strict equality maximizes the absolute position of the least advantaged in society, then the Difference Principle advocates strict equality. 65 66 The Difference Principle Critics of the Difference Principle (DP) If it is possible to raise the position of the least advantaged further by inequality of income and wealth, then the Difference Principle prescribes inequality up to that point where the absolute position of the least advantaged can no longer be raised. Strict egalitarians: DP don t treat anyone differently Utilitarians: DP doesn t maximize utility Libertarian: DP infringes on liberty through taxation, etc. Desert-based theorists: argue DP to reward hard work even when it doesn t help the disadvantaged. Does not provide sufficient rewards for ambition 67 68
Welfare-Based Approaches Desert*-Based Approaches Seeks to maximize well-being of society as a whole Utilitarianism Distributive systems are just insofar as they distribute incomes according to the different levels earned or deserved by the individuals in the society for their productive labors, efforts or contributions. (Feinberg) 69 *desert - förtjänst; förtjänt lön, vedergällning according to one's deserts efter förtjänst 70 Desert*-Based Approaches Libertarian Principles Distribution is based on: Actual contribution to the social product Effort one expend in work activity Compensation to the costs Seeks to raise the overall standard of living by rewarding effort and achievement May be applied only to working adults 1. People own themselves. 2. The world is initially un-owned. 3. You can acquire absolute rights over a disproportionate share of the world, if you do not worsen the condition of others. 4. It is relatively easy to acquire absolute rights over a disproportionate share of the world. 5. Therefore: Once private property has been appropriated, a free market in capital and labor is morally required. Will Kymlicka, Contemporary Political Philosophy 71 72
John Stuart Mill Early Feminist Critique of Liberal Distributive Structures Mill in The Subjection of Women (1869): Principles associated with liberalism require equal political status of women 73 Try to run Wealth Distribution, a model that simulates the distribution of wealth. http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/models/wealthdistribution 74