Full transcript
0:01okay so
0:03we're going to talk about normative
0:05ethics now
0:06metaethics was our um
0:10commentator basically all of those
0:13theories are not practical
0:14but they're useful because they bring
0:16about questions and how do we do this
0:18better and what does this mean
0:21normative ethics is our referee
0:24this is where we start really sorting
0:27out
0:28our moral compass what theories work for
0:32us
0:32why do they work which ones should we
0:34really look at to adopt
0:37and this goes back to remember at the
0:39beginning of the semester we talked
0:41about
0:41mindfulness ethics really taps into our
0:45mindfulness
0:47because what it does is it presents
0:48theories that are applicable
0:50and practical but we have to be tuned in
0:55to which of these practices we're really
0:57following which ones give us problems
1:00um what works for us what doesn't work
1:03for us because everything here
1:05has a level of legitimacy
1:08not like meta ethics okay so
1:13let's jump into med ethics now this
1:16may not matter i'm sorry normative
1:18ethics this is the whole unit
1:20so again when you get to a stopping
1:24point make a note of the time stamp in
1:25the video
1:26so you can come back and pick this up
1:28because this video is going to be for
1:31the entire normative ethics unit so if
1:34that's two weeks if that's three weeks
1:36however long it takes us this is the
1:38video for that
1:39entire chalk so as we get through with
1:42the group
1:43make a note of the time stamp and come
1:45back to it
1:46and pick that up i'm sorry
1:50okay for the love of pete
1:54all right so here we go
1:57normative ethics is the rules and the
1:59criteria for
2:00what we consider right or wrong or in
2:02our case
2:03required forbidden or permitted
2:08ethics can be broken down into three
2:11different
2:11categories oh my gosh my husband's just
2:13starting cutting the grass
2:16three different groups um we have virtue
2:19at theories the duty theories and the
2:21consequentialist theories so these are
2:23really our three big categories
2:25and then within those categories we have
2:27some some breakdowns
2:30okay sorry for the pause my husband was
2:32cutting the grass i had to wait till we
2:33finished
2:34um virtue ethics is our first category
2:37and this is
2:37the oldest form of ethical theory that
2:40we study
2:41and really comes down to us um through
2:44centuries and
2:45centuries of practical usage what this
2:48amounts to
2:49is that ethics revolve around your
2:52habits
2:52so if you practice honesty
2:56and moderation and
2:59courage if you practice all of those
3:02characters
3:03then you eventually develop a form of
3:05ethics based on those character traits
3:09duty theories we talked a little bit
3:11about this earlier duty theories
3:13are when you do the right thing
3:16because it's your duty to do so the
3:18example i gave you was feeding your
3:20children
3:21you would have much more money if you
3:23didn't feed them but your duty is to
3:26care for those children
3:29consequentialist theories is the most
3:31practical
3:32and the most common collection of
3:34theories
3:36um that that we actually engage with
3:38because human nature
3:40is very reliant on reward and punishment
3:44and the consequentialist theories that's
3:46where they live
3:47it is sort of this um quick reference
3:51kind of thing
3:52if i do this then this will happen or if
3:54i don't do this and i will get this
3:57or if this then this is a really good
4:00way to kind of look at consequentialist
4:03theories all right so let's get into the
4:05virtue ethics first
4:07they are there are this this theory
4:12is much more concerned with character
4:14traits than
4:15actions and rules so you know i told you
4:19just a minute ago
4:19if you live according to these good
4:22traits
4:25sorry you will be an ethical person
4:29so we have we start with plato and these
4:32virtues were called the cardinal virtues
4:34they were like
4:36the foundation of what people should be
4:38doing and it's four really good ones
4:41wisdom courage temperance which means
4:44moderation
4:46and justice and truthfully
4:50there are very few situations in which
4:52you find yourself that you don't have to
4:54call
4:55on one of those four attributes
4:59to address other important virtues that
5:02came
5:02into this with aristotle and some of the
5:06other
5:07philosophers were fortitude
5:10generosity self-respect good temper
5:14and sincerity and all of those while
5:16they're listed
5:17separately truly have their roots in
5:19those
5:20cardinal virtues or those foundational
5:22virtues
5:24later when our monks get involved we
5:27also add
5:27faith hope and christianity because
5:30those are the tenets of
5:31the christian faith um
5:35then we have a list of vices these are
5:37things you don't want to have in your
5:38character
5:39cowardice insensibility or
5:42unawareness injustice
5:46and vanity now in this particular unit
5:50we use the word justice and injustice
5:52there's a video that comes later on
5:54about what is justice and if you're not
5:57sure
5:58justness and fairness are not the same
6:02thing
6:03as a matter of fact there's no such
6:05thing as fairness
6:06fair doesn't actually exist
6:09it is a subjective
6:13word that people have used to manipulate
6:16other people for years
6:18there's no such thing as fairness there
6:20is equality
6:21and equanimity there is justice but
6:24there is no fairness
6:26because two people can never agree
6:29on what is fair all right so side note
6:33if you're interested in that what is
6:35justice video it's scroll down it's a
6:37little further down in the
6:38in the um semester all right so basic
6:41virtues we got it
6:44so here's the deal virtue ethics is
6:48concerned with you
6:49as a person not with your individual
6:52actions or choices
6:55virtue ethics wants you to live in this
6:58way
6:59to create an ethical human being
7:03it also says this stuff starts when
7:05you're young
7:07and i think the older people get the
7:09more they realize how important your
7:11youth
7:11is to the formation of everything from
7:14your habits
7:16your character your virtues everything
7:20um
7:23aristotle said that these virtuous
7:27character traits
7:29are the counter uh balance to our
7:32emotions
7:33we by nature are emotional creatures
7:37and so what aristotle says is rather
7:39than relying on your emotion to make
7:41decisions or address problems or solve
7:43you know situations you should develop
7:46these character traits because these
7:48character traits and he's right
7:50these character traits are much more
7:52dependable
7:53than your emotions but a lot of people
7:56react
7:57emotionally rather than logically
8:00or virtuously
8:03so the pro okay so that's good we're
8:06gonna we're gonna rely on these virtues
8:07well
8:08there's a problem too because
8:12cowardice and bravery are the opposite
8:15ends of the spectrum
8:17but can you go too far with bravery
8:20the answer is yes what what aristotle
8:23proposed was that we seek
8:25the median the middle of all of these
8:29traits
8:29so let's check out this chart and see if
8:31you can figure out what i'm talking
8:32about
8:33all right so
8:37here is sort of the thing that this
8:39trait addresses
8:40pleasure and pain too much is
8:43licentiousness and self-indulgence
8:46gluttony drunkenness all of those things
8:50lie here
8:52the median is temperance moderation
8:55the deficiency when you don't have
8:57enough temperance
8:59you're insensible you're unaware to
9:02of what you're doing you're unconcerned
9:07um the courage is a really good example
9:10here because
9:11too much courage and your rash
9:14you are impetuous you uh
9:17jump into things that you probably
9:19shouldn't jump into
9:22not enough obviously is cowardice
9:25so aristotle's goal was to create
9:29this middle place where we live
9:32with all of these good
9:35and positive virtues
9:38avoiding the foolishness on either side
9:42and so if you take a minute and look at
9:44this list
9:46it's pretty good it's pretty accurate
9:52think about which one of these
9:53characteristics that you are really
9:56to one side or the other with and virtue
9:59ethic
10:00ethic says bring your mindfulness to
10:02that characteristic
10:03i begin to work on that median or that
10:06mean
10:06mode so there are some problems
10:11just like with every theory there are
10:12problems but these problems
10:15make us pause but they we don't throw
10:17the theory out like we do with cultural
10:19relativism or subjectivism
10:22different virtues exist in different
10:25people and cultures
10:26and that sometimes can create um
10:29a bias or an insensitivity
10:33to different cultures and the things
10:35that are important to them
10:38virtues don't always tell us exactly
10:40what to do in every situation
10:43they act sort of like a road map and
10:46then we
10:47um apply those as we're facing a
10:50situation
10:51and then the other thing and this is
10:52probably the most concerning
10:54is that virtue ethics are self-centered
10:57you think
10:58largely about you and yourself rather
11:00than
11:01a community or the needs of other people
11:04for example if you're trying to combat
11:06cowardice
11:08and create courage you might run into a
11:11burning building to save a child
11:13not for the child's sake but you run
11:16into the burning building to save the
11:18child
11:18for your courage's sake
11:22so your motivation becomes very
11:24self-centered instead of
11:25turned outward to your community and the
11:28other people in the world
11:30now virtue and convert some what you're
11:34going to see here in this normative
11:35ethics is a lot of these
11:37are connected or they bleed over from
11:40one to the other
11:42you know virtue ethics is a little bit
11:44of an intuition
11:45intuitionists theory because
11:48it is relying on sort of an instinctive
11:51response
11:52but once you've developed those good
11:54characteristics so you're going to see
11:56some bleed over
11:59however what it gets right it's a really
12:01long list
12:03people who live virtuously people who
12:06are generous and kind and loyal and
12:08honest
12:09and courageous are more successful in
12:12life
12:13they're the people you want to be your
12:15friend
12:16marry work for or have work for you
12:20these are the people that you want to
12:22surround yourself with
12:24because they are virtuous
12:28societies neighborhoods groups that
12:31have virtuous people thrive
12:34they do much better and if you look at
12:38it
12:39you know a lot of people want to draw
12:41lines in a lot of different ways
12:44one of the one one of the ways they draw
12:46lines in neighborhoods is socioeconomics
12:48well
12:48socioeconomics also leads to a skewed
12:51seed
12:52vision of virtue and so
12:55while you see this this neighborhood
12:58over here might be
12:59very prosperous and doing really well
13:05you can't necessarily associate that
13:07with race or money or anything else
13:09sometimes it's
13:10simply a a matter of virtue this
13:14neighborhood is doing really well
13:15because these people don't put up with
13:17folks who don't
13:18behave themselves and you see it all
13:22over cities
13:24um and then of course the big question
13:26is
13:27you're kids you're raising kids when you
13:30finally get to that point
13:33you want them to be virtuous
13:38um i love that this also embraces the
13:40best parts of us
13:46virtue ethics literally let you
13:49live your best life it lets you be
13:53the best you that you can be
13:57because it filters out all that other
13:59stuff
14:00once you've established these
14:01characteristics you are the best version
14:04of you that it's possible to be
14:06all right so this example right here is
14:08a tomato plant
14:11when something grows or lives or exists
14:14the way it's really meant to it
14:17absolutely thrives
14:19displays excellence and becomes its best
14:21self
14:22whether we're talking about a person or
14:23a tomato plant but
14:25this example of tomato plant the plant
14:28when it is
14:29watered and fertilized and given
14:31sunlight and had the weeds pooled
14:33it grows towards a specific thing which
14:36is being a tomato plant and producing
14:39glorious tomatoes well if you think
14:43about a human life like this tomato
14:45plant
14:47courage honesty kindness
14:50generosity loyalness um
14:53all of those things are what you use to
14:56nurture yourself those are the things
15:00that you develop just like we water and
15:02fertilize and weed the tomato plant
15:04we give it what it needs by living
15:07virtuously
15:08we give ourselves what we need to be our
15:11best
15:12self to be our best version of us this
15:15is
15:15literally living your best life
15:19this is a beautiful theory and it's
15:21really really good
15:23but it requires mindfulness
15:26it requires remembering to water and
15:29fertilize
15:30and weed your tomato plants so to speak
15:32it requires concentrating on
15:35honesty and courage and loyalty and
15:38being aware of those character traits
15:40and developing them okay so that's going
15:43to finish up
15:44virtue ethics we're going to move to
15:46duty ethics next so your time stamp
15:50is right at 16 minutes so if you want to
15:54stop right now this is a good place to
15:55pause and come back and pick up the next
15:57section if not
15:58hang on and we'll just keep going all
16:01right so at 16 minutes we're going to go
16:03to
16:04oh that's the wrong way we're going to
16:05go to duty ethics
16:09duty ethics are a little problematic
16:11because they're kind of
16:13intuitive like you have to know that
16:16it's your duty for this to apply
16:18some of it's common sense some of it's
16:20not so we're going to go through there's
16:22two major
16:23people that we're going to talk about
16:24here kant and ross
16:26now let me give you a word of warning do
16:29not go digging into either one of these
16:31two because they're brilliant and
16:32they're fascinating
16:34i spent like a week on kant
16:37trying to get him squared away but every
16:39time i discovered something i discovered
16:41something else i was like oh that's
16:42brilliant
16:43so i eventually had to just whittle him
16:44down if you love this
16:47go look at him if you don't you're gonna
16:49get sucked in
16:50i'm just telling you all right
16:54so duty ethics are based on people's
16:57actions
16:57out of a principle of obligation it has
17:00nothing to do with rewards or
17:02consequences
17:03it has to do with doing what's right
17:05because it's the right thing to do
17:08they are obligatory you must do this
17:11and you cannot do that because it is the
17:15right or the wrong thing to do
17:18so our two guys are content ethics and
17:21raw sean ethics
17:23so under this form you don't have you
17:25don't look at results or consequences
17:27for the individual or the society
17:30when you hear people say well it's just
17:32the principle of the thing
17:34that's what they're talking about that's
17:36a great example of duty ethics
17:38so and so did something it it sets you
17:41off
17:42and you're pissed because it's just the
17:43principle and the thing
17:45they shouldn't have done that because it
17:46wasn't the right thing
17:48to do you're not going to punish them
17:51society's not going to punish them
17:54but you're pissed because it was the
17:56principle of the thing
17:59okay so the the example on this slide is
18:02of course neglecting children
18:04for your own benefit i mean i have three
18:07teenagers in my house
18:08trust me not feeding them would change
18:11my
18:11life but my duty and my responsibility
18:15is to feed my children
18:16so i feed my children
18:20these people live in a universe where it
18:22either is or it isn't
18:23there's very little gray area they are
18:26very principled and they follow those
18:28principles
18:29so the first thing i want to talk about
18:30is kant k-a-n-t
18:32kantian he was you know from the age of
18:36reasons 1700's
18:38his contemporaries would have been
18:40people like john locke thomas jefferson
18:42okay well kant believed that
18:46everything could be solved if you simply
18:49reasoned it out and he's kind of right
18:53you know we respond emotionally to a lot
18:56of different
18:57ethical stimuli and kant said i need you
18:59to stop doing that
19:00because that has no place here
19:04kant's theory involves two
19:07different um imperatives
19:11categorical and hypothetical
19:17so what this means is that khan believed
19:21that people could use reason and logic
19:24based on these imperatives
19:27to form moral and ethical lives without
19:30dependence on
19:32their society their culture god their
19:35parents
19:36anything he believed if you applied
19:38reason
19:40and looked at your duties based on that
19:43reason
19:43that you would be able to solve pretty
19:45much anything you went to
19:47all right look at this last sentence he
19:48said it says can't believe that goodwill
19:50was the only good without limitation
19:54meaning that it was the only good
19:55without regard to the consequences
19:57so what he means by good will
20:01is doing things for people feeling good
20:04about people
20:05um you know peace and good will towards
20:08men
20:08so loving your fellow man and being
20:11willing to
20:12being willing to love your fellow man
20:14and he said that was the
20:16only good that did not rely on
20:20consequence
20:21or punishment or reward
20:24he's not wrong all right so all right
20:27what are you doing
20:30all right so so kant said
20:34if you are supposed to do something
20:38you have you are mandated to do it
20:40regardless of
20:42personal feelings or consequences
20:44results reward punishment
20:46whatever it mandates doing something
20:50now the categorical imperative is tricky
20:53because there are two qualifications
20:55that make something a categorical
20:57imperative
20:58what it mean what categorical imperative
21:00means it is true in all cases
21:03whatsoever there are no exceptions there
21:05are not
21:06but there is no if it is absolutely true
21:11um it it very rarely exists
21:14because it is so difficult to meet these
21:17these criteria so the first one
21:19is that moral rules
21:22laws must be universal
21:25what do you mean by that is they apply
21:26to everyone in all cases
21:30so they have to be applied across the
21:34board so if you say there's no such
21:35thing as
21:36you shouldn't lie that that telling the
21:38truth always
21:39is a categorical imperative
21:42then you can never tell your children
21:44that there is a santa claus
21:49you must always tell the truth
21:51regardless when your wife looks at you
21:54and says does this make my butt look big
21:56the answer must be yes and then you just
21:59have to deal with fallout
22:02which is why there are very few
22:04categorical imperatives
22:06okay um moral rules
22:09must also respect human beings
22:13and this one doesn't seem as clear as
22:15the other one but
22:16what he means is that people should be
22:20helping people loving people doing for
22:22people should be the end
22:24not the means what he means by that is
22:27for example
22:28um finding a homeless person and helping
22:32them
22:33that homeless person deserves your
22:35respect when you do that
22:38not to have their struggle plastered all
22:40over your instagram
22:41so that you can get likes and clicks
22:44that's disrespectful to that person
22:48so a moral imperative categorical
22:50imperative
22:52must be universal and it must respect
22:55human beings
22:57okay um
23:01using people to achieve your own
23:03happiness
23:05not okay according to categorical
23:07repairs all right the only
23:09categorical imperative i can really
23:11think of right off the top of my head
23:14is don't murder people don't murder
23:18anyone
23:19now saying don't murder someone and
23:21don't kill someone is not the same thing
23:24categorical imperatives must meet
23:27those two criteria
23:31so think about
23:34anything you think of that is universal
23:37and respects human beings there are very
23:39few
23:39there are very few very few so think
23:42about if you can come up with another
23:43one besides just
23:45myrtle and pay close attention to the
23:47test question that's asking about this
23:48particular part
23:51so that's categorical imperatives that's
23:53the ones that
23:54are very rare to achieve the other one
24:00okay um wait
24:05let me go back the other one is the
24:07hypothetical imperatives and i didn't do
24:09a whole slide on them because
24:11hypothetical imperatives are basically
24:15if you want this then you should do this
24:19okay if you want to achieve
24:22you know your financial goals then you
24:25shouldn't buy a new iphone every year
24:28if this if you want this if you want to
24:32achieve this if you want to be this
24:34if this is your goal then this must be
24:36your course of action
24:39that's pretty pretty that's hypothetical
24:41imperatives
24:43the things that you must do are things
24:45that you
24:47okay let me say it a different way the
24:49things that you must do
24:51you do to achieve or
24:55succeed or whatever those are the things
24:58you must do if you want to succeed on
25:01your standardized test
25:02you must prepare before you take it
25:03those kinds of things
25:05all right so content ethics is doing the
25:09right thing
25:10for the right reason because it's the
25:11right thing to do
25:14it seems very simple on the surface but
25:17it's wildly complex because
25:20everything about human nature is is
25:23complex and super messy
25:25um if you don't commit murder because
25:28you were scared to commit the murder
25:31not because it was your duty not to
25:32commit murder
25:34then you failed you did not act
25:36ethically
25:38the result is that the person remained
25:40unmurdered
25:42but you were not an ethical person you
25:45failed to commit the murder because you
25:47were afraid
25:49not because it was absolutely wrong to
25:51murder someone
25:53your motivation comes into play for kind
25:57all right so that's kind look him up if
26:01you want to
26:02but he's wildly simple and and that's
26:04what makes him so dangerous because he
26:05seems simple on the surface then you
26:07start writing you're like wait
26:09oh i don't know so that's kind all right
26:11so we're at about 26 minutes
26:14if you want to pause the video or drop
26:16down the time stamp we're about to go to
26:18rossignon ethics
26:22so ross was a 20th century philosopher
26:24so he's a little later than kant
26:27he broke up things into two collections
26:30of duty so these are still deontological
26:32or duty ethics
26:33and he broke these things up into two
26:35categories
26:36the first one he calls prima facie
26:38duties
26:39these are simply duties that we owe to
26:41ourselves and every other living person
26:44on this planet
26:46and you don't have to really overly you
26:48know
26:49analyze these things but this is just
26:52your daily list it's a little bit like
26:54virtue ethics this is sort of your daily
26:56list of things that you should work to
26:58achieve on a daily basis
27:01then he has the situational duties and
27:04he calls them actual
27:06duties because while
27:09honesty or the principle of honesty
27:11might be your goal
27:14sometimes you cannot always tell
27:17the blatant truth to everybody
27:20sometimes you have to dress it up a
27:21little bit that's an actual duty so i'm
27:24going to give you an example in just a
27:25minute we talk about this
27:29all right so here are our prima facie
27:31duties fidelity
27:32keeping promises reparation repayment or
27:35compensation when you do wrong to
27:37someone
27:38gratitude being thankful being grateful
27:41justice recognizing merit and worth and
27:44rewarding that merit and worth
27:48beneficence this is that responsibility
27:50to help
27:51improve improve the condition of other
27:53people
27:54help people when you can that's what
27:57beneficence is
27:58self-improvement is constantly work on
28:00making yourself a better human being
28:04and non-malfeasance hey don't harm
28:05anybody don't hurt anybody
28:07if you look at this list there are very
28:10very few
28:11things that you run into that one of
28:14these
28:15virtues okay so this harkens back to
28:18virtue ethics
28:20will not help you solve
28:23but remember there's prima facie and
28:25there's actual duties prima facie is
28:27theoretical
28:28actual is when you have to make a choice
28:30because sometimes a situation requires
28:32you to examine two of these
28:34so here's a great example i borrow my
28:36neighbor's gun
28:38and i promise to return it when he asks
28:40for it so i'm going
28:42rabbit hunt or whatever one day in a fit
28:44of rage he shows up at my door
28:46and demands the gun so he can go take
28:49vengeance on somebody so i can go kill
28:51somebody
28:52okay so if you look
28:55on one hand my duty of fidelity which is
28:57that keeping promises
28:59says i should give him the gun but the
29:02duty of non-malfeasance requires me
29:05to hold on to the gun to keep another
29:07human being from being harmed
29:10according to ross i will instinctively
29:14and intuitively know
29:16which duty is the actual duty in any
29:19situation
29:21okay this is a little bit problematic
29:25because our instincts sometimes are not
29:27right but we have prime facial duties
29:29and then we have the actual duty
29:32so your wife is going into labor
29:36your non-malfeasance
29:40principle says you don't speed because
29:41you might harm someone
29:43but then the principal benevolence says
29:44you better haul booty because your wife
29:47is in labor and you have to take care of
29:49her
29:51your actual duty will be apparent to you
29:53in this situation
29:54according to ross okay
29:58so what it gets right it's a clear cut
30:01list it's like virtue ethics it's a list
30:03and we really like a list
30:05it offers a way to judge and and look at
30:08some situations
30:10um over others because it allows for
30:13circumstances
30:14because we know that human beings are
30:16nothing if not complicated
30:18and circumstantial the problem is that
30:21it still
30:22allows for people to rely on their gut
30:25responses they're intuitive and that
30:27instinctive
30:28and some people just aren't able to do
30:30that they don't always
30:32know in that moment what their actual
30:35duty is
30:37so that is rossian okay
30:42all right so that brings us to
30:44consequentialism i'm at 30 minutes or
30:46about 31 minutes if you want to pause
30:48and
30:48um and come back in we're going to do
30:51consequentialist theories
30:52all right so consequentialist theories
30:55this is really where people live
30:58because it says the consequences of an
31:00action or choice
31:01are more favorable or less favorable and
31:04that's how you weigh things and
31:06truthfully
31:07in everyday life most people rely on a
31:10consequentialist theory
31:13the goal is to create the greatest good
31:16for the greatest number of
31:18people that's where we get into a mess
31:21with some of these consequentialist
31:22theories and we'll talk about them
31:25it is also called teleological theories
31:27that you are principles but you almost
31:29never hear it called that
31:30because the end result of the action is
31:33the soul
31:34it means the end result it means
31:37i'm tired i've been doing videos all
31:39morning all right so
31:41teleological means the end result of the
31:44action
31:45is the determining factor of its
31:46morality so what that okay
31:48teleological means that the the ends
31:52justified means that the end result
31:56as long as it's good determines
32:00whether the action was moral if and if
32:02an
32:03action creates a good response
32:06then the action was good
32:11here's some problems here obviously the
32:14two we're going to talk about
32:15are utilitarianism and hedonism and
32:19utilitarianism
32:20is based on this concept of creating the
32:23most happiness
32:24and the least unhappiness for the most
32:27people
32:28it's it's like majority rules and it's
32:31dangerous to the individual
32:33hedonism is just dangerous period
32:35because hedonism says
32:36that you should maximize human pleasure
32:39and minimize pain and anything that
32:41maximizes human pleasure and minimizes
32:43human pain
32:44is a sound ethical and moral
32:47practice
32:52okay consequentialist series this is
32:55another 18th century theory based on
32:58reason
33:00what works what doesn't work that we're
33:02looking for a quick
33:03way to examine that and it teaches that
33:06people should do whatever
33:08says every whatever produces the
33:11greatest amount
33:12of good consequences so i know you've
33:15seen the
33:16star trek movies that say oops
33:21um well
33:25okay wait
33:26[Laughter]
33:28drunk driver on the powerpoint all right
33:30the needs of the many
33:32outweigh the needs of the few or the one
33:35you know this is when of course he goes
33:37into the radio at i mean the
33:38reactor and dies because it's gonna save
33:40everybody and
33:42so that's the concept that's a very
33:44spock very kind of star trek concept the
33:46needs of the media outweigh the needs of
33:48the few or the one
33:49this is utilitarianism consequentialist
33:52theories
33:53you know to the t utilitarianism is the
33:57one that
33:58relies on happiness utilitarianism says
34:01that morality creates the most happiness
34:04for the most amount of people and the
34:05least unhappiness for the least amount
34:07of people
34:10and if you combine this concept with
34:13other ones you're not wrong
34:16because people who live a moral and
34:19ethical life
34:21are happy and they create happiness
34:25but their happiness is not what
34:27determines their morality
34:29that got it backwards your morality and
34:31your ethicality
34:32produce your happiness
34:36created by a guy named jeremy bentham
34:38who was absolutely brilliant he was
34:40a reformist he was involved in
34:43law and politics and he was big and
34:46revolt
34:47reforming the prison system and so look
34:50at this quote by him
34:51nature has placed mankind under the
34:54governance of two
34:55sovereign masters pain
34:58and pleasure it is for them alone to
35:01point out what we ought to do as well as
35:03to determine what we shall do
35:05so bentham's idea was
35:08unethical practices make people
35:11unhappy therefore you shouldn't be
35:13unethical
35:14and he's right except
35:18his goal was waiting for the
35:20consequences
35:22to determine the ethical behavior what
35:24should you have done
35:26and you can't live like that
35:30so you know it suggests that active
35:33right morally ethically living or
35:35thinking means maximizing the amount of
35:37happiness around you and minimizing the
35:39amount of unhappiness
35:41well you're right but
35:45um i've got a bunch of typos in this
35:47this must be my other version
35:49suggesting that you might even have to
35:51break out of normal
35:52of more morality to achieve this end
35:55so he said achieving the end was
35:58more important than how you got there
36:01creating happiness
36:03and eliminating unhappiness was the most
36:05important part
36:06of this whole entire thing
36:10so you know cheating lying stealing
36:13neglecting your children
36:15are justifiable under utilitarianism
36:18because
36:19it produces good consequences for some
36:23people
36:25well your kids probably don't agree
36:26because they're hungry
36:28and in the video there's a video that
36:29talks about utilitarianism
36:32you shoot one native to save the other
36:3419.
36:35that's how utilitarianism works all
36:38right
36:38so we get at utilitarianism and rule
36:41utilitarianism from this
36:44okay so utilitarianism creating
36:46happiness
36:47act utilitarianism enroll you to
36:52act utilitarianism and
36:55rule utilitarianism i can't say that
36:58fast
36:59all right so act utilitarianism says
37:02that we have to examine
37:03each thing we come across and
37:06examine the consequences of each choice
37:09we make
37:10individually a particular
37:14action can only be moral if it produces
37:17more overall good than any other choice
37:20you have
37:21rule utilitarianism is a little bit like
37:24virtue ethics
37:25it's a little bit like um
37:28uh raw sea and ethics it is based on the
37:31morality
37:32it bases the morality of an act on
37:35i'm tired and i'm really sorry it bases
37:38the morality of an
37:39act on whether it produced consequences
37:44um that are good or bad as a general
37:47rule like every time you do this
37:50the consequences are generally good
37:53every time you speed are the
37:55consequences generally good
37:57or bad and so do
38:02like this is the fifth video i've made
38:04this morning i really really am sorry
38:09i don't even know what i'm talking about
38:10okay yeah the the rule utilitarianism
38:13um the end result as a general rule is
38:18either good or bad and that determines
38:19whether the act
38:20is moral or ethical
38:23okay so
38:27i'm worn out um
38:30basically act utilitarianism doesn't
38:32work
38:34because it requires three steps for
38:36every situation you face
38:38every single one what are the options
38:41how much good or bad will be associated
38:43with option and choosing the right
38:45option
38:46so the example of this is you got an
38:48injured guy on the side of the road
38:51okay so you have to measure
38:55if i stop i'm going to be late for work
38:58if i'm late for work you know the people
39:00that work with me are going to have to
39:02pick up my slack i'm also potentially
39:04going to get fired i'm going to lose pay
39:06and it's going to create lots of chaos
39:10not just for me if i don't stop
39:15the guy on the side of the road is gonna
39:17die
39:19he might there might be an accident
39:21another accident that's caused because
39:22somebody's looking at it and trying to
39:24decide
39:25so so stopping or not stopping by the
39:28time you weighed all these you're
39:29three miles down the road and having to
39:32go back if that's what you decide to do
39:35rule utilitarianism is what is the best
39:37practice to live your life
39:40generally what are
39:43you know things that are okay or things
39:45that are not okay
39:46as a general rule now this gets some
39:49things right because it does allow there
39:51to be
39:52circumstances and situations that go
39:56outside of rural utilitarianism for
39:59example
40:00is lying okay well sometimes to convict
40:04a bad guy or to catch a bad guy
40:07you have to lie well okay i'm okay with
40:09that
40:11what if we lie to convict a person
40:15even if he's innocent in this particular
40:19thing
40:22the joker is a really bad dude and
40:24batman
40:26would it be okay to plant evidence
40:30in a situation and a scene to
40:33incriminate the joker
40:35knowing he didn't do it but you know
40:37you're going to lock up a guy who's
40:39really really bad and going to kill
40:40somebody else
40:43okay this is where it kind of gets messy
40:46and you have to ask yourself some
40:48questions what if everyone followed this
40:50principle what if everyone lied
40:52all the time what if everyone told the
40:56truth all the time
40:58and then you decide what the best course
41:00of action is based on
41:02those questions so do you eliminate
41:05something from human behavior
41:06because it has consequences that are
41:08going to outweigh it
41:10or do you keep it because the
41:11consequences go a different way
41:15rule utilitarianism all right so what
41:17does it get right
41:20it really focuses on mindless
41:22mindfulness and conscious choice
41:24it really encourages people to stop and
41:26think about what they are doing
41:28in the moment it also really pushes this
41:32idea that your actions
41:34do not just affect you that it creates
41:37ripples like stopping for the guy on the
41:39side of the road who's injured
41:41if you stop that's great for the guy on
41:43the side of the road
41:44but you're potentially creating problems
41:47for other people
41:49and it this the thing i like about this
41:51is that it really does remind you that
41:53you are not an
41:54island that every choice you make
41:56affects someone else
41:59of course the problems here we've talked
42:00about these already the individual is
42:03completely lost in this
42:04minority populations are completely
42:06ignored in this theory
42:08completely ignored and sometimes you
42:11just don't have time to weigh
42:13all the options sometimes you just have
42:15to make a decision
42:17like sometimes i just have to pull out
42:19my pistol and shoot something i'm just
42:21kidding
42:21but i mean in those kind of moments you
42:23have to just make a decision you don't
42:25you can't say to the bad guy
42:26hey timeout because i need to apply my
42:30um utilitarianism principles to this
42:33before i shoot you
42:34so can you just come out for a minute
42:36let me contemplate some things
42:39no no or when you're driving and there's
42:42a
42:42there's a potential accident and you
42:44have to choose an
42:46exit strategy do you go over here and
42:48hit this card you're going to
42:49hit this car this car is a van full of
42:52nuns this car
42:53has one person in it according to
42:56utilitarianism you
42:58choose the car with one person in it
42:59because there's less damage
43:02okay so that's the end
43:06that is the end of
43:09normative ethics theories so lots and
43:12lots to think about
43:14these particular theories work in a much
43:17better
43:19um let me go all the way back hold on
43:24all right so these three theories we
43:26have the virtue theories which is kind
43:28of in and of itself
43:29then you have duty theories that was
43:31kant and ross
43:33and then you have consequentialist
43:34theories that is utilitarianism is our
43:37prime example that we look at with that
43:39none of these are perfect but they are
43:41all applicable
43:42on some level and in some case that you
43:45run into
43:47with your ethics or your morals all
43:50right guys
43:50so that wraps up normative ethics be
43:53watching for another video about your
43:55test
43:56whether you know whatever your due dates
43:58are because this is a summer semester
43:59that i'm recording this but
44:01um you've got a test coming up so please
44:03be aware of that and i hope you've been
44:05working on that the whole time
44:06i will catch you guys next video