Chapter 4

1. Ethics: Discovering
Right and Wrong
Louis P. Pojman and James Fieser
8th edition

2. Chapter Four: Value and
the Quest for the Good
 What sort of things are valuable?
 The Convenience Machine example
 It saves time and energy, but some say the value of life
exceeds any amount of convenience.
 Without it, the nation faces economic depression, but
some insist we alter our economic expectations.
 Its use causes over 75,000 deaths per year, but some say
the quality of life, not life itself, is valuable.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

3. Eight Categories of
Basic Values
 Material and physical value—health, comfort, physical security
 Economic value—economic security, productiveness
 Moral value—honesty, fairness, kindness
 Social value—generosity, politeness, graciousness
 Political value—freedom, justice
 Aesthetic value—beauty, symmetry, grace
 Religious value—piety, obedience, faith
 Intellectual value—intelligence, clarity, knowledge
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

4. Intrinsic and
Instrumental Value
 Intrinsic goods
 Good because of their nature and not derived from other
goods.
 Instrumental goods
 Worthy of desire because they are effective means of
attaining our intrinsic goods.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

5. Hedonism—the
Value of Pleasure
 Hedonism: The doctrine that holds that all pleasure is
good, that pleasure is the only thing good in itself, and
that all other goodness is derived from this value.
 The term “hedonism” comes from the Greek word,
hedon, which means pleasure.
 An experience is good in itself if and only if it provides
some pleasure.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

6. Hedonism (continued)
 Hedonists subdivide into two categories:
 Sensualism—The view that equates all pleasure with
sensual enjoyment.
 Satisfactionism—The view that equates all pleasure with
satisfaction or enjoyment, which may not involve
sensuality.
 Nonhedonists subdivide into two categories:
 Monists—Believe that there is a single intrinsic value, but
it is not pleasure.
 Pluralists—Admit that pleasure is an intrinsic good, but
that there are other intrinsic goods as well.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

7. Are Values Objective or
Subjective?
 Objectivist view: Values are worthy of desire, whether
or not anyone actually desires them. Values exist
independently.
 Subjectivist view: Values are dependent on and relative
to desirers.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

8. The Relation of Value
to Morality (1 of 2)
 Value theory is at the heart of moral theory.
 From our values, we derive principles.
 We judge which principle to use.
 We must then decide to do the morally right act.
 Finally, we must actually do the right act.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

9. The Relation of Value
to Morality (2 of 2)
 There are many possibilities to fail
 Failure of application
 Failing to apply the right principle to the situation.
 Perverse will
 Making the correct judgment but failing to choose the
right action.
 Weakness of will
 Meaning to do the right thing but being too morally weak
to accomplish the task.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

10. The Good Life (1 of 6)
 Aristotle (384–322 BCE) believed all people seek happiness.
 Objectivists: Single ideal for human nature
 Eudaimonia—Not merely a subjective state of pleasure or
contentment, but the kind of life we would all want to live if
we understood our essential nature.
 When we fulfill the ideal of living the virtuous life, we are truly
happy.
 Subjectivists: In the eye of the beholder
 You are just as happy as you think you are—no more, no less.
 Happiness has nothing to do with virtue, but because of our
social nature, we usually feel better about ourselves if we are
virtuous.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

11. The Good Life (2 of 6)
 A combination view, John Rawls’s “plan of life”
conception of happiness:
 There is a plurality of life plans open to each person, and
what is important is that the plan be an integrated whole,
freely chosen by the person, and that the person be
successful in realizing his or her goals.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

12. The Good Life (3 of 6)
 The Happiness Machine:
 This machine is a large tub that is filled with a chemical
solution.
 Electrodes are attached to many parts of your brain.
 You work with the technician to program all the “happy
experiences” that you have ever wanted.
 Would you enter the Happiness Machine?
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

13. The Good Life (4 of 6)
 Missing ingredients from the Happiness Machine that are
necessary for the happy life:
 Action
 Freedom
 Character
 Relationships
 John Stuart Mill’s moderate objectivism view of happiness:
 Happiness is life in which there exists free action (including
meaningful work), loving relations, and moral character and in
which the individual is not plagued by guilt and anxiety but is
blessed with peace and satisfaction.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

14. Conclusion
 Some goods are intrinsic and others are instrumental.
 Goods are often connected with pleasure, either
sensualism or satisfactionism.
 Philosophers debate whether values are objective or
subjective.
 Value theory is at the center of moral theory, but
“right” and “wrong” may or may not be intrinsic values.
 Philosophers debate how values are connected with
happiness and the good life.
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.