There are three main perspectives discussed in the document:
1) Pluralism argues that there are multiple, sometimes conflicting values with no objective way to rank them in order. Pragmatism is compatible with pluralism by considering new approaches rather than a single dominant value.
2) Care ethics emphasizes the importance of relationships, personal details, affection, and care for others, which were undervalued in traditional male-dominated perspectives.
3) Relativism claims that morality is culturally or individually relative rather than universal. However, critics argue this leaves no basis for criticizing harmful cultural practices.
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1 Pluralism & Pragmatism Values in Ethics Plur.docx
1. 1
Pluralism & Pragmatism
bonum (ultimate good)?
highest good.
follow the categorical imperative.
k the
highest amount of pleasure over pain.
basic assumption: there is one unified overall fundamental
good, and that good should organize and direct all our
ethical considerations.
means ultimately that there must be a unified whole.
2. conflict with geology and both are in conflict with
chemistry, then something is wrong.
truth it must be unified.
2
Pluralists. Value pluralism
(pluralism, moral pluralism) is the view that values do not
have to exist in a unified order.
genuine values that may sometimes be in conflict, and
there is no objective way of placing those values in ranking
order.
are many different values, but they all share the same
defining property (eg: approved by God, increase
happiness, diminish suffering, contribute to wisdom, etc.)
3. these diverse values have in common, no unifying
characteristic.
tism
political pluralist believes that citizens of the state should
be free to pursue their own values as long as they don’t
harm or interfere with others citizens, but at the same
time s/he may believe that her or his values are “true” and
others are false. Value pluralists believe that there is no
one “truth,” or supreme good, but many goods with no
clear order among them.
t there is an irreducible
plurality of goods.
3
soldier, and a good judge; but it is difficult to imagine a
“quality of goodness” that makes Deborah good in all of
these distinctive roles.
-
mindedness and integrity, but is there a good making
quality among them all? Are not these goods at times in
4. conflict? Ex: Friendship and commitment to integrity
ism & Pragmatism
Pluralism, “The Argument from Regret”
becoming a concert violinist.
various ethical
systems and are ready to consider new approaches to
ethics, as such there is a natural affinity between Pluralism
and Pragmatism.
may conclude that s/he has discovered a single dominant
value as the most plausible, and thus reject pluralism.
true, just as scientific principles, but insist that our
traditional notion of truth (philosophy and ethics as well as
science) is hopelessly muddled .
4
Care Ethics
5. oughly
acculturated into a male dominated philosophical outlook
that they adopted the same assumptions and perspectives
as their male counterparts.
contribution to ethics emphasizes the value of fostering
relationships, paying as much to personal details as
abstract principles And recognizing the importance of
affection and care for others.****not all feminists
subscribe to these ideas… ..
sult of male dominated Psychological studies of
Ethical Reasoning severely undervalued the importance of
family and personal relationships in psychological health,
misrepresented the process of psychological and moral
development, and distorted our perspective of healthy
psychological function. Contemporary Psychological
research has attempted to correct this.
ethics.
ty, not law-discerning
or consequences-calculating reason.
affection and care, rather they should function together.
6. 5
pleasurable sensations to be entered into the utilitarian
calculation seems an inadequate representation of the
basic moral worth of these relations
medicine?
impersonal, that is, what is done for one should be done
for all.
uses on duties that we owe to our special
relations, i.e. Family, friends, social circle…Because such
basic felt obligations are probably more fundamental than
any rule we could devise for their justification.
Perils of "Feminine" Ethics
: head :: woman : heart
gender-neutral?
7. Womanly Virtues
.
strong.
6
- the view that as a matter of
empirical psychological fact-all behavior is selfish, or self
interested.
-
-egoistic…
Nothing could count as an unselfish act, since every
purposeful act has some selfish motivation, and the
egoist is redefining all motivations as selfish.”
8. - the claim that we ought to always act in
a way that is self-interested
- Everyone ought to do what
benefits me!
Why Care for Others?-
from genuine relations
-everyone should pursue what is
to his or her individual self-interested advantage
7
approves is the right thing to do!”
or “The Right thing is culturally relevant.”
Sociological Relativism and Cultural Relativism Sociological
Relativism, in particular, is the understanding that
different cultures have different customs, standards, and
moral codes that can be empirically observed by
9. sociologists and anthropologists.
universal ethical principles, but that ethical principles
are relative to culture.
elativism
-
own, not better or worse, but different.
xamines the motives and consequences of
one culture trying to reform another. Tragedy strikes
when one culture tries to reform another to its own, eg:
European New Worlders/ puritans, USA in Iraq
ons of
morality and right and wrong simply come from our
traditions.
Criticism of Cultural Relativism
8
10. mutual decision on what is right.
Ex: Pregnant Catholic Girlfriend and Atheist Baby-
Daddy
always right.
ethical concerns.
Relativism
-
manner that they are the best for their particular
situation. Ex: Child extermination in China
therefore no basis for criticizing any existing cultural
practice.