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[Ethics] E1/P1: Human Interface: Types of Judgments, Prerequisite for

Ethical scrutiny, Meta Ethics, Applied ethics, Normative-Descriptive ethics

Ethics (http://mrunal.org/category/ethics-2) / 2 weeks Ago /

73 Comments (http://mrunal.org/2015/09/e1p1-meta-ethics-judgement-types-freewill-knowledge-no
English: SP Bakshi
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1.

Prologue

2.

3 Types of Judgments

3.

3 Areas in Study of Ethics

4.

1.

S1:Meta-Ethics / Critical Ethics

2.

S2: Applied Ethics

3.

S3: Normative vs. Descriptive Ethics

4.

Ethics vs. Morality?

5.

Legality vs. Morality

3 Preconditions for Ethical Scrutiny

1.

Pc1: Free Will

2.

Pc2: Knowledge

3.

Pc3: Voluntary Action

5.

Case study: Memento

6.

Case Study: Crank

Prologue
This article series based on Ethics Lectures by Mr.Kavan Limbasiya (AIR-198, IRS-IT) at SPIPA,
Ahmedabad
The Syllabus of UPSC General Studies Paper-4 Ethics is available here click me
(http://mrunal.org/ethics#syllabus). Accordingly, we can divide the Ethics topic into 8 parts

First part would be Ethics and Human interface- further subdivided into three articles
E1/P1: Types of Judgments, Pre-requisite for Ethical scrutiny, Meta Ethics, Applied ethics,
Normative-Descriptive ethics.
E1/P2: Theories of Ethics: virtual ethics, deontological vs. teleological ethics, utilitarianism,
hedonism, epicureanism, egoism, conduct ethics etc.
E1/P3: Values, Role of family-society-educational institutions in inculcating values, ethics and
private and public relationships.

3 Types of Judgments

Earth rotates around Sun. Whether you test or an alien species tests,
1.Factual or
Epistemological

the fact will remain the same. There are only two outcomes: True /
False
Theyre not morally right or wrong. Theyre morally empty, theyre
amoral.

2.Aesthetic
Judgment

Concept of beauty, taste, color, sensualities.

3.Moral
Judgment

Our sense of good/bad/right/wrong.

One person may like red color the other person may like blue color.

IN GS paper 4, we are concerned with this.

Question: Are these three judgments inter-related?

Traditional thinkers considered them one and same i.e. what is true (factual) is beautiful
(aesthetic) and therefore it is Good (moral). Something like Satyam-Shivam-Sundaram.
They believed, just as facts are not dependent on us, the morals are not dependent on us.
The morals are created by the God.
Now we dont see things in the same manner. Consider following question: Was Amitabh
involved in Bofors case? (Factual judgment)
If youre a bigB fan, youd say no he cant be involved because he is a good guy (Moral
judgment). And youd say this without verifying the facts. So, youve internal inconsistencyyou like this guy, so you cant believe he can be bad.
Similar case about Sanjay Dutts involvement in 1992 bomb blasts.

3 Areas in Study of Ethics

The study of Ethics is subdivided into three areas: (1) Meta Ethics (2) Applied (3) Normative
Ethics

S1:Meta-Ethics / Critical Ethics

If we steal, is it good thing? That is an example of ethical question.
What is good? That is meta-ethical question. In other words, Meta-ethics is one step above
ethics.
If you begin evaluating the ethics itself, then its meta-ethics.
Nature=> philosophy of nature => physics.
Similarly here morality =>ethics => meta-ethics.
S2: Applied Ethics
In subsequent lecture, well discuss various theories of ethics. One such theory is
Utilitarianism, which says if a decision leads to maximum happiness for maximum people
then its an ethical decision.
Now if we apply this utilitarianism theory to a specific field, then itd become Applied Ethics
examples,
Bioethics

step cell therapy is good or bad?

Environmental
ethics

cutting trees and displacing the tribal for highway projects is good or
bad?

S3: Normative vs. Descriptive Ethics

Descriptive

Normative / prescriptive

Einsteins equation is E=MC2

Should we use that equation or

knowledge to build nuclear weapon?

Newtons third law: action and reaction are

opposite.

Should we use Newtons third law to

build a rocket or a gun?

It describes this is whats happening.

It prescribes what should be done or

what ought to be done.

e.g. in imperialist age, white men enslaved

Africans.
However, Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery
so Mr.ABC historian lauds him an ethical
president.
However, Lincolns motive to abolish slavery
was to win the war against confederates,
rather than freeing black people so Mr. xyz
Historian in his xyz book doesnt concur with
the views of Mr.ABC.
As you can see, only describing, rather than
prescribing.

In the Imperialist age, white men

enslaved Africans and sold them to
American plantation owners,
wherein theyre exploited in the
most inhuman manner.
It was wrong on part of the White
men to exploit other humans for
personal gains. No one should
enslave another human being.
As you can see- prescribing about
what should have been done.
Examples of Normative theories:
Virtue ethics theory, the views of
Plato and Aristotle
Utilitarianism
Nishkam Karmayoga (Gita)

Ethics vs. Morality?

Subject matter of Physics = Natural phenomenon. It studies nature and derives formulas.
So subject matter nature=> its study is called physics.
Same way subject matter morality => its study is called ethics.
Legality vs. Morality

Legality

Morality

Gay marriage is
illegal

Perhaps in some ethical school of thought, gay marriage could be

considered ethical because everyone has right to have a life partner to
provide him/her emotional support.

Every illegal thing

may not be
immoral

Every moral things may not be legal. If we make lying illegal, then
everyone will be jailed.

One and same

throughout the
region/nation

Varies from culture, religion and region.

Murder is illegal

Murder is immoral so its in the intersecting region of legality and

morality.

3 Preconditions for Ethical Scrutiny

For case studies- Before we can decide where an action is worth ethical debate or not, you
should first test whether given case passes 3-preconditions or not?

Pc1: Free Will

In Delhi zoo, a mentally instable person falls in Tiger enclosure. The white tiger kills him,
while the crowd is busy capturing the MMS video of the event.
If a person has multiple choices, and freedom to pick one within those choices, only then we
can debate it on ethical ground.
When that white tiger killed the mentally instable man, Tiger didnt have free will or
knowledge. Nature has designed tiger to act that way. Hence tigers action cant be judged
as ethical or immoral. He cant /shouldnt be punished for that.
While crowds action can be termed as unethical- because they had free will: Option A- help

the person or option B- record MMS on mobile. They chose option A, hence unethical.
Pc2: Knowledge
A Child takes iphone 6s plus from table and dips it in a fishbowl. Phone is permanently
damaged. Was Childs action unethical?
Well, Child had free will- (A) Take selfi and upload on facebook (B) dip it in a fishbowl
She chose optionB. But she didnt have the knowledge that iPhone are not waterproof.
We cannot exercise free will in an ethical/unethical manner, unless and until we have
knowledge of its consequence. Hence babys action cant be termed as ethical or unethical.
Pc3: Voluntary Action
If someone puts a gun on your head or straps a bomb on your waist and then orders you to
commit a crime, then its an involuntary action by you, hence we cant judge it on ethical
grounds.
Apart from above three, following conditions also make it difficult to evaluate an action on
ethical grounds:

Fear /
violence

If someone tries to kill/loot you and you kill/injure him in self-defense,

youre acting under fear for your life. So, its subject to legal scrutiny but
not ethical scrutiny. Because it was either you or him.
Foreigner comes to Gujarat and drinks in a desi-liquor den. This is illegal

Ignorance

but not unethical IF the foreigner was unaware of the prohibition law in
Gujarat.
A husband finds his wife in a compromising position with another man,
he gets enraged and murders both of them. Illegal but difficult to
scrutinize on ethical grounds, since his passion was not aroused by

Passion

himself.
A man takes narcotic drugs and under its influence he
rapes/murders/maims someone, it is both illegal and unethical because
he himself aroused his passion.
Hence, In murder cases, court looks at aggravating and mitigating factors.

Husband suffering from schizophrenia mistreats his wife/children.

Pathological
status

This is not subject to ethical scrutiny because hes suffering from a

mental disorder so he lacks the knowledge and free will.
Same way the mistake of mentally instable person falling in tiger
enclosure in Delhi is, is beyond ethical scrutiny.
Since childhood, Japanese are trained to apologize profusely even for

Habit,
temperament

slightest mistake or discomfort caused to another human.

If an American executive working in Japan, doesnt behave in similar
fashion, it cant be termed as unethical. Because its not in American
habits.
A fallen Samurai would prefer to commit ritual suicide (seppuku) rather
than suffering torture/humiliation by his enemies. Because it is part of

Value system

his Bushido honor code.

If a fallen American soldier doesnt commit suicide, it cant be evaluated
on ethical grounds.

Now you can see the broad picture- consider following Case: Mr.X murders Mr.Y to acquire his
property.

Action

Component

Mr.X

Moral Agent

He killed Mr.Y

Human Action. (Recall 3 types of assumptions: if he

had done with out free will, knowledge and voluntary
action, wed have called it non-human action and topic
would end here.

Mr.Xs action is morally wrong.

Moral Judgment. (Recall 3-types of Judgments-factual,

aesthetic and moral)

It is wrong to murder another

human

Moral Standard=> Ethics => Meta-Ethics.

No person shall be deprived of his

life or personal liberty except

according to procedure
established by law.
Whoever commits murder shall
be punished with death, or
imprisonment for life, and shall
also be liable to fine.

Article 21, Constitution of India

Section 302, Indian Penal Code (IPC)

Case study: Memento

In the movie Memento, the protagonist- Mr. Leonard Shelby suffers from short-term memory
loss. Following people take advantage of his mental conditions:
A waitress: by making the protagonistkill her abusive boyfriend after court and police fails
to give her protection or justice.
A Cop: by making the protagonist kill various criminals for cleansing the society as well as
looting the money from dead corpses. He uses this money to tip-off informants and fight
against crime.
A motel-receptionist: by charging the protagonist multiple rooms not used by him,
because receptionists boss had ordered him to increase revenue by doing so, else
threatened to fire him from job. This receptionist has a daughter for marriage and a son in
expensive coaching at Delhi/Kota so he cant afford to lose job.
In above case, whose action(s) is/are subject to ethical scrutiny? If yes, then are they ethical or
unethical?
A. Leonard Shelby
B. Waitress
C. Cop
D. Motel receptionist

Case Study: Crank

In the movie Crank, Chinese Mobsters inject our protagonist Jason Statham with a synthetic
drug which inhibits the flow of adrenaline, slowing the heart and eventually killing the victim.
Jason enters a hospital trying to explain his condition to staff but nurses refuse to believe him

and doctor says hed need to run 24 hours medical tests before giving him any drug, despite
repeated requests by Jason that he requires immediate shot of Adrenaline. Impatient Jason
breaks into the storeroom and tries to steal vials containing synthetic adrenaline, so he can
inject them to survive. But the staff and policemen try to apprehend him. Jason fights back,
injures a few of them before escaping the hospital. In above case, whose action(s) is/are subject
to ethical scrutiny? If yes, then are they ethical or unethical?
A. Jason Statham
B. Nurses
C. Doctor
D. Policemen
In the next part (E1/P2) well look at various theories of Ethics. Visit Mrunal.org/Ethics
(http://mrunal.org/ethics) for more study material on Ethics.

Tags: Kavan (http://mrunal.org/tag/kavan)

Mrunal recommends

SBI/IBPS Bank Exams

UPSC Civil Service

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CDS: Defense Services

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So far 73 Comments posted

So far 73 Comments posted

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srajan
thanku so much sir
plzz go on

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R SIWACH
nothing can be better than this .thanks mrunal SIR

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narayan vaze
thank you so much!!

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shalini dhiman
Hello sir.thanks for providing such useful information. Sir I cant take any
coaching , so please guide me for mains exam.my subject is sociology.
Thanks again

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om prakash pandey

Excellent material

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om prakash pandey
Thank u very much sir

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Naresh Kaveti
The book that followed by the author was McGraw Hill one (By Nanda
Kishore, Santhosh Ajmera)

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Raghuram
Yes.. The content matches..

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Prashant rawat
Thanks sir..

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KUMAR MEHTA
Can we answeres to case studies in Ethics E1/P1

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Revathi
Can you please upload the lectures on youtube sir.

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Lingaraj
MEMENTO CASE STUDY:
1. Actions of LEONARD SHELBY was Illegal but cannot be termed as
Ethical/Unethical becoz he is unable to act on his FREE WILL becoz of
his Mental State coupled with the lack of knowledge(add info: in the
movie he doesnt knw his wifes killer)
2. Actions of the WAITRESS is illegal as well as Unethical becoz her
purpose to kill her boyfriend is revenge but not for self defence.
3. Actions of the COP may be subject to Legal Scrutiny(if whether the
criminals deserved to die) but Unethical becoz he took advantage of
Leonards mental condition without consulting his counterparts.
4. The Actions of MOTEL RECEPTIONIST is ILLEGAL but Subject to Ethical
Scrutiny( did he do it out of pressure/fear of losing his job or futher
wanted to fill his pocket)
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