Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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* deon = duty 2
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*Aristotles cardinal virtues
The Origins of Conscience Conscience
Etymology:
The awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to
cum + scire = to know with one's conduct together with the urge to prefer
As science (scire) means knowledge, conscience etymologically means right over wrong.
self-knowledge . . . A source of moral or ethical judgment or
But the English word implies a moral standard of action in the mind as
well as a awareness of our own actions.
pronouncement.
Conformity to one's own sense of right conduct.
The part of the superego in psychoanalysis that
judges the ethical nature of one's actions and
thoughts.
Present in most cultures
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Conscience biological mechanism is Conscience is a mechanism which judges our own actions, as
probably genetically determined, while its being right or wrong, good or bad, and punishes us with its
content is learnt, like language, as part of a condemnation (disapprobation), or rewards us with its approval
culture. For instance, one person may feel a (approbation), according as these are, or are not, conformed to
moral duty to go to war, another feels a the moral standard.
moral duty to avoid war under any
circumstances.
Conscience implies both a knowledge of our duty and an ability to
Studies of brain damage show that damage
perform it.
to the anterior prefrontal cortex of the brain
results in the reduction or elimination of
inhibitions, with a radical change in behavior
patterns. When the damage occurs to
adults, they may still be able to perform
moral reasoning; but when it occurs to
children, they may never develop that ability.
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Characteristics of Conscience Medieval Background
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Deadlock in Conscience
The Central Question The case of Huck and Jim
If conscience represents the urge to conform to moral principals, In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,
what happens in case of conflicting principles?
Huck is faced with the dilemma of
How to reconcile turning in his friend Jim, a runaway
Loyalty to the friend slave.
Loyalty to society Huck would despise himself if
in case when there is a conflict between the two? he turned Jim in
Huck feels he is going
against his conscience by not
turning Jim into the
authorities
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Mark Twain, THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN (born Samuel L Clemens)
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http://users.telerama.com/~joseph/finn/finntitl.html (e-book)
Unity of Virtues? Unity of Virtues?
Responsibly in a Professional Role Responsibly in a Professional Role
Aristotle defended a strong unity of virtue" thesis - the unity of the Character is invariably riddled with "moral gaps. Character traits are
four cardinal virtues (wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice). situation-sensitive, moral virtues are enormously varied (and
sometimes in conflict), and both situations and personalities vary
Today most ethicists would agree in sharply rejecting the unity of enormously.
virtue. (Owen Flanagan in the Varieties of Moral Personality)
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Conscience in Professional Life Conscience in Professional Life
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The Freudian Critique of Conscience
Egoism
Freuds saw conscience as the voice of
the superego
Initially, the internalized voice of
parental restrictions
Later, the internalization of
societal prohibitions
Almost exclusively negative,
saying no to the id.
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Psychological Egoism:
Psychological Egoism
A Common and Widespread Belief
Folk psychology What exactly does the psychological egoist maintain? Two
possible interpretations:
There is a widespread belief that people are just
#1: We act selfishly, or
out for themselves #2: We act in our self-interest
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Re-conceptualizing Psychological Re-conceptualizing Psychological
Egoism, 1 Egoism, 2
Instead of seeing this one a single scale, we can see egoism and altruism
The standard view of human motivation embedded in as two independent axes:
High
discussions of psychological egoism sees egoism and Altruism
Conceptualizing the issue in this
altruism as opposite poles of a single scale: way allows some actions to be
Human Motivation done both for the sake of others
and for ones own sake, and
avoids falling into a false Low High
Egoism Altruism dichotomy between altruism and Egoism Egoism
egoism.
The premise is that an increase in egoism automatically However, an additional
distinction remains to be draw.
results in a decrease in altruism, and vice versa.
Low
Altruism
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Re-conceptualizing Psychological
Egoism, 3 Re-conceptualizing Psychological
In addition to having two independent axes, we must distinguish between Egoism, 4
the intentions of actions and their consequences. Thus we get two graphs:
This double grid suggests that any given action can be ranked according to
Intentions Consequences both:
Intentions
Strongly intended to help others High beneficial To others
Consequences
And that, for each of these two issues, each act can be ranked along two
independent axes, concern/consequences for self and
Not Strongly Highly Highly concern/consequences for other.
intended intended harmful beneficial
to benefit to benefit to self to self
self self
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Be My Valentine?
Ethical Egoism
Love, we are repeatedly taught, consists of self-sacrifice. Love based
on self-interest, we are admonished, is cheap and sordid. True love, we
are told, is altruistic. But is it?
Genuine love is the exact opposite. It is the most selfish experience
possible, in the true sense of the term: it benefits your life in a way that
involves no sacrifice of others to yourself nor of yourself to others.
Gary Hull
Valentines Day, 1998
Ayn Rand Institute
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Altruism Arguments for Ethical Egoism
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Argument for Ethical Egoism: Acting Selfishly Argument for Ethical Egoism: Ethical egoism
Creates a Better World doesnt result in a different world.
Ethical egoists sometimes maintain that if each person took care of This argument presupposes the people in fact
himself/herself, the overall effect would be to make the world a already act selfishly (i.e, psychological egoism) and
better place for everyone. are just pretending to be altruistic.
Epistemological: Each person is best suited to
know his or her own best interests.
If psychological egoism is true, then we should admit
Moral: Helping others makes them dependent, its truth and get rid of our hypocrisy.
which ultimately harms them.
Comment. It is rational for people to solve together their
common problems. Building e.g. state institutions, that exist Comment. It may not make a big difference in a
everywhere in the world means putting energy in a common world of independent, strong and healthy adults, but
societal project that is not in the first place meant to satisfy my in a world with children and people at risk or in need,
own personal needs. they would be put in further jeopardy.
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Ethical Egoism: Egoism, Altruism, and
A philosophy for a world of strangers the Ideal World
Aristotle
Tocquevilles
Kant Self-interest rightly understood
Some philosophers have argued that ethical egoism Ideally, we seek a society in High
is, at best, appropriate to living in a world of strangers which self-interest and regard for Altruism
others convergethe green
that you do not care about. zone. Self-interest
Self-sacrificing and regard
Egoism at the expense of others altruism for others
and altruism at the expense of converge
self-interest both create worlds in Low High
which goodness and self-regard Egoism Egoism
are mutually exclusivethe Not beneficial Self-interest
yellow zone. either to self at the expense
or others of others
No one want the red zone, which
is against both self-interest and Low
regard for others. Drug addiction Altruism
Hobbess
Alcoholism, etc. State of Nature,
Nietzsche?
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Living by Rules Categorical Imperatives
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One of Kants most lasting contributions to Respect has become a fundamental moral concept in
moral philosophy was his emphasis on the contemporary West
notion of respect (Achtung). There are rituals of respect in almost all cultures.
Two central questions:
What is respect?
Who or what is the proper object of respect?
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Kant on Respect Kant on Respecting Persons
Act in such a way that you always treat Kant brought the notion of respect (Achtung) to
humanity, whether in your own person or in the center of moral philosophy for the first time.
the person of any other, never simply as a To respect people is to treat them as ends in
means, but always at the same time as an themselves. He sees people as autonomous,
end. i.e., as giving the moral law to themselves.
The opposite of respecting people is treating
them as mere means to an end.
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Additional Cases What Is the Proper Object of Respect?
Plant Closing
Firing Long-Time Employees For Kant, the proper object of respect is the will. Hence,
respecting a person involves issues related to the will--
Medical Experimentation on Prisoners knowledge and freedom.
Medical Donations by Prisoners Other possible objects of respect:
Medical Consent Forms Feelings and emotions
The dead
Animals
The natural world
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Self-Respect Self-Respect
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