Module 2

What is 'the good for man'? Which ideals and ends should we pursue and why? What makes our actions right or wrong? Is there anything that we should value, even if we don't? What do we mean when we say that something ought or ought not to be done? Are there any moral truths or are there simply our tastes and preferences? This theme raises questions concerning our moral concepts and beliefs.

Normative Ethics

Can 'first principles' governing what is right, what we ought to do or how we ought to live, be successfully established?

• Deontological views: certain acts are right or wrong in themselves, our awareness of what is right and our duty to act rightly is given by divine command or reason.

• Utilitarianism: acts are right or wrong to the extent that they maximise pleasures or minimise suffering. Positive, negative and preference utilitarianism. Ideal and hedonistic utilitarianism. Act and rule utilitarianism.

• Virtue theory: the focus on how we should live, the cultivation of virtues and flourishing.

Practical Ethics

Concepts and theories gained in the study or normative ethics should also be useful in addressing issues in this section. Issues concern when, if ever, and why it is permissible to kill.

• Euthanasia: voluntary, involuntary and non-voluntary; active and passive. When, if at all, is euthanasia justified?

• Abortion: what is the moral status of the foetus, and how is demarcation between fertilised egg, foetus, infant and adult possible? On what grounds, if any, is abortion permissible?

• Animal Rights: on what grounds, if any, should non-human animals be included in our moral thinking and with what consequences?

Aristotle taught that moral

behaviour lay in finding

the golden mean

Emmanuel Kant

German philosopher.

He based his ethical system on reason.

"Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to your end"

Jeremy Bentham

British philosopher

His ethical system was based on the principal of 'utility'

"The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?"