...Describe the main features of situation ethics Situation ethics is a theory used to make decisions that are personal to each unique situation. It allows rules to be bent and it rejects prefabricated decisions and ‘prescriptive rules’. In short, right and wrong depend on the situation. Situation ethics arose in a time when the Church was going through a major change in its moral rules. Joseph Fletcher was a part of this change in the Church’s perspective. He was inspired by Jesus’ gospel message of love. Situation ethics has one single rule; the rule of agape. This love is not merely an emotion but it involves doing what is best for the other person or what decision will cause the greatest amount of good in a situation. He identified three approaches to morality. The first is legalism. Legalism is a conservative approach to morality that is rule-based, stiff and unchanging. It resembles a traditionalist Christian view where something is based on absolute morality. For example, some Christians would see abortion as murder so it is wrong in all situations, independent of the situation, due to ‘Do not kill’ being one of the Ten Commandments. Fletcher explained that this approach can run into problems because life’s complex situations require additional laws. For example murder is wrong but what about self defence? Killing in war? Etc. The second approach is antinomianism. This is the complete opposite of legalism. It’s literal meaning is ‘against law’. Antinomianism is...
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...GCE Religious Studies Advanced GCE Unit G582: Religious Ethics Mark Scheme for January 2011 Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA) is a leading UK awarding body, providing a wide range of qualifications to meet the needs of pupils of all ages and abilities. OCR qualifications include AS/A Levels, Diplomas, GCSEs, OCR Nationals, Functional Skills, Key Skills, Entry Level qualifications, NVQs and vocational qualifications in areas such as IT, business, languages, teaching/training, administration and secretarial skills. It is also responsible for developing new specifications to meet national requirements and the needs of students and teachers. OCR is a not-for-profit organisation; any surplus made is invested back into the establishment to help towards the development of qualifications and support which keep pace with the changing needs of today’s society. This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and students, to indicate the requirements of the examination. It shows the basis on which marks were awarded by Examiners. It does not indicate the details of the discussions which took place at an Examiners’ meeting before marking commenced. All Examiners are instructed that alternative correct answers and unexpected approaches in candidates’ scripts must be given marks that fairly reflect the relevant knowledge and skills demonstrated. Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the published question papers and the Report on...
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...a) Explain how a follower of Natural Law theory might approach the issue surrounding abortion. The Natural Law Theory has developed over time since the era of the ancient Greeks, and it is not necessarily based on one single theory. Natural law is the belief that God has created the universe to work in certain ways. The structure of Natural Law is not accidental; it is deliberate and has important implications to the human race (this can also be used to argue the existence of God in the teleological argument). Humans have a duty to conform to Natural Law. If they do not conform it is morally bad. St Thomas Aquinas linked his idea of Natural Law with Aristotle’s view that people have a specific nature, purpose and function. Aristotle said that not only does everything have a purpose, but also it achieves supreme good when it fulfill its purpose. Aristotle stated that the supreme good for humans is to achieve happiness, which can be related to mill’s utilitarianism where our aim is to gain happiness by avoiding pain and gaining pleasure, but Aristotle did not follow the consequentialist nature of utilitarianism. Aristotle said we were to achieve the final goal by living a life of reason based on what we experience, and this follows the deontological nature of Kantian ethics. Aquinas said that humans beings have an essential rational nature given by God in order for us to live and flourish, even without God reason can discover laws that lead to human flourishing, this is...
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...read about social responsibility, Friedman’s “Efficiency Perspective is placed centrally. During my research I found that Friedman is often criticised for being too classical. Friedman believes that manager’s foremost objective or even moral obligation to the firm should be to maximise profits always. There is however one condition that makes his perspective more complicated, not only for me, but also for several well-known authors. According to Friedman, the managers obligations should be carried out: “…while conforming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom”. This leads to one of the main questions of my essay: To what extent does Friedman’s “Efficiency Perspective” give foundation for responsible and moral international management behaviour? And need we any concern if it fails to do so? To fully answer the questions, I first need to explain the two different parts of the first question: responsible international management behaviour and moral international management behaviour. In businesses nowadays they combine these two parts, respectively responsible and moral becomes social responsibility in international management. The second question anticipates the other theories and models we need to consider when Friedman’s efficiency perspective does not give foundation for social responsibility in international management. However before I go in further detail to answer these questions, I first...
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...Stanford University Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Open access to the SEP is made possible by a world-wide funding initiative. Please Read How You Can Help Keep the Encyclopedia Free Author & Citation Info | Friends PDF Preview | InPho Search | PhilPapers Bibliography Kant and Hume on Morality First published Wed Mar 26, 2008; substantive revision Sun Aug 12, 2012 The ethics of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) is often contrasted with that of David Hume (1711–1776). Hume's method of moral philosophy is experimental and empirical; Kant emphasizes the necessity of grounding morality in a priori principles. Hume says that reason is properly a “slave to the passions,” while Kant bases morality in his conception of a reason that is practical in itself. Hume identifies such feelings as benevolence and generosity as proper moral motivations; Kant sees the motive of duty—a motive that Hume usually views as a second best or fall back motive—as uniquely expressing an agent's commitment to morality and thus as conveying a special moral worth to actions. Although there are many points at which Kant's and Hume's ethics stand in opposition to each other, there are also important connections between the two. Kant shared some important assumptions about morality and motivation with Hume, and had, early in his career, been attracted to and influenced by the sentimentalism of Hume and other British moralists. The aim of this essay is not to compare Hume and Kant on all matters ethical. Instead...
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...‘‘mapping the territory’’ by classifying the main CSR theories and related approaches in four groups: (1) instrumental theories, in which the corporation is seen as only an instrument for wealth creation, and its social activities are only a means to achieve economic results; (2) political theories, which concern themselves with the power of corporations in society and a responsible use of this power in the political arena; (3) integrative theories, in which the corporation is focused on the satisfaction of social demands; and (4) ethical theories, based on ethical responsibilities of corporations to society. In practice, each CSR theory presents four dimensions related to Elisabet Garriga is a PhD student in Management at IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Spain. She holds a degree in Philosophy and another in Economics from the University of Barcelona, Spain. She has taught Business Ethics at the University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, for the International Education of Students (IES), a consortium comprised of more than 120 leading US colleges and universities. Her current research focuses on the concept and implementation of Corporate Social Responsibilities. She also has interest in organizational learning, entrepreneurship and innovation. ` ´ Domenec Mele is Professor and Director of the Department of Business Ethics at IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Spain and chairs the bi-annual ‘‘International Symposium on Ethics, Business and Society’’ held by IESE. He...
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............................................................………...p.16 Life and Death.........................................................…………..p.20 G582: Religious Ethics Meta-ethics...........................…………………………………….p.25 Free Will and Determinism………………………………….……p.28 Conscience.......................…………………………………….…p.32 Virtue Ethics………………………………………………………..p.36 Sexual Ethics…………………………………………………...….p.40 Environment and Business Ethics……………………………….p.44 Religious Language Introduction The problems of religious language: • If we use language univocally about God, then we are limiting him / making him like a human • If we use language equivocally about God, we cannot be sure what the word means when applied to God • Are statements about God supposed to be cognitive – if so, what evidence proves / disproves them? • Are statements about God supposed to be non-cognitive – if so, do they have any meaning? The Verification Principle The Vienna Circle This group of philosophers argued that a statement is only meaningful if it can be verified empirically, or if it is a tautology. This idea is known as the verification principle, or sometimes the strong verification principle. For example, ‘the chair is blue’ is easy to verify with our senses; ‘the widow’s husband is dead’ is a tautology. Both of...
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...some professionals in the field acquire their own values and with time may change their values. It will give a definition of what values in the workplace are, and explain what these values do for us as professionals. In this paper the reader will also be able to see the breakdown the nature and the overall importance of human and professional values in the work place. Write a 700- to 1,050-word reflection paper in which you address the following concepts: * Identify your core values. * Describe how people acquire and change values. * Explain what values do for and to us. * Explain the nature and importance of human values in the workplace. Defining core values may vary from people’s education and ethical values that they have learned through life. Core values for a law enforcement agency it will be the fundamentals beliefs of the organization. They are normally used as guiding principles for the organization and it will dictate the way the organization will operate. These core values will help identify what should be done and what should not be done in the organization; right and wrong. By clarifying where the organization would like to be in the future, and letting all of its members what is and will be expected of them while in the organization. Core values will vary depending on the type of law enforcement agency but none the less they will be somewhat comparable. Individual core values may differ from time to time, some as they mature in their career...
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...for Justice and why does Rawls reject it? Introduction The concept of utilitarianism is one that has engulfed the philosophical arena with an obscene number of arguments that support and/or criticize it. Generally, utilitarianism is a theory in normative ethics that defines an action as one that ensures maximum utility. Other schools of thought would like to put it as the concept of “maximizing happiness while reducing suffering” (Mills 3).In as much as utilitarianism has continued to receive applause from people and the political scene, other divergent scholars has come up with other theories that seek to compromise the philosophies under which the concept of utilitarianism operates. As a result, utilitarianism has become subject to contradictions from other theories in the field of ethics. The thinking class in other fields of utilitarianism characterizes in as a quantitative yet reductionist approach to ethics (Mills 3). Over time, the concept of utilitarianism has received ideological threats from; deontological ethics which does not assign moral worth to an action based on its consequences, virtue ethics that solely deals with action and habits that results to happiness, pragmatic ethics and other forms of ethics that backs the idea of consequentialism. In a nut shell, the concept of utilitarianism as defined by political philosophers and in relation to justice is becoming a “battlefield” where the philosophical bigwigs continue to come up with ideas and findings that...
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...the naturalists, whose approach to philosophy is purely from scientific point of view. Naturalists believe that nature alone represents the entire reality and is there beyond or behind other than nature. For naturalists, nature is everything and nothing exists superior than nature. So they separate nature from God and allot no space for supernaturalism and spiritualism. They also believe that all our activities are initiated by our instincts. Naturalism stresses the need to return to nature from artificiality. It is also concerned with natural self and believes that reality and nature are identical and beyond nature there is no reality .With the help of physical and chemical laws, naturalism explains the universe, the physical world, life and mind. This nature is governed by its own laws and man is regarded as the child of nature. It considers matter as superior to spirit and gives importance to scientific methods of observation and verification. MEANING OF NATURALISM The term naturalism, by its ordinary meaning, means ism laying emphasis nature in every field of education. Naturalism is a system which follows exclusion of whatever is spiritual, or indeed whatever is transcendental of experience from our philosophy of nature and man. Naturalism is a doctrine that separates nature from god, subordinates sprit to matter and setup unchangeable laws as supreme. According to naturalism, ‘material world is the real world”. Naturalism is concerned with ‘natural self’ or ‘real self’...
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...ETHICS 101 A COMMON ETHICS LANGUAGE FOR DIALOGUE Compiled by the Ethics Across the Curricula Committee DePaul University Institute for Business & Professional Ethics 1 E. Jackson Blvd, Ste 7000 Chicago, IL 60604 http://commerce.depaul.edu/ethics bf 208592 ETHICS 101 A COMMON ETHICS LANGUAGE FOR DIALOGUE Compiled by the Ethics Across the Curricula Committee ©2007 IBPE. All Rights Reserved Chaired by Patricia Werhane, Director, Institute for Business & Professional Ethics, DePaul University. A subcommittee of the Ethics Across the Curricula Committee created this document. The members include: Andrew Gold, Professor, College of Law; Laura Hartman, AVP & Professor of Business Ethics, Department of Management; Karyn Holm, Professor, Department of Nursing; Scott Paeth, Asst. Professor, Religious Studies Department; Charles Strain, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs; Marco Tavanti, Asst. Professor, Public Services Graduate Program; David Wellman, Asst. Professor, Religious Studies Department. This guide draws from various resources prepared by others including copyrighted materials reprinted with the permission of the Markkula Center for a Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University (www.scu.edu/ethics), from Larry Hinman, Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory, 3rd edition (Belmont CA: Thomson Learning, 2003), from Marco Tavanti, “Thinking Ethically” (unpublished), David Ozar, “A Model for Ethical Decision-Making.” (unpublished)...
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...Ethics - Ethics Imagine a 15 year old student in philosophy class. After discussing why should you or shouldn't you judge other societies, and getting in depth with ethics, the teacher decides to tell a story to the class. She says"..there is a tribe in the Amazon(Brazil) were they show love and respect by cutting body parts.It would be a good sign if your father cuts a finger of a son...." she then asked the class ".... if you end up in the Amazon, would you stop a father cutting a sons finger because in your society is wrong.... Ethics - Ethics Ethics is a topic in which many people or groups of people tend to disregard. There can be many reasons supporting the decisions that business firms or individuals make. In many cases, money or monetary gain can influence people to do unethical things either in the workplace or in everyday life. Ethics can be defined as beliefs that distinguish right from wrong. These beliefs are normally passed down from family so you make the right decisions in the future. Morals are also on the same line as ethics when talking about doing the right thing.... Ethics Officer - ... A code of ethics also helps to empower employees to report unethical behavior witnessed by coworkers or executives within the corporation. Ethics Administrative Agency Another proposal is that the government needs to form an organization that will strictly investigate any serious claims of unethical behavior. Many people may argue that the government already over regulates...
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...AS Religious Ethics Some key terms: Teleological – the idea that the ‘end’ (effect) of an action should be considered when deciding whether the action is right or wrong. Relativism – morality depends on the situation an individual is in. So one thing can be right in one situation and wrong in another. This approach is adaptable to the situation and it is natural to think of the effects of our actions, however we cannot always accurately predict the effects of our actions. Deontological – the idea that acts are inherently right or wrong; they are right or wrong by their very nature. Absolutism – the idea that things are right or wrong, and remain so in all situations. This approach is clear-cut as it leads a list of what is right and wrong, however it is inflexible; it doesn’t consider the situation, and who decides what is right and wrong? Subjective morality – when moral judgements are based on individual opinions. Respects individual opinions and people can take responsibility for their own actions, however do all individuals opinions deserve respect? This may lead to disagreements. Objective morality – when moral judgements are based on external values/systems/rules. This approach gives authorities the ability to give guidance and advice, however there is disagreement about which authorities to trust. Utilitarianism (Teleological/Relativist): Is an ethical theory, which aims to help us work out what is right, and what is wrong. It focuses on bringing...
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...Axiological Theory - 1st draft The Axiological theory branches from the study of philosophy and derived from the Greek word axiā which is the study of the nature of different values, value judgments, aesthetics and ethics. Ethics is how a society generalizes as what is right and wrong. Aesthetics main concept is of nature and the appreciation of beauty and harmony. It studies two major fields which are the intrinsic and extrinsic value and because of this, the axiological theory can be further broken down into the subjectivism category. Formal axiological theory is an attempt to lay out principles in regards of value. The most common question to ask yourself in the axiological language is; "what is intrinsically good?". Hedonists view it as pleasure while a Pragmatist would see it as satisfaction, growth, or adjustment. Kantians generally think that intrinsically good means a good will. Humanists think self-realization is the key. Overall, there are many different viewpoints and all are correct because the relationship of value to fact is of equal importance. Philosophers would ask whether something is of value because that the object in particular is desired and subjectivists would ask whether something holds value because it's desired. Both values have a cognitive status and the difference is whether its valuable because it exists as a property or because humans have an interest or desire in it. Robert S. Hartman's research and mathematics is the foundation of Axiology...
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...and the weak are defeated. Currently, we use the terms of Darwinism, natural selection, and evolution interchangeably and use them to describe a process which uses random variations, and mutations are preserved through a process of natural competition that favors beneficial changes. A History and Understanding of Social Darwinism The term Darwinism may cause confusion in some people because they confuse Darwinism, the scientific theory, with Social Darwinism, the ethical theory. In truth, except for the name and a few basic principles, the two ideas do not have much in common and has very little to do with Charles Darwin, the English naturalist who famously suggested the scientific theory which states that a branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection. Social Darwinism is a term that started near the end of the nineteenth century and describes a set of social policies and theories designed to reduce the power of government with theories that attempt to explain the biological cause of human behavior. For the majority of the population this term has a negative connotation mainly due to the beliefs that the people who hold to these ideas have no compassion for the needy and reject the idea of any social responsibility. The term social Darwinism is often applied to any group of individuals who interprets the human society in terms of biology and natural law, with natural law being a philosophy that...
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