Is there a true and valid standard of

goodness?
If yes, what is it?
Utilitarianism:
greatest
amount of
happiness

SW #2: Which one

is the true
standard of
goodness?
Why?

Kants ethics:
duty from the
categorical
imperative

Standard of
Goodness

Divine
Command
ethics:
Gods will

Natural law:
nature is a
law in itself

Form groups of 4 members and come up with a

group opinion (1/4 sheet)

Assign someone to write

the group opinion on a 1/4

And someone else to
explain it in class.

strengths & weaknesses of each

standard
weakness: could
allow anything...

utilitarianism
factual, proman:
happiness for
the majority

divine will:
Gods will is
absolute- as
author of
nature

weakness: the
Euthyphro dilemma

weakness:
disregards the
consequences of an
act
Kants
ethics:
autonomyrational,
universal,
objective
natural law:
objective,
pro-nature
sense of
goodnesswhatever
perfects ones
nature
weakness: nature

in itself is
ambiguous

Some Moral Dilemmas

A Father's Agonizing Choice

You are an inmate in a concentration camp.

A sadistic guard is about to hang your son
who tried to escape and wants you to pull
the chair from underneath him. He says
that if you don't he will not only kill your son but
some other
innocent inmate as well. You don't have any doubt
that he
means what he says. What should you do?

 Sophie's Choice, not in Grassian.

In the novel Sophie's Choice, by William Styron

(Vintage Books, 1976 -- the 1982 movie starred
Meryl Streep &Kevin Kline), a Polish woman,
Sophie Zawistowska, is arrested by the Nazis and
sent to the Auschwitz death camp. On arrival, she is
"honored" for not being a Jew by being allowed a choice:
One of her children will be spared the gas chamber if she
chooses which one. In an agony of indecision, as both
children are being taken away, she suddenly does choose.
They can take her daughter, who is younger and smaller.
Sophie hopes that her older and stronger son will be better
able to survive, but she loses track of him and never does
learn of his fate. Did she do the right thing? Years later,
haunted by the guilt of having chosen between her children,
Sophie commits suicide. Should she have felt guilty?

HW # 1:

Case study: What do you think? Are

you for Christian ethics or natural law
ethics? Support your answer.

1. Homosexuality:

Christian ethics- the person

but not the act
Natural law- if the
homosexual person was born
that waythe person
and the act

A Case Study: Abortion to Save a

Life?
The Case:
In a typical ectopic pregnancy, the embryo does
not reach the uterus, but instead adheres to the
lining of the Fallopian tube. As the embryo
implants and grows, the tube becomes
stretched and inflamed, causing increasing pain
in the pregnant woman. If left untreated, the
affected Fallopian tube will likely burst, causing
gynecologic hemorrhage and endangering the
life of the woman. (
http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newbor
n/pregnancy/ectopic.html
)

Assignment:
What solutions would different standards

propose:
1. Utilitarianism
2. Kants Ethics
3. Christian Ethics
4. Natural Law

Solutions:
1.

2.

3.

4.

Utilitarianism:

Abort the baby. She cannot feel happiness yet but the
mother could. Would she be? Consequence is paramount.
What would make the entire family happy?
Kants ethics:

Do not abort. The consequence is beyond our control. And

besides, can you universalize abortion? Even so, categorical
imperative II says: Dont treat others as means...(like
the baby) The intention cannot be good then.
Christian ethics:
(principle of double effect)

Operate without killing. 1) intention is to save the mother, 2)

the act is to operate not abort, 3) the circumstance is that
life in in danger
Natural law:

Do not abort. Let nature be . We dont interfere with any

natural process.