Understanding Moral Values and Ethical Theories

Posted on Dec 7, 2024 in Philosophy and ethics

• What Are Moral Values? Moral values serve as guides for our actions and direct our moral behavior. All figures include a duty to be, but the ethical values, and this should be a duty to involve, are a requirement or standard that we must fulfill. Ethical values are classified according to different points of view: the public or private.

• The Ethical Theories of Happiness The ethical theories we will study propose various models of a happy life. The first of them is the ethics of eudaimonia. Aristotle is one of the most important philosophers of antiquity (born in Macedonia, the country of origin of the conqueror Alexander the Great). Scheme: The well above = Happiness => achieve the goals that are specific to humans => the most important is self-realization at the theoretical and practical levels. In conclusion, for Aristotle, the ingredients of a happy life are: enjoying a certain level of wealth, being healthy, and having friends. But, above all, man achieves happiness through the use of his own reason and eagerness to know the natural world, both personal and social.

• The School of Cynical Ethics Cynicism is an original philosophy that appeared in Athens in the 4th century BC, promoting a new way of life that focused on ethical problems. Its main figures were Antisthenes, Diogenes of Sinope, and Crates. The founder of this school of ethics was Antisthenes, a pupil of the philosophers Socrates and Gorgias. Antisthenes was active outside the city walls of Athens and near the market. He used to gather to talk in spaces reserved for marginalized sectors. His appearance (poorly dressed and always carrying a cane and a bundle) symbolized his rejection of the dominant culture in their ethics. Antisthenes expressed a clear contempt for social life and institutions of the polis, worrying about the safety of the individual and the demand for personal autonomy and happiness on earth. Another highlighted idea was the cynical notion of cosmopolitanism, meaning to be citizens of the world, the dream of a borderless world as a single political ideal worthy of human beings. In general, the cynics despised wealth, fame, luxury living, and superficiality, believing that the love of money is the source of all evil. Scheme => Health = be self-sufficient => lead a simple life and austere living, rejecting social conventions; despising comforts, pleasures, and ostentation.

• The Hedonistic Ethics of Epicurus (4th-3rd Century BC) states that happiness is to experience pleasure and avoid pain. Individualistic hedonism (Epicurus) defends enjoyment as an ethical ideal: the pleasure (Hedon). Layout => Virtue = be cautious in the pursuit of pleasure (taking into account that one must avoid pain and consider the intermediate future). Continues: Pleasure and happiness calculated = Autarchy. The ideal state of a human being = ataraxia, peace, and inner balance. Epicurus established his school in Athens, called “The Garden.” This school included family, friends, philosophers, and women slaves. Among his writings, one is titled “Letter to Menoeceus.” In Roman times, the poet Lucretius brought his ideas in a book titled “De Rerum Natura.” Epicurus recommended retirement and living away from political wars. If you live according to nature, you will never be poor; if you live according to the opinions of others, you will never be rich. For him, pleasure and the absence of pain in the body, and confusion and restlessness in the soul, are paramount. Not all pleasures are equally desirable; only the desires and pleasures that deserve the approval of Epicurus are valid. The passion for power, fame, and money upsets the internal balance of people and produces pain. Among the pleasures, Epicurus valued the cultivation of friendship the most.

• The Sources of Pain and Unhappiness The passions unleashed unbridled prudence; the fear of the gods; fear of the future; fear of death; knowledge of the nature of things and the laws that govern life.

• Christian Ethics according to Thomas Aquinas, is happiness. It takes three characteristics: intellectualism, eudaemonism, and new theological elements. For him, happiness on earth is neither absolute nor complete. Perfect happiness consists in the vision of God, and through love, one approaches the divine presence. The poor do not turn away from God, because thanks to Him, we are happy. Happiness = Vision of God.
• The Kantian Ethic of Duty defines happiness as a state where one goes to a fine. A good person is happy, and poor people will be unhappy. When happiness is achieved, conduct is not moral at all. Kant recognizes that his conception of the supreme good is a synthesis of virtue. Happiness is an ideal impossible to achieve in this life, full satisfaction of needs and desires. To act morally means to always act with respect to duty, never on a whim. Kant distinguishes two types of mandates or moral obligations that all human beings have: 1. The duty of self-perfection, i.e., the need to form a character and self-educate. Duties that every human being has in relation to others can be: we are not like animals; we prohibit suicide, greed, and living in shame; we do not lie, and we are not avaricious or falsely humble. Falling into any of these defects is a denial of one’s dignity. For Kant, fraternity is imposed as a moral obligation. This includes love for others and the fact that one should not resign oneself to being a slave to one’s own purposes. Kant condemns moral behavior that involves the objectification of people; human beings have dignity and not a price, as happens with things or goods. Only if moral duties are fulfilled, without exception, can happiness be achieved.
• The Theory of Plato represents the balance of three virtues: prudence, fortitude, and temperance. Harmony should rule the individual, as in social justice groups.
• The Theory of Aristotle states that justice is “to give each his due.” There are two types of justice: => Distributive justice: the distribution of benefits and disadvantages of a society according to merit. => Commutative justice: restoration of lost, damaged, or tampered equality through a repair by contract.
• Rawls’s Theory is based on Kant’s ethics and works out the theory of justice. If a society wants to be fair, its inhabitants must agree (social contract) on the necessary conditions to reach agreements that provide authentic social justice. Such agreements should avoid arbitrariness or bias, and the attitude of individuals seeking their own interests. Rawls explains how to be in the ideal situation in which members of a society must agree on the principles of justice. In this ideal situation, known as the original position (similar to the “state of nature” where individuals are exactly alike), differences arise with the establishment of society. The public should accept a number of conditions to agree on these principles. The original position is a process of conditions: to accept that all citizens are equal before the law and socially respect the freedom of all. He proposes what he calls a “veil of ignorance” for voting, stating that citizens should align with principles of justice without knowing in advance whether they will benefit or be disadvantaged. Such is fairness. With the “veil of ignorance,” individuals would avoid defending their private interests and set aside prejudices. If necessary, the agreed principles would always favor the needy, even if there was prejudice against the collective with better living conditions. In the 1980s, as Adela Cortina states, the struggle for Rawlsian theory of justice exploded in North America, not only against neo-style Nozick as excessive social-democratic but also against the community that agrees but also wants to give their theory.