Unit 1: Introduction to Ethics

Unit One: Introduction to Ethics

Unit Information

3

Unit Overview

3

Unit Aims

3

Unit Learning Outcomes

3

Unit Interdependencies

3

Key Readings

4

Further Readings

5

References

6

Multimedia

7

1.0 Why study ethics?

8

Section Overview

8

Section Learning Outcomes

8

1.1 What is `philosophy'?

8

1.2 What is `ethics'?

11

1.3 Moral intuitions and critical reasoning

13

1.4 Environmental and development ethics

16

Section 1 Self Assessment Questions

20

2.0 Normative ethical traditions: identifying right and wrong

21

Section Overview

21

Section Learning Outcomes

21

2.1 Western ethical theories

21

2.2 Deontological ethics

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2.3 Teleological ethics

26

2.4 Limitations of traditional normative theories

29

Section 2 Self Assessment Questions

30

3.0 Key ethical issues: whose arguments count?

31

Section Overview

31

Section Learning Outcomes

31

3.1 Meta-ethics

31

3.2 Ethical monism, relativism and pluralism

32

Section 3 Self Assessment Questions

38

Unit Summary

39

Unit Self Assessment Questions

40

Key Terms and Concepts

41

P563

Ethics for Environment and Development

Unit 1

UNIT INFORMATION

Unit Overview

This unit provides an introduction to the study of ethics and a brief overview of some of the main branches of philosophical thought about ethics. As well as introducing the central ideas that relate to environmental and development ethics and how these two areas of ethical study are interrelated, this unit shows why ethics as a discipline can provide useful tools for clarifying arguments, for understanding a range of viewpoints in a debate, and for justifying one's own ethical positions more clearly. Key conceptual frameworks and some key terms are introduced and explained.

Unit Aims

? To introduce some key terms relating to the study of ethics. ? To introduce some key ethical ideas, principles and frameworks. ? To explain the rationale for studying environmental and development ethics

and to examine how these areas of study are interrelated.

Unit Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, students should be able to: ? define the terms `philosophy', `ethics', and `morality' ? outline the rationale for studying ethics, particularly in relation to environmental and development concerns ? explain the difference between deontological and teleological ethics ? define and briefly explain some of the key terms relating to ethical monism, relativism and pluralism

Unit Interdependencies

This unit provides a concise introduction to the study of ethics. It introduces key ethical terms and concepts that recur throughout the other units of the module. Therefore it is recommended that you study this unit before attempting the other units, as it provides useful knowledge and understanding of those key terms and concepts.

? SOAS

CeDEP

3

P563

Ethics for Environment and Development

Unit 1

KEY READINGS

Section 1

Traer R (2013) Moral philosophy: an adventure in reasoning. In: Doing Environmental Ethics, 2nd edn. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 3?20.

This chapter introduces the field of moral philosophy, from which much scholarly knowledge and understanding of ethics derives. It explains that ethics answers the question, `How should we live?' The chapter considers some fundamental themes, including ideas about what is `right' and `good', and it examines ways of reasoning critically about our feelings. The field of environmental ethics is introduced, but the account presented in this chapter is also relevant to the theme of development ethics. A variety of key terms are introduced and defined in this chapter.

Section 2

Wolf S (1982) Moral saints. Journal of Philosophy 79(8) 419?439. In this thought-provoking article, Susan Wolf argues that moral perfection, in the sense of moral `saintliness', is not a particularly rational, good or desirable model of personal well-being toward which people should strive. In doing so, she presents a range of interesting and provocative ideas about normative ethics. In particular, she argues that, at some point, `we must be willing to raise normative questions from a perspective that is unattached to a commitment to any particular well-ordered system of values.'

Section 3

Traer R (2013) Ethics and science: moral consideration. In: Doing Environmental Ethics, 2nd edn. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 21?39.

This chapter considers the relation between ethics and science, focusing on the evolution of scientific knowledge. The problematic area of valuing nature is introduced. The chapter shows that, far from being detached from questions of values and ethics, science plays a key role in those questions, because what we value depends on what we believe and that, in turn, is heavily influenced by science.

4 ? SOAS

CeDEP

P563

Ethics for Environment and Development

Unit 1

FURTHER READINGS

Crocker D (1996) International Development Ethics. Available from:

Gasper D (2009) Development Ethics and Human Development. HD Insights, HDR Networks Issue 24, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Available from:

5 ? SOAS

CeDEP

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