ETHICS FOR PROFESSIONALS



TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I

NOTE TO STUDENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II

Part One: The Background Problem: Post-metaphysical Diversity = Confusion, Banality, Drift and “isms” of exclusion vs. The Normative Structure of a Profession

I. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED ETHICS & SOCIAL PLURALISM ------------- 1

1. A FOUNDATION FOR DISCUSSING PHILOSOPHICAL ETHICS --------------------------------------------- 1 The Background Shapes The Foreground --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

Communication Requires Shared Procedural Knowledge -------------------------------------------------------- 4

The Example Of Temple Grandin ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6

Self-Critical Dialogue Helps To Balance Perspectives ---------------------------------------------------------- 11

Humans Are Story-Telling Animals -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13

Metaphors Facilitate Communication ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17

2. “THE GOOD OLD DAYS” OF TRIBAL ETHICS ----------------------------------------------------------------- 20

Levels of Abstraction and Justification ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22

3. TODAY’S WORLD OF SOCIAL PLURALISM ------------------------------------------------------------------- 29

4. A SPECIAL VOCABULARY DEFINES THE MORAL POINT OF VIEW------------------------------------ 33

Six Possible Principles Of Western Morality --------------------------------------------------------------------- 36

Virtue Ethics, Another Possibility ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37

5. METAETHICS AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JUSTIFICATION AND APPLICATION -------- 39

6. REFERENCES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 44

.

CHAPTER TWO: MORAL AGENTS, SITUATIONAL CONTROL, & PROFESSIONALISM ---- 47

1. Moral Agency in Applied Ethics --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 47

A Model Decision Procedure --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 48 Background Definition of Moral Agency -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50

Moral Agency Versus Situational Control ------------------------------------------------------------------ 52

Example: The Zimbardo Prison Experiment -------------------------------------------------------------- 53

Example: The Third Wave Experiment: duty for duty’s sake can be dangerous -------------------- 56

Combining Empirical Research With Moral Prescriptions ----------------------------------------------------- 61

2. A NORMATIVE DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONALISM-------------------------------------------------------- 64

Background: The Structure of a Profession? --------------------------------------------------------------------- 65

Origins Of 20th Century Professions ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 66

Four Criteria Of Traditional Professions -------------------------------------------------------------------- 68

Ideal Theory: Universal Morality and the Professional Code Of Ethics -------------------------------------- 71

Client/Professional Relationships ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 74

Implementation: Professional Practice and Discretionary Decisions ----------------------------------------- 76

Professional Practice Must Be Compatible With Morality ---------------------------------------------- 78

3. REFERENCES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 80

II. CHAPTER THREE: MUDDLE, DRIFT, BANALITY, & SUBJECTIVISM VS. MORALITY ---- 82

1. THE MORALITY OF MUDDLE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 82

Reactions to Pluralism ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 83

Bigotry ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 84

Future Shock, Decidophobia, Cynicism & Nihilism ----------------------------------------------------- 85

Confusion Leads to Moral Drift ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 86

2. The SPECTER OF THE Banality of Evil -------------------------------------------------------------------- 90

Illustrations of the Banality of Evil -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 93

Example: The Greek Soldiers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 93

Example: The Nazi Doctors ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 95

Administrative Evil Is Incompatible With Professionalism --------------------------------------------------- 97

The Virtue of Understanding -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 100

3. MATTERS OF TASTE vs. MORAL VALUES ------------------------------------------------------------------- 102

Subjectivism: A Reductionist Metaethical Theory ------------------------------------------------------------ 102

Emotivism ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 104

Logical Characteristics of Public Morality --------------------------------------------------------------------- 106

The Logic of Moral Excuses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 108

Conclusion ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 114

4. REFERENCES ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 115

PART TWO: THE SEARCH FOR TRANSCENDENT RATIONALITY -- EMPIRICAL AND ANALYTIC STUDIES

CHAPTER FOUR: DESCRIPTIVE ETHICS: COGNITIVE AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT -- 118

1. Cognitive Development -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 118

Blending the Concrete and the Abstract ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 123

2. MORAL DEVELOPMENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 125

Level I, The Preconventional -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 129

Level II, The Conventional ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 132

Level III, The Postconventional ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 136

Using the Developmental Model to Interpret Events ---------------------------------------------------------- 143

3. REFERENCES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 149

CHAPTER FIVE: THE ROLE OF VOICE IN ETHICS WITH THE FOCUS ON

GENDERED INTERPRETATIONS OF MORALITY ----------------------------- 152

1. THE PLURALITY OF VOICES VERSUS UNIVERSAL MORALITY --------------------------------------- 152

2. The Focus On Gender in Moral Development ---------------------------------------------------- 157

The Traditional Men’s Orientation ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 158

The Women’s Orientation ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160

Possible Causes of Gender Differences ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 161

A Mature Ethics Requires Both Genders ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 165

Development Improves Communication Between Voices: The Example of Race ----------------------- 167

Blending the Voice of Liberal Individualism with Communitarian Republicanism----------------------- 171

3. ADAM SMITH, A LIBERAL COMMUNITARIAN --------------------- ---------------------------------------- 175

Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 183

REFERENCES ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 185

CHAPTER SIX: METAETHICAL SEARCH FOR MORAL RATIONALITY ----------------------- 189

1. TRADITIONAL NATURALIST AND ABSOLUTIST METATHEORIES ---------------------------------- 189

The Cultural Relativist Reaction ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 192

The Need to Transcend Cultural Relativism ------------------------------------------------------------- 199

Moral Rationality ----------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- 201

Postmodern Philosophy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 203

Problems with Postmodern Particularism---------------------------------------------------------------- 205

Pluralism And Rationality ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 208

Rationality and Moral Emotions -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 210 Kantian Conditions for Rationality ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 213 Communicative Rationality --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 217

2. REFERENCES --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 223

PART III. MORAL FOUNDATIONS AND CONCEPTS, SIX NORMATIVE

THEORIES AND APPLICATION STRATEGY

VII. CHAPTER SEVEN: AUTONOMY, ACCOUNTABILITY, & MORAL CHOICES ---------- ----- 226

1. AUTONOMY ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 226

Personal Autonomy is not Moral Autonomy ------------------------------------------------------------------ 227

2. MORAL AUTONOMY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 231

Moral Autonomy Entails Moral Accountability -------------------------------------------------------------- 233

The Need For Accountability Procedures --------------------------------------------------------------------- 235

Moral Autonomy And Human Virtues ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 239

Autonomy And Emotional Choice ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 242

Paternalistic Interventions --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 245

Moral Autonomy and Life Style Choice ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 247

The Autonomous Life and The Meaning of Life ----------------------------------------------------- 250

Universal Moral Meaning in the Golden Rule --------------------------------------------------------- 252

Summary ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 255

3. REFERENCES ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 257

8 CHAPTER EIGHT: THE CONSEQUENTIALIST BACKGROUND VS NATURAL RIGHTS --260

1. BACKGROUND: CONSEQUENTIALISTS NEED A THEORY OF VALUE ----------------------------- 260

Prudence: Strategic Reasoning ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 261

2. ETHICAL EGOISM --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 263

Background: Personal Egoism is Not Ethical Egoism ------------------------------------------------------- 264

Psychological Egoism Is Not Ethical Egoism----------------------------------------------------------- 266

Problems with Ethical Egoism ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 267

Ideal Theory: The Enlightened Ethical Egoist’s Response---------------------------------------------------- 269

Implementation: Problems Remain ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 270

3. UTILITARIANISM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 272

Background: How to Interpret Decentered Pleasure ---------------------------------------------------------- 273

Ideal Theory: Impartial Benevolent Calculations of Utility ------------------------------------------------ 277

Implementation: Problems with Utilitarianism ---------------------------------------------------------------- 278

The Problem Of Justice ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 282

Nonconsequentialist Criticisms --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 284

4. NATURAL RIGHTS THEORY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 285

Background: Values in Nature ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 286

Ideal Theory: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 287

Implementation: Problems with the Natural Rights Theory ------------------------------------------------ 289

5. REFERENCES ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 292

IX. CHAPTER NINE: NONCONSEQUENTIALIST ALTERNATIVES TO NATURAL RIGHTS THEORY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 293

1. SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 293

Background: Hume’s Empiricism vs. Rousseau’s Normative Prescriptions------------------------------- 294

John Rawls’ Explanation of the Logic of a Social Contract ------------------------------------------ 295

The Role of Qualitative Information --------------------------------------------------------------------- 298

Ideal Theory: Rawls’ Two Principles are Really Three ------------------------------------------------------ 299

Implementation: Problems with Rawls’ Social Contract Theory -------------------------------------------- 301

2. DUTY ETHICS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 304

Background: Autonomy and Pure Reason --------------------------------------------------------------------- 306

Ideal Theory: Rational Nature as an End in Itself and The Kingdom of Ends --------------------------- 309

Implementation: Too Abstract? Too Monological? The Family Example-------------------------------- 311

3. HABERMAS AND DISCOURSE ETHICS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 313

Background: The Nature of Communicative Discourse ----------------------------------------------------- 314

Communicative Rationality ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 315

Ideal Theory: The Practical Normative Implications of Communicative Discourse --------------------317

Implementation: The Justification of Discourse Ethics ------------------------------------------------------ 320

Summary ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 325

4. REFERENCES ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 325

X. CHAPTER TEN: THEORY OF IMPLEMENTATION: THE BEST MEANS --------------------------- 328

1. BACKGROUND: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENDS AND MEANS ----------------------------- 328

The Way It Is ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 329

2. IDEAL THEORY: COMBINING THE EMPIRICAL AND THE PRESCRIPTIVE ---------------------- 331

Blending the Concrete with the Abstract --------------------------------------------------------------- 333

3. IMPLEMENTATION: MORAL AGENTS AND INSTITUTIONAL SETTINGS ------------------------ 337

4. APPLIED ETHICAL REASONING USING A DECISION PROCEDURE---------------------------------- 339

Example: The Jurisprudence of Difference -------------------------------------------------------------------- 340

Background: General Dilemma ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 340

Ideal Theory, Other things being equal ---------------------------------------------------------------- 343

Implementation, All things considered ----------------------------------------------------------------- 345

Example: Contractual Dispute, Business or Professional? ------------------------------------------------- 351

Background: General Dilemma ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 352

Ideal Theory, Other things being equal --------------------------------------------------------------- 356

Implementation, All things considered ----------------------------------------------------------------- 357

5. SUMMARY ON APPLICATION DISCOURSE ----------------------------------------------------------------- 360

The Practical Impact of a Course in Ethics ------------------------------------------------------------------- 362

6. REFERENCES ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 363

XI. GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 366

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download