Solution Manual for Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues , 8th Edition

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1Chapter 1:Ethics and Ethical ReasoningWhy Study Ethics?What Is Ethics?Ethical and Other Types of EvaluationSociobiology and the Naturalistic FallacyEthical TermsEthics and ReasonsIntuitionism,Emotivism, Subjectivism,ObjectivismEthical Reasoning and ArgumentsThe Structure of Ethical Reasoningand ArgumentEvaluating and Making GoodArgumentsEthical TheoryTypes of Ethical TheoryCan Ethics Be Taught?Readings:Hume,Ethical Judgments and Matters ofFactStevenson,Emotivism and EthicsKey Terms

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2PhilosophyEthicsMetaethicsRational EmotionsMoralPhilosophyReasonEvaluative NormsDescriptiveMotiveDeontological RightEthical TheoryNormativeConsequentialistRightsTeleologicalGoodNonconsequentialistDivineCommandTheoryOughtGetting StartedOne might begin a discussion of ethics by asking what it isand why we need it.People disagree about issues such asabortion and gay marriage. It is important to understand whywe think things are right or wrong.There are several aspectsto thenature of ethics: that ethics addresses questions of goodand bad or right and wrong, that it asks us to givereasonsforour views or opinions about this, and that when these viewsare traced to questions of basicvaluesthey form thebeginnings of an ethical theory.Answers to the Review Exercises in the Text1.Fa. Ethics studies not how peopledo actand why, buthow theyoughtto act and why.Tb.Fc. This is a descriptive statement, not a normative one.2.a. N and R

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3b. Dc. N, and Ad. De. N and Lf.N and E3.Philosophers differ about whether our moral judgmentsrefer to something objective, or are reports of our subjectiveopinions.Those who say that ethics is objective believe that values areobjects available for knowledge. The objectivists maintainthat the things we desire are not good; instead, we ought todesire things that are good. They emphasize the goodness ofthe thing-in-itself.Those who believe ethics is subjective claim that valuejudgments express a subjective opinion.Moral judgments restupon subjective experience;the things that we desire aregood.4.Philosophers differ on how we know what is good.Emotivism maintains that when we say something is good,weare showing our approval of it. Instead of describing theitem or experience, we are recommending it to others.Intuitionism claims that good or goodness is known throughour intuition. We have some intuitive knowledge aboutethical truths.5.Natural law ethicsfocus on human nature and determineethical precepts on the basis of what is natural for humans.Natural law ethicists argue that the way in which nature isordered allows us to derive ethical precepts.The advantage of using naturalistic explanations is that it isinsightful, and leads us to understand the basic functions ofour species. The disadvantage is that they can easily committhe naturalistic fallacy. The naturalistic fallacy is thatthat theway in which we behave cannot tell us how we ought tobehave. The fact that we desire something does not tell us that

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4the desire is good. Therefore, the use of naturalisticexplanations can lead to unethical behavior.6.a. Cb. Ac. MQuestionsfor Further Thought1.Do you think that Ethics can be taught?Why is this adifficult question to answer? What does it depend on?2. Which of the following have played a role in thedevelopment of your moral beliefs: your family, yourreligion, your experiences, other people?Any othersources?3. What role, if any, do you believe that emotions should playin moral reasoning? Why?4. Do you think that an action ought to be judged morally interms of its motive, its consequences, something about thenature of the action, or some combination of these?Explain.Answers to the Study Questions Preceding theReadingbyHume1. No, morality is not a fact that can be discovered throughunderstanding. It is not an object of reason.2. If morality were a fact, then animals would be subject tothe same standards of morality as humans.

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53. There is no actual vice in murder. To understand the vice,you must turn toward your feelings about it.4. Hume believes that morality is an issue of feeling, not fact.Moral topics do not have meaning unless people considertheir feelings about them.5.Oughtexpresses a new relationship between the sentimentand the behavior. It gives the impression that a reason shouldbe given..Answers to the Study Questions Precedingthe Reading byStevenson1.Arguments about values include disagreements aboutattitude, which are difficult to reconcile. Scientificmethods are not always successful in obtaining anagreement in attitudes.Only when a commonly acceptedbody of scientific beliefs would lead us to have acommonly accepted set of attitudes would the scientificmethod achieve an agreement on values.2.Ethical claimsattempt to change attitudes by changingpeople’s beliefs. Redirecting an attitude is actually a typeof activity, not knowledge.3.Ethical terms are not simply descriptive. They don’tonly state facts; their goal is to create an influence.Telling someone that an action is wrong and explainingthe consequences has the effect of changing that person’sattitudes. The ethical terms attempt to direct someone’sinterests.

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64.When someone tells a man not to steal, the intent is notsimply want to express a moral principle. The intent is toconvince the man himself to disapprove of stealing. If theman does notend up disapproving of stealing, the personwho spoke to him about stealing would feel that he or shehad failed.5. One person’s statement of which behavior is goodinfluences the approval of another person, who thenmakes the same ethical judgment. That, in turn, influencesanother person, until, through a process of mutualinfluence, people take on the same attitudes.6. The “emotive meaning” of ethical terms is a tendencyfor the terms to produce affective responses in people.

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7Chapter 2:Religion and Global EthicsFreedom, Cosmopolitanism and the EuropeanEnlightenmentReligion, Civic Life and Civil DisobedienceEthics, Religion and Divine Command TheoryPluralism and the Golden RuleThe Problem of Evil and Free WillSecular Ethics and TolerationCriticisms of Secularism and Global EthicsReadingPlato,EuthyphroGandhi,Religion and TruthIgnatieff,Reimagining a Global EthicKey TermsSecular EthicsDivineCommandTheoryTheodiciesCosmopolitanismReligiousPluralismSecularizationThe EnlightenmentValue PluralismParadox ofToleration

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8Civil DisobedienceGolden RuleFundamentalismEurocentricismGetting StartedYou might begin bydiscussing how the diversity apparent inour increasingly integrated world both improves relationshipsand creates strife. The U.N.’s Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights aims for global agreement about basic rights,but there are outstanding disagreements about the nature ofthose rights, such as the roles of women and expression ofirreligious beliefs. Ask students for examples from the newsabout the clash of freedom of expression and religiousconvictions. They should start to grapple with the issue ofhow ethics intersects with religion, and especially withreligious fundamentalism.Answers to the Review Exercises in the Text1.According to the U.N.’s Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights, the nations of the world are supposedto share basic moral principles, despite our vastcultural, religious, and political differences. TheDeclaration upholds the inherent dignity of humanbeings and equal rights of men and women. This oftenclashes with the religious convictions of many people,who believe that free speech is contraindicated,especially in regard to religious criticism.2.Much of the terminology about freedom of religionand morality is rooted in Western thinking. We tend totell a Eurocentric or Western-focused story about thedevelopment of tolerance, liberty and individualrights. To people who identify with non-Western

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9religions and cultures, this approach reflects apredominantly Christian and European worldview.3.As imagined by Ignatieff, a global ethic would reachout to common ground where it exists, while agreeingto disagree about the claim that ethical conduct mustbe derived from a spiritual or religious duty. Theglobal ethic would be based on reasoning andjustification of ethical ideas and behavior.4.One defense of the Divine Command Theory of Ethicsis that if there were no God, then there would be nomorality. Without God as a source for morality, therewould be no eternal, absolute or objective basis formorality. Additionally, without a divine judge whogives out punishments and rewards in the afterlife,there would be no motivation to be ethical.An argument against this theory is religious diversity.Given the broad array of religious beliefs throughoutthe world, and even the diversity of beliefs within eachreligion, it is difficult to determine which truly reflectsthe divine command.It is inaccurate to say that if there were no God, theneverything would be permitted.A number of ethicaltheories provide reasons and justifications for ethicalprinciple without reference to God.5.The advantage of a religious approach to ethics is thatit describes the “highest good,” and leads people tostrive for highly ethical behavior. The advantage ofthe secular approach is that it provides an“overlapping consensus” among people who disagreeabout religion. It provides a system of values and fair

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10rules that can be agree upon by people of differentreligious traditions.The secular approach can be compatible with religion,as its principles recognize basic ideas about humanrights that transcend religious boundaries.6.Socrates asks whether things are goodbecause they are approved by the gods or whetherthe gods approve of them because they are good.To say that actions are good just because they arewilled or approved by the gods or God seems tomake morality arbitrary.Socrates believes thatGod or the gods condemn or disapprove of certain beliefs andactions because they are inherently bad. Therefore, we shouldalso condemn such actions.7.There is a goal of moving toward a cosmopolitan andpluralist point of view that would incorporate the insights ofthe world’s great moral and religious traditions. Whether thegoal can be attained is an open question. Consider ongoingracial and religious tensions across the world.8. Consider similarities and differences among the world’sreligions. Are religious moderates and religiousfundamentalists of different faiths similar in their thinking?Questionsfor Further Thought1.Kant thought that history would develop in acosmopolitan direction. Do you think he was correct? Giventhe cultural and religious differences across the world, do youthink his vision is possible?

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112.Religion is at the center of many applied ethical topics.Give two recent examples from current events. How didreligious ethics play a part in these events?3.For religious believers who think that Godrequires absolute obedience to his commandments,a secular ethic that does notexplicitly embrace God as the source of morality willappear to be morally suspect and blasphemous.Do you thinkthis strain of thought can be compatible with a global moralethic?4. Do you believe that there are limits to toleration? Should wetolerate those who are intolerant of the very idea oftoleration?Answers to the Study Questions Preceding the Reading byPlato1.Piety is “that which is dear to the gods,” or that whichis favored by the gods or approved by them.2.Yes, even the gods disagree about what is just andunjust.This poses a problem for Euthyphro’s firstdefinition of piety because what will be agreeable to onegod will be disagreeable to another.Thus some actioncould be both pious and impious at the same timeaccording to Euthyphro’s definition.3.Euthyphro amends his definition of piety to what allthe gods approve of.4.He asks “whether the pious or holy is beloved by thegods because it is holy, or holy because it is beloved ofthe gods.”

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125.This shows that being pious comes first.Something isfirst pious or holy and because of this it is loved by thegods.6.Being loved is an attribute of holiness, not its essence.What is needed is to give the essence of holiness.This isyet to be done and is a continuing question throughout thePlatonic dialogues.Answers to the Study Questions Preceding the ReadingbyGandhi1.Gandhi describes the permanent element in human naturethat yearns to know its Maker and appreciate the truecorrespondence between the Maker and itself.2.Gandhi believes in the goodness of God, as proven by thefact that even in the midst of death, life persists, and evenin the midst of untruth, truth persists, and even in themidst of darkness, light persists. His argument isdebatable.3.God is truth and fearlessness, so in order to know God,one must be willing to identify with and face every creature.Therefore, religious people should not avoid any field of life.4.Ahisma is necessary because God cannot be realized byone who is not pure of heart.5.Many people of faith would agree with Gandhi’scontention, but others would disagree, saying thatvariousreligions are radically different from one another.6.Gandhi believes that God has created all the differentfaiths and their religious leaders.

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137. Gandhi states that belief in God is the cornerstone of allreligions.Answers to the Study Questions Preceding the ReadingbyIgnatieff1. Global ethical discussions used to be based on the ideas ofa Western, university-educated elite. Now, we no longerexclude others, but we face the challenge of conducting aglobal discussion on the premise of equal inclusion.2. Since philosophers have been using the idea of naturallaw, they have employed the idea of universal laws tocriticize ethical partiality that is rooted in attachments toclass, identity, nation or religion.3. To deal with the conflict between religious traditions, weshould reach out to common ground where it exists, whileagreeing to disagree about the claim that ethical conduct mustbe derived from religion.4. Often, nations do not believe that the universal ethic shouldnot trump their local interests.Examples of concrete problems that arise are the questionabout whether to assist other people in other countries, andwhether to permit female genital cutting.5. Ignatieff believes that as defenders of the particular claimsof nations and religions encounter one another in the globalarena, the fact of adversarial justification with becomeunavoidable. We will discard the idea that any one valueturmps another, and we will need to justify our valuesthrough persuasion with reason. The particular values of eachnation, and the global values, will all have to justifythemselves.

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15Chapter3:Ethical RelativismDescriptive vs. Normative Ethical RelativismIndividual vs. Cultural RelativismStrong and WeakRelativismReasons Supporting Cultural RelativismThe Diversity of Moral ViewsTolerance and Open-MindednessMoral UncertaintySituational DifferencesAre These Reasons Convincing?The Diversity of Moral ViewsTolerance and Open-MindednessMoral UncertaintySituational DifferencesIs Relativism Self-Contradictory?Moral RealismMoral PluralismReadingLouis Pojman,Who’s To Judge?Richard Rorty,Moral RelativismKey TermsRelativismIndividualMoralPluralism

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16relativismDescriptiverelativismCultural relativismNormativerelativismPerspectivismMetaethicalrelativismMoral realismGetting StartedYou might begin by asking whether people from variouscultures do have different moral beliefs and practices.Forexample, do they have different sexual mores? Have thestudents name some if they can.Do they have different viewsabout the place of women in society?Do they have differentpractices and beliefs regarding human rights?Then you canask the students whether they would agree that these differentviews and practices are all equally valid or good.If they saythat they are valid for their culture, you can bring up somecultural belief that they would generally condemn, sayslavery.Ask how they can judge this as inhumane or wrongand not judge certain treatment of women as unjust.Thisshould be more than enough to get the topic going.Answers to the Review Exercises in the Text1.To say that ethical values or beliefs are relative toindividuals that hold them means that they are just thevalues and beliefs that these individuals do in fact hold,and to say that they are relative to various societies means

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