Peter Vardy - The Puzzle of Ethics

Copyright

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First published in Great Britain in 1994 by Fount Paperbacks

This revised edition 1999

© 1994, 1999 Peter Vardy and Paul Grosch

Peter Vardy and Paul Grosch assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Source ISBN: 9780006281443

Ebook Edition © MARCH 2016 ISBN: 9780007384051

Version: 2016-03-15

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Praise for the first edition of The Puzzle of Ethics

‘A wonderfully clear introduction to moral philosophy and to various topics of contemporary ethical concern … This is a book for which many students and the general reader … will be grateful.’

David Atkinson

‘The great advantage of The Puzzle of Ethics over its rivals is that the authors are so thorough, so balanced and so clear. This is a good book.’

Robin Gill, The Tablet

‘The philosopher of religion and gifted communicator Peter Vardy … and Paul Grosch … provide an accessible, balanced and up to date introduction to moral philosophy.’

The Way

‘This book will fill an irritating gap in the current literature available and provide a valuable resource … Vardy and Grosch are serious commentators who have something to say to the general reader; as with all the Puzzle books, accessibility and clarity are the benchmarks of style.’

Peter Tyler, The Month

Dedication

To

Lindsay Grosch and Christian Vardy

– Again!

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Praise

Dedication

Acknowledgements

PART ONE: THEORETICAL ETHICS

1 Setting the Scene

2 Plato – Virtue and Knowledge

3 Aristotle and Virtue Theory

4 Aquinas, Natural Law and Proportionalism

5 Kant and the Moral Law

6 Bentham and Mill – Utilitarianism

7 Post-utilitarian Perspectives:

Intuitionism

Emotivism

8 MacIntyre – Virtue Theory Revisited

9 Virtue Ethics

10 Situation Ethics

11 Justice and Morality – Rawls and Nozick

PART TWO: APPLIED ETHICS

12 Abortion and Personhood

13 Euthanasia and Medical Ethics

14 Just War

15 Crime and Punishment

16 Human Rights

17 Animal Rights

18 Environmental Ethics

19 Genetic Engineering

20 Media Ethics

21 Conclusion

Further Reading

Index

About the Author

About the Publisher

Acknowledgements

Both authors owe a great debt to their students past and present. Responsibility for the errors and omissions in this book rests entirely with the authors, however there would have been more of them were it not for the help of those who read individual chapters and offered their advice. Peter Vardy wishes to acknowledge help given by Michael Barnes SJ, Alan Carter, Bernard Hoose, Gerry Hughes SJ, Janice Thomas and Anne Vardy. Paul Grosch wishes to thank Adrian Mills and Alan Gorman for the many discussions on the nature of justice. He has also benefited from discussions with his colleagues: Dilys Wadman, Liz Stuart, Rachael Quinlan, Adrian Thatcher, Jim Little, Jon Goulding, Gordon Bartlett and Alan Cousins. He wishes to record his special thanks to Anne Littlejohn and David Benzie for their help in taming recalcitrant word-processors when time was fast running out.

PART 1

THEORETICAL ETHICS

ONE

Setting the Scene

Ethics is central to modern life. Lawyers, accountants, doctors, nurses, the police, members of the armed forces, social workers and many others are required to study ethical issues as part of their training. Before any ethical issue can be examined, however, it is first necessary to be clear on the underlying assumptions which govern the debate and, in particular, to understand the different ethical frameworks that can be applied. Unless one is clear on the assumptions, it will not be possible to understand the viewpoints of others or challenge one’s own.

Discussion of, for instance, abortion, euthanasia or sexual morality cannot usefully take place unless there has first been an examination of key issues which will include:

When does human life begin?

What is a human person?

Is life an absolute good?

Should governments seek to maximise freedom?

Is achieving the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people the main aim of politics?

Do you support a deontological or a consequentialist approach to ethics?

Can a proportionate reason ever justify going against a firm moral rule?

This book is divided into two parts. The first looks at the issues in theoretical ethics underlying the debates; then, in the second part, issues in applied ethics are dealt with. The aim of this book is to present the issues clearly so that you, the reader, can make your own decisions. There is no attempt to impose a particular agenda nor to persuade you to make the ‘right’ answer. Indeed, the whole idea of there being single ‘right’ answers in ethics has come under increasing attack. Some support a radical relativism in which each person’s view is as good as the next – but this carries its own problems. If this position is seriously held, then how does one condemn the behaviour of Pol Pot’s regime in Cambodia, those who took part in ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, or those who carried out the massacres in Rwanda?

The terms ‘ethics’ and ‘morality’ have come to be treated as almost identical in meaning, but they have different derivations. ‘Ethics’ comes from the Greek word ethikos which relates to ‘ethos’ or character. It is sometimes translated ‘custom’ or ‘usage’ so it refers to the customary way to behave in society. Ethical behaviour, therefore, is behaviour that is in accordance with a virtuous character. Aristotle uses the word in this way, maintaining that virtue is happiness, and that the pursuit of virtue is the highest and noblest aim for a human being. In his book The Nicomachean Ethics , Aristotle maintains that a human being’s highest happiness comes from philosophic speculation but that this must be combined with a life of prudence and a search for virtue. Becoming virtuous involves the individual establishing a habit of virtuous behaviour and this is directly related to a virtuous character.

‘Morality’ comes from the Latin word moralis – particularly as used in Cicero’s commentaries on and translations of Aristotle. Morality is more concerned with which actions are right or wrong rather than with the character of the person who performs these actions. Today the two terms, ethics and morality, are often interchanged with particular philosophers wishing to emphasise one or another aspect.