Unit 2 – Area of Study 1: Ethics and moral philosophy

Outcome 1:

Analyse problems in ethics and moral theory and related contemporary debates, and evaluate viewpoints and arguments in response to these problems, and discuss the interplay between philosophical thinking and contemporary ethical and moral debates.

Examples of learning activities

• Individually, in pairs, or as a class, construct a glossary of definitions for key terms and concepts associated with ethics and morality. For example: good, bad, evil, charity, justice, ethics and so on, and gradually refine over the unit, identifying contestabilities with these definitions.
• Write a journal that reflects on the key ideas, terms and questions of ethics and moral philosophy.
• Identify and discuss the moral questions raised by a viewpoint or an argument presented in a philosophical text.
• Examine one or more current issues in the print and/or visual media and identify, debate and evaluate the values and ethical dimension/s demonstrated by the viewpoints, arguments and responses.
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  Use a continuum (line) debate to compare responses to moral positions such as ‘Animals should have the same rights as humans’.
• Look at a series of images, such as; a chat bot, car, Venus fly trap, dog and crowd of people; then answer the questions: Are they all capable of being moral or immoral? Does it matter?
• Construct a web page that presents the viewpoints of several different philosophers in response to a question associated with an ethical problem. For example, how do different philosophers grapple with the relationship between reason, desire and action?
• Research and discuss what overlaps there might be between moral psychology and moral philosophy and what is distinctive.
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  Write a short-answer response to an issue associated with ‘akrasia’ or weakness of will raised by a philosopher such as Aristotle or Plato. Link it to a contemporary debate or issue and demonstrate how Aristotle or Plato’s philosophy can assist us to understand the moral dimensions of the situation.
• Discuss whether the commonality of the ‘Golden Rule’ suggests that it is an objective ethical principle.
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  Use a moral dilemma in the form of a thought experiment to explore questions and issues associated with an ethical problem.
• Research and identify whether animals exhibit moral behaviour. List examples of common moral behaviours that exist between humans and other animals (for example, food sharing, care of offspring, warning of danger and so on). Consider whether the study of animals can shed light on human ethical action and moral motivation. A stimulus for this could be a visit to a zoo or wildlife sanctuary for observation and interviewing zoo keepers.
• Consider an ethical dilemma or ethical situation such as giving to charity. Construct arguments for and against actions in response to this dilemma or situation. Alternatively, explore the moral motivations underpinning a moral action. Use and contrast the views of primary text philosophers.
• Undertake a research task and present a summary of the ethical beliefs and precepts of different schools of thought on normative ethics.
• Write a dialogue comparing the views of an altruist and an egoist on ethical decision making. Then, reflect on the role that altruism or egoism may play in morality, if any. The following may be useful: Melvyn Bragg on 'Altruism' (BBC podcast), ‘Altruism’ (Philosophy Talk podcast), and YouTube videos; ‘What is Egoism?’ (by Carneades.org) or Ayn Rand – ‘Objectivism versus Altruism’.
• Write an essay comparing the viewpoints of two thinkers on the nature of good and evil.
• Consider examples of altruism. Write a written reflection on the topic ‘Does morality involve altruism?’ For comparison, consider egoism as an explanation of moral psychology.
• Participate in a ‘hypothetical’ ethical dilemma; for example, The Experience Machine. Modify the roles or situations considered after each discussion and discuss why the responses offered might be similar or different.
• Examine the role of pleasure in moral thinking. Pleasure or the role of pleasure in a moral life can be explored either through dialogue or a research task. For example, consider Bentham’s hedonistic utilitarianism compared to the writings of Epicurus.
• Write a survey which seeks to examine commonly held moral views.
• List the five most important elements for what constitutes the good life. With a partner, compare and create one list with the top six things agreed on. Then, as a class, create a list of the seven most important things that constitute a good life. Consider how ethical theories can illuminate the appropriate actions or motivations which could help us achieve these ends.
• Write a written reflection on the role of reason in moral decision making. Extend this further by thinking about the role of character in moral decision making. Stimulus material could include accounts given by bravery medal winners and workplace whistleblowers.
• Draw a concept map that compares the various strands of Utilitarianism (such as positive, negative, preference, act, rule, ideal and hedonistic). Draw links between the theories to explain how each variation seeks to address the issues of others.
• Draw a comic exploring how a deontologist and a utilitarian might solve an ethical issue. The Evil Twin Comics comic series ‘Action Philosophers’ could be used as stimulus.
• Design a webpage that includes a step-by-step process for ethical decision making. What would be the benefits of such a page? What are the disadvantages? Can ethical decisions be simply charted like this? This can be easily linked to the debate over programming driverless cars. A good introduction to this issue is Larry Greenemeier’s article in Scientific American (‘Driverless cars will face ethical dilemmas’).
• Research and present a multimedia presentation on a contemporary ethical debate.
• Write an essay exploring whether moral progress is possible and what this means for the nature of ethical judgements and morality itself.
• Using a set of pre-prepared cards, order an action on each card from morally praiseworthy to morally objectionable. Discuss how conclusions were reached on which acts are better/worse than others and identify the assumptions made.

 

Detailed example 1

Continuum debate

Students respond to statements about moral problems by placing themselves in a position on a physical ‘line’ in the classroom marked at either end with the words ‘strongly agree’ and ‘strongly disagree’. Statements draw on current issues and examples include: ‘All children should go to school’, ‘Families have no role in moral decisions’, ‘Animals have no rights like human beings’. Students are asked to discuss and justify their position on the continuum. Their arguments and justifications, as well as any ambiguities that arise from these arguments, can be recorded and presented in a response to the exercise. In a bigger class, a teacher might divide the class into half. The first half can respond to the first set of questions while the second half records the responses and reasons. The groups should swap to ensure full engagement in the activity.

Students can be offered an opportunity to change their position on the continuum and they are asked to explain and give reasons why they changed position. If two groups are used, teachers may also like to raise the same question twice to see if there is a clear difference between the groups. Students can reflect on the difference.

Extension:

Students construct argument maps or standard form representations of their reasoning from the activity.

 

Detailed example 2

Akrasia, pleasure, the good and the bad

Context:

Ancient Greek philosophers were particularly concerned with explaining a state of mind in which someone acts against their better judgement, especially because of a lack of self-discipline or control or a weakness of will.

Activity:

Students read either Plato’s Protagoras, 351a–358d or Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1–10, or both. Once students have fully comprehended these extracts, they consider the following question: ‘Is akrasia evidence that knowledge of good and bad can be overruled by pleasure?’

Provide students with one or more contemporary moral debates that might involve consideration of akrasia. For example, ‘only people with involuntary medical conditions should have access to government subsidised medical assistance’.

Students write a dialogue in response to the contemporary moral debate and even perform it as a role-play, demonstrating their understanding of the meaning of akrasia and the difficulties it may pose in trying to lead a moral life.

 

Detailed example 3

The Experience Machine

(adapted from Robert Nozick, “The Experience Machine”)

Context:

Students should be provided with the following thought experiment attributed to Robert Nozick:

Suppose there was an experience machine that could give you any experience you desired. Super-duper neuropsychologists could stimulate your brain so that you would think and feel you were writing a great novel, or making a friend, or reading an interesting book. All the time you would be floating in a tank, with electrodes attached to your brain. Should you plug into this machine for life, pre-programming your life experiences? [...] Of course, while in the tank you won't know that you're there; you'll think that it's all actually happening [...] Would you plug in?

Activity:

Ask students to discuss the following and at appropriate stages focus on why responses might change as the scenario changes, or stay the same:

1. Would you plug in? What would you simulate?
2. Would you continue to exist if you plugged in?
3. Imagine a new model of the machine that could make you into any being you wanted to be. Would you use it?
4. Imagine a further addition to the machine that means it could produce any result/outcome you wanted. Would you use it?
5. The thought experiment was designed to show that a life of only pleasure is not a good life, and a rejection of utilitarianism. Nozick argued that there are things that are more important to us than the experience of pleasure or experiences in general; namely, how we achieve our goals and the actual reality of an experience. Thus, he argued, no one would really want to plug in to any machine. Ask students if they agree and to explain their reasoning.

Extension:

Students consider a practical implication of this thought experiment such as for electronic game design.