Introduction to Ethics Dr. Piering Philosophy 105 Summer 2016
Paper #2
Please choose one of the three topics below to explore in a 3-4 page paper. The paper should be typed, using 12-point font, 1 inch margins, and double spaced. Do cite all quotes, but if you are using the texts listed on the syllabus, there is no need for a bibliography. Your paper is to be turned in through Safe Assign in Blackboard Learn (you will find the link under the content area labeled "Written Assignments") by 9:15 am on Friday, May 27th.
I. Mill advocates a utilitarian framework for ethics wherein an activity is ethical if it maximizes utility. Thoroughly explain Mill's principle of utilitarianism and what it entails. From the perspective of morality, what do we look at to determine whether an action is good and why? How does Mill account for justice as a moral requirement that is "higher in obligation" than others (p. 63)? Do you think that there are any potential problems with utilitarianism? What might these be and how might they be resolved? What, in the end, is your assessment of utilitarianism?
II. Kant and Mill disagree with each other regarding the foundation of morality. Comment on this debate by first saying what is of moral significance for both Kant and Mill. How do they arrive at their conclusions? Further, for Mill it would be difficult if not impossible for us to know the motives of another, and even if we could, then we would likely find those motives to be mixed and complex. Explain this position and respond to it from a Kantian perspective. Given these two positions, say which you find more compelling and why.
III. Kant explains an ultimate moral principle that he calls the categorical imperative. Please explain what the categorical imperative is. What does it mean that it is ‘categorical' and why is it imperative (it will be important to here distinguish it from hypothetical imperatives)? Next, give Kant's two main formulations of it. What do these two have in common? Explain how both freedom and reason work together in Kant's notion of the categorical imperative. Finally, what do you make of this moral position?