Computers, Information Technology, the Internet, Ethics, Society and Human Values Philip Pecorino, Ph.D. Queensborough Community College, CUNY Chapter 3 Ethics Pragmatism and Virtue Theory |
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Pragmatism
Pragmatic Ethics by Hugh LaFollette READ: http://www.stpt.usf.edu/hhl/papers/pragmati.htm For pragmatists the matter of ethics is approached practically.
Our practices are our habits. In pragmatic ethics there is the
Primacy of Habits, which empower and restrict.
They explore the Social nature of habits and the relation of habit
to will. For them Morality Is a Habit and being fallibilists,
pragmatists know that no habits are flawless.
They also hold that Morality is social and that Changing habits for
moral reasons is necessary. Features of pragmatic ethics Employs criteria, but is not criterial Gleaning insights from other ethical theories Relative without being relativistic Tolerant without being irresolute Theory and Practice “Embracing a Pragmatist Ethic A pragmatic ethic is not based on principles, but it is not
unprincipled. Deliberation plays a significant role, albeit a different
role than that given it on most accounts. Morality does not seek final
absolute answers, yet it is not perniciously relativistic. It does
recognize that circumstances can be different, and that in different
circumstances, different actions may be appropriate. So it does not demand
moral uniformity between people and across cultures. Moreover, it
understands moral advance as emerging from the crucible of experience, not
through the proclamations of something or someone outside us. Just as
ideas only prove their superiority in dialogue and in conflict with other
ideas, moral insight can likewise prove its superiority in dialogue and
conflict with other ideas and experiences. Hence, some range of moral
disagreement and some amount of different action will be not be, for the
pragmatist, something to bemoan. It will be integral to moral advancement,
and thus should be permitted and even praised, not lamented. Only someone
who thought theory could provide final answers, and answers without the
messy task of doing battle on the marketplace of ideas and of life, would
find this regrettable”
These are some of the theories
concerning the GOOD which hold for no single universal principle of the
GOOD. Instead they relate the
determination of such a principle to be an exercise in POWER or self
service which is put under a disguise of being a rational exercise of an
unbiased mind. What they have
in common is a relativism. The
need for societies to have a moral foundation are not being served well by
what are at their base appeals to power as the only basis for the
resolution of conflict. For
these theories, morality collapses into self serving exercises. What are we left with then? |
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Web Surfer's Caveat: These are class notes, intended to comment on readings and amplify class discussion. They should be read as such. They are not intended for publication or general distribution. ppecorino@qcc.cuny.edu @copyright 2006 Philip A. Pecorino Last updated 8-2006 Return to Table of Contents |
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