Download Philosophical Ethics: Understanding the Foundation of Moral Principles and more Study notes Introduction to Philosophy in PDF only on Docsity! CSUS Philosophy 2: Philosophical Ethics Epperson Lecture 1 Notes 1. Inductively vs. deductively reasoned ethics. 2. First principles underlying both theological and philosophical ethics a. in philosophical ethics, these often begin with logically necessary truths b. in theological ethics, these begin with revealed truths c. conflicting ethical arguments often derive from different sets of incompatible philosophical or theological first principles, and these are often manifest in incompatible premises. eg: People are inherently evil; therefore freedoms should be restrained by authority so that evil works can be avoided. vs. People are inherently good; therefore freedoms should be protected so that good works can be done without impediment. 3. Philosophical first principles are typically either induced from experience (the empirico- inductive method) or posited hypothetically with all other conclusions deduced from these hypothetically posited first principles (the hypothetico-deductive method). eg: Euclidian geometry which argues from ten assumptions: 5 ‘common notions’ (such as ‘things which are equal to the same thing are also equal to one another’; and 5 geometric postulates (such as ‘it is possible to draw a straight line from any point to any point.) Together, these common notions and postulates represent the axioms of Euclid's geometry. An axiom is a logical principle which is assumed to be true rather than proven, and which can be used as a premise in a deductive argument. Euclid's set of axioms, or axiomatic system, represents a collection of "first principles" from which other principles can be produced using deductive reasoning. Of course, any deductive arguments are only sound if Euclid's common notions and postulates really are true. a. Problem is: Relating the order of necessary, immutable, unchanging logical implication to the order of contingent, changing, causal relation—i.e., the order of ‘real things’ in the ‘real world’ which constantly changes. eg: 1 + 1 = 2 vs. I smoke a cigarette, therefore I will get cancer This is still a philosophical problem today, and this separation was first suggested in pre-Socratic Hellenistic philosophy, and most thoroughly given in Plato. 2 b. Many systems of philosophical ethics entail both induction and deduction (utilitarianism; pragmatism). Every current approach has its roots in Hellenistic philosophy: 4. The Pre-Socratic Philosophers (good examples of hypothetico-deductive reasoning): a. Milesian School: (7th-6th Centuries bce) First thinkers to attempt to explain the relationship between change and permanence in nature; explanations in terms of conflict of opposites. (Good example of the hypothetico-deductive method). Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes. b. Pythagorean School (6th-5th Centuries bce). Unlike the Milesian thinkers whose first principles are rooted in conflict of opposites, for the Pythagoreans, all is harmonious. Harmony of music = harmony of universe. All things are numbers in purity. The Pythagoreans regarded numbers spatially: 1 = point, 2 = line, 3 = plane, 4 = solid. All bodies consist of points in space which together constitute number. Objects are sums of points; numbers are sums of points; therefore, objects are numbers. c. Heracleitus of Ephesus (540 – 480 bce): ‘All things are in a state of flux.’ This is not the kernel of his philosophy, but it is a central idea. By saying that all things change, he is not saying that there is no reality, however. This is not the most important feature of his philosophy, though, since it is not novel (we saw it in other Ionian philosophers). The fundamental substance for Heraclitus is fire. Interesting note: Buddha (Sidhartha Gautama) lived from 560-479 and espoused similar first principles. d. Eleatic School: Parmenides = the likely founder of this school. Had a dialogue with Socrates in 451-449. . Believed that Being, the One, is and that change or Becoming is an illusion. For if anything comes to be, it comes either out of being or non-being; if the former, then it already is; if the latter, then it is nothing, since only nothing can come from nothing. Plurality is then also an illusion. Rejects Pythagorean school because it embraces the concept of change. Introduces a duality of Truth vs. Appearance; or Reason vs. Sense. Makes explicit this distinction between Truth and Appearance, only implicit in other philosophies (Heraclitus, etc). The Eleatic School is one which espouses monistic materialism. Only reason—not sense—can apprehend the material and unchanging One. Despite this, he is often
