What makes an action ethical?

[stumpjumper]

Is an action, deed, or disposition ethical because of the consequence or the action itself?

If it is the action itself, are certain actions inherently unethical?

Or, do you feel there is another path such as the emphasis of character and the type of person we ought to be as we find in virtue ethics rather than an emphasis on rules governing actions or action's consequences?

 

[quatona]

Good question. I have never seen it consistently answered.
Another potential criterium, btw., would be "intent".

I personally prefer to think in terms of "desirable vs. undesirable effects" when it comes to different options in acting.

 

[Eudaimonist]

Or, do you feel there is another path such as the emphasis of character and the type of person we ought to be as we find in virtue ethics rather than an emphasis on rules governing actions or action's consequences?

It should be no surprise that I favor the agent-focus of virtue ethics.

I take a two tiered approach to this issue. We may identify which dispositions are "good" (worthy of instilling into oneself) by an examination of the sort of consequence, both "external" and "internal", they are likely (but not necessarily guaranteed) to produce. At this point, we deal with the issue abstractly and philosophically. This is all prior to practice.

In the practice of ethics, we instill ethical dispositions (virtues) into ourselves, and tend to rely on them to guide us in making (often very quick, with little time to think) decisions. Even if we don't make the "optimal" decision, which perhaps we would make if we had unlimited time to ponder the issue philosophically and gather all the relevant facts, we should still be counted as "good" in acting on our character. This is simply due to limitations on our human nature. If we were computers (or "mentats" from DUNE), perhaps we could handle ethics differently.

To recap, at the philosophical level, a certain degree of consequentialism is primary. At the practice level, a certain degree of pseudo-deontologism (noting that someone is practicing a virtue) is primary. And from the grand perspective, ethics is agent-focused rather than action-focused or rule-focused.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Madcoil]

Ethics is a way to spank grownups and get away with it.