Ethics in Social Science
Question 1
Act Utilitarianism theory refers to the theory of utility that states the ways in which in a person acts morally right if the situation produces best possible results. This theory of ethics is based on the principle of utility which is summed up by the phrase that is, ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest number’. According to the act utilitarian theory, actions of a person becomes morally right only when the situation and the actions produces greatest benefit to people at large scale. Further, understanding the theory with the help of an example, for instance, a person is working in an organization at a reputable position (Westermarck 2017). He being at the manager post has to take some decisions that might affect the job of his subordinates. So, he went beyond his job roles and initiated an action that kept the interest of all the employees aligned in the business. So, in the given case, productive result of the decision certainly regarded the decision good and if the benefits would have turned into losses then the activity of the manager would be regarded as an unethical act. Significant strength of this theory is that the actions are based on the future positive outcomes delivered to the society and the loss is that the actions initiated with positive approach are also looked as wrong if it does not give positive results (Mill 2016).
Question 2
The Divine Command Theory of non-consequentialist theory states that the status of an action is morally as good as the command of god. This theory asserts that god determines the moral aspects present in the society and an individual has to follow such commands in order to be morally ethical in the environment. There are many theories present in the environment that opposes the theory of divine command. However, taking an example to understand the theory, it can be said that ‘charity’ is the biggest example of divide command theory as it is believed that god endorse all the charity that are provided by people in the environment and murder on the other hand murder is wrong because god condemns it. The consequence of any action is right or wrong is understood on the basis of god’s will according to this theory. The key strength of this theory is that with the help of this approach people can reduce the extent of doing unethical actions in the environment. God is diverse and omnipresent so people can get scared of doing wrong actions because of the teachings of god. However, weakness of this theory is that an atheist will not believe in this theory(Al-Attar 2015).
Question 3
The Confucianism theory of virtue ethics talks about the ethical roles of members present in a family. According to this theory, it is the role of the members present in a family to take care of each other, try to make them happy with their actions and feel grief in chances of their death. A person has to be filial and not just act like a filial piety. Relating it to the example of a filial son, he should reverse the actions that his parents did for his growth. He should take care of his parents when they are sick, try to make them happy on a daily basis and show great sorrow over their death (Stephens 2018). Strength of this theory is that it creates a good family bond and makes people love each other. On the other hand, weakness of this theory is that it eliminates the role of individuality of a person as it theory is based on creating and maintaining relationships. The strength of this theory is that it bind the people firstly into family and then into communities as well. But people believe that this type of theories stagnate their growth in the external environment (Wang, Keil, Oh, and Shen 2017).
Question 4
Ethical absolutism refers to the moral command that is true at all times. This theory states that people, things, feelings etc. everything is true in all cultures and situations. Although in this type of view some of the actions as if murder, robbery etc. are looked as wrong, irrespective of the outcomes and the consequences. On the other hand moral relativism refers to moral values as relative to different societies and contexts. So, in this case if an action is right, it can be dependent on its culture etc. (Armstrong 2017). It can be clearly seen that both the theories have their diverse opinion on an actions and those opinions are entirely different from each other. So, it can be said that there is no possible way with the help of which one can overcome the challenges present in both the theories and still attain almost absolute. However, relating it to an example, it should be noted that chances where the action implemented is right irrespective of any event, opinion or chance, and then it is called absolutism. Adding on, it is part of relativism as well because a human conducts the action and every person initiated actions on the basis of their personality and culture only. So, it can be said that correctness of an event is important to attain almost absolutes (Williams 2017).
Question 5
First thing to understand that people can never make their moral choices freely as it is always dependent on their behaviour, past instances or any other aspect. Relation it to the psychological theory of determinism, it should be noted that this type talks about the personality and impact that an instance leave on people after its occurrence. Determinism in psychology goes beyond causality and science as well. So, it can be clearly understood that the moral choices that an individual make in their regular day to day life are determined by their own experiences and psychological perspectives as well. Relating it to an example, when a person goes in a restaurant, they have many choices to order but they still order the same old dish because to some determinist it is inevitable. Similarly, every choice that a person makes is determined by their psychological determinisms. This somehow binds their choices due to which they are unable to make free choice (Broad 2014). The unconscious mind obstructs the people to make the same choices again. So, people should not try to restrict their choice on the basis of their psychological thinking but they should be more open to different choices.
References
Al-Attar, M., 2015. The ethics and metaphysics of divine command theory. The Routledge companion to Islamic philosophy. New York: Routledge.
Armstrong, P.B., 2017. Conflicting readings: Variety and validity in interpretation. UNC Press Books.
Broad, C.D., 2014. Five types of ethical theory. UK: Routledge.
Mill, J.S., 2016. Utilitarianism. In Seven Masterpieces of Philosophy (pp. 337-383). UK: Routledge.
Stephens, D.J., 2018. Confucian Ethics and The Practical Value of Roles. Philosophy East and West, 68(3), pp.909-928.
Wang, J., Keil, M., Oh, L.B. and Shen, Y., 2017. Impacts of organizational commitment, interpersonal closeness, and Confucian ethics on willingness to report bad news in software projects. Journal of Systems and Software, 125, pp.220-233.
Westermarck, E., 2017. Ethical relativity. UK: Routledge.
Williams, N.W., 2017. Absolutism, Relativism and Anarchy: Alain Locke and William James on Value Pluralism. Transaction of the Charles S. Peirce Society, 53(3), pp.400-424.
