I am teaching intro to clinical ethics to about 30 pre-med, nursing, and other health science majors. Of course, I began the semester with a broad look at ethical theory and Metaethics, or the nature of morality. I am always surprised by the discussions that accompany this material.
When asked "what shapes our ethics/morals/", students usually give 3 possible answers:
- Religion
- Culture
- Intuitions/feelings
The problem with answer 1 is simple: what about the atheists/non-religious/secularists of the world? Many of them seem to have *roughly* the same morals as everyone else--how does that work?
The problem with 3 is also simple: if morality is ultimately subjective, then every person is infallible with regards to moral judgments, which is absurd. Furthermore, we generally agree that some actions just have to be wrong/right, regardless of how one feels about them.
Similarly, answering "culture" is problematic for the same reasons answering "intuition/feeling" is (just on a different scale). Or just think about the morality of certain cultures, like Nazi Germany or the Slave-owning Southern US, and it is clear why culture cannot be the ultimate source of morality.
Then where does that leave us?
I think Aristotle says it best: "For all things that have a function or activity, the good and the well is thought to reside in the function" (Nicomachean Ethics. BK 1. ch. 7). The argument goes like this:
- In order to know what is "good" for some thing,
- one must first identify what the function, or purpose of the thing is.
- Then, we can distinguish between:
- a thing that does not function as it should,
- a thing that functions adequately,
- and a thing that functions well.
- Likewise, once the human function is uncovered, then we can know how to live well.
The idea is so simple, yet incredibly insightful. In order to establish an objective source of morality, we first have to contemplate what it means to be a human being. Once the essence of being a human being is uncovered, then activities, actions, pursuits, etc. that facilitate the performance of the human function are intrinsically good. These actions that help us live well are called virtues. Furthermore, the source of morality (understood as that which formally causes actions to be "good" or "bad" with respect to other actions) is, in a sense, human nature since actions are good or bad given the kind of being we are.
Much more on this to come.
Chris
