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The failure of morality

By Peter Bowden - posted Wednesday, 11 August 2021


The world is seeing multiple moral issues at the moment. The military coup in Myanmar, conflicts in Afghanistan, Yemen, Nagorno Karabakh and others. And it has also seen a multiplicity of conflicting opinions: abortion, the death penalty, the near worldwide refusal by some to vaccinate or lockdown against Covid 19, voluntary euthanasia, human induced global warming, our responses to refugees, designer babies, gay marriage, children from such marriages, collateral damage in warfare, along with Donald Trump's "election".

But the conflicts of this time are only the present-day versions of a timeless problem: the inability of the human race to reach a universal agreement of what is the moral, the ethical path to take. Why should that be so? The opinion of this writer is that a major contributor has been the failure, over the centuries, of moral philosophers to decide on what is ethical or moral behaviour, and then to support that theory in practice.

There have been seven components to this failure:

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(1) The multitude of moral theories – theories which provide different, even conflicting answers to moral concerns. There are possibly more than twenty moral theories. They often give contrasting answers. Immanuel Kant, for instance, promotes a categorical imperative: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it (your action) should become a universal law". Kant, in other words, gives an imprimatur to the multitude of false news that we see. Another reason for rejecting the multitude of theories is that they are all western in origin. As we shall see, the Asian philosophies give us a significant rethink on morality

(2) Uncertainty, even differences, on the role of philosophy, resulting in a failure to agree on what constitutes moral philosophy; There are many different responses to the question, what task or role is philosophy to accomplish? The Philosophy Foundation states: A definition of philosophy is notoriously difficult. "The theories are plentiful,the convolutions byzantine, the in-fighting bitter, the spilt ink copious, and the progress astoundingly unimpressive" (Richard Joyce, 2005, 2011 ).

Greg Pence describes as "internecine" the fight between deontologyand utilitarianism, Pence advocates another of the major theories, virtue ethics.

John Stuart Mill, one of the originators of the moral theory Utilitarianismstates, in the opening page of his book with this title, that the main problem in morality is "the little progress which has been made in the decision of the controversy respecting the criterion of right and wrong ."

(3)  The need for technical input into the decision-making process in the disciplines that constitute the structures of our societies - ethical issues in medicine, for instance, are very different to those facing a journalist, or a policeman on the beat. Or a tow truck operator. We need to accommodate those differences. Even the major moral theories, Utilitarianism, deontology, virtue, do not take into consideration the work environment for which an ethical decision is to be made.

(4) The use of argument in philosophyas a decision-making process. Just about every school of philosophy throughout the world will tout its advocacy of argument, despite the fact almost no other discipline uses argument as a method of reaching toward a conclusion. Adoption of this method of thinking in resolving moral guidelines is near incomprehensible.

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(5) Rejection of whistleblowing practices. One business ethics book, written by two teachers of philosophy, describes whistleblowing as "akin to the worst excesses of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia." Blowing the whistle or speaking out against wrongdoing is possibly the most powerful tool we have to bring about a more ethical society, so the rejection, or at best, qualified acceptance, of speaking out against wrongdoing by moral philosophers is not conducive to strengthening ethical behaviour.

(6) The near incomprehensible language of philosophyappears to be the requirement for any philosophy paper. Examples are provided in the abstracts of the papers at most philosophy conferences.

(7) Codes of Ethics are rarely taught in philosophy classesor covered in philosophy textbooks. Yet they are the method by which the professional and workplace associations across many disciplines manage their ethical issues. They are a necessary component of ensuring ethical behaviour in the occupations that make up our societies.

So what is the answer?

The answer is given to us in an overriding moral obligation set out for us over the centuries. The obligation was first documented by King Solomon but probably the wording most known to us is that of the Dalai Lama: "Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them". This basic moral obligation was set out by King Solomon about 1000 BC in the Book of Proverbs in Proverb 3.27and Proverb 3.29, repeated by Jesus Christ in the Parable of the Good Samaritanand to a large extent, in The Sermon on the Mount.

Marcus Tullius Cicero wrote similar thoughts about 60 BC in On Living and Dying Well,

This moral guideline is also echoed in the work of a number of modern-day moral philosophers: John Stuart Mill,Thomas Beauchamp and James Childress, Bernard Gert, William Frankena The wording may differ, as it does in the earlier writings, but it is essentially not to harm people, and to help them when they need it,

Finally the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religions in the concept of Ahimsa: respect for all living things and avoidance of violence toward others is the non western endorsement of this guideline.

Proof that this guideline is practical

The fact that this guideline has been endorsed over the centuries by many of the world's greatest thinkers is a substantial endorsement of its validity But we can go even further.

Major advances in the human condition, over the centuries, has adhered to this guideline: the abolition of serfdom; of slavery, the abolition of foot binding, stopping the imprisonment or even the execution of homosexuals, the ending of dueling, are examples. Together with the introduction of social welfare programs – sickness, old age and unemployment benefits, all aimed at relieving a harm, this guideline gives demonstratable benefits.

But we can go even yet further. Applying it to the current controversies, we find that this guideline will still give us answers , This writer has previously argued that abortion is morally justified, also managing lockdowns in the Covid 19 pandemicis a current issue, often addressed under the heading Lives versus Livelihoods.Voluntary euthanasia is another issue that generates differences of opinion, but this guideline clearly comes down on the side of minimizing suffering. It therefore provides answers in these current controversies

The guideline will not, however, give us an answer for all moral questions. Sometimes we need to inflict a smaller harm to offset a larger harm. Examples are:

  • Some budget allocations. Funds taken out of one program to increase another will mitigate the effectiveness of the first program,
  • Refugee decisions. Denying access to a wealthier country harms those left behind,
  • Many freedom of religion issues. Some ultra conservative religionists will continue to argue against abortion, or gay marriage, or permitting homosexuality,
  • The many conflicts in the worldwide on Covid 19 lockdowns will continue, using arguments such as the right to free speech, or freedom of association.
  • Pre-emptive strikes. They cause a military confrontation, with ensuing damage. Whether or not they are justified depends on a valid assessment of whether they prevented a larger war,
  • Torture of a terrorist to locate the ticking bomb.

There are other issues where the "help others" component is an insufficient guideline. How much do we help, when such helping costs us time or funds?

There are several ways in which we can resolve these issues: (i) Philosophers can continue to argue, hopefully in terminology comprehensible to all, (ii) we can hold a plebiscite (as in gay marriage in Australia or in some of the states in the United States), or (iii) we can leave the issue to our legislatures or the highest court in the land. Or on international issues, to the United Nations.

In Conclusion.

This opinion piece has presented an overall moral guideline, hopefully with sufficient supporting evidence to persuade others to take it up, put it into practice, and teach it. Will it be successful? The answer depends on the extent of adoption, particularly by moral philosophers and in their teaching of this guideline. Several moral philosophers for example, including John Rawls in A Theory of Justice, have condemned Utilitarianism. This despite Utilitarianism clearly objecting to harming others and promoting a beneficial life for all. But even if the adoption by academic philosophers is limited, the ability of the guideline to lead us to a decision on the multitude of false news and conflicting opinions that we see near daily in the media, will be of major benefit.

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About the Author

Peter Bowden is an author, researcher and ethicist. He was formerly Coordinator of the MBA Program at Monash University and Professor of Administrative Studies at Manchester University. He is currently a member of the Australian Business Ethics Network , working on business, institutional, and personal ethics.

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