Ethical Theory: Persons, Ethical Rules and Principles

Author(s):  
Eike-Henner W. Kluge
Author(s):  
Robert M. Veatch ◽  
Amy Haddad ◽  
E. J. Last

The introduction provides a short orientation to the major questions of normative ethical theory with reference to and examples from the practice of pharmacy. At the most general level, ethics addresses the source, meaning, and justification of ethical claims and distinguishes between facts and evaluations (ethical and nonethical). Next, it distinguishes between the two major answers to the question of what kinds of acts are right, answers based on consequences and those based on duty. The third question is how rules apply to specific situations, distinguishing between more situational approaches and those that apply rules more rigidly. Finally, the chapter takes up the question of what ought to be done in specific cases, considering what should be done when moral rules and principles conflict.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-180
Author(s):  
Edward Fuller

This paper examines John Maynard Keynes’s ethical theory and how it relates to his politico-economic thought. Keynes’s ethical theory represents an attack on all general rules. Since capitalism is a rule-based social system, Keynes’s ethical theory is incompatible with capitalism. And since socialism rejects the general rules of private property, the Keynesian ethical theory is consistent with socialism. The unexplored evidence presented here confirms Keynes advocated a consistent form of non-Marxist socialism from no later than 1907 until his death in 1946. However, Keynes’s ethical theory is flawed because it is based on his defective logical theory of probability. Consequently, Keynes’s ethical theory is not a viable ethical justification for socialism.


Author(s):  
Olexandr Grebenuk ◽  
Volodymyr Pavlenko

The application of ports and adapters architecture (other names bulbous, layered, hexagonal) in iterative software development is considered in accordance with the requirements that come in chronological order in the practical example. Each iteration is supported by the schema architecture, problems encountered and their solution. The expediency of using the considered architecture in the iterative development of software with time constraints is shown. The system of collecting data on the concentration of carbon dioxide of the environment and air temperature in real time from a distributed network of sensors with a predetermined geolocation for medical institutions was developed. Put sensor information (ID, commissioning date and end date) in the Google Sheets spreadsheet. The data from the sensors should be collected on the server by REST service. The process of PPP in a specific project with significant time constraints is investigated, applying the rules and principles laid down in the architecture of ports and adapters, using the basic metrics to evaluate the complexity of adding new functionality, testing, concurrent development, speed and ease of development; draw conclusions about the conditions when it is appropriate to apply the chosen software design approach, and the ability of such an approach to perceive software requirements changes. The architecture of ports and adapters is useful if the system has many external integrations (mail service, push messages, databases, reporting system, etc.). The one-way communication with adapters guarantees the integrity of the main algorithmic part of the program. A thorough knowledge of the domain allows you to immediately determine the domain layer. Building a system structure that optimally reflects the domain requires the most time, and it will be costly in the future to correct errors made during the process of defining system layers (interfaces and systems). Domain logic testing is fast due to Unit tests, other tests are easy to write due to the small connectivity between layers. This architecture is not a completely new approach, but it takes the best of OOP, SOLID, DDD and determines how to apply these principles in the best way.


Author(s):  
Don Garrett

This chapter analyzes Spinoza’s ethical theory in the context of his philosophical naturalism, his doctrine that the actual essence of each thing is its striving for self-preservation (conatus), and his psychology of the emotions as it concerns both “bondage to the passions” and the active emotions such as intellectual joy. It explains how Spinoza’s ethical precepts are expressed chiefly through demonstrated propositions about good and evil, virtue, the guidance of reason, and “the free man.” Particular attention is given to questions about (1) the meaning of ethical language, (2) the nature of the good, (3) the practicality of reason, (4) the role of virtuous character, (5) the requirements for freedom and moral responsibility (especially in light of his necessitarianism), and (6) the possibility and moral significance of altruism. The chapter concludes by briefly assessing the significance of Spinoza’s ethical theory and its place in the history of ethics.


Author(s):  
Derek Parfit

This third volume of this series develops further previous treatment of reasons, normativity, the meaning of moral discourse, and the status of morality. It engages with critics, and shows the way to resolution of their differences. This volume is partly about what it is for things to matter, in the sense that we all have reasons to care about these things. Much of the book discusses three of the main kinds of meta-ethical theory: normative naturalism, quasi-realist expressivism, and non-metaphysical non-naturalism, which this book refers to as non-realist cognitivism. This third theory claims that, if we use the word ‘reality’ in an ontologically weighty sense, irreducibly normative truths have no mysterious or incredible ontological implications. If instead we use ‘reality’ in a wide sense, according to which all truths are truths about reality, this theory claims that some non-empirically discoverable truths — such as logical, mathematical, modal, and some normative truths — raise no difficult ontological questions. This book discusses these theories partly by commenting on the views of some of the contributors to Peter Singer's collection Does Anything Really Matter? Parfit on Objectivity.


This series is devoted to original philosophical work in the foundations of ethics. It provides an annual selection of much of the best new scholarship being done in the field. Its broad purview includes work being done at the intersection of ethical theory and metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mind. The chapters included in the series provide a basis for understanding recent developments in the field. Chapters in this volume explore topics including the nature of reasons, the tenability of moral realism, moral explanation and grounding, and a variety of epistemological challenges.


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