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... notion of Divine Command, which is being originated by William Ockham. It tells us that it is an individuals duty to God, which alone should be used, while trying to figure out whether any particular action is moral or not. Yet, we cannot be considering this theory seriously, because the existence of God has never been proved scientifically. Therefore, it cannot serve as the basis, upon which the argument might be established. (3) But the other approach, suggested by Emmanuel Kant, is much more credible. He also promotes the notion of duty, as the morality's measurement tool, when it comes to the issue of ethics. (4) However, he bases his vision of duty upon individuals ability to elevate itself above emotions, in order to reach the state, when nothing can affect his decision making.
Still, this requires an individual to be able to operate with the abstract categories and to be able to think of them as more real than they really are. In my opinion, the application of Deontology to morally evaluate Joannes case will greatly depend on two variables, which were not given, as part of this assignment. First of all, we need to know whether Joanne is a religious person or not. If so, than the Ockhams principle of Divine Duty can be applied. But again, we would need to know what kind of religion she belongs to. This is because, if she is Christian, then her duty would be to love thy neighbor in more ways than just sexual.
Transmitting an incurable disease can hardly be recognized as an act of love. Still, if she is Muslim, on the path of Jihad, then her duty would be to kill as many unbelievers as possible. Therefore, passing AIDS to Doug would be considered as moral and necessary, given that he is an unbeliever, of course. The problem with the principle of Divine Duty is that it was never meant to be applied in multicultural society. As the matter of fact, we can talk about the ethical philosophy as such that was developed exclusively by European philosophers.
That is why we have a hard time, while trying to adjust various ethical approaches to the social realities of nowadays. But from the context, it appears to be highly unlikely for Joanne to have any religious affiliation. Therefore, we will focus on analyzing her intention from Kant's prospective. For this, we would need to know Joannes racial background, because this directly corresponds to her ability to deal with abstract philosophical categories, such as the notion of duty, when it is not based on any religion. It is well known that scoring high, during modern IQ tests, is directly related to such ability. It is also well known that the representatives of ethnic minorities are not very good at that.
Therefore, it is not very likely that Kant's categorical imperative could be used to give the moral evaluation to Joanns intention to have sex with Doug, if she is African-American, for example. This is because her reduced capability to understand the essence of abstract concepts would probably prevent her from being able to adjust her behavior to her understanding of duty. This appears to be the case, since Joanne tries to justify her hedonistic impulse by referring to herself as Ethical Subjectivism. Nevertheless, we cannot be absolutely certain about this statement, since we simply lack the factual information. Yet, we are still going to be able to apply De ontological method, in Joannes case. In order for us to do this, we will need to think of her as the member of human society.
As such, she undeniably has social duties and responsibilities, regardless of whether she can understand their true meaning or not. Therefore, transmitting AIDS to Doug must be considered as simply highly irresponsible deed. But if she is aware that being a human is not only about satisfying her physical urges, then she can also be held accountable of committing transgression against nature. We can describe this as the crime against humanity.
From the position of Deontology, it is not only that Joanne should not be having sex with Doug, without telling him the truth. Even if she tells him about her illness and he agrees to have sex, she should still be held criminally accountable. It is her duty to society to act in socially responsible matter, because she cannot be thinking of herself, as being taken out of social context. And if she does, she would be much better off, living in the desert, where she would not be able to affect others.
Conclusion As it was being mentioned earlier, the issue of ethics is very controversial. This is because ethical principles derive from the different ideological grounds. It is a hopeless task to try convincing an Ethical Subjectivism that the objective foundations for the moral judgments really do exist. And this has nothing to do with the quality of argumentation. It simply indicates that the argumentation takes place in two different realms that do not intersect. I believe that people are free to act in any way they want, for as long as their behavior remains socially acceptable.
This is because individuals, within the society, form higher entity nation. It is hard to talk about American society in terms of nation, since it is becoming increasingly multicultural. Yet, in my opinion, the idea of social responsibility derives directly from this notion. Im sure that if Joanne lived in racially homogeneous society, she would probably think twice, before deciding to have sex with Doug.
Because then she would feel her social obligations on the subconscious level. This, in its turn, would prevent her from rationalizing whether it is morally justifiable to transmit AIDS to another person. She would act according to the unwritten categorical imperative do not act towards another person in the way you would not like him to act towards you. It could only happen if Joanne was able to spiritually relate to the people that surround her. But how can it be done, if American society becomes more and more secularized, with different people pursuing their own agendas?
I could totally understand Joanne. What caused her to become an Ethical Subjectivism was probably a thought: why should I care, if nobody cares? . There is no doubt that, as the university student, she understands the concept of social responsibility, yet she could never relate to it, because this concept is being enforced in multicultural societies. However, it seems that the idea of common good is not totally strange to Joann, because she used to donate blood to the Red Cross.
This is quite inconsistent with the fact that she decided to transmit disease to Doug, in cold blood, without experiencing any sense of guilt whatsoever. It appears that Joannes sense of social duty has a latent nature. That is to say that she has it, but she cannot recognize its validity, as the basis for her morality. But her failure to recognize it does not mean that this notion can be disposed with. Quite contrary to that, I think that living in contemporary America made Joanne to feel cynical about certain matters.
Yet, it is not her true nature. That is why I would suggest for Joanne to refrain from having sex with her friend. She might reconsider her moral stance later on, but the consequences of her action can never be corrected. And, in my opinion, this is very likely to happen, as the notion of social responsibility comes with age. This notion has nothing to do with religion or any other subjective factors, but it directly corresponds to ones genetic predetermination.
Donating blood to Red Cross, while being totally selfish in her relation with Doug, indicates Joannes inner psychological conflict. There is no doubt that Joanne is not fully confident with her decision. That is why she needed to ask for the advice, in the first place. In my opinion, she believes to be someone who she is not. She was only able to come to Ethical Subjectivism by suppressing her true self. If she engages in sex with Doug, her suppressed sense of social responsibility will make her feel guilty for the rest of her life.
This is because her ethics cannot be rationalized, as she would like to believe. The fact that Ethical Subjectivism is becoming more popular nowadays indicates that there is something wrong with the American society. There can be no more talk about such things as nations unity or solidarity, since people think that because the notion of morality has a relative nature, there can be no uniting social ideas. Still, people cannot exist in anti-social mode and still remain happy. Ethical Subjectivism results in social atomization; this is why it is being promoted by the proponents of Liberalism. (6) In my opinion, it is wrong to talk about the absence of social responsibility in terms of attaining a true freedom. The fact that worlds religions had lost all credibility cannot serve as justification.
The truth is that the God lives within us; this is why psychologically healthy individuals can distinguish right from wrong on the intuitive level. Joanne appears to be one of such individuals, although she tries to deny it to herself. The only reason why philosophical thought was able to progress to its current heights is because it always remained an essential part of Western culture. But culture can only exist in society where its members act in socially responsible manner. This is why discussing Joannes case, taken out of social context, does not make any sense.
The notion of truth does exist and its quite independent of emotional interpretation. But it is individuals physical and mental health that allows him to attain it. Endnotes Russ Shafer-Landau. Ethical Subjectivism. 2001. web (10 December, 2006). University of Kansas.
Department of Philosophy. Eugene, Lee. An Introduction to Utilitarianism. 6 November, 2000. web (10 December, 2006). The Victorian Web Deontology. 2006. web (10 December) Ascension Health Org.
Notes on Deontology. 2001. web (10 December, 2006). Wofford Web. Liberal ideology encourages egoistic impulses. Abstract This paper evaluates the case of Joanne, who is HIV, from the moral prospective of Ethical Subjectivism, Utilitarianism and Deontology. Outline Introduction introduces reader to the topic, which is going to be discussed.
Position of Ethical Subjectivism. Position of Utilitarianism. Position of Deontology. Conclusion concludes the paper. Bibliography: Deontology. 2006. web (10 December) Ascension Health Org.
Eugene, Lee. An Introduction to Utilitarianism. 6 November, 2000. web (10 December, 2006). The Victorian Web Kenneth Samples. Is Morality Only in the Eye of the Beholder? 2000 web (10 December, 2006).
Reasons. Org. Mark Oppenheimer. Who Lives? Who Dies? 3 July, 2002. web (10 December, 2006).
The Utility of Peter Singer. Look Smart. Russ Shafer-Landau. Ethical Subjectivism. 2001. web (10 December, 2006). University of Kansas.
Department of Philosophy. Robert S. Notice. Moral Constraints and Animals. 2003...
web (10 December, 2006) Animal Rights Resource Site. Notes on Deontology. 2001. web (10 December, 2006). Wofford Web. Vexed Crabtree, Subjectivism. 11 November, 2000. web (10 December, 2006).
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