[地點]中原大學

[出版日期]1994 年 02 月28日 

[主辦]工學院

I. Opening Remarks: The purpose of tonight's lecture

A. Philosophy/Engineering: an Encounter and Conversation  

B. Structure of my lecture

1. What is ethics: philosophical study of morality

                        a) What is "philosophical study"

                        b) A student of ethics is not a moralist

                        c) What is meta ethics

                        d) Applied ethics and professional ethics

                        e) Recent moral philosophy--theory of justice

2. The rise of applied ethics and professional ethics

3. Critical reflection on professional ethics  

II. What is morality: a demonstration of philosophical thinking.

A. "Moral"--moral judgment, moral principles, etc.

1. Kant: respect for reason, act for duty's sake, universality

2. Utilitarianism: rational calculation of consequences

B. Normative ethics vs. descriptive ethics

1. Socialization: morality as a changing social phenomenon

2. Feelings vs. reason: Huckberry Finn's conscience

C. Absolutism vs. relativism

1. Theft, murder, lying, adultery: absolutes?

2. Social origin of human nature and group interest as basis for relativism

D. A priorism vs. a posteriorism

1. Human nature as amoral: morality is a social product

2. Conflict School: morality as the result of social conflict

3. Marx: morality is an ideological instrument for the dominant group or class

4. Nietzsche: Christian morality is an ideological instrument for the "weak" race or under-class

5. Freud: morality as the product of irrational unconscious, identification with parents because of anxiety  

III. The Rise of Applied Ethics and Professional Ethics

 A. Movement of 60's: demand for realism

B. Support from both the conservative and the radical academics 

C. Internal logic of analytical philosophy 

D. Its presupposition and its professional image

1. Application of ethical principles/theories

2. Application of philosophical method

3. Valuable contribution to practical issues  

IV. The Ideological Function of Professional Ethics （MacIntyre's viewpoint）

A. Professionalism means practices according to prior codes

B. The necessity of ethical codes for any profession to win the confidence of the mass and to project the image of professionalism

C. Ethical codes without moral authority are simply professional codes

D. Professional codes are in need of moral legitimation, which can be provided by applied ethics since the latter is seen as a deduction of  moral principles

E. Applied ethics hence conceals the fact that ethical (professional) codes may be immoral

F. Applied ethics is then an ideological instrument of professional dominance or professional power, and becomes an integral part of the ideology of professional autonomy

G. A reappraisal of the very concept of "application" or "applied ethics"

1. Engineering model of "application": deduction from universal rules or principles; this model should be rejected

2.  Application should be seen as a process of interpretation involving the negotiation of powers

3. In short, the applying and the applied are mutually dependent

4. Moral theory or moral principle is not the foundation of applied ethics

5. As the study of moral principles, Ethics itself is at the same time an applied ethics

6. Applied ethics as casuistry is still possible, but is without  moral implication. 

REFERENCE 

Kultgen, John.  Ethics and Professionalism.  Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988.   

MacIntyre, Alasdair. "Does Applied Ethics Rest on a Mistake?" The Monist 67.4 (1984):498-513.