A Universal Moral Theory

Dennis R. Cooley Department of History North Dakota State University

19 January 2003

Supported by a USDA/CSREES/IFAFS grant, Consortium to Address Social, Economic, and Ethical Aspects of Biotechnology.

Utilitarianism
The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in the proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the privation of pleasure. --John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism: Its Meaning.

A Practical Problem with Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism classifies actions according to their actual consequences. Since we are unable to foresee with absolute certainty what the consequences of an action are, we merely guess at what the best action is for us. Sometimes, we will make mistakes about which actions have the best consequences. It is unfair to hold us morally responsible for making a mistake based upon a lack of information which is caused by no fault of our own.

Reasonable Person Utilitarianism

(RPU) An action is morally right only if a reasonable person in the same circumstances in which the agent finds herself would reasonably believe that the action has at least as much utility as any alternative to the action.

The Categorical Imperative

Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end. --Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals: The Formula of the End in Itself.

Practical Problem for the Categorical Imperative

If we are morally required to treat people as ends in themselves, then we need to know specifics of how to treat people as ends in themselves. Law of Universalizability: If it would be wrong for everyone to do something, then it is wrong for you to do it. Law of Reversibility: If it you do not want something done to you, then do not do it to others.

Treating Others as Ends

We want to be respected in both thought and deed as valuable beings.

Good intentions Good motives Good mental states

The Quasi-Categorical Imperative

(QCI) An action is morally right only if in doing the action, the agent does not treat anyone as a mere means.

A Practical Theory of Ethics

In order for an action to be morally right, the action must satisfy both RPU and QCI. Generally gets it right.

The Moral Saint Test

Select a person whom you would like to emulate. Critically evaluate the character of the individual to determine if the person possesses negative traits. Eliminate the negative traits from your image of the person. (The result will be your moral saint.) Present your decision and its justification to your moral saint.

Evaluation
If your moral saint would agree with your decision and its justification, then you have used RPU and QCI correctly. If your moral saint would disagree with your decision and its justification, then you have not used RPU and QCI correctly.

Using the new and old information, go back and re-evaluate the situation.

Conclusion
The greatest benefits to using RPU, QCI, and the Moral Saint Test are: 1. Generally arrive at the correct solution. 2. Capture our universal intuitions about morality. 3. Practicality.