Ethics Paper

Abstract #1 Chapter One: The Philosophical Point of the History of Ethics (pages 1-5)

Thesis: “Moral concepts change as social life changes. One key way in which we may identify one form of social life as distinct from another is by identifying differences in moral concepts” (MacIntyre 1).

Major Metaphor:

· Moral Concepts – defines any given society into what guidelines, acts, and frameworks that it should follow.

Synopsis: Moral concepts originate from each society and individual. They may

vary from person-to-person and society-to-society, but they all have a similar

foundation of right and wrong. Moral concepts will change over time and will take

on what a society values the most. The concepts described in this chapter

relate to shaping human lifestyles of the past and the future. These concepts are

examined by looking at different aspects of human social life. The

acknowledgement of different social lives can only rely upon the society and the

moral concepts that are recognized. Moral concepts have been vastly

researched and past historians have documented a lengthy history that

demonstrates all of the various complex cultures. These concepts are indeed

changed by lifestyle choices and by society as a whole. In conclusion, the

morality of a present-day society is always going to be dependent of what the

past concepts have deemed right or wrong. Present-day society moral concepts

can change, but the main premise (right or wrong) will always be prevalent.

Abstract #1 Chapter Two: The Prephilosophical History of “Good” and the Transition to Philosophy (pages 5-14)

Thesis: “Those who fall outside the system fall outside the moral order” (MacIntyre 8).

Major Metaphors:

* Homeric Society – A society without state power, the act of revenge that

is carried out by one party against another is the only disciplinary force that is

considered.

Synopsis: In a Homeric society, the dominant hierarchy of functional roles

determines which are the dominant qualities; skill, cunning, and courage of

various sorts (MacIntyre, 9). A Homeric society is one that depends on man to

have the dominant qualities to protect the society and the people within it.

In any Homeric society, what constitutes a good man? Is it the values that he

holds or is it the social order that he follows. The social order in which his

qualities were an essential part of a stable society has given way to one in which

the same qualities are necessarily disrupted (MacIntyre, 11). In conclusion, the

idea of a Homeric society is one, which should only be endorsed by its ethical

concepts.

Abstract #1 Chapter Three: The Sophists and Socrates (pages 14-26)

Thesis: “The Peculiar cultural relativism of the sophists is an attempt to meet the

simultaneous demands of two tasks: that of assigning a coherent set of

meanings to the evaluative vocabulary, and that of beginning how to live well-

that is, effectively-in a city-state” (MacIntyre, 14).

Major Metaphors:

Interlocutor: A spokesperson or a person that has the authority to speak

about certain situations.

Synopsis: A successful citizen is one who impresses the assembly and the law

courts. One must also adapt to the city-state atmosphere, in the fact that they

need to follow all rules and do what the law tells them to do. This was the basic

teachings of the sophists. Even though there were differences in the moral

concepts of each society, the same basic principles applied. This was only

because there is no criterion for what is moral and what is not. Any Sophist would

agree that, the teaching of morality will always be taught by what is moral in that

state. What the Sophists failed to distinguish was the difference between the

concept of a man who stands outside and is able to question the conventions of

some one given social order and the concept of a man who stands outside the

social life as such (MacIntyre, 18). This error conflicts with the fundamental

teachings of the Sophists and can only be interpreted by the moral concepts at

hand. Sophists were able to teach morality in certain settings, but could not

explain how a man could stand outside of social order.

Abstract #1 Chapter Four: Plato: The Gorgias (pages 26-33)

Thesis: The Gorgias falls into three sections, in each of which Socrates has a

different interlocutor, and each of which establishes certain positions once and

for all before passing on.

Major Metaphors:

Philebus: A Socratic dialogue that was written in the 4th BC and describes

how one wants to defend life and pleasure.

Synopsis: The Gorgias, set the premise for persuasion and supreme good.

Persuasion consists in offering reasons for holding a belief, and if the belief is

accepted, an account can be given to back it up in terms of those reasons,

persuasion also consists of subjecting the audience to a psychological pressure

which produces an ungrounded conviction (MacIntyre, 27). These techniques of

persuasion could be considered morally neutral in any given human society. A

rule-governing behavior is described by Plato, by instilling order and foundation

as well as moral concepts. A Plato governed society is one where man would

cease to exist in the society if his behavior were deemed immoral. Members of

the society would be ultimately tested, in the fact that they would have the

responsibility for their actions and decisions. Persuasion was the biggest factor in

making sure that man followed the rules and were good members of the society.

Abstract #1 Chapter Five: Plato: The Republic (pages 33-51)

Thesis: The definition of justice as “telling the truth and paying one’s debts” is

rejected, not only because it may be sometimes be right to withhold the truth or

not to return what one has borrowed, but because no list of types of action could

supply what Plato is demanding (MacIntyre, 33).

Major Metaphors:

Justice: having the ability to tell the truth and paying one’s debts.

Synopsis: “The republic” supplies a definition of justice, which can be

construed as a double edged sword. In one instance, a man should tell the truth

and do what is necessary for his friends. In another instance, justice is used as a

term to destroy life. Plato’s answer is to try to show what justice is, first in the

state, and then in the soul (MacIntyre, 36). Justice must rely on society working

together as a whole. You need various separate classes of people to distinguish

between the different variations of justice. Before justice can be achieved, one

must understand that does not belong to just one man, but society as a whole.

People must all work together to provide the necessary requirements for the

definition of justice to be ultimately accomplished.