• Unit 1: Murder, Morality, and the Value of Human Life

    Everyone, whether they realize it or not, has some beliefs about the differences between right and wrong, or good and bad. We use these beliefs to guide our behavior, judge the behavior of others, and decide on laws and punishments in our society. Sometimes, however, situations arise that force us to call our moral beliefs into question and to debate the truth about moral behavior with our peers. It is usually the really difficult cases, in which the right thing to do is difficult to decide, and cases which divide people against one another in their opinions, that bring the differences in our moral intuitions into focus and force us to clarify our moral principles.

    In this unit, we will investigate some notoriously difficult and divisive moral dilemmas involving justice, rights, and the value of human life. We will explore the moral theory of utilitarianism in depth, considering whether it can help us determine the right thing to do and how to produce a just society. Finally, this unit will introduce two ethical theories in contrast to utilitarianism: deontology and natural law.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 7 hours.


    • Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

      • define ethics and moral philosophy;
      • apply a definition of ethics to moral and political concepts, such as justice and others;
      • identify and describe the intrinsic value of philosophical investigation as an academic discipline;
      • use the works of Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Aquinas, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to compare and contrast theories of ethics;
      • identify and describe central issues and branches in ethics, including moral intuition, reflective equilibrium, and utilitarianism, consequentialism, deontology, and natural law; and
      • analyze how an ethical theory may influence policies in corporations and institutions and how an ethical theory may affect individual rights and liberties.

    • 1.1: Metaethics, Normative Ethics, and Applied Ethics

      • Steve McCartney and Rick Parent’s Ethics in Law Enforcement: “Chapter 2: Ethical Systems” URL

        This chapter outlines the three broad categories of ethical systems normative ethics, applied ethics, and meta-ethics. Use the navigation arrows on the right and left side of the page to move forward through the eleven sections in this chapter. By the end of this reading, you will be able to define the three broad ethical systems and describe several approaches to ethics. Be sure you have a good understanding of the important approaches for Unit 1: deontology, consequentialism, and natural law.

    • 1.2: Investigating Our Moral Intuitions

      • Harvard University: Michael Sandel's "The Moral Side of Murder" URL

        Watch the first half of this video until 24:12. Compare your own intuitions about the cases introduced with those voiced by the students in the video. Also, note the definition of moral skepticism introduced here. This video lecture presents a classic moral dilemma: whether it may be morally permissible to commit murder - or to allow someone to die - if it is certain that doing so will prevent an even worse catastrophe.

    • 1.3: From Moral Intuitions to Moral Principles and Back Again

    • 1.4: Consequentialist Ethics and Bentham's Utilitarianism

      • Harvard University: Michael Sandel's "The Case for Cannibalism" URL

        Watch the rest of this lecture, starting at 24:13. This lecture introduces Jeremy Bentham's utilitarian moral principle. Through the case of the shipwrecked crew, Sandel demonstrates that, far from abstract puzzles, moral dilemmas are real life problems, which demand that we strive toward coherent moral codes that can be agreed upon for social and legal purposes.

      • Wikipedia: "R v Dudley and Stephens" URL

        Read this description of the famous Queen v. Dudley and Stephens case. As you read, consider whether you agree with the ruling in this case, and if you would rule differently, as well as why you would do so. This text discusses the famous lifeboat case, which established the legality of choosing to murder out of necessity. Although the details of the case are quite graphic, this fact itself may serve as a prompt for many of us to revise our initial intuitions about the moral status of killing one to save many others.

      • PhilosophyPages: Garth Kemerling's "Utilitarianism, J.S. Mill"

        Read this introduction to Utilitarianism and John Stuart Mill.

      • Jeremy Bentham's Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation: "Chapter I: Of the Principle of Utility" URL

        Read the first chapter, "Of the Principle of Utility," from this 1780 text in which Bentham justifies the principle that the morality of our actions depends on the consequences produced. The late eighteenth and early nineteenth century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham was the first to formalize the moral principle that whether our actions are right or wrong is a matter of the consequences they produce (i.e. how much happiness and how much unhappiness results from them). It is important to note that, although Bentham places a lot of emphasis on the pleasure and pain experienced by the individual person, he is not recommending that our laws should be guided purely by individual hedonism, but by a collective responsibility to improve the happiness of everyone in society.

      • Harvard University: Michael Sandel's "Putting a Price Tag on Life" URL

        Watch this lecture until 24:11. Here, Sandel introduces some important objections to Bentham's version of utilitarianism. If Bentham is right about utility being measurable, and even quantifiable, then this would seem to justify the practices of some governments and corporations in taking a dollars and cents approach to human life, which strikes many people as being in itself unethical.

    • 1.5: Pitfalls of Consequentialist Ethics and Mill's Utilitarianism

      • The Business Ethics Workshop, v1.0: "Chapter 3, Section 2: Utilitarianism: The Greater Good" URL

        Read this article which presents difficulties with calculating benefits and various utilitarian responses to those difficulties. Be able to define hedonistic and idealistic utilitarianism, soft and hard utilitarianism, and the difference between act and rule.

      • Harvard University: Michael Sandel's "How to Measure Pleasure" URL

        Watch the rest of this lecture, starting at 24:12. Despite some powerful objections raised against it, some version of utilitarianism still seems plausible, since it seems to explain a large number of cases to our satisfaction. In this lecture, Sandel introduces John Stuart Mill's improved version of utilitarianism, which attempts to reconcile a consequentialist ethical principle with the notion of individual and minority rights. The importance of a well-informed majority for Mill's view raises questions that are fundamental to the success of a democratic society.

      • John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism Page

        Read the first two chapters of Mill's Utilitarianism, "General Remarks" and "What Utilitarianism Is." After you are done reading, ask yourself if you are able to define the principle of utility, describe the difference between higher and lower pleasures according to Mill, and describe actions which are of a generally injurious class.

        Note that, while the text is original, we have divided Mill's original paragraphs into smaller pieces to make this text easier for you to read online.

    • 1.6: Alternatives to Consequentialist Ethics

    • Unit 1 Assessment

      • Unit 1 Assessment Quiz

        Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.

        • This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
        • You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
        • You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.