Values and Ethics

This chapter will cover

• Value assumptions

• Conflicts between value assumptions

• Value priorities

• Ideal values versus real values

• Ethics in argumentation

• Ethical decision making

Values and Ethics

Assumptions

• Unstated (and often unconscious) beliefs

Value Assumptions and Conflicts

Values

• Beliefs, ideals, or principles that are considered worthy and held in high regard.

• Truth• Loyalty• Freedom

Beliefs about how the world is

Beliefs about how the world should be

• What is more important

• Form the foundation of an argument.

Values Assumptions

Value assumptions:Reality assumptions:

Value Assumptions and Conflicts

Value Conflict

• When two competing values cannot be held to the same degree in a given argument or situation:

Skill Understand that different values form the basis

of many arguments and that conflicts are often based on differing value priorities.

Value Conflicts

Issue: When my roommate asks how she looks in her new outfit, should I tell her that she has hideous taste in clothes?

Reason: She expects and deserves an honest answer.

Conclusion: I’ll tell her its ugly and that she should never buy her own clothes because she couldn’t dress a scarecrow!

Value Assumption?

Honesty

Ethics- A Dimension of Values

Ethics

• Standards of conduct that reflecting what we consider to be right or wrong

Ethics- A Dimension of Values

Morals

• Principles that distinguish right from wrong behavior

Ethics

Why we have disagreements

• We hold many values in common, but to different degrees…

Ethics

• Libertarianism: promote individual liberty• Utilitarianism: promote the greatest general

happiness/minimize unhappiness• Egalitarianism: promote equality for all• Religious: promote faith spirituality• Prima facie values: universal ethical principles

Some Common Ethics

Ideal Values and Real Values

Ideal Values

• Held by an individual in a theoretical sense

Ideal Values and Real Values

Real Values

• Theoretical and practiced

Ethics

U.S. Declaration of Independence

"We hold these truths to be self ‑ evident, that all [men] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights*, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

* Natural (life and liberty) vs legal

Ethics in Argumentation

• Honesty in conclusions• Do not omit or distort• Thoroughly research claims made• Listen respectfully to opposing viewpoints• Be willing to revise position• Credit secondary sources

Ethical Decision Making

How do we know what our principles and standards are?

• Role Exchange Test• The Universal Consequences Test• The New Cases Test• The Higher Principles Test

Common Rationalizations

• If It’s Necessary, It’s EthicalThe False Necessity Trap

• If It’s Legal and Permissible, It’s Ethical• I Was Just Doing It For You

Ethics in action

Common Rationalizations

• I’m Just Fighting Fire With Fire• It Doesn’t Hurt Anyone, & Everyone’s Doing It• It’s O.K. If I Don’t Gain Personally• I’ve Got It Coming (I Deserve It)• I can still be objective

Ethics in action

Toulmin’s Model

A Method for Discovering Assumptions

ClaimsReasonsWarrants

Toulmin’s Model:

Claim

• A statement of an individual’s belief or stand upon an issue

Toulmin’s Model

Warrant

• The unstated but necessary link between reasons and claims

Toulmin’s ModelClaim:

We will have to leave at 5 a.m. to make our flight

Reason:

We will be driving in rush hour traffic.

Warrant: ?

Rush hour traffic moves more slowly than other traffic

because

Values and Ethics

Checkup

• What are value conflicts• Name some ethics to use in an argument• Difference between ideal and real values• What are some common rationalizations