Page 66 - Confucianism
My Understanding
Confucianism comes from China during 500BC-700BC. While it has an old and non-western heritage, it's underlying principle is relevant to a modern day western society. The idea of confucianism is that working towards perfection is an ongoing process that develops over time, and this comes from the idea that the behaviour of people in positions of power will slowly affect the behaviours of others to match them. Assuming that the people in the positions of power act in a positive manner, this leads to a gradual improvement in society.
This is relevant because in our society, possibly the greatest power over people is the media. The problem is that in a consumerist society where the media revolves around selling things, you can't be sure that this power is acting ethically or morally. It is a strand of ethics that's based on politics, the same thing that a lot of campaigns are based on.
Quotes From The Book
"His (Confucius) teachings have a political dimension, and are pervaded by the belief that personal perfection - mainly through a restoration of traditional values - can lead to an improvement of the general political situation."
"It is important to note that there are no rules to determine the right action. Instead, what is right can only be decided by taking into account the circumstances in which one finds oneself."
"Underlying its teachings id the belief that exemplary behaviour of rulers and teachers will eventually induce people to change their own conduct. These changes in personal conduct, in turn, will lead to an improvement of the general political situation."
Page 68 - Christian Ethics
My Understanding
The particular thing that's relevant about Christian Ethics are the philosophies of St Augustine. He placed a particular emphasis on the intentions of a persons actions rather than what happens as a result of them.
He philosophised that human life is a punishment for Adams sin in the Garden of Eden, and that human nature is naturally sinful, which justifies this punishment. Given that the western world is essentially based around Christianity, the idea that we as a species are deserving of punishment is interesting.
Quotes From The Book
"Augustine notably emphasised the moral significance of motives over actions."
"Augustine saw human life as a punishment for Adam's original sin, and thought we could achieve redemption only through overcoming our natural inclinations towards sinfulness"
Page 69 - Utilitarianism
My Understanding
In it's most basic form, utilitarianism is the idea that anything that adds to the total happiness of the world is a good and moral thing, and anything that subtracts from it is a bad and immoral thing.
The hole in this theory is that, in theory, it allows you to put one person through a lot of unhappiness in order to provide a slight boost in happiness for others. It tries to quantify happiness, which is what prevents it from problems
Quotes From The Book
"Utilitarianism is a theory about what is right. In its most well-known form, it provides an answer to the question 'What is the right thing to do?'."
"As a general rule, the right action to take is the action that maximises welfare"
"Utilitarianism does not distinguish between the pleasure of different persons: not only is the pleasure of the person who undertakes the action taken into account, but also the pleasure of the other people involved."
"Although the theory has been criticised on many fronts, among other for its disregard for people over abstract notions such as pleasure, its influence remains significant in contemporary philosophy and in the social sciences."
Page 69 - Kantian Ethics
My Understanding
Kant came up with the Categorical Imperative, which is the idea that you should only do things if they fit in with universal laws. Any act that doesn't fit in within this rule is immoral.
A more recent formulation of Kantian Ethics is that people shouldn't be a means to an end, but they should be end in themselves. You shouldn't use other people for your own benefit.
Quotes From The Book
"The motive 'I will lie' fails this test. If everyone was a deceiver then no one would ever believe anyone, and lying would be impossible. Accordingly, we have a strict duty not to lie."
"alternative formulations of the principle are often found attractive - especially Kant's idea that we should never treat humanity merely as a means, but always as an end in itself."
Page 71 - Kierkegaard and Nietzsche
My Understanding
Ethics and morality as a subject generally assign value to groups of people rather than an individual. This means that when people follow their individual impulses, they are attempting to get past ethics by justifying what they're doing by arguing that they're doing what they think is right.
Nietzsche criticised Christianity for using their morality as a way to protect weaker people from stronger people, as he thought it takes an unusually strong person to create their own morals, and these people are being held back by Christianity.
It's important to realise that freedom means that you have the right and ability to choose what you think is morally valuable.
Quotes From The Book
"given that ethics traditionally accords value to the collective over the individual, the individualistic impulse is developed by both thinkers as a kind of anti-ethic, or as an attempt to go beyond ethics."
"alternative formulations of the principle are often found attractive - especially Kant's idea that we should never treat humanity merely as a means, but always as an end in itself."
"In a world in which the only values are individual values, both Kierkegaard and Nietzsche thus suggested that it is necessary to overcome the external forces of social morality and to act 'authentically' on values to which you are absolutely committed. These values are part of your nature, and to act on them is to be free."
Page 93 - Conflicting principles
Quote From The Book
"For most of us, our ethical decision-making has something to do with striking a balance between living life to the full and not harming others. This sounds simple, but the detail of each situation will be different, subtle and shifting. Thinking about ethics requires us to welcome complexity and to be constantly asking questions of ourselves and others."
Page 103 - The discomfort of judging
Quote From The Book
"In the modern world the freedom of the individual is all-important. We don't like being told what to do and question the right of those passing judgement. Conversely, we want to live our lives with a good conscience and so look for mechanisms to facilitate this taking place."
Page 103 - Thinking relatively
Quote From The Book
"The result of this way of thinking is that a design project cannot be deemed good or bad in itself. It can be said to be good or bad when considered against the circumstances that created it, or by applying a variety of different criteria"
Page 177 - Ken Garland
Quote From The Book
"We have to take a pragmatic view. Start with the real world, not the ideal world, and we'll see how we can approach an ideal world from the real world. We mustn't give up. The temptation to slip into a cynical position on these issues is very strong, but with scepticism there is always a thread of idealism with in. If you are able to survive on a breath of idealism you should take deep breaths, because I don't want you to give up."
Harvard Referencing
Roberts, L (2006). Good: An Introduction To Ethics In Graphic Design. Switzerland: AVA Puplishing. 66, 68-69, 71, 93, 103, 177.
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