PA 270 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: John Rawls, Swara, Moral Relativism

• School: GVSU
• Department: Public and Nonprofit Administration
• Course: PA 270
• Professor: Wooddell

Document Summary

Morality is the sense of right and wrong. Ethics is the application of morals to govern society. Moral relativism- the idea that there is no universal code that should govern us. List of available ethical frameworks: (i don"t think this one has a title?) The problem: it"s sometimes difficult to put things in numbers: utilitarianism: an action is right if it benefits the greatest number of people, deontological: establish broad principles of right and wrong and then adhere to them. No situational analysis: rawlsian: decisions should be made with no thought as to how the individual decision-maker benefits. Teacher"s example: a manager didn"t want the task of choosing his employees" new insurance plan. She would of course choose the insurance plan that benefits her and her family best. That is anti-rawlsian: kohlberg - 3 levels: Conventional- think good boy/girl. i act in accordance to what those around me think. (this is also called the law & order stage. )