(The following advice comes from Mark Timmons).1
Imagine a moral argument. For example:
“Suicide is morally acceptable if the prolongation of one’s life would destroy one’s human dignity."
If we wish to understand and evaluate such an argument at a deep level, we might consider taking these steps:
1. Clarify crucial concepts or jargon that are pivotal to the argument.
In this case, an example would be “human dignity.” We should ask: what does it mean, where is it found, of what does it consist, how might one lose it, what does life look like if one loses it, etc.? Might there be disagreements about the definitions and uses of such a term? We must not take for granted that all people agree on a single definition for dignity.
2. Evaluate various claims made within the argument.
Is it true, for example, that suicide is consistent with human dignity? Can one actually lose her dignity, or is it something inalienable? If one can lose her dignity, is such a loss truly worse than choosing an early death? Under which specific circumstance can we call suicide “morally acceptable?”
3. Uncover the basic moral assumptions that operate in the background of the moral argument; they are unstated, but taken for granted.
If we argue, in this case, that suicide is right if it prevents certain bad consequences, we automatically assume that if an action leads to bad consequences it is wrong, and if it prevents them it is right. We also assume, but do not explicitly state, that we believe it is appropriate to morally evaluate the nature and timing of a person’s death. Is this a fair assumption, or are a person’s individual decisions regarding her own death so personal that they are outside the realm of ethics?
4. Map the internal structure of the larger moral theory which generates and supports the argument.
For example, it might appear at first blush that the argument regarding suicide is part of a larger moral theory which makes claims about the deontic status of certain actions, meaning their rightness or wrongness. It is right, the argument says, to take one’s life, under certain circumstances. This means our moral argument is part of a larger theory of right conduct: a system that tells us which actions are right or wrong.
However if we dig even deeper, we see that there is an even more basic moral theory operating beneath the surface, a foundational theory which supports and shapes the theory of right conduct. That deeper theory might go something like this: “happiness is the only intrinsically good thing in the world.” This is what is known as a theory of value: it tells us which things (or states of mind) are good or bad. This particular theory of value tells us that everything in the world, including one’s very life, is only good to the extent that it generates happiness, for oneself and for others. Upon that foundation, we construct a theory of right conduct: it is morally right, perhaps even our duty, to maximize that which is intrinsically good: happiness. Thus, it is morally acceptable to commit suicide, if by so doing we can create more happiness (for ourselves and our loved ones) than we could by clinging to life a bit longer.
A terminally ill person — who cannot rise from a bed, who is constantly in pain, who is completely dependent on others to help her perform even the most basic and personal human functions, who knows that each expensive day she spends in the hospital drags her family deeper into debt and closer to financial ruin, who has lost entirely her sense of human dignity (without which she feels utterly worthless and despondent) — might draw the conclusion that an early death will spare her family and herself much pain, and that this death, chosen intentionally by her, will restore to her some of the dignity she has lost, which will bring her much joy in her final hours, much more joy than she would feel if she allowed her life to continue. In this particular situation, she reasons, suicide is the only act that could maximize happiness for everyone involved. If this is true, suicide is not just morally acceptable, but also her duty. We see here a theory of value informing and shaping the deontic analysis of actions (theory of right conduct). Through this understanding of the structure of these underlying theories, we gain a clearer picture of a broader worldview at work, a worldview which likely shapes many of this person’s moral arguments.
Now, isn’t this more fun than simply arguing back and forth about morality?
Notes
- Mark Timmons, Moral Theory: An Introduction (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002). ↩︎