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PRINCIPLE
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BEHIND
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MORAL
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 MENTAL FRAMES
A mental frame is a kind of like a picture frame. It determines where the pictu
begins and ends, and our simulated viewpoint of the image. It is a frame throug
which we view the world. We attend to what is inside our frame, oblivious
sometimes to what occurs inside our frames, which can lead to dangerous blin
spots. Frames can be useful insofar as they direct our attention toward the
information we seek. Bui they can also constrict cur peripheral vision, keeping u
from noticing important and perhaps, opportunities.
How Framing Works?
A frame limits or defines the message s meaning by shaping the
inferences that
individuals make about the message. Frames reflect judgments made by
message
creators or framers. Some frames represent alternative valencing of
information (i.e.,
putting information in either a positive or negative light, or valence
framing). Other
frames involve the simple alternative phrasing of terms (semantic
framing). The most
complex form of framing is storytelling (story framing).
Story framing involves
(a)selecting key themes or ideas that are the focus of the message.
 MORAL THEORIES
A theory is a structured set of statements used to explain (or predict)
a set of facts
or concepts. A moral theory, then, explains why a certain action is
wrong – or why we
ought to act in certain ways. These theories are different from other
theories: while
they can help us to justify the ethical decisions that we make, they are
often not
predictive. In short, it is a theory of how we determine right and wrong
conduct. Also,
moral theories provide the framework upon which we think and
discuss in a reasoned
There are several moral theories such as:

1.Virtue ethics/Theory
A virtue is an excellent trait of character. It is a disposition,
well
entrenched in its possessor - something that, as we say, goes
all way
down, to notice, expect, value, feel, desire, choose, act, and
react in
certain characteristics ways.
 Aristotle
Perhaps the most influential virtue theory was developed by Aristotle in th
Nichomachean Ethics. Aristotle claims that what’s distinctive about huma
beings is our ability to reason and to live under reason. Therefore, good
human beings live and act following reason and can be described as exist
in a state of eudaimonia.
Eudaimonia is a Greek word commonly translated as happiness or welfa
however, ' human flourishing or prosperity" and "blessedness" have been
proposed as more accurate translations. Etymologically, it consists of the
"eu" ("good") and "daimōn" ("spirit"). It is a central concept in Aristotelian
and subsequent Hellenistic philosophy, along with the terms "arete" (mos
translated as "virtue" or "excellence") and "phronesis" (often translated a
"practical or ethical wisdom").
 St. Thomas Aquinas: Natural Law
Thomas Aquinas(1225-1274) was an intellectual and religious
revolutionary, living at a time of great philosophical, theological, an
scientific development. He was a member of the Dominican Friars
which
at that time was considered to be a cult, and was taught by one of t
greatest intellects of the age, Albert the Great (1208-1280). In a
nutshell,
Aquinas wanted to move away from Plato’s thinking, which was hug
influential at the time, and instead introduce Aristotelian ideas to
science,
nature, and theology.
Aquinas wrote an incredible amount one of the miracles accredited
him
was the amount he wrote His most famous work is Summa Theolog
and
2.Kant and rights theorists
Kant
One of the most important non-consequentialist ethical systems is
due
to Immanuel Kant, an 18th-century German philosopher who is widely
regarded as one of the most important, as well as one of the most
difficult philosophers in the history of Western philosophy.
Kant's central claim was that: It is impossible to conceive anything at
all in the world, or even cut of it, which can be taken as good without
qualification, except goodwill.
 Rights
A right is a justified claim, entitlement, or assertion of what a rights-holde
due. For a person to have the moral right to have, get, or do something, th
must be a moral basis or justification for the claim. In other words, a right
something to which every individual in the community is morally permitted, a
which that community is entitled to disrespect or compulsorily remove anyt
that stands in the way of even a single individual getting it. Rights belong
individuals, and no organization has any rights not directly derived from tho
its members as individuals: and, just as an individual s rights cannot exten
where they will intrude another individual's rights, similarly the rights of a
organization whatever must yield to those of a single individual, whether ins
outside the organization. Rights are those important conditions of social l
without which no person can generally realize his best self. These are the ess
conditions for the health of both the individual and his society. It is only wh
people get and enjoy rights that they can develop their personalities an
contributes their best services to society.
 Main features of Rights:
1. Rights exist only in society. These are the products of social
living.
2. Rights are claims of the individuals for their development in
society.
3. Rights are recognized by society as common claims of all the
people.
4. Rights are rational and moral claims that the people make in
their society.
5. Since rights are here only in society, these cannot be
exercisedagainst society.
6. Rights are to be exercised by the people for their development
which means their development in society by the promotion of
7. Rights are equally available to all people.
8. The contents of rights keep on changing over time.
9. Rights are not absolute. These always bear limitations deemed
essential for maintaining
public health, security, cider, and morality.
10. Rights are inseparably related to duties. There is a close relationship
between them “No Duties No Rights. No Rights No Duties/' "If I have
rights, I have to respect the rights of others in society”.
11. Rights need enforcement and only then these can be used by the
people. These are
protected and enforced by the laws of the state. A state has to
protect the rights of the
people.
 Types of Rights:
1. Moral Rights
Moral Rights are based on human consciousness. They are supporte
the moral force of the human mind. These are based on the human s
of
goodness and justice. These are not assisted by the force of law. Sen
goodness and public opinion are the sanctions behind moral right
2.Natural Rights
Many researchers have faith in natural rights. They stated that peo
inherit several rights from nature. Before they came to live in society
state, they used to live in a state of nature. In it, they appreciated ce
natural rights, like the right to life, the right to liberty, and the prope
right. Natural rights are parts of human nature and reason. The polit
theory maintains that an individual enters into society with certain b
rights and that no government can deny these rights.
 3. Legal Rights
Legal rights are those rights that are accepted and enforced by the stat
Any
defilement of any legal right is punished by law. Law courts of the state
enforce
legal rights. These rights can be enforced against individuals and also
against the
government. In this way, legal rights are different from moral rights.
Legal rights
are equally available to all citizens. All citizens follow legal rights withou
any
discrimination. They can go to the courts for getting their legal rights
enforced.
 Legal Rights are of three types:
a. Civil Rights:
Civil rights are those rights that provide an opportunity for each per
lead a civilized social life. These fulfill the basic needs of human l
society.
The right to life, liberty, and equality are civil rights. Civil rights
protected
by the state.

b. Political Rights:
Political rights are those rights under which inhabitants get a share
political process. These allow them to take an active part in the po
process. These rights include the right to vote, the right to get ele
the
right to held public office, and the right to criticize and oppose t
government. Political rights are available to the people in a democ
state.
 c. Economic Rights.
Economic rights are those rights that provide economic security to the
people.
These empower all citizens to make proper use of their civil and political
rights.
The basic needs of every person are related to his food, clothing, shelter,
and
medical treatment. Without the fulfillment of these, no person can enjoy
his
civil and political rights. It is therefore essential, that every person must
get the
right to work, right to adequate wages, right to leisure and rest, and right
to
social security in case of illness, physical disability, and old age.
 Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a normative ethical theory that places the locus of rig
and
wrong solely on the outcomes (consequences) of cheesing one
action/policy over
other actions/policies. As such, it moves beyond the scope of one's
interests and
takes into account the interests of others.
Utilitarianism asks us to consider the total good or bad which will obta
from any given action. In other words, individual desires may be
subordinated
for the good of the majority of the members of society.
 Two types of Utilitarianism
1. Act utilitarianism implies that one should assess whether an act is
right or wrong direction
because of the principle of utility. This means that the morally right action
is the one
that has the best overall consequences for the welfare or utility of the
majority of the
affected parties.
2. Rule utilitarianism can be regarded as an attempt to develop a
version of utilitarianism
that can avoid the outlined objections to the classic version of act
utilitarianism. The morally
right action must be in accordance with moral rules or norms that can be
justified based on
the principle of utility. Agents should decide what to do in concrete
 I. Jeremy Bentham and His Utilitarianism
Bentham, one of the earliest founders of Utilitarianism was an English
philosopher and political radical. Although he never practiced law,
Bentham did write a great deal of philosophy of law. spending most of his
life critiquing the existing law and strongly advocating legal reform.
Throughout his 'work, he critiques various natural accounts of law which
claim, for example, that liberty, rights, and so on exist independent of
government. In this 'way, Bentham arguably developed an early form of
what is now often called "legal positivism.
 Strengths of Bentham’s Utilitarianism

Objective & universalizable: One does not assign priority of concern for
others based on
one’s subjective definition of pleasure. The calculus requires one to act
with consideration
for others regardless of whether one does take pleasure in what others
value. Pleasure is a
product of sentience thus all sentient beings are included in the moral
deliberations.

Quantifiable/measurable - specific values are assigned to observable

outcomes.

Democratic - One's ends do not outweigh the ends of others nor is one
 Challenges to Bentham’s
Utilitarianism
1. Values assigned to outcomes must always reflect a bias within a
particular operating system - i.e., the test will be rigged & thus net as
objective as it might appear.

2. The process is unwieldy - there's rarely sufficient time to perform the

calculus thoroughly for every moral decision - or even for big moral
decisions

3. The future will always be uncertain - we don't know for sure which
outcome we intend will produce the greatest good. Further, those
consequences for even small acts may reverberate throughout
generations - going well beyond what may be reasonably foreseen.

4. The problem of sheer numbers - if pleasures and pains are net

 II John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), British philosopher, economist, moral an
political
theorist, and administrator, was the most influential English-speakin
philosopher
of the nineteenth century. His views are of continuing significance, and
generally recognized to be among the deepest and certainly the mos
effective
defenses of empiricism and a liberal political view of society and cultu
The
overall aim of his philosophy is to develop a positive view of the unive
and the
place of humans in it. one which contributes to the progress of huma
 Mill’s critiques on Bentham
- Bentham established no hierarchies of goods - suggests that [here are
no qualitative differences
- Bentham would hold us responsible for long-term and impossibly
unforeseeable consequences for every act.
Mill’s Highest Good: Happiness which includes:
- Pride (as in Aristotle, not the Christian version)
- A love of liberty & personal independence
- A love of power (empowerment) & excitement
- Dignity - the “most appropriate appellation”
 Why Happiness? Two important points
1. The justification for happiness depends on human psychology - we have
no choice in
our preference for happiness/pleasure - to demand otherwise is impossible.
2. The assignation of value to various goods is made by those who have
experience in
both the higher and lower pleasures - the well-educated and rational person,
not the
“fool” or “ignoramus.”
What is a Happy Life?
“If by happiness be meant a continuity of highly pleasurable
excitement, it is evident enough that this is impossible”
(It) “is not a life of rapture; but moments of such, in an existence, made up
of tew and
transitory pains, many and various pleasures, with a decided predominance
of the active
over the passive, and having as the foundation of the whole not to expect
 Justice and Fairness
Justice means giving each person what he or she deserves or, in
traditional terms, giving each person his or her cue. Justice and fairn
closely related terms that are often today used interchangeably. The
however, also been more distinct understandings of the two terms.
justice usually has been used concerning a standard of rightness, fa
often
has been used concerning an ability to judge without reference to
feelings
or interests; fairness has also been used to refer to the ability to
judgments that are not overly general but that are concrete and spe
particular case. In any case, a notion of being treated as one deser
crucial
to both justice and fairness.
 Principles of Justice
The most fundamental principle of justice—one that has been widely
accepted since it
was first defined by Aristotle more than two thousand years ago— is the
principle that
"equals should be treated equally and unequal’s unequally." In its
contemporary form, this
principle is sometimes expressed as follows: "Individuals should be treated
the same unless
they differ in ways that are relevant to the situation in which they are
involved." For
example, if Jack and Jill both de the same work, and there are no relevant
differences
between them or the work they are doing, then injustice they should be paid
the same
wages. And if Jack is paid more than Jill simply because he is a man, or
 Different Kinds of Justice
Distributive justice - refers to the extent to which society's institutions
ensure that benefits
and burdens are distributed among society's members in ways that are fair
and just. When
the institutions of a society distribute benefits or burdens in unjust ways,
there is a strong
presumption that those institutions should be changed. For example, the
American
institution of slavery in the pre-civil war South was condemned as unjust
because it was a
glaring case of treating people differently based on race.
Retributive justice - refers to the extent to which punishments are fair
and just. In general,
punishments are held to be just to the extent that they take into account
relevant criteria
such as the seriousness of the crime and the intent of the criminal, and
 Compensatory justice refers to the extent to which people are fairly
compensated for
their injuries by those who have injured them; just compensation is
proportional to the
loss inflicted on a person. This is precisely the kind of justice that is at stake
in debates
over damage to workers' health in coal mines. Some argue that mine
owners should
compensate the workers whose health has been ruined. Others argue that
workers
voluntarily took on this risk when they chose employment in the mines.