Ethics as a Philosophical Phenomenon - Essay Example

?8 Introduction Ethics is a philosophical phenomenon that defines what is good and what is bad to different people. In this regard, based on the diversity in human reasoning, they are bound to conduct themselves in different ways depending on the situation at hand, as well as the anticipated achievements. In this regard, the conduct of various characters in the Animal Farm differs; For example, Snowball, Napoleon and Squeler succeed boar in the leadership, but later disagree due the differences in leadership roles as well as greed for power. This essay seeks to present an evaluation of ethics by different characters in the book; specifically Consequentialism (Consequences), Deotology (Motivation) and Virtue theory taking into account individual, culture and Universal levels of justice. VIRTUE BASED THEORY This ethical approach takes into consideration the different characters or parties to an event or an encounter and how they affect the interactions with other parties, either directly or indirectly. In this regard, it is evident that disparity in characters appears among various individuals. Good act may be presented by two people differently based on their characters. This therefore depicts ethics as the human nature one should strive to achieve, with specific characters such as being honest, kind, fair, faithful and generous among others being credited. Since these characters ensure harmonious interaction and co-existence among various parties, they are very appealing and appreciated. In a bid to achieve these qualities, one should act accordingly. In the Animal Farm, the deeds executed by various characters depicted either an adherence or non-adherence to the traits, a) Napolean treats other animals unfairly and strives to maintain his position as a leader through unfair ruling. He uses the nine dogs as a military weapon to intimidate other animals, which is not right as well as not directed towards achieving the ethical traits outlined above. b) Snowball is passionate and always strived to improve the welfare of other animals and works towards the achievement of the traits. c) Boxer is depicted as a strong character, who has dedication and loyalty in the improvement of the welfare of the members of the Animal Farm. d) Squealer is depicted as of unfit characters as he indulges himself in spreading propagandas, which are intended to ensure Napoleon retains leadership. e) Old Major is depicted as of good character through his leadership as well the vision of improving the welfare of the animals. f) Clover is of good character and is always observant of the commandment designated to govern the conduct of animals in the farm, is not pleased by violation of the laws by the pigs and blames herself for frequently forgetting the commandments. g) Moses is depicted to be of good faith by presentation of stories of the destination of the animals after their death. h) Mollie is depicted as a character that likes being treated fairly well by other, and is not involved in bad acts. i) Benjamin holds the opinion that life remains unchanged irrespective of who takes charge of leadership and always displays good characters in his undertakings j) Muriel is depicted as being very observant of the seven commandments, and thus depicts good character. k) Mr. Jones is depicted as an unjust leader, who does not take care of the welfare of the animals who suffer from lack of food. l) Mr. Fredrick is depicted as a person who is dedicated in his undertakings in a bid to ensure that perfection is derived from his undertakings m) Mr. Pilkington, is depicted as an easy-going character, an attribute not favoured in the virtue theory Consequentialism theory It asserts that an action’s impacts or behavior determines the moral value of it. Measuring the moral worth of an action or impact is the main concern in consequallism. This is because consequences may be approvable, natural or bad. In consequential theory, only the real affects matters. People or objects affected by the behavior and complicating factors influence can differentiate consequences of a person or group behavior. For instance, in the Animal Farm case, the consequence of the action by the Old Major has more benefits to the animal kingdom. Old Major summons all the Manor farm animal into a meeting and inform them of his dream of all animals living together in harmony; this act is increasingly beneficial because it creates unity among the animal and gives them power to fight for their freedom. Major urges the animal to work for their freedom and teaches them a Beasts of England song, which is a song of unity. Utilitarianism analysis is an ethical principle that claims that the action’s moral value is totally determined by the contribution of action to the broader utility; it is therefore, a consequentialism form, implying that the moral value of an action determines the results of that action- the end of an action justifies its means. Utility- the benefit to be capitalized – is the good or happiness achieved (as opposed to pain or agony), even though preference utilitarian consider utility as preferred satisfaction. Utilitarianism as a moral system emphasizes on the action’s outcomes or impacts. Any utilitarian ethical argument for a series of actions should involve evaluation of the required practices to implement the actions. Animal Farm acts as a social and political setting concerned with power influences, nature of power and how people utilize that power to produce pleasure, happiness or pain for more people. At the start, power was applied to attain extensive benefits. It combined all the Manor Farm animals in a unified cause to achieve liberty from human mistreatments. Consequently, this first positive power influence, later, started to ruin the community that had operated in union to create a utopia. Afterwards, power struggle developed and acted to disintegrate rather than unify the manor farm animals. The fight among Snowball, Napoleon and Jones ruins the firm Animal Farm society. Similarly, in the struggle for power and influence between Snowball and Napoleon, Napoleon produces a strange sound that makes his attack dogs chase Snowball away. This action has increased benefits for Napoleon because it makes him take over the Animal Farm leadership. Similarly, it gives the pigs the power of decision making over all the Animal Farm. In this case, Napoleon’s decision and actions achieves increased happiness for the majority in the Animal Farm. On the other hand, Napoleon’s leadership produces pain and displeasure to other animal. For instance, Napoleon acts as a dictator and any animal that dares oppose his authority risks death at the attack dogs’ teeth. Similarly, Napoleon through his unquestioned power starts expanding his authority and rewriting history, an act that causes pain to Snowball as it makes him a villain. In addition, Napoleon assumes human behavior such as using a bed, consuming whisky and trading with farmers in his neighborhood; this act is unethical because the initial Animalist standards strictly oppose these actions, but Squealer, a protagonist of Napoleon, justifies all actions and convinces the animals of the greatness of the Napoleon’s leadership. Napoleon actions yield more pain to other animals because he maintains his authority irrespective of the fact that other animal are unhappy, hungry and overloaded with work. Consequences are unpredictable, because ones action may be intended for the best results, but have an increased probability of producing bad results. However, if something happens and impacts are generally negative, then the actions are unethical. Additionally, in a situation that comprises of various alternatives and people, it is increasingly hard to determine action that would generate better impacts. DEONTOLOGICAL This ethical theory argues that each outcome has different features, which actually determine whether the act is right or wrong. In this regard, the outcome does not have much weight; much consideration is given to the features that led to the outcome. For example, in the Animal Farm, Napoleon trained the puppies with the act of driving away Mr. Jones, as well as Snowball, in order to gain control over the farm, and thus exercise power and authority over all other animals (Bloom 104). Moreover, when the puppies attacked Snowball, Napoleon had made some unique sounds that called the puppies and made them attack Snowball. In this regard, arguing from the Deontological theory, the puppies attacking Snowball, which is the consequence, is not given much weight with the consideration lying in the act of producing the sound. In this case, it was unethical for Napoleon to make the sounds, as he knew that the outcome would not be pleasing. Deontological ethical approach is divided into three main sections namely absolute, prima facie and conditional. Absolute refers to when an activity has exception in relation to the ethics it entails, prima facie outlines the differences in various duties, in which only important duties can override inferior ones, while conditional is depicted when the issue hold only under outlined situation. In this regard, it is evident that the differences are derived from the doctrines of ethics, and the value attached to each agreed law. Thinking rationally is found to be a founding principle in the execution of various activities, irrespective of the level of justice they fit. In this regard, various leaders in the Animal Farm, such as Napoleon did take different managerial activities, some of which were appealing to the members of the farm, while other did not get good reception. The difference in reception is derived from the diversity in reasoning of the various members of the farm, and is mainly derived from the position they held. The deontological theory is mainly derived in a bid to safeguard and promote various actions of rational beings. In this regard, it is evident that the wellbeing of various animals was not well catered for in the Animal Farm. For example, Napoleon denies the animals from exercising their actions rationally by arguing that any creature that goes against his directive, those who contested his leadership, would face severe consequences, which included death by being attacked by the dogs he had reared. There are various formulation of this ethical approach, which are outlined in this approach. For example, one should always act in accordance to good will, in which, the activity one indulges in should not be driven by the satisfaction s/he derives from it, but the ultimate reason that it is the right thing to be executed. This formulation argues that it is not necessary to make follow-up in the various activities we undertake, as every activity is guided on whether it is right or wrong irrespective of the satisfaction. In the Animal Farm, many of the characters involved did not heed to the formulation, as their actions were founded on the anticipated self-gains. This is evident from the suppression by the rulers to the minorities in the farm. The other formulation is based on the levels of justice, in which one should always act and reason similarly to how the actions would be, in accordance with the anticipated will of the universal laws of nature. In this regard, there should be room for other rational reasoning by other parties, in justifying their actions as we also did. In regard to this formulation, various leaders in the Animal Farm, animals as well as humans, failed to take heed to the formulation, with the minorities being observant of it. The last formulation of Deontological approach is stipulated in that we should never treat rational beings as means into attaining the results. In this regard, respect to various parties irrespective of the positions and duties they undertake should be upheld. The application of this ethical approach by various members of the Animal Farm has different benefits, which include the absence of an agreement, which stipulates how different parties should conduct themselves. Moreover, the pains realized from ignoring the observation of the deontological approach are not experienced as parties argue rationally and do accommodate rational views and opinion of other beings. Conclusion Animal Farm depicts various ethical conducts by the characters, have been analyzed through Consequentialism (Consequences), Deotology (Motivation) and Virtue theory. Various characters fit into some of the ethical approaches, while others show no trait of being ethical. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. George Orwell's Animal Farm. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009. Print. Read More