Philosophy - Moral Theory - Essay Example

Philosophy- Moral Theory Introduction Theories have been developed with time with an aim of expressing longtime thoughts and admiration of a phenomenon in order to convince society or a certain setting on the importance and relevance of the subject matter. Majority of theories are presented through generalized abstracts illustrating the theorist’s conclusion or view over particular phenomenon and/or estimated/ forecasted strategies of achieving and understanding the same phenomenon but on a broader perspective.

In contextual and epistemological analysis, theories differ with hypotheses in that they provide explanatory framework for some observations which are a product of testing the hypotheses; designed to support or challenge an argument that forms the basis of the theory 1. In a nutshell, theories are based on the conscious thoughts; analysis, applying logic and finding sense in order to establish or verify facts, beliefs and/or practices, basing the argument on facts and new set of real or perceived information.

With this, theories can either be strong or weak depending with the phenomenon at hand and the contextual application/reasoning of theorists in line with the currency of information or the setting/audience.1 In this paper we shall look at the strengths and weaknesses of Joey’s theory and consider the plausible way of improving the theory and later evaluate modification to see if really improves the theory. Strengths Joey’s theory passes the description aspects in that it provides language that makes discriminations in experience; it labels variables and gives them their relationships satisfying the “what is it” question of theories.

1Jaccard, James, and Jacob Jacoby. 2010. Theory construction and model-building skills: a practical guide for social scientists. New York: Guilford Press. For instance, by justifying that moral agents should cause pain/suffering and clearly sensitizing if and only if the pain is necessary, and later showing the relationship of the pain with the importance to the affected or the society at large; qualifies the description clause making it a strong theory. The theory also satisfies the explanation and prediction goals in that it seeks to illustrate to the reader the relationship between variables under different conditions which guide in extrapolation of expected outcomes that have not yet been observed; giving magnitude, direction and influence thus satisfying both the “how does it work” and “what happens next” requirements of a good theory.

By defining how moral agents should solve their conflict stage by stage and defining the magnitude/causative clauses of how the importance of a goal rationally dictates the moral aspect in decision making which based on how these decisions may affect them2, give the theory much strength. By arguing that it is morally permissible for a dentist to perform, as painlessly as possible, a root canal on a child for therapeutic purposes, this theory satisfies the parsimony test in that it explains the reality of considering the pain caused and to some extent giving the range/magnitude; which is later justified by the conventional aspect of therapeutic processes which in many occasion may seem pain less than non-therapeutic measures.

By reflecting on the outcomes of actions by the moral agents such that the principles in their moral obligations might conflict and/or lead to conflicting actions; defining the procedural aspect of decision making to ascertain the 2Northouse, Peter Guy. 2004. Leadership: theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage best principle and the identification of resulting consequences, the theory satisfies the power clause/requirement by illustrating the control/intervention aspect thus answering the question of “how can we influence it” and/or “what can be done about”?

The idea that moral agents should respect the autonomy of others and the requirement by the agents to be rational in identification of goals; considering their proposed actions and evaluation of circumstances while guided by the justifications to cause or not to cause the pain, gives the theory an internal consistency and scope in that the concepts are logical and form an explanation that build each other. This makes the theory operate within the range of its convenience as its prepositions cover all relevant elements and conclusion is based on premises that are justified and logically consistent.

Weaknesses Joey’s theory to some point fails the test of operationality and generativity in that some concepts are not fully defined in terms of measurements and how to achieve them. For instance, autonomy should be defined in terms of ranks or personal achievements in relation to a given phenomenon but the theory generalizes the fact that they should respect each other without giving the measure and/or the factors that should necessitate this kind of autonomy and respect. The theory lacks falsifiability aspects and empirical support in that to some point it is not possible to test and challenge basic premises and that it lacks evidence to assert the arguments basically relying on logic.

For instance, it is logically true and justified for a dentist to perform a painless therapy for a child’s root canal but lacks evidence on the factors that might have contributed to this kind of operation and still locks out room change and disconfirmation3, 3Roulston, Kathryn. 2010. Reflective interviewing: a guide to theory and practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications which could have been easier if evidence was available. Conclusion As discussed above, Joey’s theory is strong as it has passed several tests of theory requirements but by incorporating all levels of measurement, that is, nominal; ordinal, interval and ratio will be exemplary and satisfying more so in issues that require knowledge and commonsense/ logic, and those that affect a larger population in the society.

In addition, the generativity needs to be curtailed to expand the scope of the theory and promote the operationality of the concepts used in the theory. For instance, by incorporating effective measures coupled with empirical evidence will help the theory generate much research more so in the factors to govern/stimulate decision making and rationality/logic by moral agents other than the proposed ones. References Jaccard, James, and Jacob Jacoby. 2010. Theory construction and model-building skills: a practical guide for social scientists.

New York: Guilford Press. Northouse, Peter Guy. 2004. Leadership: theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Roulston, Kathryn. 2010. Reflective interviewing: a guide to theory and practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications