MORAL MEASURES Moral Measures: An Introduction to Ethics West and East is a clear, introductory, yet critical study of Western and Eastern ethics that carefully introduces the difficult issues surrounding cross-cultural ethics and moral thought. By examining Western and Eastern moral traditions, Jim Tiles explores the basis for determining ethical measures of conduct across different cultures. This much- needed book discusses three kinds of moral measures: measures of right, of virtue and of the good. Drawing on a rich array of ethical thinkers, including Aristotle, Kant and Confucius, Jim Tiles argues that there are ethical problems shared by apparently opposed moral traditions and there is much to be learned by comparing them. Moral Measures: An Introduction to Ethics West and East is one of the first books to explore properly the relationships between Western and Eastern ethical thought. The book assumes no prior knowledge of philosophy or religion and is ideal for anyone coming to Western and Eastern ethical traditions for the first time. Jim Tiles is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hawai‘i at M noa. He is the author of Dewey (1988), also published by Routledge, and the co- author of An Introduction to Historical Epistemology (1992). MORAL MEASURES An Introduction to Ethics West and East J.E.Tiles London and New York First published 2000 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2000 J.E.Tiles All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Tiles, J.E. Moral Measures: an introduction to ethics West and East/J.E.Tiles p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Ethics I. Title BJ1012.T55 2000 99–053170 170–dc21 ISBN 0-203-46504-0 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-77328-4 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-22495-0 (hbk) ISBN 0-415-22496-9 (pbk) CONTENTS Preface vii Acknowledgements x 1 1 The field of ethics—a preliminary i Survey Approaching the subject: Something old, something peculiar 2 Creatures of habit: Habit, custom and culture 5 Impulses to approve or to condemn: Harmless ritual and ritual 10 cannibalism Conflicting responses: Foot-binding, genital mutilation and abortion 14 2 Concrete moralities 23 Conventions, laws and climates of attitude: The revenge ethic and the 24 spirit of capitalism Psychological foundations and mechanisms of reproduction: Guilt 29 and shame, ritual and myth Manners and morals: Etiquette, diet and fashion as moral 36 phenomena Law and morality: Rough music and rough handling 40 3 Sources of validity 48 Tradition and charisma: Spartans, Socrates and their nomoi 49 Nature: Ritual purity, karma and incest 54 God’s will: The impatience of Job and the submission of al-Ash ar 59 Reason: The lex talionis and reason’s aesthetic 63 4 Conflict and the search for standards 70 Conflict: The anguish of Arjuna and the arrogance of Euthyphro 71 Standards: Straight thinking and right-angled conduct 76 v Rational authority: Two ways to straighten the use of words 82 Reason and reality: Seductive and authoritative objects 88 5 Man as the measure 96 Relativism: Protagoras, conventionalism and tolerance 97 Anarchism: Intuitions, optimism and the tao of Chuang Tzu 102 Skepticism: From peace of mind to ‘queer’ entities 107 Non-cognitivism: Emotivism, prescriptivism and distant views 111 6 Law as measure 120 The lawful and the just: Lex and ius 121 Procedures, rules and particulars: Oracles and kadis, precedents 127 and statutes Equity and casuistry: A mute divinity, the Lesbian rule and the 133 tyranny of principles The diversity of justice: Equality, self-determination and collective 138 responsibility 7 The measure of law 146 Persons, rights and roles: God, slaves and corporations 147 Natural slaves and natural law: Contours of nature and the flow of 153 rhetoric Kant’s canon: Reason and its imperatives 159 Taking legal measures: Respect for persons and the limits of 165 coercion 8 The qualities of exemplary persons 175 Duties of virtue: Perfection of self and duties of beneficence 176 Classical virtues and the rule of ritual: Elite and demotic virtues, 182 setting a good example Where the standard resides: Rituals, laws and sage kings 188 The analysis of virtue: Choice, the mean, reason and practical 193 wisdom 9 The end as a standard 203 The role of reason: Teleology, deontology and deliberative 204 rationality vi The appeal to human nature: For the standard of what it is to live 210 well Eudaimonia and the ethical excellences: Contemplation and public 216 service A Confucian take on eudaimonia: Blending reason and ritual 223 10 Pleasure as the measure 232 The protean standard of hedonism: Whose pleasures? Which 233 assessment of risk? Private pleasures and public responsibilities: Selves, friends and 240 fellow citizens The universal standpoint: Concern for everyone, general happiness 246 The golden rule and the expanding circle: Respect for sentience and 252 the throne of pleasure and pain 11 The self as a problem 261 Asceticism and salvation: Dependencies, holy virginity and 262 soteriology Suffering as the problem: Four noble truths and an eight-fold noble 267 path Apathy (apatheia) and non-attachment (anup disesa): The pathology 273 of the passions In the world but not of it: Hermits, monks and early capitalists 279 12 Conclusion: Measures that fall short? 288 Challenging the sovereignty of reason: Slaves versus managers of the 289 passions Social animals: Associates, friends, communities 293 Concern for everyone: Charity, compassion and contracting circles 297 Character table 303 References 305 Index 315 PREFACE This book began as a collection of materials used to supplement textbooks for an introductory course on ethics. One objective I had was to make clear to students the extent to which ethics as a normative theoretical activity is prompted by and is addressed to social phenomena. A second objective arose from the emphasis placed on including non-Western traditions in the study of philosophy by the department where I have taught for the past ten years. In order to encourage this ecumenical spirit in my students at the beginning of their experience of philosophy, I assembled accounts of what I thought were instructive contributions to the subject drawn from a variety of non-Western sources. As my efforts to explain this material inevitably drew on what I knew of ethical traditions in the West, and as I found that my appreciation of what had been for me familiar traditions was undergoing some radical changes, the material grew into a series of comparative essays that functioned as the primary text for my course. In the course of this development, the image of a standard or measure appeared frequently in the material on which I was drawing, and that image provided an organizational principle, so that the essays acquired the structure, and suggested the argument, of a book. The result is offered to readers as a general introduction to ethics based on the cross-cultural theme of ethical standards (‘moral measures’). It includes a discussion of moral attitudes as sociological phenomena and their relationship to the phenomena of etiquette and fashion and to the institutions of law (Chapter 2). It considers in detail three common approaches to ethical standards: (1) laws and rights, or ‘practical deontology’ (Chapters 6 and 7); (2) human exemplars and their qualities, or the virtuous and their virtues (Chapter 8); and (3) teleological or consequentialist ethics based on an idea of human good (Chapters 9 and 10). Connected to the last of these is a survey of what might be called ‘the bad for man’—‘soteriological ethics,’ or ethical traditions that proceed from one or another form of the assumption that we need salvation of some kind (Chapter 11). As a preamble to the detailed treatment of the three kinds of standard, there is a discussion of the reasons commonly given for thinking that there can be no rational or objective standards (Chapter 5) for our moral attitudes. viii I have drawn throughout on non-Western as well as Western traditions and practices, and on both historical and contemporary sources. The treatment is organized conceptually, not chronologically or geographically. There are lists of further reading at the end of all but the final chapter for readers who wish to see detailed treatments of the practices and traditions, philosophers and schools, on which I draw to illustrate the conceptual material presented here. Part of my aim has been to show that the systematic study of ethics is a highly suitable vehicle for broadening the cultural horizons of students and to contribute what I can to the momentum toward less cultural parochialism in education generally and in philosophy in particular. Another part of my aim has been to work for a broader perspective on the nature of moral phenomena and the responsibility we have to invest critical thought in examining our attitudes toward conduct. I have adopted a position with respect to standards that might be termed ‘methodological pluralism,’ have argued for a form of ‘naturalism’—that a conception of our own nature as a species provides the basis for measures of all three kinds—and have suggested in conclusion reasons for thinking that such a basis cannot by itself support certain common attitudes toward ethical principles without an extension of that basis in ways that bring it closer to doctrines found in a number of religious traditions.