Ethical Theory and Social Perception
My purpose in this post is to propose an empirical research program, the fruits of which would, potentially, be of significance to the conduct of ethical theory.
As the name suggests, ethical theory is the subfield of ethics concerned with the formulation of theories of the ethical realm. Ethical theories are, in the broadest sense, meant to explain the facts of the ethical realm; most fundamentally, the are meant to explain the facts concerning good and bad, right and wrong. In virtue of its explanatory power, a good ethical theory should be action-guiding: that is, it should tell us what we ought to do in the various life circumstances in which we find ourselves.
Broadly speaking, ethical theories can be divided into four main categories. First, there are deontological theories, which hold that (a) ethics is about acting consistently with a set of abstract, normative principles and that (b) these principles are derived from the facts about value (i.e. good and bad), whatever those are.1 Second, there are consequentialist theories, which hold that that ethics is about producing good consequences, in the sense of promoting value (e.g., happiness). Third, there are virtue theories, which hold that ethics is about cultivating in ourselves particular character traits and dispositions. Fourth, there are divine command theories, which hold that the facts of ethics are ultimately grounded in the will of God.
If moral realism is true, then there is some true ethical theory (though it may be a theory we have yet to develop - and it may contain elements of a number of different extant theories); we moral realists therefore of course hope that we believe our preferred theory because it is true, or at least close to the truth. However, inevitably, non-epistemic factors influence our ethical theory preferences; not least, individual personality traits.
Two related empirical questions I believe it would be of considerable value to answer are these: (1) How do our professed ethical theory preferences impact others’ perceptions of us?, and (2) How do our assumptions about (1) impact our professed ethical theory preferences?
My guess is that ethical theorists often - perhaps largely unconsciously - are influenced by what they suspect others will infer about them on the basis of the theories they endorse. If so, this presents a significant obstacle to clear ethical theorizing.
An example of how I suspect the problem might manifest: someone is, on the basis of philosophical considerations, inclined towards classical utilitarianism (according to which all actions should be aimed solely at maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain); however, the ethical theorist suspects that others will tend to view classical utilitarians as less trustworthy - given that classical utilitarianism makes no room for any absolute prohibitions (e.g., on lying) - and so either does not publicly profess sympathy for the theory or (worse) tries actively to believe some other theory. If many ethical theorists are prone to behavior along these lines, the effect will be a pervasive corruption of their area of inquiry.
Answering my empirical questions may seem like a tall order, given that most people have little-to-no knowledge of ethical theory. However (and this is what makes the first question pertinent), I doubt that people need much, if any, knowledge of ethical theory to form judgments about advocates of the various theories (e.g., someone who has never heard the word “deontology” may nevertheless have a strong reaction to someone who insists that ethics is about strict, unflinching adherence to principles).
It will also be important to take account of the fact that there will undoubtedly be considerable variation across populations in terms of perceptions of the various ethical theories and their proponents (e.g., those of left-leaning academics will be very different from those of people embedded in deeply religiously conservative communities).
Getting to the bottom of these empirical questions would, I think, help us to orient ethical theory more towards its proper end: namely, the dispassionate pursuit actual ethical truth.
That is, principles concerned with what ought to be done.