Applied Ethics as a Self-Contained Discipline:An Interview with Professor Gan Shaoping
Applied ethics has been a prominent discipline in contemporary China.However,the characteristics,contents,methods,and objectives of applied ethics are still confusing for many researchers.In an interview with Gan Shaoping,a professor of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,he explained that the main task of applied ethics is to deal with the tensions between conflicting values and attempt to solve ethical paradoxes.In the term applied ethics,the word"applied"does not signify a simple application of classical ethical theories to solve contemporary problems,but rather to demonstrate the call to re-introduce,reflect,and revise relevant ethical concepts in the process of solving moral problems.It is also meant to generate,shape,and improve the ethical norms related to them,so as to provide a basis for institutional design or the formation of a universal social behavior model.As far as the methodology of applied ethics,Gan Shaoping advocates a methodology of"reflective equilibrium"in the Rawlsian sense.When dealing with moral problems,this methodology does not deduce a moral principle from an ethical theory;rather,it comprehensively considers all aspects of human moral demands with a coherent attitude.It combines and balances deduction theory and skeptical theory while also integrateing ethical theory,moral beliefs,and emotional intuition into a logical background framework to form a coherent system that weighs different possibilities based on different situations,so as to seek the best results under the given conditions and behavioral situations and to solve the ethical problems in need of urgent solutions.Thus,the goal of applied ethics is not to form moral truth,but to seek situational moral consensus.However,this does not mean that applied ethics completely admits moral relativism,but rather that it still acknowledges the existence of a universal morality that can be accepted by all human beings.
万方数据
