La Follette ‘Personal Relationships’
Summary sentence starters
Morality and personal relationships: Do they conflict?
Morality and personal relationships appear to conflict because…
For example, a teacher …..
This could be linked to sociology because ….
On the other hand, personal relationships are necessarily partial because….
The principle of equal consideration of interests (i.e. that everyone ought to be treated equally) does not work in practice because ….
Furthermore, the moral rule which justifies partiality is impartial as ….
Intimacy promotes….. which are significant moral values because …..
Thus it appears to be legitimate to treat intimates better than we treat strangers because…..
However, this could link to Kant who would argue….
On the other hand, maybe the requirement of impartiality undermines personal relationships. As Rachels puts it….. By this he meant….
So maybe people do have special duties to others, for example….
This could be linked to Jamieson when he talked about foundationalism because…. Furthermore, we could link this to our work on environmental ethics because….
So we can say parents have special responsibilities towards their children because ….
Personal relationships are legitimate only because they derive from…
La Follette argues this view is wrong but not nonsense. Impartiality is vital to our understanding of morality; as Rachels argues…..
We could link this to the difference between Kant’s categorical imperative and Ross’ prima facie duties because….
Jamieson’s example of role reversal tests could be used to agree with Rachels here because….
However, Anscombe in abandoning moral absolutes would disagree with Rachels because ….
Lavishing attention on those we care for seems tacky because…. Compare this to the teachings of Jesus….
Undeniably luck plays a huge role in determining a persons’ lot in life. This could linl to utilitarianism which sought to…..
In Rachels’ view, parents would care for their children because….. This could be linked to Fletcher’s explanation of agape because ….
In fact, if personal relationships were merely based on moral rules it would have a negative effect, such as….In contrast, in Rachels’ view someone would befriend you because a moral rule requires it. We could ask the question is parenting a job – should it be paid? In my opinion…..
So Williams and others have argued that personal relationships and morality inevitably conflict. Williams gives the example of….. But maybe this shows morality does not lose – to save the wife is moral.
Don’t we all want our loved ones’ actions to be motivated by love rather than duty? Of course, Kant would disagree because ….
The interplay of morality and personal relationships
So the demands of morality and concerns for personal relationships appear to conflict but La Follette argues they could instead be mutually supportive. Firstly as…..and secondly….
Issues arising from personal relationships are useful material for an argument because…..as we have seen in the writings of Kant, Mill, Fletcher, Anscombe and Aquinas. For example,…..
We can develop neither moral knowledge, nor empathy crucial for impartial morality (as Jamieson agrees using role reversal tests) unless… For example, ….
La Follette argues we cannot promote interests we cannot identify; we learn to discern the needs of others within our families, for example….
This could be linked to horrendous cases such as children who kill. For example,…. This shows…. Psychologists may say…..
We may have some biologically inherited sympathetic tendencies but….. This could link to our work on Evil and Suffering. Does experiencing suffering allow for compassion? However, it raises philosophical questions such as….
So of we develop empathy towards our friends….. La Follette argues people cannot be just or moral in a vacuum.
Furthermore, trust is very important in relationships as dishonesty can…. For example,….
Thus, genuine personal relationships are limited in an immoral environment. We could consider abusive relatiosnhips….
So La Follette concludes personal relationships and morality are not at odds, but are mutually supportive, and the apparent conflict can be resolved in two ways. Firstly, ….and secondly,….
Conflicts, of course, do arise but this doesn’t show morality is impossible, only that….