The idea of applied ethics suggests that ethics, typically in the form of normative theory, can be applied to various facts that are already given. But these facts can only be dealt with in language, and this language is very likely to express attitudes of one kind or another. Describing the facts then can be seen to be an ethical task. It is a task that calls for a variety of virtues. Honesty is certainly one of these, but justice and love might be relevant too. An honest description will be accurate, but not every accurate description is fair or kind. When considering a case in ethics, as when judging, or simply trying to appreciate, a work of art, we should look, think, and describe disinterestedly, impartially, but not so abstractly that we cease to have human reactions. Indeed, if Iris Murdoch is right, then we should attend lovingly and then describe accordingly. In describing a situation there are many things to consider, including the distance from which it should be described (at the level of individual decisions, for instance, or at a more political or systemic level), how it should be framed, whether, and, if so, how, it should be re-framed (as Socrates re-frames the question of whether he ought to break the law and escape from prison), whose point of view to emphasize, and so on. Deciding what kind of description is most pertinent calls for judgement, so it, like describing, is itself an ethical task. It is possible that once this work of virtuous, imaginative, and accurate description is done there will be no questions left to ask. Wittgenstein said that the facts belong to the assignment, not to its completion (Tractatus 6.4321), but some descriptions of situations are likely to be so moving or eye-opening that there is no question (at least for some people) about what to do. An example might be Claire Keegan’s description of circumstances in Small Things Like These, in which Bill Furlong comes to see, without even necessarily putting it into words, that he must rescue the girl he has found, whatever it costs him. In order to illustrate and explain the approach that I am recommending I will look in some detail at two examples, one from fiction and one from real life. The first is the case of Furlong. The second is the case of RaDonda Vaught, a nurse who mistakenly administered fatal medication to a patient. In Vaught’s case, there are many questions one could ask, including both ‘To what extent was she to blame for the death of her patient?’ and ‘What should be done to make similar cases less likely in future?’ Both which questions we are more inclined to ask and what answers we are likely to give to them depend on how the facts of the case are presented. Describing the facts as ethically as we can is likely to involve some give and take between the tasks of description and moral judgement.

The Ethics of Description

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发表日期：

2025年

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Duncan Richter

摘要

The idea of applied ethics suggests that ethics, typically in the form of normative theory, can be applied to various facts that are already given. But these facts can only be dealt with in language, and this language is very likely to express attitudes of one kind or another. Describing the facts then can be seen to be an ethical task. It is a task that calls for a variety of virtues. Honesty is certainly one of these, but justice and love might be relevant too. An honest description will be accurate, but not every accurate description is fair or kind. When considering a case in ethics, as when judging, or simply trying to appreciate, a work of art, we should look, think, and describe disinterestedly, impartially, but not so abstractly that we cease to have human reactions. Indeed, if Iris Murdoch is right, then we should attend lovingly and then describe accordingly. In describing a situation there are many things to consider, including the distance from which it should be described (at the level of individual decisions, for instance, or at a more political or systemic level), how it should be framed, whether, and, if so, how, it should be re-framed (as Socrates re-frames the question of whether he ought to break the law and escape from prison), whose point of view to emphasize, and so on. Deciding what kind of description is most pertinent calls for judgement, so it, like describing, is itself an ethical task. It is possible that once this work of virtuous, imaginative, and accurate description is done there will be no questions left to ask. Wittgenstein said that the facts belong to the assignment, not to its completion (Tractatus 6.4321), but some descriptions of situations are likely to be so moving or eye-opening that there is no question (at least for some people) about what to do. An example might be Claire Keegan’s description of circumstances in Small Things Like These, in which Bill Furlong comes to see, without even necessarily putting it into words, that he must rescue the girl he has found, whatever it costs him. In order to illustrate and explain the approach that I am recommending I will look in some detail at two examples, one from fiction and one from real life. The first is the case of Furlong. The second is the case of RaDonda Vaught, a nurse who mistakenly administered fatal medication to a patient. In Vaught’s case, there are many questions one could ask, including both ‘To what extent was she to blame for the death of her patient?’ and ‘What should be done to make similar cases less likely in future?’ Both which questions we are more inclined to ask and what answers we are likely to give to them depend on how the facts of the case are presented. Describing the facts as ethically as we can is likely to involve some give and take between the tasks of description and moral judgement.