Bernard Gert (born October 16, 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a philosopher of ethics known primarily for his work on medical ethics, especially pertaining to psychology, and for his emphasis on the importance of avoiding evil as opposed to promoting good. Gert studied philosophy at Cornell University and is presently the Stone Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy at Dartmouth College. October 16 is the 289th day of the year (290th in Leap years). ... 1934 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Cincinnati, The Queen City (also The Queen of the West, The Blue Chip City, The City of Seven Hills, and also referred to as Cincy) is a city in Southwestern Ohio, United States. ... Ethics is a general term for what is often described as the science (study) of morality. In philosophy, ethical behavior is that which is good or right. ... Medical ethics is the discipline of evaluating the merits, risks, and social concerns of activities in the field of medicine. ... Evil is a term describing that which is regarded morally bad, corrupt, wantonly destructive, inhumane, selfish, and wicked. ... Good. ... The term Philosophy derives from a combination of the Greek words philos meaning love and sophia meaning wisdom. ... Cornell University is a private university located in Ithaca, New York, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... For other places called Dartmouth, see Dartmouth Dartmouth College is a private university in Hanover, New Hampshire, and a member of the Ivy League. ...

The Importance of Evil

Gert believes evil is that which all rational creatures seek to avoid, namely, death and suffering. He maintains that the worst evils are far more important in terms of their effects than the greatest goods, and that it is therefore appropriate for morality to emphasize the avoidance of evil. Morality is a system of principles and judgments based on cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts and beliefs, by which humans determine whether given actions are right or wrong. ...

Rationality and Impartiality

To understand Gert's philosophy, it is important to understand the role rationality plays. According to Gert, rationality does not require morality, however, it does require that we avoid harming ourselves without a reason. Therefore, a rational person would not cause his own pain unless it were for a reason, for example, to cure a disease. Even a masochist causes pain for a reason, presumably for pleasure. Thus, no rational being seeks to harm himself for its own sake. In philosophy, the word rationality has been used to describe numerous religious and philosophical theories, especially those concerned with truth, reason, and knowledge. ... Flogging demonstration at Folsom Street Fair 2004. ...

Certain things represent objects of irrational desire, for example, death, pain, and disability. We arrive at moral rules by extending these objects of irrational desire to others. Rationality, alone, does not require this. However, if we adopt the princple of impartiality, whereby we apply the rules without regard to who gains or loses, we extend these prohibitions to others. This results in rules such as do not kill, do not cause pain, do not disable, and so forth.

Publicity

Gert does not maintain that the moral rules we derive from combining our rational prohibitions and the principle of impartiality are inviolate. In fact, there are sometimes good reasons for violating them. For example, it might well be necessary to cause another pain in order to prevent him from killing someone else. The key to being able to violate a moral rule is that we must be willing to publicly allow and advocate the exception to the rule.

Critics of the publicity requirement state that people are willing to advocate illogical and counterfactual things. For example, Michael E. Berumen agrees with Gert's methods for developing moral rules, but he believes that universalization in conformance with logic is a more legitimate means of justifying exceptions. Michael E. Berumen (born 1952) is a philosopher and a Southern California businessman. ...

Sources

By Bernard Gert

• The Moral Rules: A New Rational Foundation for Morality, Harper and Row, 1970.
• Morality: A New Justification of the Moral Rules, Oxford University Press, 1988.
• Morality: Its Nature and Justification, Oxford University Press, 1998.
• Common Morality: Deciding What to Do, Oxford University Press, 2004.

Other References

• Do No Evil: Ethics with Applications to Economic Theory and Business, by Michael E. Berumen, iUniverse, 2003.

Michael E. Berumen (born 1952) is a philosopher and a Southern California businessman. ...

External link

• Gert's homepage at Dartmouth (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gert/)