Ethical Requirements of

Reason and Impartiality

Introduction
Based on hare’s view, to prescribe acting in accordance with a universal
moral principle from which, in conjunction with statements specifying one’s
belief’s concerning the relevant facts, the judgement can be derived. To in turn
detertmine whether one can be prescribe acting in accordance with a universal
principle is to determine whether one would actually choose to perform that
action if one knew that one would have to play,in a series of possible worlds
otherwise identical to the actual world, the role of each person ( including
oneself ) who would be affected . Moreover, it is not enough that one simply
imagines oneself, wwith one’s own interests, in the place of those other
persons-rather, one must imagine oneself as being in their place while having,n
turn,their interests and desires.
 Reason and Ipartiality

The ultimate basis for ethics is clear: Human behavior has consequences for the
welfare of others. We are capable of acting toward others in such a way as to
increase or decrease the quality of their lives. We are capable of helping or
harming. What is more, we are theoretically capable of understanding when we
are doing the one and when the other. This is so because we have the capacity to
put ourselves imaginatively in the place of others and recognize how we would
be affected if someone were to act toward us as we are acting toward others.
It is said that reason gives rise to ethical discourse and healthy debate and
engagement and if this is true, the question must be asked: Have we lost all reason
that we can resort to insults, that we fail to engage one another in a constructive
and thoughtful way, even as we differ ideologically and politically?
It is said that " reason requires impartiality" and this statement has serious
implications for truthfulness and reason.
Reason and impartiality are not absolute to any particular group of people, while
morality is absolute. Whatever is considered wrong morally within a certain
group of people cannot be debated through reason. Morality decides the outcome
first and then the employ reason to justify it. For impartiality, fairness is given
more importance whether people are supposed to be traeted equally before the
law. While morality may apply generally to a particular group of people, the same
cannot be said of reason and impartiality because the two take a more
individualized approach. These are however important because they help in
understanding the moral perception, for example impartiality introduces an aspect
of treating people tje same, which is moral issue.
 What is Reason?
Reason is tje capacity for consciously making sense of things, establishing and
verifying facts, applying logic, and changing or justifying practices, institutions,
and beliefs based on new or existing information ( Kompridis, 2000). It is closely
associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy,
science,language,mathematics, and art and is normally considered to be a
distinguishing ability possessed by humans, Reason, or an aspect of it, is sometimes
reffered to as rationality.
Reasoning is associated with thinking, cognition, and intellect. The philosophical
field pf logic studies ways in which human-reason formally through argument (
Hintikka, 2013). Reason is a declaration made to explain or justify action, decision,
or conviction.
 The proper role pf ethical reasoning is to highlight acts of two kinds: thoose which enhance
the well-being of others- that warrant our praise- and thoose that harm diminish the well-being
of others- and thus warrant our criticism. Developing one's ethical reasoning abilities is crucial
because there is in human nature a strong tendency toward egotism, prejudice, self-
justicifation, and self-deception.These tendencies are exacerbated by powerful sociocentric
cultural influences that shape our lives - not least of which is the mass media. These tendencies
can be actively opposed only through the systematic cultivation pf fair-mindedness, honesty,
integrity, self-knowledge, and deep concern for the welfare of others. We can never eliminate
our egocentric tendencies absolutely and finally.But we can actively fight them as we learn to
develop as ethical persons.
Reasons have everything to do with ethics; If you have no good reasons for an act or a
belief, then you can't have thought it through very well and maybe you shouldn't be
doing it or believing it at all. It's quite scary to think that there are people out there
who are voting, protesting, financing causes, or running campaigns without any clear
idea of why they are doing it. Each and everyone of us should be clear about our
reasons for our values, beliefs, and behaviors, and we should each be able to give a
reasoned account pf them others.

If someone asks you why you believe or act as you do, don't just say, " Because i
believe (or act) that way. " Give them a reason why. But before you give a reason
why, ask yourself why-and keep on asking yourself why. Only then will your life
become meaningful to you.
Giving reasons for our actions is important socially, too. It either connects us to other
or divides us from them. So much of our social life depends on a shared understanding
pf what true, right, and appropriate. When this understanding breaks down, the only
way to restore it is by asking the reason why we disagree with one another.
 Predicting Consequences
Moral reasoning involves predicting consequences of an action before we act. There are
always consequences when we take action we think is right, and when we try to be good
persons, and usually these include unintended as well as intended outcomes.
When the likely beneficial outcomes of acting on an ethical presumption seem to outweight the
likely adverse outcomes, then predicting consequences confirms our presumption.
But when we predict that the adverse consequences will outweight the beneficial
consequences,even when we are obeying an ethical rule or following an inspiring story, then
we should consider whether to make an exeption to the rule or to look to a different story for
guidance.
We must remember, however,that before we act we can never know for certain what
the consequences will be. Therefore, we should take care in predicting what will
result from acting on an ethical presumption.
In doing ethics, we look at rules ( about duty and rights) and at stories (about
character and relationships) to construct a presumption, and then test this presumption
by predicting what we do know ( and don't know) about the likely consequences.