3 Flashcards
Kant’s Universalisability
you should only act in a way whereby you would want everyone else in the world to act in the same way
Kant’s Practical Imperative
never treat human beings as a means to an end (slavery)
Kant’s Kingdom of Ends
To act as if you’re a member of a kingdom of perfectly, rational, law making moral beings.
Kant’s three postulates
Freedom: the ability to choose otherwise.
Immortality: Eternal life after death
God: Divine being
reason as to the three postulates
Immortality is the reward of virtue, and God is needed in order to judge whose virtue is worthy of that immortality.
summum bonum
is a Latin expression meaning the highest or ultimate good. Many theologians believe God is summum bonum.
Euthyphros Dilemma
is something good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good? (Therefore relaying a message meaning hes not omnipotent)
Benthams Hedonic Calculus
- intensity, 2. duration, 3. certainty, 4. propinquity (how soon), 5. fecundity (repeatable), 6. purity (balance of pleasure over pain), 7. extent (extend to other people).
Utilitarianism incompatible with Christianity
Bentham considered religion as an untrue irrelevance, inconsistent with Utilitarian moral decision-making.
Utilitarianism compatible with Christianity
John Mill insisted that ‘In the golden rule of Jesus of Nazareth, we read the complete spirit of the ethics of utility. To do as you would be done by, and to love your neighbour as yourself, constitute the ideal perfection of utilitarian morality.’
Virtue ethics - Golden mean theory
A coward would be a warrior who flees from the battlefield and a reckless warrior would charge at fifty enemy soldiers. Courage lies in the middle
Descartes quote
“I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am”
Christianity pacifism
some christians disagree with Jesus’ ‘turn the other cheek’ because its impractical and immoral, as it does not defend the innocent and allows evil to have its way.
Faith over works - Abraham
God tested Abraham’s faith by commanding him to kill his only son, Isaac, and to place his body on an altar as a burnt-offering. When Abraham was on the point of killing Isaac, God stopped him because the root of Abraham’s obedience was his faith in God.
Free will
we can only be morally good by ‘choosing’ the good, because if people do Gods work for fear of punishment, then they are not really making a free choice.
Evangelical Protestants - bible
believe everything said in the bible is the truth
Multicultural dilemma
humans have a strong psychological need for certainty. Religions are appealing because they offer absolute beliefs and moral principles. Therefore other religions contradict customary beliefs.
The Resurrection of Jesus
The resurrection of Jesus forms the basis of Christian hope for a life after death. All Accounts of the resurrection were similar and all had the same information portrayed.
Kantian ethics compatible with Christianity
Kant’s concept of the good will is compatible with Christian ideas about virtue, because the virtuous Christian man freely practises the good.
Kantian ethics incompatible with Christianity
His system is based on Enlightenment ideas of reason and autonomy, and these are secular aims needing no religious support.
Mary Warnock - Genetic engineering
whilst Christian ethical decisions are based on the teachings of their faith, they can only extend decisions to wider society if they can be justifed using reason and experience
Genetic engineering example
genetically modified crops have been modified to be resistant to disease and insect attacks, and to produce a much higher yield.
transhumans
genetically engineered humans who have advanced intellectual, physical and psychological powers.
sanctity of life
To say that life has sanctity means that it is holy, or sacred to God. In Christianity, this is known as the Sanctity of Life Principle.
Quality of Life Principle
Humans have a God-given right to autonomy (self-determination). A paitent who would rather die on life support is morally permissible upon consensus.
strong sanctity of life principle
against all non-religious views that try and weaken the status of life.
Sanctity of life principle issues
To say that humans are made in God’s image is not only anthropomorphism; it reinforces a patriarchal model of society in which women are not equal with men in their choices
