Anc 106-Exam 1 Flashcards
Exam 1 study questions
Ehthics
Philosophical study of morality (moral philosophy)
Morals/Morality
Social customs and practices that determines good and bad, right and wrong
Moral Cognitivism
Moral truths exist and can be known
Moral Relativism/Realism
Moral judgments are true or false only relative to some particular standpoint
Subjectivism
Moral evaluations and appraisals are based solely on our own feelings. Knowledge is merely subjective and that there is no external or objective truth.
Moral Non-Cognitivism
There are NO moral truths that can be known
Cultural Difference Argument
- matter of opinion that varies from culture to culture. They base morality NOT in the claims of the individual, but their community.
Ex: Greeks believed that it was wrong to eat the dead, whereas Callatians believed it was right
Relativism Strengths
- reflects what anthropologists find when they study other cultures
- explains differences within sub-cultures within US (alcohol, abortion, homosexuality, premarital sex, etc)
- explains difference of opinion between individuals
Relativism Weaknesses
- it’s not necessary to explain the difference in cultural practices
- can’t account for moral progress
- morality appears to be based on rather arbitrary standards
- may be more similarity between people/cultures than we initially recognize
3 Teleological Theories and Examples
- Virtue theory (Aristotle)
- Divine Command Theory (Aquinas)
- Utilitarianism (Bentham, Mill)
Virtual Theory
Aristotle: -emphasis on character traits
- teleological in orientation (ends) - Golden mean
Divine Command Theory
- What is morally right or wrong is that which is commanded by God.
- We cannot know good apart from those commands (religious text)
Limitations of Divine Command Theory
- If that which is good is good only because God commands it, then morality is nothing other than the arbitrary will of God
- If God commands only those things which are good, then there is a standard of morality that is independent of God
Utilitarianism
- Bentham/Mill
- actions are right if they’re useful or for the benefit of the majority
Limitations to Utilitarianism
Baby in a black box, run-away train (save the baby or 5 men tied up on track), hospital screening device
Natural Law Theory (6 parts and 1 example)
- Aquinas
- Built on same teleological approach found in Aristotle
- God provides the ultimate end/purpose
- Everything has a purpose and the purpose is to fit into God’s plan
- Appeals to religious texts and belief’s
- Argues that morality can be determined by understanding Divine Laws/Natural Laws
Ex: A proponent of this view might argue that homosexual sex is unnatural sex because it is contrary to the purpose of sex (procreation)
Deontology
- Immanuel Kant/Principle of Universal Law or Legislation
- Emphasis on moral duties
- Only good without qualification is good will
- Good will is informed by reason/categorical imperative
- Outcomes/consequences may not just justify the means: NEVER as a means only!
Limitations to Deontology (3 examples)
- Lying/cheating/stealing: what’s wrong with it? Is it OK to deceive someone to get a loan?
- Is it OK to protect someone from hurtful information? From being seriously injured?
- Download music without paying for it?
Consequentialist/lism
- morality of an action is to be judged solely by its consequences
- Emphasis is on the consequence of an action
- Primacy given to maximizing pleasure/minimizing pain
- Greatest good for the greatest number
- Act v. Rule of Utilitarianism
- Normative ethical theories holding that the consequences of one’s conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness or wrongness
of that conduct
-Utilitarian Calculus
Utilitarian Calculation
- Is it permissible for them to torture the suspect into revealing the bomb’s whereabouts?
- Can the dignity of one individual be violated in order to save many others?
- Some argue that it is impossible to do the
calculation that utilitarianism requires because consequences are inherently unknowable.
Categorical Imperative
- Principle of Universal Legislation
- Individual must ask if a general rule can be derived such that every person’s similar situation would be compelled to do the act in question.
- Treat others as ends and not means only
Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas
-Natural law theorists
Aquinas -40 days/90 days in utero
- fetus first has a vegetative soul, then an
animal soul, and finally a rational soul when
the body was developed