Applied Ethics Flashcards
What does applied ethics ask?
Is X moral? Permissible? Ok to do?
Steps to applied ethics:
- Define the Target (say what X is)
- Clarify true stakes
- Making arguments
- (optional) describe next steps
What is a PED?
Substances taken to gain a physical competitive advantage in some activity over those who have not taken it and it goes beyond an individual’s natural maximum.
Example of PED argument (in steps):
- PEDs give an unfair advantage
- Anything that gives an unfair advantage is immoral
- Therefore, PEDs are immoral
why might people object to PEDs?
Spirit of sport
Unfair advantages
Only available to rich people
Unsafe
Dangerous to kids
Spirit of sport (PEDs):
- Value set on natural performance
- demands that we just test genetics
- The spirit of sport evolves over time, why not have it involve PEDs
Unfair advantages (PEDs):
- People have an unfair advantage without PEDs
- Undo advantages: advantages that ruin or make us less interested in the sport (ex: water polo team w/ flippers)
- is the competition still safe and still interesting?
Only available to the rich (PEDs):
- Countries who spend lots of money on their athletes are the only ones who can get PEDs… but they are also the only ones who can get special training facilities as well..
- Hypoxic chamber is allowed but blood doping is not
Dangers to Children (PEDs):
Yes, PEDs are very dangerous to kids… but so is putting them into elite level sports at a young age.
Legal Punishment Definition:
State’s predetermined enforcers enforce predetermined negative consequences in response to a person or party violating established statutes.
Immoral legal punishment:
- no recourse or protection
- not proportional
- not fair “eye for an eye”
- not deserved “eye for an eye”
Consequentialists:
- Rehabilitation
- Protection of a society
- Deterrence
Retributivism:
- Revenge
- Fair and deserved punishment
Plea Bargaining Definition:
A defendant pleads guilty to avoid punishment or trial
Langbein says that we should get rid of plea deals and an adversarial justice system to instead a…
inquisitorial justice system.
(Van Den Haag’s) Best arguments against capital punishment that “do not work”
1.1: Discriminatory Distribution
1.2: Risk to innocence
1.3: Deterrence does not work
1.4: “Incidental Issues”
- high cost
- suffering
- setting bad examples
1.5: CP is excessive or degrading
Where is euthanasia illegal?
all 50 states
where is assisted suicide legal?
10 jurisdictions of the US
What does Gay-Williams argue about euthanasia?
he argues that euthanasia is wrongly intrinsically and consequentially
Euthanasia argument from nature:
- we deliberately avoid death
- our bodies fight diseases
- ## euthanasia works against this natural goalTherefore, euthanasia is unnatural
euthanasia argument from interests of terminal patients:
- death is final and irreversible
- contemporary medicine is not perfect- there could be mistakes
- possibility of breakthrough
- ## knowing we CAN give up may lead us to give upTherefore, it is bad for patients if we allow euthanasia
Euthanasia argument from practical effects
- doctors commit to saving lives
- euthanasia would alter this
- ## if doctors are not committed to saving lives, then they may not work as hard to save peopleTherefore, it is bad for all of us if we allow euthanasia
Principle of Double Effect:
it is morally wrong to do something bad as a means to an end. However, it is morally acceptable to do something morally permissible to achieve some good, knowing that it may also have a bad secondary effect.
