Chapter 2 Test Flashcards
1
Q
What is human dignity and what is the Catholic view on it?
A
- who we are independent of how we behave
- catholic view: we are all made in the likeness of God so we all deserve a basic level of respect
- i.e. preferential option for the poor
2
Q
What is being dignified
A
- socially, it’s typically seen as being prestigous and honourable
- however, it’s actually the idea of being worthy of respect
3
Q
What is love?
(baby don’t hurt me)
A
- a choice that is independent of feeling
- it’s tested if we’re able to uphold our principles even towards those we don’t like or when we don’t feel like being loving
4
Q
What is prayer?
A
- something that is present in all faith traditions
- it’s rooted in a desire our petition greater than ourselves
- it taps into a power within us and outside of ourselves
5
Q
What are ✨morals✨
A
- actions that reflect our ethics
- ways to attain goodness
6
Q
What are ✨ethics✨
A
- our beliefs of what’s right vs wrong
- the things that good people do
7
Q
Who was Aristotle?
A
- student of Plato
- explored the natural world within philosophy
- accused of not respecting the gods and fled, his teachings were later rediscovered by St Thomas Aquinas
8
Q
What did Aristotle believe about ethics and happiness?
A
- everything had a unique essence
- human essence meant having the ability to reason (be knowledgeable) and the ability to love (be compassionate)
- every human has the goal of being happy
- temporary sources of happiness are pleasures
- permanent happiness comes from being knowledgeable and compassionate
- other people are necessary for us to be good to ourselves
9
Q
What did Aristotle believe about habits?
A
- action is more important than the intention
- you are what you repeatedly do
- we act according to our habits in moral stress
- every habit begins with a choice
- habits in their extremes are addictions, which are dehumanizing because they mess w/ our ability to reason
10
Q
What were Aristotle’s three theories?
A
- Polis: the democratic idea that we all have a right and responsibility to contribute to our community
- Teleology: to act ethically is to engage our capacity to reason as we develop good character – basically using our knowledge and reasoning skills to be better people (?)
- Doctrine of the Mean: the belief that the good lies in between happiness and pleasure
11
Q
What were the two main “breaking point events” in Christianity?
A
- The Great Schism (mutual excommunication, both believed they were the OG church)
- Protestant Reformation (tysm martin luther)
12
Q
What do Protestants believe?
A
- emphasis on scripture and it’s importance
- have no central moral authority
- Roman Catholic priests were too corrupt
- Catholic church had too many sacraments
13
Q
What do Puritans believe?
A
- distrustful of technology bc it can make life too easy when it isn’t supposed to be
- should be obedient to God
- humans are dualistic – are soul and bodies are separate from one another, our soul belongs to God and the body belongs to earth/the devil
- earth is the devil’s domain
14
Q
Who was Kant?
A
- a fun lil philosopher guy raised in puritanism and walks the line between philosophy and his religion
- he wanted to determine the criteria for what is considered good
15
Q
What did Kant believe?
hint: intention!!
A
- the only purely good human thing is an intention
- this is because they exist in the realm of the individual and God
- an act is slightly less pure than the intention
- we must push ourselves outside of our comfort zones to make our intentions pure bc ppl have a tendency to lean towards moral laziness
16
Q
What are the three important ideas regarding Kant’s ethics?
A
- God: we can’t achieve supreme good w/o God (who’s perfect)
- Freedom: we have to do what we’re able to, and to have duty we have the ability to choose
- Immortality: there is a life beyond where we can achieve supreme good
17
Q
What is the idea behind Aristotle’s teleological ethics?
A
- that we are able to set a goal of being happy and making a plan to reach that goal
18
Q
What is the idea behind Kant’s deontological ethics?
A
- it’s centered in our duty/obligations
- our duties and roles as people need to be as objective as possible because duty can’t be reliant on your feelings
- “we have duties and obligations in our roles as people that we must hold to a slightly uncomfortable degree”
19
Q
What are Kant’s Maxisms?
A
- principles that are objective and definitive
- the highest ethical principles
- you should never act in a way that you would not want to become universal law
- treat others as an end and never as a means, otherwise it’s dehumanizing (unless they’re ppl of service)
20
Q
Who was Levinas?
A
- a not super religious dude for most of his life
- buttt he became religious after WW2 and survivng the holocaust and concentration camps
- he thought that categories could be dehumanizing bc the cause assumptions
21
Q
What are Levinas’ ethics of the eye/face
A
- the only thing you can actually know about someone else is that they aren’t you
- the Other is superior to the self since it does for me what I can’t do for myself
- uniqueness can be found in the eyes (since it’s the only body part that can’t be manipulated)
- when we look into the eyes of someone else we see the plea to not hurt them but rather love them
- if we’re good ppl we’d love them back
- we all have a piece of the divine within us, it is our unique humanity
- we can’t see our own divinity
- the humanity seen in someone else’s eyes is the divinity of God within them
22
Q
What is the singularity of things?
A
- something Levinas advocated for
- the things that make people uniquely them
23
Q
What is the sameness of things?
A
- something that Aristotle advocated for
- everything in the same category are the same
24
Q
What is agency?
A
- the ability to forsee the consequences of an action and be held accountable for those consequences
25
Q
What is an agent?
A
- someone who acts freely but also knowingly
- they choose whether or not they do or don’t do something
- they’re able to take accountability for their actions
- exceptions to these guidelines ppl who are mentally challenged or small babies and children*
26
Q
What are human actions?
A
- things we do that give us our identity
- made up of things like the things we think, do, and our experiences
- actions are dependent on the person performing them
- for every action there’s an agent
27
Q
What is freedom?
A
- human potential, the capacity/power to act
- action is the realization of said power
- when one uses their freedoms they can create change/intervention
- freedom doesn’t equate to being free from consequences
