Chapter one

Question 1

Definition of ethics?

Answer 1

is a branch of philosophy concerning moral considerations, but how each person reaches conclusions about those considerations is subjective, meaning the process varies from person to person.

Question 2

Why, then, are there so many views on any one given topic?

Answer 2

It is because each individual possesses a unique set of experiences and influences that guide his or her personal values system.

Question 3

What is a personal values sytem? What influences it?

Answer 3

a set of beliefs held by an individual. Influences: religion, socioeconomic conditions, family and friends, geographic location, cultural and heritage traditions

Question 4

Ethics is a _ based field, meaning

Answer 4

morally based field meaning that this branch of philosophy corresponds with human morals

Question 5

Are a person’s conscience and ethics distinctly different?

Answer 5

YES
* Ethics are guided by society and are a series of systematic beliefs
* conscience refers to thoughts about one’s beliefs and actions.

Question 6

Give important details about confucius

Answer 6

• born in china
• he was heavily influenced by his location and by the political conditions of the region
• Mother died and held service, which is now todays funeral services
• confined himself to seclusion for 3 years, at which time he fully devoted himself to study and reflection.
• followers were men who were considered pillars of the community and wielded great influence.
• Traveled throughout his country, never given the respect like his homw area-> was imprisioned, shunned, starved to death
• His writings began the Ju (or Confucianism) movement but were not recognized as praiseworthy until after his death in 479 BC.
• Confucius is today renowned as one of the pioneers in the ethics movement.

Question 7

Important details about socrates

Answer 7

• Born in athens greece
• Called himself midwife of ideas
• he could be found near the court square teaching
• Seen as arrogant because he was so blunt which made him a target of public officals
• Socrates was accused of corrupting the young minds of students and of impiety (questioned gods)
• He was sentenced to death by drinking hemlock, a poison
• Socrates’ teachings centered on inductive reasoning
• Teaching by asking questions to have student reflect in a deeper way-> encourage open discussion
  *

Question 8

What was socrates’ teaching centered on?

Answer 8

inductive reasoning, which is critical thinking that moves from specific details to generalities

Question 9

Benjamin Franklin?

Answer 9

• postmaster, printer, and scientist
• he was an inventor -> bifocals, the lightning rod, swimfins, and the Franklin stove
• his list of “The Thirteen Virtues .”
• he listed 12 virtues he thought necessary to be the necessary ingredients to being an evolved and upright individual . A Quaker friend told him that he must add another virtue; one that Franklin needed to nurture: Humility .

Question 10

What are the 13 virtues?

Answer 10

1 . Temperance
2 . Silence
3 . Order
4 . Resolution
5 . Frugality
6 . Industry
7 . Sincerity
8 . Justice
9 . Moderation
10 . Cleanliness
11 . Tranquility
12 . Chastity
13 . Humility

Question 11

How do you arrive at your own beliefts and attitudes?

Answer 11

influenced by your life experi- ences, your education, and those around you (family, friends, coworkers, teachers, neighbors, and others)

Question 12

What are major areas of study and approaches to those areas?

Answer 12

Do not confuse the major areas of study (i.e., meta-ethics, normative ethics, and
applied ethics) with the approaches to those areas (i.e., virtue-based, duty-based, and consequential approach, which includes utilitarianism)

Question 13

What do the areas do? approaches?

Answer 13

define the types of ethical philosophy, while the approaches to ethical study present ways to arrive at decisions about ethical dilemmas.

Question 14

In other words, dilemmas fall within the _ major areas of study, and the approaches are simply ways of applying or using that area of study

Answer 14

three

Question 15

Meta ethics

Answer 15

• would suggest that meta-ethics is a more intensive examination of ethics.
• In meta-ethics, you do not decide solutions to be right or wrong; rather you decide what the terms “right” and “wrong” really mean.
• Meta-ethics is more intense and often abstract in nature. Instead of arriving at a conclusion about an ethical dilemma, using meta-ethics as a basis, you instead investigate deeper thoughts such as:
  ■ What exactly constitutes “good” or “bad”?
  ■ Is morality the same for everyone, or is it determined on a case-by-case basis?
  ■ From where do morals originate?
  ■ Is there only one answer to any given ethical dilemma?

Question 16

Normative ethics?

Answer 16

• involves those standards by which right and wrong are deter- mined within a society.
• For example, the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” is normative.
• is a means to reason what you would and would not want to experience and apply that knowledge to the fact that others would or would not want as well.

Question 17

What are the three strategies of normative ethics?

Answer 17

(1) virtue-based, (2) consequential, and (3) duty-based.

Question 18

Virtue based ethics?

Answer 18

• is the individual’s choice of values (virtues), with decisions and actions being based on the corresponding val- ues systems
• concern decisions that encourage the most admira- ble of virtues within a person’s character.
• Western civilization, stemming from the teaching of Plato (student of Socrates
• Main traits: wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice
• largely based on a particular person’s capacity to reason, background, influ- ences, and knowledge base

Question 19

Consewuential approach

Answer 19

• issues are judged as intrinsically (from within) good or bad, with the decision being based on what will bring about the best balance of good outcomes over bad
• logical that what is good and bad might be viewed differently depending on the person judg- ing.
• consequence, which refers to the result of an action

Question 20

What is a consquential approach?

Answer 20

utilitarianism

Question 21

Utilarianism

Answer 21

• suggests that the decision to ethical dilemmas should be based on the choice that is best for the majority.
• you are called upon to be unbiased and not consider your own interests ahead of others’.
• Ex. Legal systems
• greater good

Question 22

Greater good?

Answer 22

simply means, in any given situation, the solution that would best serve the most people.

Question 23

Deontology

Answer 23

• maintains that certain life obligations should be of primary focus in a person’s everyday life
• Those obligations should take priority over other considerations.
• the individual’s rights are most important, so what is best for the individual cannot be precluded by what is best for the greater good.
• Deontologists believe that it is wrong to violate individual rights for the sake of a possible better situation for more people
• it is believed to be wrong and immoral to assume that one per- son is more deserving of something than someone else is

Question 24

Applied Ethics

Answer 24

• is a major area of ethics that calls for the investigation of any given debate over a morally based issue.
• There are two aspects of an applied ethical dilemma: (1) it is an issue that is controversial (meaning, there are two or more viewpoints on the issue) and (2) it is clearly classified as a moral issu

Question 25

Examples of Ethical dilemma?

Answer 25

• abortion, euthanasia, and stem cell research
• As Fieser states, a drive-by shooting would not involve applied ethics because most would agree it is immoral. However, gun control (which is a broader issue) would involve applied ethics

Question 26

What makes best for patient care

Answer 26

knowledge combined with skills plus a caring attitude

Question 27

What is a dilemma?

Answer 27

a crisis or situation in which a decision is required in order for change or improvement to occur

Question 28

What might you conside to use in a dilemma?

Answer 28

Three step ethical decision making model

Question 29

Three step ethical decision making model

Answer 29

• created to help individuals make decisions at work, but it can help you make decisions on any ethical dilemma, both personal and professional.
• Commit it to memory and use it when you need to make a difficult decision:
  ■ Is it legal?
  ■ Is it balanced?
  ■ How does it make me feel?

Question 30

Is it legal?
* What is a law?

Answer 30

is a rule set by a group (such as state legislators) to serve as a boundary of expected behavior
* Failure to abide by a law results in penalties, such as fine or imprisonment
* Laws are based on what is believed to be fair and just
* it can be presupposed that if something is not legal, it is not ethical.

Question 31

Is it balanced?

Answer 31

Balance, as Socrates believed, is important to the well-rounded individual
* If something seems extreme to you, it is most likely not balanced.

Question 32

how does it make me feel?

Answer 32

• How you feel is an all-essential factor in decision making, so your feelings should not be ignored
• How you feel is most likely a product of your conscious and subcon- scious beliefs about any given matter.
• Can affect you mentally and physically (sick to stomach)