Ethical Analysis of Issues Part 2 Flashcards
Epicurus theorized that upon death we no longer exist and so should not fear the ____.
Gods
Explanation:
Epicurus believed that there is nothingness upon death; we cannot feel anything and hence should not fear the gods.
The greatest pleasures according to Epicurus could be attained through a life of simplicity and moderation in order to achieve ___________, whereas excessive desire soon escalates, leading to dissatisfaction and pain.
tranquility
Explanation:
Epicurus felt that a simple and moderate life would bring tranquility and hence maximum pleasure.
According to Epicurus, by committing __________, tranquility will be sacrificed and hence happiness.
injustices
Explanation:
Where injustices are carried out, there will always be the fear of reprisals or being discovered as the perpetrator.
The basic moral principle for _________________ is that if the good consequences of an action outweigh the bad consequences, then the act is morally right.
consequentialists
Explanation:
This is the thinking of consequentialists and it partly stems from commonsense morality which means that you use your commonsense to determine if an act is morally right or wrong.
In war, if the killing of civilians resulted in a positive outcome, a ________________ would conclude that killing civilians is not inherently wrong, but a deontologist would disagree.
consequentialist
Explanation:
Deontologists believe that if something is inherently wrong, its always wrong regardless of the outcome. Immanuel Kant was the first philosopher to define deontological principles.
Deontological moral thinking is duty-based and also emphasizes the ___________ behind our actions.
motivations
Explanation:
To make the right moral choices, we must understand the rules that govern our moral duties. So, we behave morally when we follow our duties and behave immorally when we do not. However, this is inadequate as our motivations must also be correct and pure.
In his book The Philosophy of Loyalty (1908), Josiah Royce contended that loyalty was the cohesive principle of all _______ behavior and social practice.
ethical
Explanation:
Royce, a deontologist, believed that loyalty linked the individual to the community and that each man should identify and commit himself to a cause that would advance the good of all.
According to American philosopher ____________, adult children do not have any moral obligation to support their elderly parents.
Jane English
Explanation:
English believed that parents voluntarily sacrificed for their children, and because the children never requested this sacrifice they do not incur a moral responsibility to reciprocate when their parents are old and need care. According to English, children owe their parents nothing.
The political and social norms of the early eighteenth century were heavily questioned by members of the ____________ movement known as The Enlightenment.
intellectual
Explanation:
The Enlightenment principles led people to seek self governance with an emphasis on liberty and individual rights.
The Age of Enlightenment was a time when it was widely believed that human reason could remedy problems of the past and create a _______ government. People believed that they could correct the errors of their ways if the errors were pointed out to them.
utopian
Explanation:
Sometimes known by its detractors as the Enlightenment Project, Enlightenment developed simultaneously in many European countries and spread across much of the western world. The later years of the Enlightenment were called The Age of Reason.
______________ is a philosophical theory that states that the moral course of action is the one which maximizes the total well-being of all humans, each of whom have an equal right to be included.
Utilitarianism
Explanation:
To a Utilitarian, it would be morally correct to break an oath of confidentiality when it would protect his life or the life of others, and when breaking the oath were an action that would be supported by the general public.
Utilitarianism is a ________________ (consequentialist or deontologist?)morality because it considers how much pleasure and pain results from an action.
consequentialist
Explanation:
A consequentialist defines the rightness of an act based on its outcome.
________________ defines the greatest happiness principle as holding actions right in proportion where they promote happiness and wrong where they promote the reverse.
John Stuart Mill
____ distinguished between the higher and lower pleasures and believed that most people would prefer the former.
Mill
Explanation:
Mill believed that humans are different from animals and therefore would prefer the higher pleasures which involve our mental faculties.
In his book, On Liberty, John Stuart Mill claims that governments have the moral right to limit peoples liberty only when it is necessary to prevent them from harming ______.
others
Explanation:
This is called Mills Harm Principle, where competent individuals (not insane or children) are free to decide about activities which may be harmful to themselves (i.e. smoking, drinking, mountain climbing, etc) without government intervention.
Mill propounded the view that competent individuals should have the freedom to take part in _________ activities and the government should not prohibit these activities.
dangerous
Explanation:
Mill believed that individuals could decide for themselves, as they are aware of the risks of injury.
Jeremy Bentham theorized that an act is only morally wrong if it reduced _______ happiness.
overall
Explanation:
This is the principle of utility as defined by Bentham.
Based on Benthams theory, it would be possible to have several ___________ actions available to an agent that could be morally right and this position can be described as negative act utilitarianism.
alternative
Explanation:
This is the definition of negative act utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism is defined as the morally right act and the one that will bring the greatest increase in overall well-being.
Middle class liberals of the eighteen hundreds did not believe in universal ________.
suffrage
Explanation:
Although liberals believed all people were entitled to equal civil rights, they did not support equal political rights. Middle class liberals did not want to share power with the lower classes and instead supported limiting the right to vote and hold office to those who owned property.
___ utilitarianism does not assess the moral rightness or wrongness of the types of acts.
Act
Explanation:
This is because act utilitarians will say it depends on the circumstances. For example, if you ask an act utilitarian if capital punishment is morally right or wrong, they will answer that it depends on the individual circumstances of each case.
Rule utilitarianism states that individuals should follow the correct moral rules based on the test of total well-being and where these rules conflict, we should revert to ___ utilitarianism.
Act
Bentham is a ____________ utilitarianist whereas Mill is a rule utilitarianist.
negative act
Explanation:
Mills utilitarianism is rule based and the rule being that the correct moral action is the one that produces the most desirable results.
The utilitarian principle has external sanctions such as fear of punishment from the ruler, and ________ sanctions, which essentially entail the conscience of the individual.
internal
Explanation:
This is the most critical and extreme sanction the one where we judge our own standards of behavior.
Bentham devised an algorithm called the hedonistic or __________________ to calculate the quantity of happiness that an action would produce that would act as a gauge of the moral rightness of an action.
felicific calculus
A system in which women are subordinate to men is called a __________.
patriarchy
Explanation:
The economic, legal and social status of women throughout history has been subordinate to men.
This system where the men hold a disproportionately large share of the power is called a patriarchy.
________ is the political theory that proposes that men and women are equal in the way that they should be treated and in the responsibilities and rights that they should have.
Feminism
Explanation:
The goal of feminism is to change society and liberate women from male oppression.
The term feminist ethics can be defined as a revision of elements of entrenched _______ ethics that devalues morality from a feminine perspective.
western
Explanation:
Traditionally, women have been viewed as less moral than men as their perspective is seen as emotional and caring as opposed to rule and duty based.