Ethical Theories Flashcards

1
Q

What type of theory is Natural Moral Law?

A

An absolutist theory

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2
Q

What is an absolutist theory?

A

A moral or ethical framework that posits existence of objective and universal moral principles that apply to all situations and are not dependent on subjective factors

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3
Q

Who is most commonly associated with Natural Moral Law?

A

St Thomas Aquinas

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4
Q

Who is St Thomas Aquinas?

A

An Italian Philosopher, Theologian and Priest

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5
Q

What is Natural Moral Law based on?

A

Five Primary Precepts

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6
Q

What are the Five Primary Precepts?

A

1- Preserve life
2- Ordered society
3- Worship God
4- Education
5- Reproduction

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7
Q

What is the main principle of Natural Law?

A

“Good is to be done and pursued and evil is to be avoided” (synderisis rule)

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8
Q

What are the Secondary Precepts?

A

Humans are to use their reason to establish rules that will fulfil the requirements of the Primary Precepts

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9
Q

What are some examples of Secondary Precepts?

A
  • Do not murder
  • Do not abort the unborn
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10
Q

Why are Christian views regarding animals consistent with the views of Natural Moral Law?

A

Thomas Aquinas’s anthropology of the soul

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11
Q

What book does Thomas Aquinas outline the anthropology of the soul in?

A

“Of God and his creatures”

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12
Q

What are the three divisions of the soul?

A
  • The vegetative
  • The sentient
  • The intellectual
    (these divisions are set in a hierarchy)
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13
Q

What does the vegetative soul allow for?

A

The basics of existence:
- nourishment
- growth
- reproduction
(plants have only a vegetative soul)

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14
Q

What does the sentient soul allow for?

A
  • sentient cognition
  • sentient appetite
    (inherent in animals)
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15
Q

What does the intellectual/rational soul allow for?

A

The soul responsible for reason and thinking
(specific to human beings only)

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16
Q

Which souls do human beings possess?

A
  • vegetative
  • sentient
  • intellectual/rational
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17
Q

What Primary Precept does the anthropology of the soul adhere to?

A

To live in society

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18
Q

How does the anthropology of the soul adhere to the Primary Precept of “to live in society”?

A

Conforms to the Biblical rules of creation

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19
Q

What is the Biblical Doctrine of the great chain of being?

A

A hierarchical structure thought by medieval Christianity to have been decreed by God

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20
Q

Outline the structure of the great chain of being

A
  • God
  • Angels
  • Humans
  • Animals
  • Plants
  • Minerals
21
Q

A critique of the anthropology of the soul

A

Just because animals are viewed as less than humans does not mean that they should not be treated with respect

22
Q

Bible animal quote (for)

A

“the same fate awaits them both (…) all have the same breath”
(Ecclesiastes 3:19)

23
Q

What fulfils the 1st Primary Precept?

A

Saving human life by using animals in scientific procedures

24
Q

Moses 1:39

A

“For behold, this is my work and my glory”

25
Q

Who was David Bennet?

A

David Bennet (from the US) was the first person in the world to get a heart transplant from a genetically modified pig - he passed two months later (57) on 8 March

26
Q

Poor nutrition and hunger is responsible responsible for…

A

Nearly half of all deaths in children under the age of 5

27
Q

A child dies from hunger every __ seconds

A

10

28
Q

What did God grant?

A

Dominion

29
Q

Dominion quote

A

“Over every living thing that moves upon the Earth”

30
Q

Who was Situation Ethics most famously championed by?

A

Joseph Fletcher

31
Q

What is Situation Ethics based on?

A

Agape love (Christian unconditional love)

32
Q

What did Joseph Fletcher reject

A
  • Legalism/fajia
  • Antinomianism
33
Q

What is Legalism?

A
  • one of the six classical schools of thought in Chinese Philosophy
  • Excessive conformity to the law/religious moral code
34
Q

What is antinomianism?

A

Rejects laws (legalism)

35
Q

What did Fletcher say regarding legalism and antinomianism?

A

That we need to find a balance between the two

36
Q

What are Fletcher’s four working principles?

A
  • Pragmatism
  • Relativism
  • Positivism
  • Personalism
37
Q

What is Positivism?

A

To put faith before reasoning
“I am a Christian, so what should I do?”

38
Q

What is Personalism?

A

People should be at the centre of the theory

39
Q

Disadvantage of Situation ethics

A

It does not provide a clear definition of what agape love actually is

40
Q

Who is associated with Virtue ethics?

A

Aristotle

41
Q

What is virtue ethics?

A

It defines good actions as ones that display and embody virtuous character traits

42
Q

What is eudaimonia?

A

“happiness”
The supreme goal of human life

43
Q

The Doctrine of the Mean
(Golden Mean)

A

The midpoint between excess and deficiency

44
Q

Outline the “telos”

A
  • Virtue ethics is about how to be good people and lead good lives
  • A life is good when it fulfills its purpose (its “telos”)
  • The telos of human life is eudaimonia or flourishing
45
Q

what does the Catechism of the Catholic Church say about animal cruelty?

A

The waste or the mistreatment of animals is an affront to our human dignity and thereby sinful (CCC, 2418)

46
Q

Pope Francis animal cruelty quote

A

“experimentation on animals is morally acceptable only if it remains within reasonable limits [and] contributes to caring for or saving human lives”

47
Q

Pope Francis book

A

Laudato si’

48
Q

Proportionalism

A

Focuses on the proportionate weighting of moral goods and evils in a particular situation to determine the right course of action

49
Q

Proportionalism is an ethical theory that lies between…

A

consequential theories and deontological theories