Ethics Flashcards
What is normative ethics?
The branch of ethics which deals with fundamental and general moral theories:
eg. utilitarianism vs. deontology
What is applied ethics?
Talk about concrete moral problems in the light of fundamental theories:
these concrete problems are not dealt with from the perspective of only one moral theory, but in the light of arguments from many of them
What is metaethics ethics?
Deals with questions like :
What it could be in principle that makes a moral theory true?
Does it make sense anyway to speak of the truth of a moral theory? How can we decide which moral reasons are better than others?
What is the idea of consequentialism?
Judging an action by its consequences, is the core of what is called consequentialism. More precisely, you attribute certain values to states as
possible outcomes of actions and then say that an action A is better than an action B if it has the tendency to produce an outcome with a higher value.
What is the basis of utlitarianism?
Mill talks about “utility” - utilitarianism:
Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote pleasure, wrong as they
tend to produce pain and the privation of pleasure (in all people affected)
Name some problems with the classic utilitarianism (Mill, Bentham)
- Comparability:
you need to be able to compare the amount of pleasure
certain states (as the consequences of actions) are likely to produce in different individual - you may not even know what makes you happy in your own case – let
alone what makes other people experience pleasure to what degree - “Immoral” Kinds of Pleasure
- Cognitive Overdemandingness:
Is it really a realistic scenario that everyone calculates the likely outcome of all his actions for all people affected by it? - Individual rights
If you concentrate on the collective utility or welfare, be it in the total or the average version, there is always the danger of ignoring the moral rights of the single affected individual
4.1 Problem of Fairness: unequal concentration of happiness
4.2. Involuntary Organ Donation
What are “utlilty values”?
A nubered rating of gain (sth. like: pleasure - pain ) for any considered action
What is rule utilitarianism?
believe that adherence to largely advantageous rules is strictly preferable to the evaluation of each individual action
What is act utilitarianism?
think that moral judgment should be based on the consequences of each individual action
What is the fundamental difference between utilitarianism and deontology?
while utilitarianism is goal oriented deontology is concerned with the rule itself
e.g : Lying is absolutely forbidden, no matter what use a lie could have under particular circumstances.
Name Kants most important concepts?
- universbility
- dignity
- moral autonomy
What is the rule of universalizability?
categorical imperative:
“Act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same
time will that it become a universal law.”
Name Kants rule of dignity
“Act so that you use humanity, as much in your own person as in the person of
every other, always at the same time as end and never merely as means.”
Objects can be judged just according to the question how good they serve your purposes: The better they do that, the more you want to have them and the more money you would spend for them. Objects have a price, as Kant says. Human beings must not be treated as objects, they do not have a price; they have an inner value or dignity. -> The value of a human life,“sets it infinitely far above all price”
What does moral autonomy mean ?
You impose the moral law on yourself and not forced by other people.
What challenge do self driving cars pose to the german law?
algorithms that are built to weigh lives would need to be implemented with legal
approval; and one could argue that such an approval would finally be a legal basis for weighing lives and insofar it could contradict our constitution
