Ethics- 3 markers

Question 1

lie

Answer 1

A statement made by one who does not believe it with the intention that someone else shall be led to believe it.

Question 2

simulated killing

Answer 2

The enactment of a dramatisation of a killing within a fictional context.

Question 3

stealing

Answer 3

To take something that someone else owns with no intention of returning it and without their permission (or without the legal right to do so).

Question 4

(moral) error theory (Mackie)

Answer 4

This theory makes two claims: (1) Moral anti-realism: There are no mind-independent moral properties. But (2) Moral cognitivism: moral predicates/concepts contribute to the descriptive/factual meaning of propositions and so can be used to express cognitive belief states. Overall: If, for a proposition to be true, moral properties would have to exist, then that proposition is false.

Question 5

‘good will’ (Kant)

Answer 5

A person has this if she makes her decisions on the basis of the moral law (i.e. out of duty, rather than merely in accordance with duty).

Question 6

‘higher’ pleasure (Mill)

Answer 6

A more valuable pleasure (normally a pleasure of the mind). The best test for pleasure A (Pa) being a ___________ than pleasure B (Pb) is that Pa is preferred by someone who has experienced both (a relevant judge). This may be the case even if Pa is accompanied by a greater quantity of (lower) pain, and it may also be the case that Pa wouldn’t be given up for any quantity of Pb.

Question 7

‘tyranny of the majority’ (Mill)

Answer 7

A situation where the majority (or at least the most active group) oppress a minority (or less active group) through social opinion (“social tyranny”) or law (“legal tyranny”).

Question 8

(moral) right

Answer 8

An entitlement (not) to perform certain actions, or (not) to be in certain states; or an entitlement that others (not) perform certain actions or (not) be in certain states.

Question 9

act utilitarianism

Answer 9

The view that an action is right to the extent that it causes an increase in utility.

Question 10

“acting out of duty (vs) acting (merely) in accordance with duty
(Kant)”

Answer 10

The action is the same, but the motive is different. For the former, you are acting that way only because (through reason) you have worked out that it is your duty (that it is what you ought to do). For the latter, you do what reason would demand of you, but this is not your motivation - your motivation is the fact that it is in your interests or pleases you or fits with your inclinations.

Question 11

contradiction in conception (Kant)

Answer 11

A maxim leads to a contradiction if acting on that maxim is not conceivable (/possible) in a world in which all people acted as you propose to act.

Question 12

a contradiction in will (Kant)

Answer 12

“A maxim leads to a contradiction if acting on that maxim would conflict with other things that you must rationally will
in a world in which all people acted as you propose to act.”

Question 13

deontological theories

Answer 13

Ethical theories that are based on the idea of duty, what is right, or rights. They focus on acts (and sometimes, in addition, motives) conforming to certain rules.

Question 14

doctrine of the mean’ (Aristotle)

Answer 14

The idea that virtues can (often) be placed between a cice of deficiency and a vice of excess. This can apply to actions and to feelings.

Question 15

Eudaimonia (Aristotle)

Answer 15

The ‘highest/final end/good’ that we are all striving for, desirable as an end in itself and not for the sake of anything else.. It is best translated as “flourishing”, living/doing well.

Question 16

hedonistic utilitarianism

Answer 16

An action is right to the extent that [we can reasonably expect/predict that] performing it causes an increases in sensations of pleasure.

Question 17

hypothetical imperative (vs) categorical imperative

Answer 17

The former is (1) an imperative - i.e. a statement commanding a course of action; it is a statement about what one ought to do; it is a command; and (2) is hypothetical - i.e. it applies to agents on the condition that they have (in Kant’s wording, that they “will”) specific ends/goals. The latter is (1) an imperative - i.e. a statement commanding a course of action; it is a statement about what one ought to do; it is a command; and (2) is categorical - i.e. it applies to all agents regardless of their specific ends/goals.

Question 18

involuntary action (Aristiotle)

Answer 18

An action that is (1) not voluntary (either because it is done under compulsion (so fails to meet the “control condition”) or because it is the result of ignorance (so fails to meet the “epistemic condition”) and is regretted

Question 19

maxim (Kant)

Answer 19

The intentions that guide us in choosing our actions. Specifying a maxim involves specifying the type of intended action, the circumstances / conditions in which it will be performed and the end / aim / purpose of this action.

Question 20

non-hedonistic utilitarianism

Answer 20

An action is right to the extent that [we can reasonably expect/predict that] performing it causes an increase in utility (where utility is NOT understood in terms of sensations of pleasure).

Question 21

non-voluntary action (Aristotle)

Answer 21

An action that is (1) not voluntary (either because it is done under compulsion (so fails to meet the “control condition”) or because it is the result of ignorance (so fails to meet the “epistemic condition”)) and not regretted (the thing that marks a non-voluntary act from an involuntary act is that the moral agent does not regret what happened)

Question 22

preference utilitarianism

Answer 22

An action is right to the extent that [we can reasonably expect/predict that] performing it causes an increase in desire satisfaction / preference fulfillment (regardless of whether the act causes sensations of pleasure).

Question 23

qualitative hedonistic utilitarianism (Mill)

Answer 23

An action is right to the extent that [we can reasonably expect/predict that] performing it causes an increase in sensations of higher (quality) pleasure.

Question 24

quantitative hedonistic utilitarianism (Bentham)

Answer 24

An action is right to the extent that [we can reasonably expect/predict that] performing it causes an increase in sensations of pleasure.

Question 25

rule utilitarianism

Answer 25

An act is morally right if doing it is in accordance with a set of rules which [we can reasonably expect/predict] will, if accepted, produce at least as much utility as any other set of rules that could be accepted.

Question 26

The ‘good’ (Aristotle)

Answer 26

The good, for Aristotle, is the highest good, for the sake of which everything else is done. It is eudaimonia - flourishing.

Question 27

the first formulation of the categorical imperative (Kant)

Answer 27

Act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law

Question 28

the second formulation of the categorical imperative (Kant)

Answer 28

Act in a way that treats humanity, whether in your own person or in that of any other, never solely as a means but always as an end.

Question 29

utility calculus (Bentham)

Answer 29

Seven steps/criteria for measuring utility involving consideration of: Intensity, Duration, Certainty, Propinquity, Fecundity, Purity and Extent

Question 30

virtue (Aristotle)

Answer 30

A positive moral quality (or character trait/disposition) acquired through habituation that enables human beings to fulfil their function through making good/rational choices and thus living a good life. It lies between a vice of excess and a vice of deficiency.

Question 31

voluntary action (Aristotle)

Answer 31

Two conditions must be met. (1) The control condition (it is done intentionally by the agent and not compelled externally) and (2) the epistemic condition (the agent must be aware of the non-moral facts about what it is she is doing).