Ethics: Basics

Question 1

What is Utilitarianism?

Answer 1

The morally right action is the one that produces the most good effects

Question 2

What is Bentham’s quantitative hedonistic utilitarianism (his utility calculus)?

Answer 2

The morally right action is the one that produces the most happiness possible
Utility calculus - to work out which action will produce the most happiness, we need to consider things like how long the happiness will last and how many people will be affected

Question 3

What is Mill’s qualitative hedonistic utilitarianism (higher and lower pleasures)?

Answer 3

The morally right action is the one that produces the most, and best quality, happiness possible.
Pleasures that we share with animals (e.g. eating), are not as good as pleasures that only humans enjoy (e.g. reading poetry)

Question 4

What is Mill’s ‘proof’ of the greatest happiness principle?

Answer 4

Everyone ultimately wants happiness, so maximising happiness is morally right

Question 5

What is Non-hedonistic utilitarianism (including preference utilitarianism)

Answer 5

-Non-hedonistic - The morally right action is the one that produces the most good effects (and by good effects we don’t mean happiness)

-Preference utilitarianism - The morally right action is the one that satisfies the most and strongest preferences

Question 6

What is act utilitarianism?

Answer 6

The morally right action is the one that produces the most utility

Question 7

What is rule utilitarianism?

Answer 7

The morally right action is the one that fits with the rules that produce the most utility

Question 8

What is the issue of whether pleasure is the only good (Nozick’s experience machine)?

Issue 1

Answer 8

We wouldn’t want to plug into a virtual reality machine that gave us the most pleasure, so pleasure can’t be the only thing we think is good

Question 9

What is the issue of fairness and individual liberty/rights (including the risk of the ‘tyranny of the majority’)?

Issue 2

Answer 9

For utilitarianism, the morally right thing to do can be something unfair or against someone’s rights if it produces the most utility. This is a problem because we think fairness and rights (e.g. the right to life) are good and important

Question 10

What is the issue of problems with calculation (including which beings to include)

Issue 3

Answer 10

It’s too hard to work out which action will produce the most utility - for example, we can’t work it out quickly enough, and we don’t know what will happen in the long term

Question 11

What are issues around partiality?

Issue 4

Answer 11

Utilitarianism thinks it’s morally wrong to prioritise people you care about. But this is a problem because we normally think it’s ok to do this (e.g. buying your sister a birthday present instead of giving the money to charity)

Question 12

What is the issue whether utilitarianism ignores both the a) moral integrity and b) the intentions of the individual?

Answer 12

-(a) For utilitarianism, the morally right thing to do can be something that goes against your values if it produces the most utility. This is a problem because we think being true to your values is good and important

-(b) For utilitarianism, your intentions are irrelevant to whether an action is morally right or wrong - only the consequences matter. This is a problem because we normally think whether we have good or bad intentions is important

Question 13

What is Kant’s account of what is meant by a ‘good will’?

Answer 13

Wanting to do the right thing is the most valuable thing of all

Question 14

What is the distinction between acting in accordance with duty and acting out of duty?

Answer 14

-Out of duty = doing the right thing because it’s the right thing (e.g. shopkeeper giving fair change because it’s the right thing)

-In accordance with duty = doing the right thing for some other reason (e.g. shopkeeper giving fair change because it’s good for business)

Question 15

What is the distinction between hypothetical imperatives and categorical imperatives?

Answer 15

-Hypothetical imperatives = commands that only apply to you if you want something (e.g. you should revise if you want to pass

v.s.

-Categorical imperatives = commands that apply regardless of what you want and so apply to everyone (e.g do not lie)

Question 16

What is the first formulation of the categorical imperative?

Answer 16

You should only act on intentions that everyone could act on without any contradictions

Question 17

What is the distinction between a contradiction in conception and a contradiction in will?

Answer 17

-Contradiction in conception - it’s impossible to think of you doing the action and everyone else also doing the action (leads to perfect duty not to do it)

-Contradiction in will - you can’t really want you and everyone else to do the action (leads to imperfect duty)

Question 18

What is the second formulation of the categorical imperative?

Answer 18

You should never just use a person to get something else - you should always treat people with dignity and respect because they’re rational

Question 19

What is clashing/competing duties
issue of the second categorical imperative?

Issue 1

Answer 19

In some situations, whatever we do will go against our duty. It seems like a bad theory if it says we can’t avoid doing something wrong in certain situations

Question 20

What is the issue of the second categorical imperative that

a) not all universalisable maxims are distinctly moral;
b) not all non-universalisable maxims are immoral

Issue 2

Answer 20

-(a) Kant seems to say that if everyone could do my action without any contradictions, it is ok. But some actions that everyone could do without contradiction definitely seem bad. For example, stealing from people only on the 16th day of a month

-(b) Kant says that if it’s not possible for everyone to do my action without any contradictions, my action is bad. But some actions that definitely don’t seem bad give us a contradiction if everyone were to do them. For example, showing up early to avoid a queue

Question 21

What is the issue of the second categorical imperative that the view that consequences of actions determine their moral value (so Kant is wrong)?

Issue 3

Answer 21

For Kant, the consequences of an action are irrelevant to whether an action is right or wrong. This is a problem because we normally think whether an action has good or bad consequences is important

Question 22

What is the issue of the second categorical imperative that Kant ignores the value of certain motives, eg love, friendship, kindness?

Issue 4

Answer 22

For Kant, only actions that are done because it’s your duty are good. This is a problem because we normally think actions done because of certain feelings we have (e.g. love, friendship, kindness) can be good

Question 23

What is the issue of the second categorical imperative that morality is a system of hypothetical, rather than categorical, imperatives (Philippa Foot)?

Issue 5

Answer 23

Kant is wrong to say that moral commands apply to everyone: moral commands only apply to people who want to be moral

Question 24

What is Eudaemonia?

Answer 24

Eudaimonia means flourishing. It is the highest good for human beings
Eudaimonia is not the same as pleasure because e.g. pleasure comes and goes whereas flourishing is long-lasting

Question 25

What is the function argument and the relationship between virtues and function?

Answer 25

i) A human’s function is to reason (including making moral decisions), as this is the thing they can do that plants and animals can’t
ii) A virtue is what helps something fulfil its function well e.g. sharpness is a virtue of a knife

Question 26

What is virtues as character traits/dispositions in Aristotle’s account of virtues and vices?

Answer 26

Virtues must be character traits because they can’t be passions and they can’t be faculties, and those are the only three options

Question 27

What is the role of education/habituation in the development of a moral character in Aristotle’s account of virtues and vices?

Answer 27

Becoming virtuous requires education, a good role model and practice

Question 28

What is the skill analogy in Aristotle’s account of virtues and vices?

Answer 28

Becoming virtuous is like learning a skill (e.g. playing an instrument) as both need education, good role models, and practice

Question 29

What is the importance of feelings in Aristotle’s account of virtues and vices?

Answer 29

Feelings are morally important for Aristotle e.g. feeling too much or too little anger is morally bad

Question 30

What is the doctrine of the mean and its application to particular virtues in Aristotle’s account of virtues and vices?

Answer 30

What’s good lies between a bad of too much and a bad of too little. This requires judgement because it depends on the situation / person

Question 31

What is moral responsibility: voluntary, involuntary and non-voluntary actions?

Answer 31

-Voluntary: you had control and knew what you were doing
-Involuntary: you didn’t have control or know what you were doing, and you regret it
-Non-voluntary: you didn’t have control or know what you were doing, and you don’t regret it

Question 32

What is the relationship between virtues, actions and reasons and the role of practical reasoning/practical wisdom?

Answer 32

Practical wisdom (thinking about your actions and the reasons why you are doing them) is required for an action to be fully virtuous

Question 33

What is the issue with virtue ethics whether Aristotelian virtue ethics can give sufficiently clear guidance about how to act?

Issue 1

Answer 33

Aristotle’s ethics doesn’t tell us exactly what to do. It only says things like ‘not too much or too little’, or ‘use reason’, which are not helpful enough

Question 34

What is the issue with virtue ethics of clashing/competing virtues?

Issue 2

Answer 34

Aristotle’s ethics gives us a list of virtues, like being truthful and being friendly. But in some situations, these virtues clash, so we end up having to either be untruthful or unfriendly. So either way we have to be bad on Aristotle’s account

Question 35

What is the issue with virtue ethics of the possibility of circularity involved in defining virtuous acts and virtuous persons in terms of each other?

Issue 3

Answer 35

Aristotle’s ethics defines a virtuous person as someone who does virtuous acts. It defines virtuous acts as acts done by a virtuous person. This is unhelpful - we can’t learn what a virtuous person or virtuous act is unless we already know what one of them means

Question 36

What is the issue with virtue ethics of whether a trait must contribute to Eudaimonia in order to be a virtue; the relationship between the good for the individual and moral good?

Issue 4

Answer 36

Aristotle says something is only morally good if it helps me to flourish. But there are examples of people who don’t flourish but live a good/virtuous life

Question 37

What is the distinction between cognitivism and non-cognitivism about ethical language?

Answer 37

-Cognitivists think moral statements like ‘murder is wrong’ are true or false
-Non-cognitivists think moral statements like ‘murder is wrong’ are not true or false

Question 38

What is Moral Realism?

Answer 38

-There are mind-independent moral properties/facts
-Morality (good and bad, right and wrong) is an objective feature of reality

Question 39

What is Moral Naturalism (cognitivist)?

Answer 39

Morality (good and bad, right and wrong) is an objective feature of the natural/physical world

For Bentham, moral goodness is just pleasure, which science could tell us is the only thing humans really want

For Aristotle, moral goodness is doing things that fit with our human nature, which science can tell us about

Question 40

What is Moral Non-naturalism (cognitivist)?

Answer 40

Morality (good and bad, right and wrong) is an objective feature of reality, but it is non-natural/ non-physical

Question 41

What is intuitionism in Ethics?

Answer 41

I can know what’s morally good and bad through intuition

Question 42

What is Moore’s ‘open question argument’ against all reductive metaethical theories?

Answer 42

Moral properties like ‘good’ can’t be the same as any non-moral properties (like pleasure), because it always makes sense to ask ‘Yes it was pleasurable, but was it good?’

Question 43

What is the Naturalistic Fallacy?

Answer 43

It is a mistake to try to define moral properties like ‘good’ in terms of some natural property. This is because ‘good’, like ‘yellow’, can’t be defined

Question 44

What is the argument of Hume’s Fork applied to ethics?

Answer 44

Ethical statements are not ‘matters of fact’ (i.e. known using experience like, e.g., ‘the table is brown’) and they are not ‘relations of ideas’ (i.e. known just by thinking about it and true by definition like, e.g., ‘triangles have 3 sides’). These are the only kinds of knowledge, so we can’t have any ethical knowledge

Question 45

What is Mackie’s argument from relativity applied to ethics?

Answer 45

Moral values are different in different places and times, so it’s more likely that morality is not an objective feature of the world (i.e more likely than it being objective but some people can’t access it

Question 46

What is Mackie’s argument from queerness applied to ethics?

Answer 46

If morality was an objective feature of the world, it would be unlike anything else in the world that we know of and we’d have to know about it in a strange way. Therefore it is really unlikely that anything so strange exists

Question 47

What is Moral Anti-realism?

Answer 47

-There are no mind-independent moral properties/facts
-Morality (good and bad, right and wrong) is not an objective feature of the world

Question 48

What is Error Theory (cognitivist) - Mackie?

Answer 48

When we make moral statements like ‘murder is wrong’ we are always saying something false. This is because we are talking as if morality is an objective feature of the world, but it’s no

Question 49

What is Emotivism (non-cognitivist) – Ayer?

Answer 49

Moral statements like ‘murder is wrong’ are really just expressions of emotion. ‘Murder is wrong’ means ‘Boo! murder’

Question 50

What is Ayer’s verification principle applied to ethics?

Answer 50

Moral statements like ‘murder is wrong’ are not really saying anything true or false. This is because statements like ‘murder is wrong’ are not true by definition, and we can’t use experience to check if they’re true

Question 51

What is Prescriptivism (non-cognitivist) – Richard Hare?

Answer 51

Moral statements like ‘murder is wrong’ are really just commands. ‘Murder is wrong’ means ‘Do not murder!’’

Question 52

What is the issue for anti-realism that is whether anti-realism can account for how we use moral language, including moral reasoning, persuading, disagreeing etc. ?

Answer 52

(v.s. Non-cognitivist ant-realism) Moral judgements can disagree/conflict and they can be used in arguments, so they are propositions (they are saying something true or false)

Question 53

What is the issue for anti-realism that is the problem of accounting for moral progress?

Answer 53

We want to say that things are better morally now than they used to be. We can only make sense of saying things are ‘better’ if morality is an objective feature of the world

Question 54

What is the issue of whether anti-realism becomes moral nihilism?

Answer 54

If you think that morality is not an objective feature of reality, then you have no reason to do good actions or not do bad actions, which seems like a problem

Question 55

What is the issue of stealing?

Answer 55

-Utilitarianism (hedonistic): stealing will only be wrong if the pain produced outweighs the pleasure produced

-Kant’s deontological ethics: Stealing goes against both formulations of the categorical imperative, so is always morally wrong

-Aristotelian virtue ethics: Whether stealing is right or wrong depends upon whether it makes someone more or less virtuous. This may depend upon the situation

Question 56

What is the issue of simulated killing (within computer games, plays, films etc)?

Answer 56

-Utilitarianism (hedonistic): Simulated killing is only wrong if the total pain produced outweighs the total pleasure produced

-Kant’s deontological ethics: simulated killing does not seem to go against either formulation of the categorical imperative, so would not be wrong

-Aristotelian virtue ethics: simulated killing is wrong if does not lead to the development of virtuous character traits

Question 57

What is the issue of eating animals?

Answer 57

-Utilitarianism (hedonistic): If pleasure and pain are the only morally important things to consider, then the pain or pleasure animals feel will be relevant. Eating animals will be wrong if the total pain produced outweighs the total pleasure

-Kant’s deontological ethics: Animals are not rational, so eating animals does not go against either formulation of the categorical imperative, so would not be wrong

-Aristotelian virtue ethics: Whether eating animals is right or wrong depends upon whether it makes someone more or less virtuous. This may depend upon the situation

Question 58

What is the issue of telling lies?

Answer 58

-Utilitarianism (hedonistic): telling lies will only be wrong if the pain produced outweighs the pleasure produced

-Kant’s deontological ethics: Lying goes against both formulations of the categorical imperative, so is always morally wrong

-Aristotelian virtue ethics: Whether lying is right or wrong depends upon whether it makes someone more or less virtuous. This may depend upon the situation