Ethics - finalss Flashcards
– is a standard of measurement
norm
– are the criteria of judgment about the sorts of persons we ought to be and the sorts of actions we ought to perform
norms of morality
the criteria for judging the quality of character, what sort a person one ought
Moral norms
. It is the ultimate and absolute norm of morality; independent of any standard.
1. Eternal Divine Law (objective)
It is related to the person’s conscience
2. Human Reason(subjective)
a norm which governs nature and actions of things
Law
– Principles that governs the natural phenomena of the world
Law of Nature
– Refers to the free acts of rational beings
Natural Law
– is the plan of God in creating all creatures, both animate and inanimate, giving to each of them its respective nature.
Eternal Law
- the exemplar of divine wisdom and reason of God directing all actions and movements
Eternal Law
– refers to the operational tendencies of the human nature - the chemical, biological, physiological, psychological, and rational properties of man as an organism.
Natural law
- tendency of human nature towards growth and self-fulfillment.
Natural Law
– relate to formation of character, what kind of person we ought to be.
Formal norms
– relate to actions, what actions we ought to do.
Material norms
is derived from the natural law and promulgated for the common good by a human agency
Human positive law
- ‘cum’ (together) and ‘Scientia’ (to know)
Conscience
- Aka ‘the voice of god’ – a whisper of admonition
Conscience
- Second norm of morality
- the choice of a particular good in a given situation
Conscience
derives from our understanding of what we ought to be done and avoided.
judgement of reason
It judges the good as good and evil as evil
Correct/True Conscience
. It mistakes the good as bad and what is bad is good
Erroneous of False conscience
– Kind of judgment where the error could not have been avoided.
a. Invincibly erroneous conscience
– Kind of judgment where the error could have been avoided if the person exerted diligence on his part .
b. Vincibly erroneous conscience
– When faced with two alternative options, fears that’s in is presenting both choices
c. Perplexed conscience
– Imagines grave sins as small ones and magnifies little offenses as serious
d. Pharisaical conscience
– Is sure whether something is good or bad, right or wrong, moral or immoral
3. Certain Conscience
– is unsure whether something is good or bad, right or wrong, moral or immoral.
4. Doubtful Conscience
– is very cautious or extremely fearful to the extent that the person refuses to act.
5. Scrupulous Conscience
– Takes what is wrong or sinful very lightly, even considering it as something good and okay
6. Lax Conscience
– it is possible for a person to do good without having a good character.
Moral Pretension
– is defined as a basic structure underlying a system or a concept.
- Set of assumptions, values, and practice
Framework
- is the branch of ethics that studies the nature of morality.
- explains what goodness and wickedness mean and how we know about them
Meta-ethics
– states that moral judgments convey propositions, that is, they are ‘truth bearers’ or they are either true or false; right and wrong are matters of fact.
COGNITIVISM
– claims that the existence of moral facts and the truth (or falsity) of moral judgments are independent of people’s thoughts and perceptions.
Moral realism
holds that the truth (or falsity) of ethical propositions are dependent on the attitudes or standards of a person or group of persons. Subjectivism is obviously contrary to moral realism.
Ethical subjectivism
– denies that moral judgments are either true or false. It claims that ethical sentences do not convey authentic propositions, hence are neither true nor false.
NON-COGNITIVISM
– is the most popular form of non-cognitivist theory. It submits that moral judgments are mere expressions of our emotions and feelings.
Emotivism
theorizes that moral facts and principles apply to everybody in all places.
MORAL UNIVERSALISM
- Aka “moral objectivism”
- Believing that some behaviors are simply wrong, it also submits that if something is right for one, then it is right for another.
- very much compatible with ‘moral realism’.
MORAL UNIVERSALISM
– submits that different moral facts and principles apply to different persons or group of individuals.
MORAL RELATIVISM
- Believing that various cultures have distinct standards of right and wrong, it also maintains that ethical standards also change over time even in the same culture.
- very much compatible with ‘ethical subjectivism’
MORAL RELATIVISM
is a meta-ethical stance which states that moral facts are known through observation and experience
MORAL EMPIRICISM
contends that moral facts and principles are knowable a priori (using logic and reason to form conclusion before experience)
MORAL RATIONALISM