Ethics (Pre_Q1) Flashcards
___ believed that education and philosophy is the pursuit of and love of the good itself
Socrates
We can think of ethical theory as a ______
decision model
______ is the theory that there is no universal moral norm of right and wrong.
Relativism
2 Types of Relativism
- Subjective Relativism
- Cultural Relativism
holds that each person decides right and wrong for himself/herself.
“What’s right for you may not right for me.” e.g. Reproductive Health Bill
Subjective Relativism
Case Against Subjective Relativism
- Well-meaning and intelligent people disagree on moral issues (e.g. taxation and wealth disparity)
- Ethical debates are disagreeable and often leads nowhere.
- People are good at rationalizing bad behavior.
- No moral distinction between actions.
is the ethical theory that the meaning of “right” and “wrong” rests with a society’s actual moral guidelines.
These guidelines vary widely from place to place and from time to time. Particular action may be wrong in a society at one time and wrong in another society or in another time. e.g. Capital punishment
Cultural Relativism
Case Against Cultural Relativism
- It doesn’t explain how moral guidelines are determined.
- Cultural norms may not be accepted across the board.
- It provides no way out for cultures in conflict.
- Existence of many acceptable practices does not imply all practices are acceptable.
- Just because two societies do have different moral views, doesn’t mean they ought to have different views.
The _____ theory is based on the idea that good actions are those aligned with the will of God and bad actions are those contrary to the will of God.
Since the Holy Book contains God’s directions, we can use the Holy Book as moral decision-making guides.
Most sects within these religious traditions augment Holy Books with other sources when developing their moral codes.
Divine Command Theory
___ are more likely to consider Holy Book authentic and authoritative.
Fundamentalists
The divine command theory is based on _____, not reason.
obedience
Case Against Divine Theory
- Base on obedience not reason.
- Society is multicultural and secular.
- Different Holy books disagree.
- Some moral problems are not addressed in the scriptures
“The end will justify the means.” In ______, the consequence of an action justifies the moral acceptability of the means taken to reach that end.
consequentialism
It is the consequence of an action which determines whether or not the action is moral. The results of the action prevail over any other consideration. It holds that evaluating results, is more important than evaluating the actions.
Consequentialism
2 types of Consequentialism
- Ethical egoism
- Utilitarianism
is the philosophy that each person should focus exclusively on his or her self interest. In other words, according to this theory, the morally right action for a person to take in a particular situation is the action that will provide that person with the maximum long-term benefit.
Ethical Eqoism
[T/F] Ethical egoism does not prohibit acting to help someone else, but assisting another is the right thing to do if and only if it is the helper’s own long-term best interest.
True
Example
- If there is only one bread for a mother and her child, the mother may deprive herself of the bread and allows her child to consume the bread;
- The father will always work overtime just to provide the needs of his family;
- One of the siblings may volunteer to stop studying so that his other siblings may continue studying because their parents cannot afford to send them to school simultaneously.
is the philosophy that the right action is the one that produces the most intrinsic good for everyone affected. It believes in “the greatest happiness for the greatest number”.
Utilitarianism
Critique of Utilitarianism
- Could result in harming some for the sake of the majority.
- Adding up consequences requires that we calculate them all in the same units of measurement.
- Ignores innate sense of duty.
