Ethics Test ONE Flashcards
Does Human fulfillment always mean happiness?
No
Who is Michael Bess?
A scientist who studies ethic and technology
What are the apocalyptic technologies that concerned Dr. Bess?
Artificial intelligence
Gene diting
Nuclear weapons
Why is Dr. Bess concerned about the increasing pace of change?
Various technologies are introduced to our society, and we are supposed to assimilate to them introducing a sense of stress to learn.
Are we in danger of losing reality, y living in virtual worlds, according to Bess?
For those fully submerged in the metaverse and other technology, could be risky to lose a sense of reality
Why is Dr. Bess concerned about AI?
At the chance they can achieve artificial intelligence and act humanly
What is the BIG QUESTION Dr. Michael Bess propose in his interview?
How do human beings begin to flourish and how do technologies help us get there?
Pace of change: old technologies?
More slowly adopted, for example electricity took 46 years to adopt to
Pace of change: Newer technologies?
Humans have learned to accommodate more quickly to changes, for example the web took 7 years for humans to assimilate too
Pace of change
Introduces stress to humans to accommodate to the fast pace of change in technological advancements
Culture evolves and can be classified as?
Dominant (main ones), residual (leftovers), emergent features (new)
Culture
A whole way of life
meaning that it is the formation, agreement, and organization of what we think, believe, value, feel, and do
Children are taught that technological prowess is?
culturally valued, for example, jeff besos maker of amazon is valued in our culture
What makes technology so powerful in our society?
People who are good at technology get praised
*StEM majors are placed at a high value
Are culture and technology related to one another?
They are interactive with one another
Genius inventors (Elon Musk with the Tesla), people who put forth technological progress are?
The leaders in our society
We have the power to shape our future by?
The ability to make choices
Tech is our humanity, meaning?
As tech gets better, we get better
The Recieved view
Technology is the goal and driver of progress, economic well-being, the good life, and our evolution into superior humans
Does Slack and Wise support the received view?
critical of this received view, they propose that things could be, and should be different than they are
They argue received tradition of technological culture, is extremely powerful and warrants resistance, culture does not have to be the way it is
Ways of looking at the human story-theistic
Christian and Islamic
Ways of looking at the human story- Chaos
no pattern, stories are not true, stuff happens no story
Ways of looking at the human story-Decline
Good but over time became more corrupt and materialistic
Ways of looking at the human story- Progress
Improvement of mankind toward a state of perfection
Ways of looking at the human story-Cyclic
history repeats itself and runs in cycles
The key to understanding culture is to understand?
The assumed goals of progress in our culture
What are the implications of technological progress of belief in a strict version of the progress frame?
The Herbert Spencer Via referenced by Dr. King
If you strictly believe in the progress frame, progress is inevitable. Technological progress is at hand with human progress.
Progress has been closely allied with?
The idea of technology
Since technology is allied with progress, is it always better?
No, nothing is, but it can be argued that it made the world better
New/better technology has been associated with?
Human progress, so we can assume that better technology is progress (slack and wise)
Humans progress equals more technology however progress does not mean?
the world is better because of technology
Does the future need us? What is does Noah Harai argue?
“We just don’t need the vast majority of the population.”
Do we agree with Noah Harai and his comments about the future needing us?
We don’t agree with this quote we need the population we don’t want robots
What is one good point made by Noah Harai?
Past visions of the utopian future often depicted the elevation of the working class or “regular people”
What has changed in the idea of a utopian future?
Past versions: promoted the working class
New verisons: promote a few very smart and technologically sophisticated people
The Man who was a fool: view on scientific power
“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power.”
People worry about this view of scientific power
What is Dr. King’s view about man’s right relation to technology?
The idea in Dr. King’s view that our technological power needs to be in relation to our technological power**
How is the progress story used? Promote a better version of life
Based on the values of the European Enlightenment (scientific objectivity, efficiency, rationality)
Reflects the culture of post-modern globalist Western countries
How is the progress story used? To sell us things
Be part of the progressive quasi-religious story of humanity
Experience the mini sublime/be cool
Make life more convenient
How is the progress story used? To judge and control others
The civilized and the primitive
A great nation has great technology
Development: Helping backward nations catch up
Politics: The rational technocratic state is superior
Hersey
ideas or beliefs held in opposition to widely held dominant beliefs of religious or quasi-religious importance (Ex: God isnt real)
What happened to heretics?
Historically, they would be burned to the stack or banished away, but the same thing can happen today for example, covid vaccinations versus non-vaccinations many loss jobs, friends, progress deniers or made into a heretic
Progress for whom
Economic impacts here and around the world
Story of the legal secretary, international call centers, dependence of the global economy
Catholic social teaching
Progress for what?
Natural law and the basic human goods
Symbols of progress in the US
Steam railroad (19th century)
Nuclear power (mid-20th century)
Electricity (late 19th, early 20th century)
Digital computer (late 20th century)
Convenience
something that increases comfort or saves work
convenience is mostly good
When does convenience become a problem?
when the value of convenience and the desire to achieve convenience come to dominate technological culture
Convenience today is driven by the want/need to?
Overcome the limits of space and time
Space limits addressed by transportation tech
Time limits addressed by reducing sleep, life extension tech
Culturally created necessities for convenience
Air travel, refrigeration, air conditioning, internet access
What developments that were made in the idea for convenience but actually made more work?
Household conveniences create more housework for women
The industrial system both creates the supply and demand for convenience
The perceptual state of dissatisfaction is fueled by?
the production and marketing of conveniences of all kinds.” (S&W 46)
the more convenience inventions the human will not be satisifed until they get more
Technological determinism
**Technology as a cause
A belief based on two hypotheses
- That the technical base of a society is the fundamental condition affecting all patterns of social existence
- Changes in technology are the single most important source of changes in society (printing press, computers, industrial technology, social media)
Example: The guns cause violence
Critiques of technological determinism
Technologies do not determine effects (somebody’s still got to shoot the gun)
People create and use technologies
Cultural determinism
Technology as effect
Assumes that Values, feelings, beliefs, and practices of the culture (society) cause particular technologies to be developed and used
Example: people kill people (guns are innocent)
Critques of cultural determinism
What technology ends up doing is often unforeseen or unintended
This leads to an overly optimistic pro-technology stance
Conclusion of culture versus technological determinism
Like technology determinism, cultural determinism is at best a partial truth
Benefits to a systemic approach in ethics
Avoid being swayed by emotional appeals
A way to check your gut
Supports consistency in decision-making
Allows you to live with integrity
Detonogical rule
Rule-based, what we are supposed to due
Associated with natural law and contractually
Virtue Based rule
Guides to the kind of person we ought to be
Consequentialist rule
Morality of actions based on outcomes
Utilnarism
Consequentialist/Utilitarian theories
“The Good,” is the pleasure (lack of pain), happiness, satisfaction, and welfare
Those choices that increase the good are morally correct
The end DOES justify the means
Nothing is evil in itself
Criticisms to consequalist view
It seems like the distribution of goods among persons matters, but that’s not considered
Every action has moral implications (too demanding)
No special concern for those close to us like family (not demanding enough)
Predictions of consequences can be self-serving
Deontological theories (rule-based, norms-based)
Systems of obligations, prohibitions, and permissions
What makes a choice right is conformity with a moral norm. The right has priority over the good
Criticisms of Deontological theory
Too self-centered
Bad actions can be justified by “loopholes”
Response to the criticisms of deontological theory
Rights-based, rather than agent-based, deontological theories (wrong to “use” people
Natural Law
One of the Deontological theories
The first principle of practical reason is to seek to do good and avoid evil
Natural law features a list of basic human goods (life, health, work, leisure, science, education, beauty, family, and friends)
All sorts of norms flow from the first principal and the goods. Violation of these norms is morally wrong
Contractualism
Deontological theory
Political liberations versus moral liberationism
“No God, no matter”
Right to be left alone and to make free will choices
Not “no rules”,” but only rules to which you consent
Is violating an explicit or implicit contract wrong in contractualism?
Yes
Dentology Kantism
A central figure in deontological ethics
A moral absolutist
Agent-centered, the only thing unqualified by good is goodwill
What is kantism famous for?
The categorical imperative
Is there law pre-existing, outside of, and superior to human-made law?
Some people say its true like MLK, Rudolph Hess, and MLK
Jefferson on pre-existing law
That all men are created equal
That they are all endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights
Rudoph Hess WW2 DEPUTY FOR hitler on pre exisiting law
Stated rulers are “Under God and the law
MLK on preexisting law
Letter from Brighman jail
Stating that there is a pre-existing law that stands above any jurisdiction of the state
What is the formal definition of natural law?
Natural law is a philosophy asserting that certain rights are inherent in our human nature, traditionally by any God or transcendent source and that these rights can be understood universally through human reason
Underlying assumption in natural law
The idea that every person has human dignitiy, and there is a truth for most things in the world its determined by our free will if we are right or wrong about it
What is natural laws first principal of practical reason?
One should pursue what is good and one should avoid what is bad- the central premise of natural law
Natural law rejects the subjective thesis which is?
I can decide for myself what is good, and what I think is good is claimed as good
Why does natural law reject the subjective thesis?
Because humans make mistakes and just because we think something is good does not mean its good
For example: aunt amy and uncle timmy
What are the basic human goods?
Life
Family
Friendship
Work and Leisure
Beauty
Science
Integrity
What are the characteristics of the human goods lists?
Universal: parts of life
Necessary: Needed for goodness
Incommensurable: can’t make up one with the other, all separate ideas
Constitutive: If you have these human goods, you have a GOOD LIFE
What is morality?
Is a matter of knowledge and discovery, objective rather than subjective, and not a matter of political compromise
Laws that agree with morality are?
just laws
Laws that disagree with morality are?
unjust laws
What ethical system is highly individualistic? “No gods, no masters,” rules and values are chosen amongst a societal group?
Moral libetarnism
What ethical system can be boiled down to one common denominator, which is goodness/lack of pain?
Ulitarnism
Natural law external goods are?
Money, property
“Instrumental” not good themselves
Natural can have goods of the fortune which means?
Our endowment in which we pursue the good life
Meaning: things that can aid us in having the basic human goods**
Goods of fortune
Health good
Smart family
Beautiful
Connections
What is a necessary condition for human flourishing, but not a good itself?
Freedom
Why do we need freedom?
To choose the good or the right thing for human floruishing
What is the intrinsic worth of the human being?
Dignity
Can we lose our dignity?
No, inherent in humanity
What is the side effect of pursing good than the good in and of itself?
Pleasure
The basic human goods contribute to?
The good life or human florushing
Can you experience all the basic human goods are the same time?
No, the good life is a conceptual idea
Can you pursue the good life for others?
No, everyone is responible for themselves
Is there an order or hierarchy of goods?
No order or better goods, we have to ideally balance all of the goods
Failure to follow the gudiance to a good life is irrational but not?
immoral
Vigilance
Don’t be fooled by things that are only apparently good
Commitment
Its okay to focus on some form of goods
Detachment
coping with the goods that are unattainble
Respect (nonmaleficence)
Should not do, negative norms
does not intentionally cause harm to yourself or others or otherwise attack or destroy an instance of a basic good
Stringent norms, strict partially
Do not kill yourself, do not break up a marriage
Care (beneficence)
condemns inaction and negligence that results in harm to yourself or others
We should take action to promote positivity
Should stop someone from killing themselves
Impartiality
less specific, less specific norm
My life or health is not superior to yours but some professional treatment is okay
Inclusiveness
Make sure to try to attain all of the basic goods not just one
The failure to pursue the guidance to attain human goods can be what?
Immoral
Jack is holding 20 people hostage, he tells Jill he will kill all 20 of them if Jill doesn’t kill one person. How does this differ from the trolley problem?
Different because, can Jill trust the hostage, trust that he will let the twenty people go? T
It is argued that she shouldn’t kill the one person because she is violating the basic human good because Jill would be directly responsible for killing someone instead, in the Trolley problem, it’s an indirect responsibility
Impermissible actions
Related to respect and impartiality
Actions that negatively affect human goods
Ex: Do not kill self or others
Permissible actions
DO NOT negatively affect important instances of human goods
Obligatory actions
related to the guideline of care, do not require, strict impartially (Promote positivity)
Moral norms that concern human life
Do not kill another or self (controversies: abortion, euthanasia, death penalty)
Save those in danger
Don’t position, pollute, deal or do drugs, smoke or drink to excess (controversy: torture)
Do not commit adultery, do not break agreements
Don’t be selfish
How can we judge if an action is good or bad for human flourishing?
Object:
What’s the goal?
The choice or means
What the person is doing now
End:
The goal or purpose
Circumstances
The background
Who what when where
Secondary to the object and the end (If it is bad the circumstances will be bad)
Principal of perfection
An action is good ONLY if all the determinants are good
What ethical theory is most clearly rejected by the principle of perfection?
Utilitarianism/proptionalism
Based on individual happiness and made goods or bad by their consequences
Precedence of negative norms
If a negative norm (prohibitions on directly violating a good) conflicts with a positive norm (a duty of care) do not violate the negative norms generally
Exceptionless norms
Is there anything that is always wrong?
Aristotle: adultery, theft, murder
What ethical system focuses on consequences and can also be referred to as consequentialism?
Ultarnism
The guideline for respect is?
To treat everyone the same
MLK says unjust law is?
violates natural law
If we could quantity the benefits and harms prudes by the action this would make sense for
utilitarianism
Act Utalarnism
Is used to assess the consequences
What is the term for someone who is ANTI TECH
Luddite
Natural law is universal meaning?
It applies to everyone
Who says we can change our technological culture?
Slack and Wise
Computers are the reason for socities actions, what term goes with this?
Technolgical determinism
What is perceptual distassification?
Seeking to overcome the limits of the body
What theory states whats good for me is whatever I say is?
Subjectivist theory
Compare and Contrast natural law with ultatrinism
Natural law is a philosophy asserting that certain rights are inherent in our human nature, traditionally by any God or transcendent source and that these rights can be understood universally through human reason, if you believe in natural law you believe it applies to everyone to attain the basic goods (life, health, work, leisure, science, education, beauty, family, and friends) to achieve human flourishing
Utarlinism
Also known as the consequentialist theory because the system focuses on consequences. Good consequences = good actions. Actions should be measured in terms of the happiness or pleasure they produce. The ends do justify the means in this story because good actions lead to good consequences. The idea is to promote the most pleasure for the group for example, if your favorite food is pasta but your family wants Chinese so you get Chinese food for dinner, you would be thinking like a Bulgarian.
They relate because they both want to promote goodness but natural law is more individualistic and has formal steps to attain human flourishing, when ultarnism is the goodness of the group overall, that will lead to positive outcomes but it might not lead to individual human flourishing
