Ethics Unit 1 Flashcards
value theory
what is valuable in and of itself (by itself); what a good life consists in.
normative ethics
looks for the supreme principle(s) of right action.
regarding how one ought to act morally.
metaethics
ask questions about the fundamental status of moral claims. Are moral claims capable of being true? What makes them true? How can we know that moral claims are true? Is it always rational to be moral? Is morality objective?
3 components of a typical moral argument
- One premise states a normative principle.
“If we can benefit someone without harming anyone else, we should.” - A factual premise which describes the situation in a way that shows how it falls under the normative principle.
“Transplanting Baby Theresa’s organs would benefit the other children without harming Baby Theresa.” - The conclusion states what you should do.
“Therefore, we ought to transplant the organs.”
valid deductive argument
An argument in which, assuming the premises are true, it is impossible for the conclusion to be false. In other words, the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises.
validity is independent of ___
the truth of the premises or the conclusion.
a statement is a
sentence with truth value (true/false)
~ means
isnt
soundness =
an argument that is logically valid but also the premises are true.
⊃ or 🡪 means
If ____ then____
if
Socrates is a man = M
Socrates is a unicorn = U
how do you say socrates is not a unicorn?
~U
if
Socrates is a man = M
Socrates is a unicorn = U
how do you say If Socrates is a man, then he is a unicorn
M🡪U
if
Socrates is a man = M
Socrates is a unicorn = U
how do you say If Socrates is a man, then he is not a unicorn
M🡪~U
The statement following “if” is the called the
antecedent
the “then”-statement is the
consequent
modus ponens
p ⊃ q
p
—————
q
valid example of modus ponens
if its raining, then the streets are wet.
its raining.
—————
the streets are wet.
invalid example of modus ponens
if its raining, then the streets are wet.
the streets are wet.
—————
its raining.
T/F: if an argument has modus ponens or modus tollens, then it is valid always.
True.
modus tollens
p ⊃ q
~q
—————
~p
invalid modus tollens
p ⊃ q
~p
—————
~q
the statement following “only if” is the _____. and the other statement is the ______
consequent, antecedent.
how to translate this universal affirmative/neg. statement as a conditional statement? “All men are mortal”. And “No cats are dogs”.
- If something is a man, then it is mortal.
- if something is a cat, then it is not a dog.
An if statement goes on the ____ side of the arrow/horseshoe.
left.
An if only statement goes on the ____ side of the arrow/horseshoe.
right
An if and only if statement goes where?
on either side of a biconditional (triple bar, arrow pointing both ways)
4 steps for identifying an argument
- Find the conclusion.
- List the stated premises.
- Determine validity.
- Determine the truth of the premises.
how do you formalize an argument?
listing the premises first and the conclusion last.
what is the principle of charity?
if the argument is invalid, but intended to be valid, you can add the necessary premise that was left unstated, and probably use the MP magic trick.
(gives them the benefit of the doubt)
fact vs opinion vs truth
fact is how things are in the world.
opinion/belief is representations of reality
truth is when beliefs correspond with the facts
utilitarianism
greatest happiness for the greatest number.
social contract theory
people live together in society in accordance with an agreement that establishes moral and political rules of behavior.
virtue ethics
person rather than action based. If___ were here, what would they do?
the motivation argument
- Moral judgments have an influence on the actions and affections.
- Reason alone can never have any such influence on the actions
and affections. - Therefore, moral judgments cannot be derived from reason.
the representation argument states that emotions do not have ____ because they don’t _______
truth value, represent anything. (Angry towards Neil is neither true nor false). (your desires, emotions, choices are not produced by arguments bc they are not truth value statements)
Hume’s big idea (rep. and mot. argument main point)
reason alone produces beliefs, but beliefs do not affect us (ECA) unless they work together with our desires, but reason alone won’t do anything.
relation/fact argument by Hume
there is no objective fact in a vicious action itself that makes it wrong, its in the observer.
all moral claims are ________ statements
ought
Hume’s is/ought argument main point
you cant get an ought statement from an is statement.
reason is the discovery of ____
truth or falsehood
(according to Harmen) why don’t moral observations confirm theories
because the best explanation of why you observed that the act of cat-burning is wrong is NOT that causing needless suffering is wrong, But is simply that you BELIEVE that Causing needless suffering is wrong.
Harmen’s main point
there is no scientific observational support for moral facts, therefore, we have no reason to believe there are such things as moral facts.
The error theory
there are no objective moral facts.
* But when people make moral claims, they are claiming that there are
moral facts.
* So all moral claims are false; they are errors.
Mackie’s reasoning that we have moral beliefs
-When we think we are recognizing objective moral facts, we are
actually just projecting our own moral attitudes.
-We internalize socially established behavior patterns.
-shows that our beliefs are not caused by any reliable data gathering process.
a key premise in the argument from relativity is that
different societies have different moral beliefs
moral isolationism def and who rejects it?
the view that we can never understand any culture except our own well enough to make judgments about it
Midgely
antirealism versus moral realism
AR: there are no objective moral values/facts.
MR: there are objective moral values, such that a moral claim may be either true or false.
one of the most popular forms of antirealism is cultural relativism, which is ____
right and wrong are relative to culture.
the open question argument
moral properties are not identical with natural properties.
enoch (realist) relies on ________ as a source of moral knowledge
intuition
reflective equilibrium
evaluating your moral beliefs and making sure on doesn’t contradict the other (lying to mom and max. happiness example)
disagreement: Sarah mcgrath
- If our epistemic peers (equally informed, thoughtful people)
disagree with us, then our beliefs are unjustified. - But epistemic peers disagree about virtually every moral question.
- Therefore, no moral beliefs are justified.
