evaluation points Flashcards

1
Q

strengths of utilitarianism

A
  • people will naturally and instinctively do the greatest good for the greatest number. for example going to Nando’s because 3/5 people wanted to go there.
  • it is non-religious , therefore can be used by everyone
  • it is democratic decisions are made by what the majority thinks is right
  • mill considers the minority
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2
Q

weaknesses of utilitarianism

A

-confuses what’s popular for what is right
-Bentham included agent-neutrality said we should ignore our emotions however it is in our nature
tyranny of the majority- majority’s pleasure may harm the minority
-impossible to predict all harmful outcomes of a decision

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3
Q

who posed the question should we kill one healthy person to donate their organs to five ill people, and what is it a criticism of?

A

Judith Thomson - utilitarianism

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4
Q

strengths of situation ethics

A
  • people would generally agree love is a good thing
  • relative
  • considering the consequences of your actions is a good thing to do
  • relative to modern day Christians
  • autonomous “not under law but under grace”
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5
Q

weaknesses of situationism

A
  • > “if men were angels, then situation ethics would be the perfect ethics” Bishop Barclay, however, they’re not angels and therefore cannot be trusted to follow love honestly.
  • > Hobbes said we are naturally wicked and evil
  • > people have different interpretations of what love is even though fletcher wanted to make the love he was discussing clear it is inevitable for there to be some misconceptions.
  • > William Barclay argued to “discard law is to discard experience”
  • > it can allow evil in the name of love
  • > discarding rules is not practical for modern day GB since we have had them for generations. JSM, we need rules as a guideline
  • > St Paul “love is the fulfilling of the law”
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6
Q

strengths of natural law

A
  • > john Finnis said that a man absent of knowledge life and friendship etc cannot flourish
  • > objective, guidelines which are easy to follow
  • > values human life
  • > relevant to modern day Christians – 59.3%
  • > DO GOOD AND AVOID EVIL can be accepted by everyone.
  • > an action is not just about what we do externally but what we do internally ‘doctrine of the double effect’
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7
Q

weaknesses of natural law

A
  • > society is becoming increasing secular
  • > Kai Nelson - There is no basic human nature present across all societies and cultures
  • > Karl Barth - Natural Law relies too much upon reason - human reason is too corrupt to be trusted and not enough on the grace of God and revelation
  • > Vardy & Grosch - Aquinas’ view of human nature is too simplistic
  • > G.E. Moore - Good cannot be defined through nature, it is a naturalist fallacy. Goodness is unanalysable and cannot be defined by any reference of nature
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8
Q

who said there is no singular human nature across all cultures

A

kai nelson

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9
Q

who said human reason is too corrupted

A

Karl Barth

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10
Q

who said Aquinas view on human nature is too optimistic

A

vardy

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11
Q

strengths of Kantian ethics

A
  • > its clear and fixed
  • > distinction from duty and preference
  • > doesn’t require faith
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12
Q

weaknesses of Kantian ethics

A
  • > lacks motivation, even though we know are duty we are not compelled to do it.
  • > it’s too optimistic everyone cannot be expected to be moral all of the time.
  • > ross argued that an act is a prima facie duty when there is a moral reason in favour of doing that act but it can be outweighed by other moral reasons. For example, telling the truth.
  • > anthropocentric, suggests animals have no value.
  • > conflicting maxims, if a murder asks where someone is do we follow the maxim don’t lie or don’t expose others to violence.
  • > every situation is unique, imaging people doing something you do once all the time is unrealistic.
  • > peter Rickman – whilst we have duty to tell the truth are we not also obligated to protect a man’s life
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13
Q

what did ross argue about moral actions

A

an act is a prima facie duty when there is a moral reason in favour of doing that act but it can be outweighed by other moral reasons. For example, telling the truth.

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14
Q

how did Rickman support the criticism of conflicting maxims

A

whilst we have duty to tell the truth are we not also obligated to protect a man’s life

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