Final Exam Flashcards
Absolutist
Duty-Based Ethics.
Very strict and emphasis on rules and commitment to duty.
Agape
Care-Based Ethics.
Totally selfless, pure, unconditional love that you can give to another. This is all about the other person.
Aristotle
Virtue Ethics.
He’s all about finding a happy medium being overdoing something or underdoing it.
Autonomy
Freedom to do as you please or acting independently.
Jeremy Bentham
Utilitarianism.
Care-Based Ethics
Starts of during time of Christ. It has religious foundations Golden rule: "Love thy neighbor as thyself" and "Do to others as you would do to you." Reversibility Agape (Greek term)
Categorical Imperatives
Duty-Based Ethics.
Commands that fit in certain categories. When it comes to the category of life, the command is to do no harm. Category of truth, the command is to not lie.
Consequentialist
Utilitarianism.
End results matter.
Criticisms of the Different Ethical Approaches
Virtue: The middle ground doesn’t always exist in every situation.
Care-Based: World peace would exist if this approach existed.
Duty-Based: So rigid/locked in. Not realistic bc life is not that clear cut.
Utilitarianism: Relies too much on prediction bc it’s so focused on the outcome.
Social Contract: Too malleable, not set in stone. They’re apt to be rewritten.
Relativism: It’s not ethics. No roadmap like the others bc there’s no telling what is ethical or not.
Egoism: Selfish. Not even close to being an ethical approach.
Feminist: Creates a battle of the sexes. More friction bc sometimes seen as more aggressive.
Deontological
Duty-Based Ethics.
Deon-duty.
John Dewey
Relativism.
American philosopher known for wanting to improve education in the 1900s.
Diversity Spectrum
Friendly to Diversity Interests: Feminist, care-based, duty-based
Middle: Virtue and relativism
Potentially Hostile to Diversity Interests: Social contract, utilitarianism, egoism.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”
Care-Based Ethics.
Duty-Based Ethics
Begins during 1700s in Germany with philosopher Kant.
Focus: As human beings, we have certain duties to abide by.
Maxims/universal laws, absolute truths, categorical imperatives
“the ends do not justify the means”
Non-consequentialist/deon(duty)tological- it’s not about the consequence, it’s about the initial action.
Egalitarian
Social Contract Ethics.
Relating to or believing in the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities.
Egoism
Focus: Me. Doing what works for me and not care for others.
“It’s all about me.”
Egoists would say it’s an extreme form of consequentialist thinking on how it affects me.
“Ends justify the means”
Utilitarianism.
“Ends do not justify the means”
Duty-Based Ethics.
Feminist Ethics
Focus: A rationale way of life includes reason, but infuses some thought process into that (emotions). The analytical way to life isn’t the whole picture.
Emphasis on relationships, nurturing, connectedness.
“Think with your heart as well as your head.”
Like care-based, but not religious overtones.
Golden Mean
Virtue Ethics.
Middle road.
Golden Rule
Care-Based Ethics
Love thy neighbor as thyself and do unto others as you do unto yourself.
“Greatest good for the greatest number”
Utilitarianism.
Harmonious/Communal Living
Social Contract Ethics.
Thomas Hobbes
Social Contract Ethics.
“If society agrees to it, it’s what we do”
Social Contract Ethics.
Immanuel Kant
Duty-Based Ethics.
John Locke
Social Contract Ethics.
“Love thy neighbor as thyself”
Care-Based Ethics.
“Me, me, me…It’s all about me”
Egoism.
John Stuart Mill
Utilitarianism.
Non-Consequentialist
Duty-Based Ethics.
Original Position
Social Contract Ethics.
Assume a blank state when you step behind the veil of ignorance.
Progressivism
Relativism.
Called this because this approach has progressed far away from traditional ethical thinking.
John Rawls
Social Contract Ethics.
American philosopher and added the veil of ignorance and original position in the 1900s.
Relativism
Another response to Kant (duty-based ethics).
Late 1800s-mid 1900s.
Bertrand Russell and John Dewey.
Also known as progressivism or situation ethics.
Focus: Places a lot of emphasis on the individual and their unique situation.
Ex. cheating on a final to graduate. This approach tells us that this is relative to his situation and the person thinks it’s ethical under the circumstances.
“It depends on the situation and the parties involved.” or “whatever floats your boat.”
Reversibility
Care-Based Ethics.
Reverse the situation and imagine yourself in someone else’s shoes.
Robin Hood
Duty-Based disagrees with this actions.
Utilitarianism agrees with this actions.
Jean Jacques Rousseau
Social Contract Ethics.
Bertrand Russell
Relativism.
Safe Harbor
Created by the FCC to allow tv stations to air explicit, gory, inappropriate things from 10 pm to 6 am while kids are not watching.
Secular
Of or relating to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred.
Situation Ethics
Relativism.
Social Contract Ethics
During 1600s-1700s in Europe.
Some of the thinkers: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau.
Focus: Creating a situation where people can live in harmony / communal living.
Egalitarian - equal voice, equal society which is how we should live.
“If society agrees to it, then that’s what we should do” or “let’s put it to a vote.”
It’s not necessarily voting, but either accepting or rejecting these social contracts, for example red light to stop, we all just agreed that we stop at the red light, and if enough people want to change stopping to another color, then they can so that people can live in harmony to not stirrup drama.
Criticisms: too maleable, not set in stone. They’re apt to be rewritten (ex. Gay marriage when it was originally only hetero marriage).
John Rawls, an American philosopher,(during 1900s) liked social contracts but was bothered by the idea that it can be a problem to minorities. Added a new layer to this approach.
Before any of us vote, each of us should step behind an invisible curtain (veil of ignorance) and forget who we are and take an original position (blank slate).
If you don’t know your identity under the veil, you’re most likely going to vote against it bc you don’t know how it’ll affect you since you’re in an original position (ex. Segregation).
Stakeholders
The parties that will be most affected by your actions.
Subjective
Egoism.
Based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.
“Take the middle road”
Virtue Ethics.