Lecture 2: Ethics from Antiquity to the present Flashcards
(38 cards)
Who were the ones who focused on ethics as a form of applied philosophy?
Leaders of ancient Athens, particularly teachers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were the ones who focused on ethics.
What were people drawn towards Athens in the fifth century?
- people wanted a better life
- being able to engage in trade and commerce
- rich architecture, poetry, dram, religion practices, politics & school philosophy
- study w/ brilliant teachers, dramatists, historians, the father of medicine, renowned but mysterious Socrates.
What is virtue ethics?
It is an ethical system based upon the exercise of certain virtues emphasizing the formation of character.
What does Teleology (Telos) from Greek means?
It means goal or aims, is the study of ends & the means directed towards those ends.
What does Teleology (Telos) from Greek means?
It means goal or aims, is the study of ends & the means directed towards those ends.
What does Aristotle think the telos (goal/aim) of human beings?
Aristotle believed it to be eudaimonia (happiness). He considers happiness to not be wealth but character through the exercise of function that distinguishes humans from the natural worlds.
According to Aristotle, how is eudaimonia achieved?
It can be achieved by leading a virtuous (moral) life, which is attained over time.
What are the 2 types of virtues identified by Aristotle?
- Intellectual virtues - knowledge, wisdom and prudence or practical wisdom.
- Moral virtues - courage, self-control, liberality, magnificence, honor, patience and amiability (friendliness).
What did Aristotle say about intellectual virtues?
- practical wisdom acts as a guide to behavior (a person acted prudently based on the wisdom gained over time through ongoing acquisition & testing of knowledge)
- prudence is the MOST crucial as it helped individuals avoid excess & deficiency and arrive at the golden mean between the two.
- prudence also means common sense and practical wisdom which helps individuals make the right decision in the right way at the right time and for the right reason.
What are the differences between intellectual and moral virtues?
Intellectual virtues are acquired purely through learning & experience. Whereas moral virtues are acquired through practice and development of habits.
What are the differences between intellectual and moral virtues?
Intellectual virtues are acquired purely through learning & experience. Whereas moral virtues are acquired through practice and development of habits.
What is magnanimous?
It refers to someone for whom fame & wealth held little attraction. This type of person has self-knowledge, not rash, quick to anger or submissive to others and acted w/ self-respect, control and prudence. Achieved happiness by leading a life characterized by reason & will.
In Athenian society, how was business conducted?
It was conducted competently and ethically.
What did Greeks considered the exercise of greed as?
They considered greed to be irrational and therefore dishonorable.
What are the characteristics of a man who is good at deliberation (consideration) ?
One who can aim, by the help of his own calculation at the best of goods attainable.
For Athenians, what does acting in a calculative way indicates?
It is an indication of dishonor.
How is reputation formed?
Reputation is no accident. It is the product of a culture formed by individual & group effort which is directed, intentional and ongoing.
What is the virtue of Confucius?
It emphasizes on relationships. It determines how relationship-determining person can live well w/ others.
What did Confucius meant when he called for “a return to li?”
It meant doing tasks in collaboration w/ others to achieve the mission of the organization. When the correct rituals were followed in the right way, w/ the right intention for the right end, all is well. “Li” also emphasized on the ground between deficiency and excess. “Nothing in excess”. Everything should be done moderately and not excessively.
What did scholars like Aristotle and Confucius stressed on?
They stressed the virtuous life in his ethical systems, w/ the goals of creating “junzi” aka a person who was gracious, magnanimous, and cultured (a flourishing human being).
How did Confucius goal?
He believed people were inherently good and that the way to stop inhuman behavior was to make them even better, or more human.
What were the 3 means that Confucius identified to make people better?
- Whole-hearted sincerity & truthfulness - humans needed to be more than sincere (humans had to be loyal to truth)
- Constant mean - balance between excess & deficiency in an existential and practical sense (5 great relationships: parent, child, husband, wife, senior, junior, master, apprentice, ruler, subject.
- Expediency - righteousness as the virtue that would temper compassion & love so that people could live together peacefully and justly.
What does Confucius say about “quan”?
It is applied when weighing options in a moral dilemma & acts as a counterbalance to achieve fairness, so that parties in a transaction can arrive at an equitable agreement. Allowing them to be more human.
What is one common thing that Confucius and Aristotle had in common?
It is the character of the person or persons making decisions.
