Mapping the Ethical Experience Flashcards
Define morality.
A system of right conduct based on fundamental beliefs and obligation to follow certain codes, norms, customs, and habits of behaviour.
Define revelation.
The ways that God makes Himself known to human kind, through Jesus Christ, Scripture, and all of creation.
Define moral agent.
A person who acts freely and knowingly, who is accountable for his/her action.
Define ethics.
A discipline that deals with the nature of the good, human person and criteria that we use for making right judgements.
Define freedom.
The human capacity to choose and to act. I am free because I have possibilities and capacities to act on these possibilities.
Define free will.
Freedom of choice offered to us by God.
Define predestination.
The view that behavior is predetermined, whether by God or by other causes.
Define responsibility.
The conviction that a person is the agent of his or her actions. This presupposes freedom, knowledge, and capability.
Define human freedom.
We have the ability to freely and knowingly act and be accountable for our actions.
Define naturalism.
Science reigns supreme. In other words, DNA defines who you are.
Define determinism.
One’s human behavior is a product of a complex array of physical, social, cultural, psychological and historical causes.
Do naturalism and determinism support the Christian concept of free will?
No, because both naturalism and determinism maintain that one’s being and one’s behavior are predetermined based upon DNA (naturalism) or external causes (determinism) and thus do not support the concept of freedom of choice and accountability for one’s freely chosen actions.
Define conscience.
The place where we hold our own selves in our hands. Responds to the call to commit ourselves to value. Our capacity to know and do good; a process of moral reasoning.
Define commitment.
Promise or pledge, resolve to carry out something in the future.
Define Trinity.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Define narcissism.
A disorder marked by self-absorption to the exclusion of others.
Define identity.
The distinguishing character of a person. My identity is determined in a large part by the moral stance that I take in life.
Three senses of conscience.
- Conscience as capacity is to know and do the good, and to avoid evil.
- Conscience is a process of moral reasoning, knowing how to perceive accurately and think correctly.
- Conscience is the concrete judgement of what I should do. It becomes my own when I act. I must obey this conscience to be true to myself.
Six symptoms of a misinformed conscience.
- Rationalization
- Trivialization
- Misinformation
- The end justifies the means
- Means to an end
- Difficult to reason
What are the steps to the Conceptual Framework of Action?
Created by Raul Ricoeur.
- Who? (agent)
- What? (the action)
- Why? (the motive)
- How? (with what means?)
- With or against whom?
- Under what circumstances?
- With what outcome?
Define artificial intelligence.
A principle that proposes that intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it.
Define mind-brain distinction.
Catholic tradition does not deny the discoveries of science or the connections between the mind and brain. The human mind is more than the physical functions. The mind has the capacity for freedom, choice, and action. The mind is the heart of human capacity.
Define rationalism.
A philosophical theory that suggests that nothing can be accepted as true unless it can be proven by reason alone.
What are Freud’s Life and Death Instincts.
Life instinct = Eros, Death instinct = Thanatos.
What are six aspects of the human person?
- The importance of others
- The importance of direction in life.
- The importance of communication and language
- The importance of character and one’s body
- The importance of conscience
- The importance of the development of one’s conscience
What are Freud’s views of conscience?
- The Id; the unconscious instinctual drives (Caveman)
- The Superego; Others views of right/wrong superimposed on us (e.g. parents)
- Ego; Our own views of right and wrong and a willingness to accept responsibility for our choices
What are the steps to conscience development?
- Develops as you mature and determine your sense of right and wrong
- Develops as you take account of and follow the norms, values and commandments
- Develops as you participate in Eucharist and prayer life
- Develops as you grow in the virtue of humility
Judaism sacred text.
Hebrew Bible, Torah, and Talmud.
Islam sacred text.
Holy Qur’an or Koran.
Hinduism sacred text.
The Vedas (Book of Knowledge).
Buddhism sacred text.
Tripitaka.
Sikhism sacred text.
The Guru Granth Sahib.
Taoism sacred text.
Tao Te Ching.
The morality of human acts depends on:
- The object chosen
- The end view or the intention
- The circumstances of the action
