Philosophy Flashcards
beneficence
promoting patient’s best interest and protecting from harm
nonmalifience
do no harm
Axiology (and something else - does the ax have value)
the philosophical study of goodness and VALUES. The philosophical study of value. It includes questions about the nature and classification of values and about what kinds of things have value.
Metaphysics (Ontology); (I’m on to what is metaphysics) and who practices it?
Alternate realities. Ontology is the inquiry into what “is”, what exists. Metaphysics is the study of what “is” outside of the physical world - Ideas (in the Platonic sense), Forms (in the Aristotelian sense) and theological concepts such as souls, angels and gods
Epistemology (pist bc it’s knowledge)
The study of the origin of knowledge.
the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.
Logic (logically the referee evaluates)
application of logical methods to philosophical problem. The referee. System or method used to evaluate arguments.
Aesthetics
a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed through judgments of taste
Ethics
involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior
Descriptive (I’m describing my view on morality)
the study of people’s views about moral beliefs.
normative ethics (norm takes action)
normative ethics is the study of ethical action (Kant, Mill and Ethics of Care)
metaethics (betta study the basic ethics)
concerned primarily with reflections on ethics itself. Some issues within metaethics include the meaning of moral terms like “ought,” “right,” and “virtue”; the metaphysical status of moral norms; the proper grounds for
justifying moral claims; and the nature of moral knowledge.
Applied ethics (just applying ethics)
practical application of moral considerations. It is ethics with respect to real-world actions
Bioethics - AND what type of ethics
The study of the ethical dimensions of medicine and the biological sciences; applied normative ethics
Biomedical Ethics
The study of what one is obligated or permitted to do, or prohibited from doing, in different contexts of biotechnology, medical practice, and medical research
Correspondence Theory of Truth
objective. Narrowly speaking, the correspondence theory of truth is the view that truth is correspondence to, or with, a fact. that truth is a relational property involving a characteristic relation.
relativism
subjective. the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute.
normative ethics (norm takes action)
that branch of moral philosophy, or ethics, concerned with criteria of what is morally right and wrong.
relativism
the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute.
Virtue ethics - AND what type of ethics is it
a class of normative ethical theories which treat the concept of moral virtue as central to ethics. Plato & Aristotle
Deontological (Deon it’s your duty) and what type of ethics
(Kant; duty/nonconsequentialist). the normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules, rather than based on the consequences of the action
Utilitarian - and what type of ethics?
Utilitarian (Bentham, Mill;
consequentialist). a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals
Feminist Ethics/Ethics of Care
Moral decision-making is expected to be rational and logical, with a focus on universal, objective rules. In contrast, ethics of care defends some emotions, such as care or compassion, as moral
moral theory (the theory explains it)
An explanation of why an action is right or wrong or why a person or a person’s character is good or bad.
• Tells us what it is about an action that makes it right
Faculties (artistotle)
These are capable of experiencing the emotions, e.g., getting angry or feeling pity etc.
Two vices: Aristotle (think Aristotle)
Two vices: 1. Excess
2. Deficiency
aristotle - objective or subjective?
subjective. This kind of “happiness” refers to the excellent living
conditions that people hope to achieve. The highest purpose of life is the state in which
people live the best and the most prosperous, similar to what we now call “successful life”. Everything that one does in life could considered both a means and an end, but happiness is the only thing that could be purely considered an end. There is nothing further in life than pure happiness. Therefore Aristotle argues that this overarching goal is in fact the one true goal of human existence.
kant (Kan’t everyone adopt and will it?) Universal imperative
An action is right if and only if one can both 1) consistently conceive of everyone adopting and acting on the maxim of one’s action, and also 2) consistently will that everyone act on the maxim.
maxim
an expression of moral rule or principle
moral theory (just good and bad, thats it)
An explanation of why an action is right or wrong or why a person or a person’s character is good or bad
Virtue ethics (character is the key to virtue)
A moral theory that focuses on
the development of virtuous character. character is the key to the moral life, for it is from a virtuous character that moral conduct and values naturally arise
artistotle’s view - which type of ethics (just him and Plato)
virtuous ethics
highest good - Artistotle (3 things)
- It is desirable for itself.
- It is not desirable for the sake of some other good.
- All other goods are desirable for its sake (i.e., happiness and living well).
2 theories of truth
relativism and correspondence theory of truth
Bioethics - what type of ethics (think, it’s medicine, so it’s..)
is applied ethics, a domain within general normative ethics.
philosophical ethic is just….
ethics, the study of right and wrong
2 branches of philosophical ethics (philosophy is just M&Ns)
metaethics and normative ethics. Metaethics talks about the nature of ethics and moral reasoning. … Normative ethics is interested in determining the content of our moral behavior - what we ought to do.
2 branches of normative ethics (in general, Norm is applied)
general normative ethics and applied ethics
2 branches in applied ethics (it’s all applied medicine)
bioethics and medical ethics. Medical is an offshoot of bio.
Aristotle is the…
father of logic
Aristotle - law of identity:
A = A. everything is identical to itself
Aristotle - Law of non-contradiction -
Not both A and not A - nothing can exist and not exist at the same time
Aristotle - law of excluded middle (either exclude)
Either A or not A. either something exists, or it does not exist
argument (always 2 parts to an argument)
basic complete unit of reasoning.
a group of statements (premise - factual claim) to provide support for the conclusion (the evidence).
truth value (truth is binary)
something is either true or false
2 conditions that make something an argument (I argue the evidence)
1) at least one statement must present evidence
2) the claim is supported by evidence
2 types of arguments (arguments DI)
deduction and induction
deduction arguments (I’ve deducted that it’s impossible to learn this)
stronger than induction. claims that it is impossible for argument to be false given that the claims are true.
induction or inductive argument
deals w/ probability. argument which claims that is improbable (BUT not impossible, like deduction) that the conclusion is false.
example of deductive form (my cat is deductive)
All A are B, all B are C, thus all A are C. All cats are mammals, all mammals are animals, thus cats are animals. This is a syllogism (the usually have 3 statements)
syllogism (syllogism is synergy)
syllogism - 3 statements usually
prediction (I predict the sun)
an inductive argument (probable, but not impossible) that comes from knowledge in the past about a future event. The sun has risen every day for millions of years (premise). The sun will rise tomorrow.
for both inductive and deductive arguments, we need 2 things…(can we deduce it’s true?)
1) does the premise support the conclusion, and 2) are all of the premises true?
consequentialism - 2 types (consequentialism ARe hardcore)
act and rule consequentialism. Act is obligatory if the consequences are good (good for number of beds, bad for huntington’s disease) rule is which rules will provide best consequences.
deontonology not good for bioethics bc…
it doesn’t take the amount into consideration, ie organ donation
virtue ethics good for biomedicine bc…
the doctor does a good act because they believe it is the right thing to do. The motivation is the key.
artistotle - 3 properties of the soul (FEM)
emotions, faculties, moral states
Moral States - Aristotle (morals are in emotions)
These are well or ill disposed in our emotions
happiness - Artistotle (aristotle is happy to live well)
to live well” or “to do well” is the same thing as “to be happy.
by doing just acts that we become just
Artistotle
conditions for virtue - artistotle - KDC (virtue knows, deliberately, character)
- They must know what they are doing.
- They must deliberately choose to do it and do it for its own sake.
- They must do it as part of his own firm and immutable character
aristotle virtue (aristotle means virtue)
The mean between excess & deficiency
humanity formulation - Kant (discrimination is not part of humanity)
An action is right if and only if the action treats persons, including oneself, as ends in themselves and not merely as a means (ex. means is discrimination, discount their equality)
Nothing can be called good without qualification except a good will
Kant
Act-Utlitarianism (acting is relatively good)
The rightness of actions depends solely on the relative good produced by individual actions
Rule-Utlitarianism
A right action is one that conforms to a rule that, if followed consistently, would create for everyone involved the most beneficial balance of good over bad
utilitarianism - role of morality is…
to provide rules that will produce an existence with maximum happiness and minimum unhappiness for all humanity
ethics of care rejects…
the more likely to avoid bias and arbitrariness, the more nearly to achieve impartiality
Willard’s truth (Willard matches it)
Truth is always the matching up of an idea to reality. Relativism encourages us not to try to seek out the truth
Seigel - self-referential claim about truth
“All truth is relative” is self referentially is incoherent in that if the claim is
true then it is also false
rachels
From the fact that cultures have divergent moral beliefs on an issue, it does not logically follow that there is no objective moral truth
rachels - problems with relativism
- We could no longer say that the customs of other societes are morally inferior to our own.
- We could decide whether actions are right or wrong just by consulting the standards of our society.
- The idea of moral progress is called into doubt.
rachels - relativism (Rachels keeps an open mind)
We should see things through an open mind and not let our feelings and what we have been taught by our culture get in the way of finding the truth
who was a nonconsequentionalist?
Kant
ontology
the study of being
universal law formuation
