philosophy ethics test Flashcards
define ethics
the study of morality
- determines which things are morally good and what actions are morally right
- principles of right and wrong behaviour
define morality
- standards that an individual or group has about what is right or wrong good or evil
- set of values and principles that guide someones choices
define moral
that which is goof the way we ought to behave
define immoral
that which is bad the way we ought to not behave
define amoral
those actions which are neither good or bad not but are morally neutral
what are the 4 basic moral principles
- do good avoid evil
- do unto others as you would have done onto you
- does the end justify the means
- follow what natures intendeds
do good and avoid evil
- most basic principle
- first articulated by Aristotle
- agreed by most religions
- all moral principles comes from this
do unto others as you would have done onto you
- commonly referred to as golden rule
- all religions share this belief
- treat others how you want to be treated
Follow what nature intendeds
- make decisions that respect the nature of things
- follow what is natural for human beings and the rest creation
who is Lawerence kholberg? what his theory?
Lawerence kholberg (1927-1987)
- he conclued there are 6 stages of moral reasonings
what are the three levels to kholbergs theory
- pre conventional (childhood) morality
- conventional (adolescent) morality
- post conventional (adult) morality
stage 1 of khohlbergs - punishment and obedience “reward, punishment”
- based actions on consequences
- avoidance of punishment or a gaining a rewards motivates
“I am not going to run a red light because I will get a ticket”
stage 2 of kholbergs theory - personal usefulness “me first”
- what is right is only what satisfies one self
- the needs of others only matter if they affect MY needs
“ill scratch your back if you scratch mine”
” I am not going to run the red light because I need to use the car”
stage 3 - conforming to the will of the group “peer pressure”
- what is moral is what ever pleases and gets approval from the group
- conforms to the standard or norm
- right and wrong depends on what pleases or displeases others
” I am not going to run a red light because my friends expect me to stop and they want to feel safe in my car”
stages 4 - law and order “its your duty” stage
- one sees obedience to make rules as necessary to maintain order
- individuals do not think for themselves
- right behaviour consist of doing ones duty and respecting authority
- legally right = moral right
” I am not going to run a red light because its the law and I respected the law
stage 5 - social contract the “what society stands for”
- right action is described in terms of general values that have been out upon the whole society (charters of rights and freedoms)
- societies standards of behaviour
- laws are justified based on general principles but one may work to change the law for society
stage 6 - personal conscience “its the principle of the thing”
- decisions are based upon universal justice equality respect and dignity
- choices are grounded in genuine moral interests willing to risk punishment for what is right
- willing to accept disproval of others
“sometimes I may chose to run a red light for greater purpose I will admit to breaking the law and accept my punishment”
what are the consequetlist (teleological) theories
- egoism
- hedonism
- utilitarianism
what are the non consequentialism theories (deontological)
- divine command theory
- natural law ethics
- categorical imperative
what’s another word for consequenlist and where does it come from?
teleological
- comes from greek word “telos” for end
what’s another word non consequentialist and where does it come from
deontological
- comes from greek word “deon” for duty
Egoism
- believe that when deciding morality we should consider the good and bad consequences for ourselves
- believes that we act morally when it promotes our long term interest
short term suffering - long terms pleasure
problems w egoism
- conflicting interests
- is moral point of view realistic? no one can be impartial
- underestimates moral point of view
hedonism
- only pleasure is only worthy having its own sake
- short term benefits - long terms suffering
utilitarianism
- promotes the greatest good for the greatest amount of people*
created by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) expanded by John Stuart mill
- reconizes basic human motivation to seek pleasure & avoid pain
two sections of utliltarism
act
- the end justifies the mean
- claims that the right action is the one that produce the most pleasure for majority
rule utilitarian
- moral rules should be created for the majority
- should implement and follow the rules that produce Thebes long term consequences
problem - we can’t always predict in advance the results each principles will produce in the long term
Natural law ethics - St Thomas aquinas
- aquinas was an Italian philosopher (ethics and metaphysics)
- argues that human nature is created from natural tendencies - what is morally right
- natural law is hard wired into humans
- the laws that governs it are the laws that God imposed on it and are found within it
what are our natural inclinations as humans
- live / survive
- love / family
- freedom
- knowledge and education
- order / peace
- justice
- community
- safety
divine command theory
- morality is objective and universal (golden rule)
- we have a duty
- the ultimate goal is to do the right thing because it is the right thing, not because we seek reward or punishment
- the standard against which all moral decisions are measure
Moral argument
If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist
Objective moral values and duties do exist, therefore God exists
Kant Catergorical imperative
- created immune Kant (1724-1804)
- German philosopher and englightment thinker
” two things fill the mind with ever are increasing wonder and awe.. the starry heavens above and the moral law within”
- kant believend morality is rooted in reason
- ethical law can be discovered autonomously by the individual
- duty to follow two maxims
kants POV on morality
Kants categorical imperative two maxims
- the principles of universilizabiltiy
- the principle of humanity
every individual has a duty
- everything is divided int two maxims
Kants first maxims - the principles of universibility
- believing that what you are doing is right for everyone
- if your allowed to do it should everyone else be
kants second maxim - the principle of humanity
- never treat someone as a end to a mean
- treat everyone with divinity and respect not for your own benefit
what is virtue ethics
- focuses not on rules of conduct but on the development of character traits
Aristotle & virus ethics
poo
- created by artistorle
- had four thesis
- humans are happy if they perform their humans “functions”
- the function of humans is to act in accordance to reason
- reasons control our emotions allowing us to act virtuously
- training produced the habit of acting virtuously and this produces virtuous character
- every humans end purpose in life is to achieve happiness
recall –> destiny achieved
- Aristotle argues that we act well when we seek the midpoint between excess and deficient
- acquiring virtues helps us use our reason well in our lives
- to achieve the mean in our feelings and actions we must avoid both excess and deficency
ethical absolutism
there is no excess the thing is wrong completely
- what is moral duty for me must also be for you
ethical relativism
there is no morality that all societies follow each person should follow the morality of his or her society
cultural relativism
one culture may think something is right and another may not
