Reflection Questions 1

Question 1

What is morality, ethics and ethical theory

Answer 1

Morality: humans ability to distinguish between right and wrong
Ethics: systematic study of morality
Ethical theory: principles and rules that determine right and wrong in different situations

Question 2

What is the difference between ethics and the law

Answer 2

Morality is the foundation of law
Law is there to protect from unethical leaders and help leaders be ethical
Not the same thing but overlap; laws are societal rules we must adhere to but do not involve study of right and wrong, although many laws are based on it
Law does not cover all ethical issues, not all legal issues are ethical and they can have contradictions

Question 3

Which dimensions of the moral machine experience more agreement

Answer 3

There is variance in agreement across different dimensions, but sparing humans instead of pets, sparing more characters over fewer, and sparing young over old tend to receive more agreement

Question 4

Which cultural differences com through in the moral machine when comparing western, eastern and southern cultures

Answer 4

Individualist countries have a stronger preference to save more characters
Collectivist countries have a weaker preference for sparing young characters

Question 5

What are the core normative theories in modern western thinking? What are key ideas of each?

Answer 5

Ethical egoism: acting in ones self interest to fulfill their long term desires or short term needs
Utilitarianism: the greatest amount of good to the most and the least amount of harm
Ethical of duties: involves ones duty to act morally to others and to follow universal applicability and respect of persons
Rights and justice: respect and consideration of every persons basic rights and right to be treated and regarded justly and fairly

Question 6

What are alternative theories to modern western normative theories

Answer 6

Virtue ethics
Feminist ethics
Discourse ethics
Post modern ethics

Question 7

What is the difference between ethical absolutism, relativism and pluralism?

Answer 7

Ethical absolutism: certain acts are universally right or wrong regardless of context
Ethical relativism: what is right or wrong depends on the situation and culture
Ethical pluralism: combination of the two where universal principles are acknowledged as well as different moral perspectives

Question 8

What is a good leader?

Answer 8

One that is ethical and effective
Hard to have or distinguish since there is idea of moral luck, which says leaders are not in full control
Notion of dirty hands, sometimes no good choices
Moral perfection not attainable since leaders are also human and can fall into desires or indulgences
Altruism
Transformational leadership over pseudo transformational leadership
Trustworthiness over charisma
Need to be able to weave different people together