Religion Exam Flashcards
Define Beautiful
Pleasing the senses or mind aesthetically
Define Autonomy
Free self-direction; responsibility
Define deontological ethics
the normative ethical position that judges the morality of an action based on the action’s adherence to a rule or rules. It is sometimes described as “duty”, “obligation” or “rule”-based ethics, because rules “bind you to your duty”
the Greek word “deon” means “duty”
Define desire
a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen
Define Duty
it is the necessity of acting from respect for the [moral] law
Define Ethics
a discipline that deals with nature of the good, the nature of the human person, and criteria that we use for making right judgments
Define Good
to be desired or approved of
Define Morality
a system of right conduct based on fundamental beliefs and obligation to follow certain codes, norms, customs and habits of behaviour
Define Obligation
What one is bound by duty or contract to do
Define Passion
Strong and barely controllable emotion, suffering and death of Jesus
Define Response
a verbal or written answer; a reaction to something
Define Responsibility
Being morally accountable for one’s actions. Responsibility presumes knowledge, freedom, and the ability to choose and to act
Define Revelation
the ways that God makes Himself known to humankind. God is fully revealed in Jesus Christ. The Sacred Scriptures, proclaimed within the Church, are the revealed Word of God. God also reveals Self through people and indeed through all of creation.
Define Teleological Ethics
Teleological comes from Greek “telos” meaning “end and the Greek “togos” meaning “science. It is the theory of morality that derives duty or moral obligation from what is good or desirable as an end to be achieved.
During what time period did Aristotle live?
from 384-322 BC.
~he was the student of Plato
What was a major theory of Aristotle?
He believed in teleological ethics
Define Teleology
it is from the Greek word “Telos” meaning the goal, end or purpose of something or someone. That at which all things aim
Explain Aristotle’s beliefs on the community
~states that, “human life is shaped to its full extent in the context of a community. It is there that the citizen will find happiness”. The isolated person outside of the community must be either a beast or a god”
What is a polis?
Polis means community
Explain Aristotle’s beliefs on pleasure versus happiness
~did not equate happiness with pleasure
~Pleasure is only momentary while happiness lasts forever
~to live well, and to do well is to find happiness
reason equals good character which equals happiness
Explain Aristotle’s beliefs on intelligence and being rational
~we are intended to be rational
~our greatest capacity as humans is our intelligence
~”To act ethically, therefore, is to engage our capacity to reason as we develop good character
Explain Aristotle’s beliefs on virtues
~Virtues = good habits
~When people seek to become who they are they are intended to be, they develop good habits
~The more we practice a good habit the more it becomes virtuous
Explain Aristotle’s beliefs regarding the middle ground
~the “Mean” is the median/middle ground
~we need to avoid excess
~we are to be moderate in all things in order to find happiness
When did Immanuel Kant live?
1724-1804
What theory was Immanuel Kant known for?
Deontological Ethics
Explain Kant’s past
~Born of a poor but very religious family in a town in what was then known as east Prussia
~Never ventured more than 100km from his birthplace
~regarded as one of the most influential thinkers in Western philosophy
~Schooled in Descartes’ theories of reason and logic, he was also influenced by Hume’s skepticism
Explain Immanuel Kant’s Theoretical Reason
~An area of reasoning by which we come to know how the laws of nature, the laws of cause and effect, govern human nature.
~We can know only what people actually do
What is Immanuel Kant’s Practical Reason?
~Includes the moral dimensions that guide human behaviour
~We come to understand what people ought to do
How did Kant devise his concept of moral duty?
From the concepts of Theoretical Reason and Practical Reason.
His concept of moral duty became the basis for his ethical theories
What did Immanuel Kant set out to show?
~that both reason and the sense can be sources of knowledge
~divided knowledge into two categories
1. A Priori Knowledge
2. A Posteriori Knowledge
**for Kant, reason was necessary to pursue the extreme good
What is A Priori knowledge?
knowledge, independent of sense source is the human mind (innate), organizes and unifies a posteriori knowledge according to certain innate concepts.
**built into our DNA; tells us there’s something more)
What is a posteriori knowledge?
Knowledge that comes from sense experience (empirical)
What are Kant’s 3 practical principles as a means to seek the good?
- God: on our own, we cannot achieve the supreme good. The existence of God allows us to do this
- Freedom: If we can achieve the good, then we must have the means of doing so. We must be able to fulfill our duty.
- Immortality: the supreme good is impossible to achieve in this life, thus a life beyond (immortality) exists to allow us to attain this supreme good.
What does Immanuel Kant think about autonomy?
~unlike Aristotle, Kantian ethics is individual in nature
~Grounded in the autonomy of the individual and his/her will
~”an action is moral if and only if it is motivated by duty. It is your autonomy, your choice to act in accordance with your will”