Test 1 Flashcards
The philosophical school that endorses the idea that “all we have are arguments”.
Sophists
The art of persuasion
Rhetoric
Everywhere
Ubiquitous
Questions about the nature of things.
Metaphysics
Describes the way things are.
Descriptive Ethics
Real answers can be found to moral questions and are not a mere matter of culture.
Realism
Moral judgments are related to their culture, religion, class, etc.
No rational basis for ethical claims.
They are simply a product of our environment.
Descriptive Relativism
Outcome of descriptive relativism.
Who knows anything?
Philosophical Skepticism
A critical analysis of views, rather than accepting things at face value.
Skepticism
Outcome of descriptive relativism.
Each culture’s morals are right for that culture.
Because we are just products of our cultures.
Ethical Relativism
- “such a view would not be held if impartially considered”
- “our views are inconsistent”
- our “view has acceptable implications for actions”
3 ways to undermine an ethical claim
Ontological; built into the very structure of reality, mysterious, cosmic, “our master”
Transcendent
The study of being.
Ontology
A function of pleasure.
Good = Pleasure
Evil = Pain
Hedonistic
Good and evil are social constructs and are either totally illusory or are useful constructs, that allow society to function. No mystery, morality a tool that serves man, we are its master.
Morality is made, and therefore can be remade.
Therefore it can be a tool by which to justify the position of the powerful.
Illusion/Useful Fiction
Usually leads to a religious interpretation of life.
The Good is seen as truth and/or God (the source of our very being) and evil is seen as the loss of that truth.
Transcendence
Two popular ways Transcendent explains evil
Corruption
Evil is the opposite of Good
Pleasure, pleasure, pleasure. Immediate Gratification.
Worried about our experiences (here and now)
Crude Hedonism