Unit 1: Ethics Flashcards
What is ethics?
The study of moral ideas, values and principles that we use for our judgements.
The 3 types of ethics are:
Metaethics: investigates the origin of ethical concepts and how we interpret them.
Normative ethics: the study of main principles that affect how we live and how the world should be.
Applied ethics: focus on everyday lives of people and not hypotheticals. Confronts dilemmas head on subjectively and objectively.
Metaethics:
investigates the origin of ethical concepts and how we interpret them.
Normative ethics:
the study of main principles that affect how we live and how the world should be.
Applied ethics:
focus on everyday lives of people and not hypotheticals. Confronts dilemmas head on subjectively and objectively.
a statement about the world can be interpreted true or false says…
Cognitivism
Moral claims about the world cannot be true or false says…
Non-Cognitivists
There is no fact that a statement is wrong but only a command relating to an action says…
Prescriptivism
Who is considered the father of non-cognitivism?
David Hume
Believed that moral virtue and Vice didn’t exist but were instead feeling s that we spread over the world
Who Believed that moral virtue and Vice didn’t exist but were instead feeling s that we spread over the world
David Hume
The morality of an act is determine by the feeling we get when thinking about the act says…
Non-cognitivists (HUME)
Who thought of why we should be moral?
Plato
Considered nature of justice to be important. Everyone has the ability to act justly depending on what scaly justly means to them. We need to establish the nature of good to know wether certain actions are bad.
Who Considered nature of justice to be important. And says.. Everyone has the ability to act justly depending on what scaly justly means to them. And also believed.. We need to establish the nature of good to know wether certain actions are bad.
Plato
What are the 4 major areas of normative ethics ?
Virtue theory (Plato)
Divine command theory
Utilitarian
Duty (Kant, deontology)
What did Aristotle believe?
We strive for external possessions, goods of the body and soul.
The most important was the goods of the soul because it’s the highest part of man. What we consider as good isn’t identical.
The aim of every action leads to a corresponding good (virtue)
Our ethics was based upon practicing virtue.
What is divine command theory?
Holds principles that guide our behavior come from gods will.
Alternative to good was to sin and goal of morality to obtain eternal salvation
What is utilitarian theory?
States that the right act produces best consequences for all. Whatever produces happiness or eradicate the pain.
Who is considers the father of utilitarian theory?
Jeremy Bentham
Believed an act was moral if it produced the greatest happiness for greatest number of people.
Who Believed an act was moral if it produced the greatest happiness for greatest number of people. ?
Jeremy Bentham
What is duty theory?
The rightness and wrong of an action speedster from its consequences. Focus on duty ethics.
Who created the law “categorical imperative” to rationally guide our actions?
Emmanuel Kant
Believed it was important to act rightly and with a good will towards your duty.
Who Believed it was important to act rightly and with a good will towards your duty.
Emmanuel Kant
Contemporary normative ethics formed a new form of thinking called
Formalism
Our pursuit of personal interests or the common good does not constitute the ultimate horizon of morals
Does not focus on context of law but it’s form
Communitarianism..
States individuals live in social frameworks and their ethics are influenced by that framework
Ethics is based on communities traditions and cultural institutions
Applied ethics…
Everyday lives of people
Ethics based on our own experiences and values
