Unit 2

Question 1

Kant’s two moral/ Categorical imperatives?

Answer 1

objective is universal
I should act in a way that I would want everyone else in the world to act
Always treat others the way you would want to be treated
Treat others never simply as a means but also an end
People should never be treated only as a means (w/out regard to their dignity or their working condition)
Never use people just to get what you want

Question 2

How is Kant’s “kingdom” a utopia?

Answer 2

It is his idea of a perfect world
Treat others as a end not a means
Act other of their rational will
No one would act on any principle that could not be made universal

Question 3

Why according to Kant’s, is it wrong to make a false promise under any circumstance?

Answer 3

It fails to respect other
By lying: A) we deny the other person autonomy (the freedom to make an informed decision on the basis of good will)
B) we use the other as a means to achieve our end, or purpose of the person being lied to
Very black and white ie. of Anne Frank (Nazi)
It is not kind or respectful and we should not use it for selfish reasons

Question 4

Explain Kant’s distinction between theoretical reason and practical reason.

Answer 4

Theoretical

Come to know the laws of nature and the cause and effect govern human behavior
Ex. We know the effect of alcohol consumption on the body
Areas of life where freedom of choice is not an issue
We can only know what people actually do

Practical
Moral dimension guiding human behavior
We know that we ought not to drink and drive
Humans act both on impulse as affected

Question 5

What is the supreme good and how do the three practical principles enable humans to achieve it?

Answer 5

God
Humans can not get SG on their own
Kant says that the existence of God allows us to achieve it
Freedom
If SG is to be our achievement, then we ought to do what we can do
(to have the duty to do something, we must to be able to do it)
Kant says that humans are by nature free
Immortality
Impossible to gain SG fully in this life
Achieve the SG in the beyond

Question 6

Define good will, according to Kant

Answer 6

Is the will to do our duty for no other reason that it is our duty most precious possession

Question 7

Explain how Kant’s ethics is deontological

Answer 7

Greek work (deon) means = duty

WILL = CENTRAL
impulses > draw us away from duty
desires > draw us away from duty
WILL = FINITE
* do NOT always act according to our duty*

Question 8

How does Levinas oppose traditional western notions of being?

Answer 8

Westernars attempt to overcome all difference and diversity by grouping everything under an ALL-ENCOMPASSING “being”. Therefore, everything carries a stamp of sameness.
Westerners think out of a unified TOTALITY (away from difference)
DIFFERENCE is reduced to being accidental
→ accidental = not essential b/c it changes in every ind

Question 9

What impact did the Holocaust have on Levinas’ ethics?

Answer 9

Heightened his awareness of his Jewish root
Searched for Jewish teacher: Mordechai Chouchani
Become instructed in ways of Jewish Talmud = began to lecture on the subject

Question 10

How does Levinas understand the Good?

Answer 10

Good is beyond ‘being’/interested not in what is in common things BUT in what is unique about each per on/thg
UNIQUE THINGS/ PERSON = TRACES OF THE GOOD (GOD)

Question 11

Explain the connection between the human face and the Good

Answer 11

The eyes are windows to your soul- in the eyes you have immediate, direct contact w/ the other.
Here, you see their uniqueness which requires absolute respect.
Therefore, good = responsibility for the other

Question 12

Explain the authority of the face, “the other”.

Answer 12

The face is an authority “HIGHNESS, HOLINESS, DIVINITY”. In the look, the other is not my equal but my superior. The superiority of the face comes from the other stranger - at this point, the face becomes ethical. (it is like a please I need you).

Question 13

How does one become happy according to Aristotle?

Answer 13

If and only if, over a long period of time one often performs (w/ some success) the most perfect of typically human things.

Question 14

How does Aristotle understand the good?

Answer 14

Good permits human beings to reach our potential - what is our internal compass * what we are intended to be*

Question 15

How does Aristotle connect reason, ethical behavior, happiness and good character?

Answer 15

To act ethically, is to engage our capacity to reason as we develop good character (that is the highest form of happiness)

Question 16

How does Aristotle connect habits and virtues? How do you think he would relate vices to habits?

Answer 16

When people seek to become who they are intended to be, they develop habits that represent the best of what it means to be human.
These excellences = virtues
Therefore, to act virtuous: a) to do things well
b) to act successfully as a human being (allowing reason to guide one’s actions)

Question 17

Explain the relevance of the following quote from Hamlet: “Assume the virtue, even if you have it not, For use almost can change the stamp of nature.”

Answer 17

Our ability to perform proper functions (actions) is in no way enhanced by knowing them. Since the virtues are characteristic (fixed capacities for actions, acquired by habit) merely knowing what is good and healthy does not - by itself - usually lead to doing what is good and healthy - as most of us realize. Happiness requires action.

Question 18

Explain Aristotle’s doctrine of the mean

Answer 18

Be moderate in all things

Question 19

Generally speaking, what is the main concern of ethics?

Answer 19

Ethics is about the “goodness” in human life.

Question 20

Differentiate the responses of Aristotle, Kant, Levinas and religious people to the questions, “How and when does human life reflect what is good?” and “How do we aim at the good life”?

Answer 20

Aristotle = reflect on the aim of human life
Kant = reflect on the obligation derived from respect for the law
Levinas = responsibility to the Other, obedience to the will of God
Each have different perspectives on the search for the good
Others meanings of good/evil
Right/wrong
How societies and cultures answer “what is good”

Question 21

Through whom did Aristotle come to the attention of the Catholic Church?

Answer 21

Thomas Aquinas (AD 1225-74) through Arab scholars.

Question 22

role does politics play in Aristotle’s ethics?

Answer 22

Aristotle is concerned with the POLIS (Greek city state), not the individual. Human life is shaped to its full extent in the context of community.

Question 23

What does Aristotle identify as that to which all human beings aspire?

Answer 23

To find happiness.

Question 24

How does Aristotle define happiness?

Answer 24

The condition of the good person who succeeds in living well and acting well.

Question 25

What is freedom?

Answer 25

“Freedom is the power to act, and so to perform deliberate acts of one’s own. Freedom attains perfection in its acts when directed towards God, the sovereign good.”

Question 26

Freedom and ‘The will’

Answer 26

Freedom presupposes (requires) a will
-When we exercise our will, we act out of freedom
-“I will” to teach or “I will” to learn –but I do not “will” to breathe or “will” to sleep

Question 27

WILL (Intention) + ACTION = WILLED (Intended) ACT

Answer 27

“a moral act” is not an act alone – it is a willed act
“the will” is an invisible component
We believe it exists because we believe in justice – without a will there is no justice
WILL+ACT=WILLED ACT

Question 28

NATURALISM

Answer 28

Every action is the effect of some cause
Free will is only an illusion
We are not responsible for our actions because we do not and cannot will them
CAUSE+ACT=CAUSED ACT

Question 29

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Answer 29

Refers to intelligent computers—computers that can think
Thinking involves reasoning, creativity, intending, reflecting, remembering, anticipating, imagining, judging, etc…
Strong A.I.: some scientists believe that we will be able to create computers that will possess all of the above attributes of thinking and more

Question 30

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND FREEDOM

Answer 30

If A.I. thinks, free will might have to be denied
All meaningful actions will be the product of an intention that has a cause
Because the cause is an external influence, all intentions and actions stemming from it cannot carry any moral value
According to Naturalism, the external influence on a computer’s processing is the program it is running = the program is created by a software developer
According to Naturalism, the external influence on a person’s thinking is his/her DNA – our DNA is created by nature

Question 31

Artificial intelligence = no morality

Answer 31

Program/Cause (has no moral value), Intention (has no moral cause), action (has no moral cause)

Question 32

THE MIND-BRAIN PROBLEM: The Brain is physical but what is the mind?

Answer 32

DESCARTES: maintained that thought exists independently of all physical realities, including the brain.
NATURALISM: argues that the mind (thought) and the brain are one.

Question 33

PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL REALITY: “THE MIND IS NOT THE BRAIN”

Answer 33

apprehending God, hope, and love cannot be accounted by neural physiology
Catholic teaching refers to the human person as being at once physical and spiritual (CCC #362)
The Catechism describes the “soul” as our “innermost aspect” and “that which is of greatest value” in us. The soul, it says, signifies our “spiritual principle”
(CCC #363)
“The spiritual tradition of the Church also emphasizes the heart…the depths of one’s being, where the person decides for or against God” (CCC #368)

Question 34

RELIGIOUS DETERMINISM: KANT VS CALVIN

Answer 34

KANT:
-Freedom is a practical matter – it is a matter of what we do (practice), not why we do it (theory)
-We cannot logically know what causes us to act freely. We only know that we do. Our fascination with justice is evidence of this, since justice presupposes (requires) freedom.

JOHN CALVIN: the French Protestant reformer and theologian (1509-1564) disagrees:
-God has predetermined who is saved and who is not. Our choices have no impact on our fates. Freedom and ethics have no place in the doctrine of predestination.
-Divine justice does not presuppose (require) human freedom

Question 35

ST. AUGUSTINE AND FREE WILL

Answer 35

-“It is certain that we will when we will; but He [God] brings it about that we act, but that without His help we neither will anything good nor do it.”
-This means that while we possess intention, we cannot intend or do anything good without God’s help.

Question 36

SOCIAL DETERMINISM AND FREUD

Answer 36

-social determinism teaches that a person’s actions are shaped or determined by her/his social influences – EXAMPLE: an abused child becomes a child abuser or a loved child becomes a loving adult
-here, what we do is a consequence of external causes
-thus, there is no moral value attached to abusing or loving

Question 37

FREUD AND THE UNCONSCIOUS

Answer 37

-painful, shameful memories or shameful desires can be edited out of our consciousness
-they survive in our unconscious and silently drive our conscious behaviour
-when you act out of your unconscious, your behaviour patterns are what Freud would call “neurotic”
-at this level, you could call Freud’s theory of the unconscious deterministic
-until you reconnect with the repression and what gave rise to the repression, your actions are not free
-thus, you cannot be held directly responsible for your actions

Question 38

FREUD AND INSTINCT

Answer 38

-Freud believed that 2 primary instincts motivated our behaviour:
LIFE INSTINCTS: prompts us to do everything that is life-affirming from loving to the sexual drive
DEATH INSTINCTS: motivates us to deny life – it causes us to be aggressive and even kill

Question 39

WHO THEN IS THE SELF?

Answer 39

• Being in harmony with our instincts causes us to be fully human and completely amoral
  *Morality is artificial – it is an imposition on our instincts and produces further aggression
  *The Moral Voice inside our heads is our super-ego = the voice of someone we have placed above ourselves

Question 40

YOUR WILL AND YOUR ACTIONS DETERMINE WHO YOU ARE:

Answer 40

The following all argue against the existence of “the will” as a real entity
*Naturalism
*Religious Determinism
*Strong A.I.
*Freud

Question 41

BUT AS CATHOLICS…

Answer 41

-we regard our will as God’s most precious gift to us
-the will enables us to be like God – to create out of nothing
-for nothing external forces the will
-the will to act comes from within