utilitarianism keywords Flashcards
moral philosophy
Agency
The capacity of an agent to act in any given environment
Agent
A being that is capable of action, usually restricted to humans due to our ability to
reason between courses of action
Applied ethics
The practical application of ethical theories to moral dilemmas that people encounter
such as abortion, euthanasia, the treatment of animals etc
Autonomy
The ability to self-govern (to make your own decisions, based on reason and freedom)
Conclusion
A statement that comes at the end of an argument, supported by the reasons
(premises) given in the argument. If the premises are true, then the conclusion will be
as well
Consequentialist ethics
A normative moral theory which views the moral value of an action as lying in its
consequences. An action can be judged as good if it brings about beneficial
consequences and bad if it brings about harmful ones
Deductive argument /
reasoning
An argument where the truth of the conclusion is guaranteed by the truth of the
premises e.g. (Premise 1) a triangle is a shape with three sides. (Premise 2) this shape
has three sides. (Conclusion) This shape is a triangle
Descriptive
A descriptive statement tells us the way things are
Divine command ethics
A type of deontological ethical theory that claims that an action is good if it follows
one of God’s commands
Empiricist
An approach to philosophy which states that our beliefs and knowledge should be
based on our experiences
Ethics
The philosophical study of our ideas of moral good, of how to live and of the status of
moral judgements
Good
Actions that bring about positive outcomes. It can also have a functional meaning
similar to ‘fulfilling your function / purpose well’
Fallacy
When an argument has gone wrong because of a mistake or a problem with the
structure of it
Hedonism
The belief that pleasure is the good
Inductive argument
An argument where the truth of the conclusion is not guaranteed by the conclusion.
It usually involves moving from an example (every person I have met likes pizza) to a
generalisation (all people like pizza). Even if we accept the premise (every person I
have met likes pizza), the conclusion is not necessarily true
Judgement
A decision made about the rightness / goodness of a course of action
Kantian ethics
A deontological ethical theory developed / influenced by Kant. We can determine
what is right / what our duties are through the categorical imperative
Liberty
The freedom you have to perform actions which are not restricted / prohibited by the
state / government
Meta-ethics
The study of the meaning of moral judgements
Moral dilemmas
A situation where an agent will have difficulty choosing between two or more courses
of action. Usually there are moral reasons both in favour and against choosing each
option
Moral philosophy
The philosophical study of good, of how to live and of the status of moral judgements
Morality
Standards or principles taken from any given moral theory e.g. what is right and
wrong according to utilitarianism
Naturalism
The belief that we can explain moral concepts, such as good, in naturalistic terms like
happiness and pleasure
Normative ethics
Also known as ‘first-order ethics’ – this covers moral theories that offer action guides.
They give us rules or principles, through which we make moral judgements which
then direct our behaviour
