Week 6-7 Ethics Flashcards
What are some reasons for unethical practice?
Money (financial dependence)
Incompetency (unfamiliar tools/lack of expertise)
Loyalty
Diffusion of responsibility
In regards to the origin of ethics, describe religious ethics
Historic origin
Accepted in cultures
e.g ‘Gods will’ = ‘Morally correct’
In regards to the origin of ethics, describe natural order
Evolutional theory - hard to argue natural order
Examples in nature
Founded in 1900s
In regards to the origin of ethics, describe social contract
Founded in 1500s
Everyone has a desire to live in a functioning society
If you didn’t know what class you were going to be born into, what would you want to know you have?
- Basic human rights
- Distribution of resources
In regards to the origin of ethics, describe discourse ethics
Founded in 1980s
Communicative rationality (consensus process in ethical open discussions)
What are the four classical virtues involves in virtue ethics?
Justice
Wisdom
Courage
Moderation
What is involved in virtue ethics?
Founded by Aristotle (384 - 322 BC)
Act as someone everyone looks up to (virtuous)
4 Classical virtues
Difficult to apply to specific situations
What are the types of utilitarianism?
Classical utilitarianism
Preference utilitarianism
Welfare utilitarianism
Ideal utilitarianism
Act utilitarianism
Rule utilitarianism
What calculations can be performed with respect to utilitarianism?
Cost-benefit analysis
Risk analysis (e.g tolerable number of deaths)
What is classical utilitarianism?
An introduction to the principles of morals and legislation
Maximisation of happiness
Only considers the equality of humans
Depends on the outcome NOT the intent
Action/inaction is just as good/bad
What is preference utilitarianism?
Fulfilment of preferences (everyone is allowed to do what they want/desire)
ALL living organisms are equal (not just human)
Relevant questions/controversies asked (human vs animal, is eating meat ethical?)
What is welfare utilitarianism?
External perspective over internal
Access to food, accomodation, health care, education, etc
What is ideal utilitarianism?
All inclusive perspective
Happiness, preference, beauty, knowledge, friendship, virtue
What is act utilitarianism?
Every situation is evaluated (organ harvesting example)
What is rule utilitarianism?
A set of rules which maximise outcome are derived