Exam Ethics

Question 1

Metaethics

Answer 1

“where do morals come from?”

Question 2

Normative Ethics

Answer 2

“Is it the consequences or the intention of the action that matters more?”

Question 3

Applied Ethics

Answer 3

How do we take Metaethics and Normative Ethics and apply it in situations

Question 4

Types of relativism

Answer 4

• Egoistic
• Social
• Metaethical

Question 5

Egoistic relativism

Answer 5

• Get your sense of right and wrong from your own lived experience and understanding of things
• Problem: We don’t live in isolation

Question 6

Social relativism

Answer 6

Get idea of right and wrong from group that you belong to

Question 7

Metaethical relativism

Answer 7

• We probably should
• the improbability of a universal principle

Question 8

Types of Moral Grounding

Answer 8

• metaphysical
• Naturalistic
• sociological
• rationalistic

Question 9

Determinism

Answer 9

• no free will
• Our choices are made from forces outside ourselves
• Fate
• Problem: If everything is already deteminded than we can use it as an excuse

Question 10

Libertarianism

Answer 10

• Beliefs in freewill
• We are held accountable for our action
• future is open to possibility

Question 11

Types of Normative Ethics

Answer 11

• Deontology
• Consequentialism
• Virtue Ethics

Question 12

metaphysical moral grounding

Answer 12

• Relies on higher power/reglin to know what is right and wrong
• Rooted in religion/spirituality
• Problem: If there is a God there is no need for ethics.
• Rebuttal” Not true, we must interpret religious texts in order to know what is right and wrong

Question 13

naturalistic moral grounding

Answer 13

• Look at what happens in nature
• Science and nature

Question 14

sociological moral grounding

Answer 14

Get your idea of right and wrong from the societies/groups you belong to

Question 15

rationalistic moral grounding

Answer 15

• Uses pure reason as the way of determining right and wrong
• No emotions

Question 16

Deontology

Answer 16

• acting with a sense of duty, do the moral thing regardless of the outcome
• Kant’s method

Question 17

Kant: Categorical Imperative

Answer 17

1. Identify rule/maxim
2. Imagine/assume a world where that rule is applied universally with no exception
3. Question if it creates a contradiction/problem
4. If so, immoral
   if not, moral! :)

suggests a universal moral principle based on reason

Question 18

Consequentialism

Answer 18

• The right thing is determined by the consequences. Intention doesn’t matter
• Bentham

Question 19

Bentham’s idea

Answer 19

Bentham’s philosophy came to be known as the greatest good for the greater number

Question 20

Hedonic Calculus

Answer 20

formula to measure relative pain and relative pleasure

Question 21

utilitarianism

Answer 21

the greatest good for the greatest number

Question 22

Virtue Ethics

Answer 22

• what kind of person am I becoming?
• Aristotle
• patterns of actions matter more than individual situation
• the “right action” to take is the action that someone with a generally good character would take

Question 23

Aristotle’s Golden Mean & his list of virtues

Answer 23

1. courage
2. temperance
3. high-mindedness
4. wit
5. liberality
6. friendliness
7. right ambition

• each virtue listed is what he called golden mean, middle ground of 2 extremes

Question 24

phronesis

Answer 24

practical wisdom

Question 25

six criteria for the Hedonic Calculus

Answer 25

1. intensity— high the better
2. duration— longer the better
3. certainty— more certain the better
4. propinquity— sooner the better
5. fecundity— more production the better
6. purity— lower the better
   - extent (added by John Stuart Mill)— moral value increases with the more peopled benefited

Question 26

Hedonic Calculus PROBLEM

Answer 26

How do you know the moral you’re using as a standard is actually moral