640 flashcards

Question 1

What is ethics?

Answer 1

Ethics is the study of morality, including the moral choices and decisions we make and the values behind those decisions. Administrative ethics refers to well-based standards of right and wrong that prescribe what public administrators ought to do.

Question 2

What is morality?

Answer 2

Morality is defined as the rules and guidelines that reflect the values of society or an individual.

Question 3

What are the types of decisions based on values?

Answer 3

Moral: Decisions that reflect values.; Immoral: Decisions that go against a person or society’s values.; Amoral: Decisions that do not reflect any values.

Question 4

What are values?

Answer 4

Values are the preferences and priorities in our lives that give us meaning and motivation to make decisions. Ethical values are what we believe to be good or bad and right or wrong.

Question 5

What is ethical relativism (subjectivism)?

Answer 5

Ethical relativism is the belief that there exists more than one morality and that there are no universal moral truths equally applicable to all people, at all places, and at all times.

Question 6

What are the pros and cons of ethical relativism?

Answer 6

Pros: Egalitarian, tolerant, encourages diversity, no judgments, comparisons, or criticisms.; Cons: Moral progress does not exist, unable to criticize your own values.

Question 7

What is ethical absolutism?

Answer 7

Ethical absolutism is the belief that universal moral truths are applicable to all people, at all places, at all times.

Question 8

What are the pros and cons of ethical absolutism?

Answer 8

Pros: Make judgment calls and criticize, make comparisons within a society, universal human rights.; Cons: Intolerant, ethnocentric, unable to learn from others.

Question 9

What are the types of ethics?

Answer 9

Meta-ethics: Concerned with the meaning and nature of ethical statements.; Normative Ethics: Concerned with the moral framework for decision-making.; Applied Ethics: Concerned with the application of theories to address ethical dilemmas.

Question 10

What constraints might limit our ability to make free decisions?

Answer 10

Physical laws, abilities, financial constraints, social, legal, and political constraints.

Question 11

What is the dilemma presented in Case 2: Following Orders?

Answer 11

The dilemma involves whether to follow stricter documentation requirements for welfare recipients, potentially harming deserving people, or to continue the previous practice of accepting clients’ assurances, risking personal consequences.

Question 12

What is virtue ethics?

Answer 12

Virtue ethics is based on the development and promotion of virtues that embody ‘the good life.’ It tells us what type of person we ought to be.

Question 13

What is Aristotle’s view on the function of a human being?

Answer 13

Aristotle believes the function of a human being is the exercise of the soul’s faculties and activity in association with rational principle, meaning the ability to reason and be rational.

Question 14

What is eudaimonia?

Answer 14

Eudaimonia is often translated as ‘happiness’ or ‘flourishing’ and represents the highest human good in Aristotle’s philosophy.

Question 15

What is a virtue according to Aristotle?

Answer 15

A virtue is a habitual disposition to act well, representing excellence in human beings.

Question 16

What are the two categories of virtues according to Aristotle?

Answer 16

Intellectual virtues: Intellect (Sophia), Prudence (Phronesis), Intuition (Nous), Art/Skill (Techne), Knowledge/Science (Episteme).; Moral virtues: Character traits learned through practice and habituation, such as courage, truthfulness, and generosity.

Question 17

What is the mean between two vices?

Answer 17

A virtue is the mean between two vices, which are excess and deficiency. For example, courage is the mean between cowardice (deficiency) and rashness (excess).

Question 18

How do we determine the mean between two vices?

Answer 18

Human rationale and reasoning, guided by intellectual virtues, help determine the mean.

Question 19

What are the characteristics of virtues?

Answer 19

Learned habit; State of character; Mean between two vices; Different for each individual; Defined in reference to reason and rationality.

Question 20

Why is virtue ethics considered a good theory?

Answer 20

Flexible and situation-sensitive without rigid rules; Focuses on the character of an individual performing the action; Integrates emotions into decision-making.

Question 21

What are some criticisms of virtue ethics?

Answer 21

Self-centered, focusing on the person’s own character and eudaimonia; Difficult to identify virtues across different cultures and societies; Gender differences are not considered; Doesn’t explain when virtues become vices or when virtues conflict.

Question 22

How can virtue ethics be applied to politics and public administration?

Answer 22

Virtue ethics emphasizes good character in public service, suggesting that public officials can practice and learn virtues.

Question 23

What is deontology?

Answer 23

Deontology is the science of duty and responsibility, where the rightness of an action is based on the action itself, rather than the consequences. The means justify the ends.

Question 24

What is an imperative in Kantianism?

Answer 24

An imperative is a command that tells us to act in a certain way or not to act in a certain way.

Question 25

What is a maxim?

Answer 25

A maxim is a rule one adopts as a guideline for behavior, which is internally imposed.

Question 26

What is a universal law in Kantianism?

Answer 26

A universal law is a maxim that can be universally applicable to everyone.

Question 27

What are the two human faculties important in deontology?

Answer 27

Faculty of the mind guided by rationality; Faculty of choice guided by desire/passions.

Question 28

What is a hypothetical imperative?

Answer 28

A hypothetical imperative represents the practical necessity of a possible action as a means to arrive at something else that is willed. It is conditional, subjective, and relative.

Question 29

What is a categorical imperative?

Answer 29

A categorical imperative is the basic moral principle for human actions, helping us understand our duties and responsibilities. It is the ultimate rational principle where all other ethical judgments are based.

Question 30

What is the formulation of the categorical imperative?

Answer 30

'Act only on the maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.'

Question 31

What is the reformulation of the categorical imperative?

Answer 31

'Act so that you treat humanity, both in your own person and in that of another, always as an end and never merely as a means.'

Question 32

What are the characteristics of hypothetical imperatives?

Answer 32

Hypothetical imperatives are conditional and depend on the particular circumstances or situation facing the person trying to decide how to act.

Question 33

What are the characteristics of categorical imperatives?

Answer 33

Ethical decision-making is based on categorical imperatives, which represent an action as objectively necessary without relation to another end.

Question 34

What are some criticisms of Kantianism?

Answer 34

Fails to specify which maxims take priority when moral duties conflict; Detaches emotion from duty and responsibility; Duties and responsibilities never change since consequences are not considered; Maxims can be subjective despite being supposed to be objective; Doesn't account for failed attempts at performing a duty.

Question 35

What is consequentialism?

Answer 35

Consequentialism is a theory that tells us how we ought to act, claiming the rightness or wrongness of actions depends upon the consequences. An act is considered right based on the goodness of the consequences that follow.

Question 36

What is utilitarianism?

Answer 36

Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that we should make decisions based on what would produce the most happiness for the greatest number of individuals.

Question 37

What does the principle of utility mean?

Answer 37

The principle of utility means that actions are right if they promote happiness and wrong if they produce the opposite of happiness.

Question 38

What is the difference between Bentham's and Mill's utilitarianism?

Answer 38

Bentham: The 'rightness' of an act is determined by the overall and long-run happiness produced by the act.; Mill: The quality of decisions and actions must also be considered.

Question 39

What are the two forms of utilitarian theories?

Answer 39

Act-Utilitarianism: Weigh the consequences of each individual action to maximize the greatest good, even if it violates a rule.; Rule-Utilitarianism: Look at the consequences of adopting particular rules of conduct and obey those rules which generally promote the best consequences.

Question 40

Why is utilitarianism considered a good theory?

Answer 40

Practical: Decisions are made based on what would bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number.; Generally agreed upon: Most people agree that pleasure is good and pain is bad.; Impartial and fair: Does not allow preferential treatment to any group, including oneself.

Question 41

What are some criticisms of utilitarianism?

Answer 41

Unable to determine the consequences of actions in advance.; Difficult to exclude personal interests from the greatest good.; People are unable to determine the greatest utility.; Happiness and pleasure can be defined differently.; Not enough time or resources to calculate the greatest happiness.; Can support extreme and terrible acts if they follow the principle of utility.

Question 42

What is the story 'The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas' by Ursula Le Guin used to illustrate?

Answer 42

The story is used to illustrate the potential moral dilemmas and criticisms of utilitarianism, particularly the idea of sacrificing one for the happiness of many.