Final Exam Flashcards
(69 cards)
1
Q
Define Faith
A
- Belief in trust and confidence
- truths of religion and authenticity of divine revelation
- In the New Testament-faith meant to “trust someone”
2
Q
Define Reason
A
- Intellectual power and the capacity for rational thought
- Forming valid judgments
3
Q
Faith vs. Reason (Paul)
A
-Paul (the Gentiles) are able to recognize what is right from wrong
-one’s own efforts will lead to someone to recognize what is right or wrong
-Paul says that someone could only be saved through faith
God: faith, revelation and grace
Human: reason, good works and law
4
Q
New Testament Ethics
A
-diversity rather than unity in the scriptures
-The Bible has a variety of ethical perspectives
-Biblical morality is a contextual character rather than stating universal rules
-Old Testament= law and scriptures and following the rules of Jesus
New= considers context
5
Q
Approach of the people of the Bible to morality
A
- New Testament = God is revealed through Christ
- Unity between the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
- Spirit of Law
6
Q
The central theme of Jesus and key points
A
- “the kingdom of God is at hand”
- person’s acceptance of the God
- the main concern of Jesus was to live out God’s kingdom and demands
7
Q
Characteristics of the New Testament Ethics
A
-Condemns natural law
-Jesus’s basic request was “follow me”, to imitate the selfless way of life
-priority of love over other virtues
-morality is not prescribed in a rigid manner
Two commandments: -love of god and love of neighbour
8
Q
Contextual Ethics: Early Christian Communities
A
- Faced moral problems: Christian’s didn’t consider that they received a complete code of morality
- Cultural diversity
- Affected by Paul’s teachings- always contextual
9
Q
Basis of Natural Law
A
- Be good, avoid evil
- comes from greek philosophy
- assumes that humans are good and have the capacity to choose what is right
10
Q
Who was Thomas Aquinas?
A
- member of Dominican religious order
- Relation to ethics: protecting the notion of the responsible author of his or her own actions and that humans are actors in this world
11
Q
Who was Aristotle?
A
- Rejected Plato’s explanation of reality as involving unchanging forms
- differentiates reality
- God is controlling us in every action
12
Q
Aristotle’s influence on Aquinas?
A
- Believing our world is dynamic
- Influenced by his notion of good
13
Q
Relationship between ends (Teleology) and means (Deontology)
A
Teleology- "end" or "purpose -ethic of consequence focus: result of a situation -Ex) Utilitarianism- greatest good for greatest number Deontology- "law" or "duty" -Ethic of principle focus: rules that guide our actions -Ex) Stealing is always wrong
14
Q
Other sources of Natural Law
A
- greek philosophy: Aristotle was influenced by Aquinas
- Aristotle= human nature is rational
- Roman’s who emphasized the “law” of the natural order
- Order of nature= physical and biological structures
- Order of reason = human capacity to discover in experience that promotes human flourishing
15
Q
Connecting Natural Law with Practical Reason and Eternal Law
A
- Aquinas links natural law both with practical reason and external law
- God is ultimately the source of moral value and moral obligation
16
Q
Aquinas understanding of Natural Law
A
- Moral duties can be discovered by reflection on human nature
- God’s plan for us is built into our nature by God’s creation of us
17
Q
Specific ends
A
- toward which we tend
- what we control
18
Q
General ends
A
- for which God created us
- what God wants us to do
19
Q
Define Nominalism
A
-only individual realities exist. There is no such thing as universals.
20
Q
The Reformation
A
- to make changes in the doctrines and practices of Roman Catholic Church= Protestant churches were created.
- Luther’s criticism with the Catholic Church entered the issue of indulgences
- justification depends not only on faith but also the acts of charity and good works
21
Q
Martin Luther
A
- believes that the church takes advantage of people
- didn’t believe that people are rational
- does not believe in Aquinas
- faith alone should be enough
22
Q
Counter Reformation
A
-revival of the Roman Catholic Church
23
Q
New orders and reforms (Reformation)
A
- increasing the number of clergy
- seminaries were established
- education was provided to the seminarians
- separate moral theology emerged
24
Q
Council of Trent
A
- the council was the church’s formal response to the challenges of the Reformation movement
- distinguished Protestant protest from Catholic doctrine/teachings
25
Protestant responses to challenges (Council of Trent)
- faith alone was not sufficient
- unwritten traditions and scripture were to be received with equal recognition (respect)
- the 7 sacraments
26
Result from Council of Trent
- practicalities of behaviour
- seminaries were established
- knowing proper moral action
27
Enlightenment- influence on ethics
- progress of thinking
- questioning validity of scriptures
- challenging of scriptures
- materialist view of human being
28
What is ethics?
- activity of knowing and doing good behaviour
| - used many times a day
29
4 operations we use to respond to our world
1) Experiencing ex: "What is it?"
2) Understanding ex: "Is it so?"
3) Judging ex: "What am I going to do?"
4) Deciding ex: "Is this the right thing to do?"
30
Moral horizons
human beings are limited in our ability to know what is true and good
31
Moral discernment
- feelings are data
| - they guide our questions and determine what we truly value
32
Conversion
expanding your moral knowledge, going through hard times
33
Freedom from domination
-a negative idea of freedom
34
Freedom as Self-determination
- positive act
| - grows our capacity to understand
35
Essential Freedom
capacity to exercise a determinate control over our actions through the operations of moral meaning
36
Effective Freedom
-limits of that capacity (skills and feelings)
37
Determinism
controlling you and it is in control of every factor of your life
38
Moral knowledge
grasping what the direction of change is.
39
Ethical relativism
- two people from different perspectives or cultures try to understand the same moral situation.
- they will attain different results
40
The levels of Good
1) God satisfies personal interest or desire- social structures as means to a personal fulfilment
2) God that takes accountability to wider social structure (harmony)
3) Calls for critical evaluation of the social orders
41
Aspects of moral foundations
1) performing the operations of insight, judgement and decision ex) why something is good or bad
2) society is not the only one to reinforce good behaviour, we have to practice it ourselves
3) link between the social and individual in relation to morality -society impacts our actions and our actions impact society
4) Freedom- positive and negatives ways of thinking of freedom. Our freedom grows as our capacity to understand, judge and decide what the right thing to do grows
5) understanding what our duties are
42
The nature of evil (Thomas Aquinas)
- evil is the absence of a good in something that should have been good by nature
- evil only exists as a negative
ex) theft
43
Three main forms of evil
1) Betrayal
2) Delusion-not recognizing what is around you
3) Terror- implying intimidation
44
Define Sin
Going against God, the external law and a violation of some religious principle
45
Two types of sin
- formal sin: act done intentionally
| - material: objective to the sin
46
Moral evil vs. Pre-moral evil
- moral evil: breaking of a law, disobedience to the will of God.
ex) planning a murder
- pre-moral evil: does not proceed directly from human sin or human intention
ex) natural disasters
47
Limited by our moral horizons
- impossible to not be limited
- stems from our developmental nature
- limit on moral knowledge
48
3 different types of development
1) Biological: all beings develop biologically. This form of development, we don't have control over
2) Sensitive: sophistication of movement, recognition and memory. (natural form)
3) Intellectual: process that can be improved upon and developed intentionally
49
Two fundamental tensions
1) Movement from the familiar to the unfamiliar. Part of us wants to fit in and the part of us that is on the move.
2) intellectual development-concerned with self-centred demands of organic and psychic needs. Reaching towards what is good and true. Willingness to change and overcome our biases.
50
Define religious realm
Human existence that concerns ultimate value and meaning. It pushes us or draws us beyond the ordinary
51
The surplus of evil in the religious realm
- the effects of evil can reach far beyond our explicit intentions
- understanding evil
- evil appears to be structural more than individual
52
Challenging Evil
1) Progress: advancement without limitations
2) Decline: a downfall in progress
3) Redemption: recovering from the decline
53
Development has two factors
1) development from below upwards- natural growth-comes from experiences
2) development from above downwards-healing and recovery that comes about through redemption
54
Define conscience
- whole person's commitment to values, and the judgment one must make in the commitment to apply those values in concrete situations
- choosing to respond, choosing to move in a certain direction
55
Three consciences
1) Capacity- understanding what it means to be human-do good and grasp value
2) Process- how human beings come to know what it is they should and should not do
3) Decision- act upon it
56
Erroneous conscience
making the wrong choice due to missing information
57
Vincible ignorance
-ignoring the information that goes against what you believe
58
Invincible
-gathering all the necessary steps to gather the information but still making the wrong choice
59
Aquinas conscience
"the mind of a human person making moral judgements"
- is whole person passing moral judgements on issues of right and wrong
- judge acts committed and decide what should be done
60
Kohlberg's stages of moral development (6)
1) Punishment- we behave out of fear of consequences
2) Instrumental- what will this do for me?
3) Interpersonal conformity: we act on what is approved on
4) Law and order: authority takes over precedence over stage 3
5) Social contract: moral vs legal rules. upholding morals
6) Universal ethical- moral reasoning is abstract not concrete
61
Images of God (6)
1) Impulsive: punish those who are bad, and that is the drive, we are scared to be punished.
2) Imperial: religion is turned into superstition, but you have to follow it because you are scared to be punished.
3) Fusional: God will protect the believers
4) Institutional: must follow a set of rules
5) Inter-individual: becoming independent
6) Integrity: discovering God's love
62
Moral process vs moral deliberation
Moral Process
-judging, understanding and deciding
Moral Deliberation
-process that involves moral horizons (what you know)
-conversion (your potential what you can come to know)
-feelings
63
Free will and Determinism
- believers in free will
| - some human actions are the result of the free rational choice of humans
64
What did the Council of Trent emphasize
- free will and good works
- catholics were obligated to confess once a year
- manuals of moral theology were introduced
65
Ethical Absolutes
absolute value or good is one that maintains it's validity under any and every circumstance
66
Arguments against ethical absolutes
- no objectivity or universality to moral judgements
- rules are relative to a geographical time and place
- problems of legalism and moralism
67
Relativism in Ethics
- what is right or wrong for a person varies to their culture
- there is no standard or objective morality
- what is right differs by context
68
Problem with evil
we need to consider evil as emerging in both intentional and unintentional acts
69
What does Jesus's death define?
- result of structural evil
| - the symbol of the cross is a sign of ever-present evil in the world
