Midterm 2 Flashcards
What are the 5 basic characteristics of an ethical question?
- Begins w/ ought/should
- Have several alt. solutions
- Contains conflicting moral choices and dilemmas and underlying values of people may clash
- There is no right or wrong answer that satisfies everybody; but there are better ones based on well-reasoned justification
- Looks at the moral basis of human behavior
What is the difference between a subjective and objective question?
Subjective: differs by opinion
Objective: backed by facts
What are the cardinal virtues and who were the philosophers who named them?
Plato & Aristotle (Socrates):
Courage, Temperance, Wisdom, and Justice
What is the sanctity of life ethics?
Life is so precious that you keep somebody alive no matter what (Hippocrates)
What is the quality of life view?
End suffering when the quality of life is so poor; compares to sanctity of life ethics. Ex. severe Alzheimer’s
What is moral relativism?
There are no universal truths that exist across cultures, but instead what’s right or wrong must be decided by society.
What did Christianity add to virtue ethics?
Faith, Hope, Charity, Compassion, and the seven deadly sins
What is natural law and how did St. Thomas Aquinas interpret natural law?
Natural Law: laws that are part of our existence that are natural (ex. does the sun rise? does the tide go in and out?)
Aquinas says that natural law was given to us by God, and if we use our reason, we will act how God will want us. (not natural examples; homosexuality, abortion, IVF, tattoos)
What is the doctrine of double effect?
One medical action can have a good and bad effect. Says you are allowed to perform under these conditions:
1. If the action in itself was good and no evil
2. If the good followed immediately
3. If only the good effect was intended
4. If there was an important reason for performing the action
What is the principle of totality?
You do not mess with what God created. So, the body can only be changed to ensure its proper functioning; so, no tattoos, piercings, hair coloring, contraceptives, etc.
What are the Kantian ethics? What are the categorical imperatives?
Use reason, we must figure out what is the right thing to do in all situations, we can set simple parameters to follow.
Categorical Imperatives:
- Ethics is not a matter of consequences, but of duty (Duty = Deontological)
- A right act has a maxim that is universal; it will always be right
- Treat other humans as “ends in and of themselves” never as a means
What is utilitarianism? What are the basic tenants?
Utilitarianism: Greatest good for the greatest number of people
Basic Tenants:
- Consequentialism
- Maximization
- Theory of value/good
- Scope of morality premise (one person’s happiness is not more important than another)
What does John Rawls believe? What are the two fundamental principles we would all agree to, if behind the veil of ignorance?
Theory of justice: Veil of ignorance (imagine before birth; not knowing anything, our gender, families, disabilities, race; what kind of society that we want to live in)
Fundamental Principles:
- Equal Liberty
- Everyone is to have equal opportunity {Equal distribution of wealth, unless unequal distribution benefits those the least well off}
Autonomy
The right to one’s body; being able to make decisions about your body
Beneficence
You are there to help others
