Moral Philosophy

Question 1

Act utilitarianism

Answer 1

An action is morally right if and only if it maximises utility, decided on a case-by-case basis.

Question 2

Acting (merely) in accordance with duty (Kant)

Answer 2

Acting as duty demands, but motivated by something other than recognition of your rationally-determined duty.

Example: A shopkeeper treating a customer honestly because it is good for business.

Question 3

Acting out of duty (Kant)

Answer 3

Acting as duty demands and motivated by recognition of this rationally-determined duty.

Example: A shopkeeper treating a customer honestly because it is his duty to do so.

Question 4

Categorical imperative (Kant)

Answer 4

An imperative commanding a course of action that applies to all agents regardless of their specific ends/goals.

Question 5

Character traits/dispositions (Aristotle)

Answer 5

A tendency an agent has to act or feel particular ways, displayed over time.

Question 6

Clashing/competing duties

Answer 6

A perfect duty clashes with another perfect duty when fulfilling one means you cannot fulfill the other.

Question 7

Clashing/competing virtues

Answer 7

A virtue clashes with another virtue when exhibiting one means you cannot exhibit the other.

Question 8

Cognitivism about ethical language

Answer 8

The view that moral utterances express propositions/beliefs and are true or false.

Question 9

Consequences of actions determine moral value

Answer 9

The objection that consequences are important in determining morality, which Kantian ethics cannot account for.

Question 10

Contradiction in conception (Kant)

Answer 10

A maxim leads to a contradiction in conception if acting on it is not conceivable in a world where all act as proposed.

Question 11

Contradiction in will (Kant)

Answer 11

A maxim leads to a contradiction in the will if a world where all act as proposed conflicts with what you must rationally will.

Question 12

Deontological ethics

Answer 12

Ethical theories based on the existence of duties/rights, focusing on acts/motives conforming to rules.

Question 13

Doctrine of the mean (Aristotle)

Answer 13

The idea that virtue exists between a vice of deficiency and a vice of excess.

Question 14

Eating animals

Answer 14

Using animals/parts of animals as food.

Question 15

Emotivism (about ethical language)

Answer 15

The view that moral utterances express emotions rather than propositions.

Often referred to as the ‘boo-hoorah!’ theory of morality.

Question 16

Error theory (Mackie)

Answer 16

The view that there are no mind-independent moral properties, making all moral utterances false.

Question 17

Ethical language / moral utterances

Answer 17

An utterance that appears to express a proposition whose truth or falsity depends on moral properties.

Question 18

Eudaimonia (Aristotle)

Answer 18

The ‘good’, the final end we strive for, best translated as ‘flourishing’.

Question 19

Good will (Kant)

Answer 19

A person has a good will if they make decisions for moral reasons alone.

Question 20

Habituation (Aristotle)

Answer 20

The development of positive moral character traits through continued practice.

Question 21

Hedonistic utilitarianism

Answer 21

An action is morally right if it maximises utility understood as pleasure/absence of pain.

Question 22

Higher pleasure (Mill)

Answer 22

A more valuable pleasure, preferred by someone who has experienced both higher and lower pleasures.

Question 23

Hume’s Fork

Answer 23

The division of knowledge into ‘matters of fact’ and ‘relations of ideas’, challenging moral knowledge claims.

Question 24

Hume’s is-ought gap

Answer 24

The claim that we cannot infer what ought to be done from facts about what is the case.

Question 25

Hume's motivation argument

Answer 25

A moral judgement motivates action, whereas a belief does not, showing moral cognitivism is false.

Question 26

Hypothetical imperative (Kant)

Answer 26

An imperative that applies to agents on the condition they have specific ends/goals.

Question 27

Individual (moral) right

Answer 27

A moral right is an entitlement regarding actions or states of being.

Question 28

Individual liberty

Answer 28

The absence of obstacles/constraints external to you, often called 'negative' liberty.

Question 29

Intentions of the individual

Answer 29

The objection that intentions are important in determining morality, which utilitarianism overlooks.

Question 30

Intuitionism

Answer 30

The view that we know non-natural moral properties through our faculty of intuition.

Question 31

Involuntary action (Aristotle)

Answer 31

An action that is not voluntary and is regretted.

Question 32

Lower pleasure (Mill)

Answer 32

A less valuable pleasure, preferred by someone who has experienced both lower and higher pleasures.

Question 33

Lying / telling lies

Answer 33

Making a statement that one does not believe with the intention that someone else believe it.

Question 34

Mackie's argument from relativity

Answer 34

Moral anti-realism explains moral relativity better than moral realism.

Question 35

Mackie's arguments from queerness

Answer 35

Moral properties would be unlike any other properties we know of, making moral realism implausible.

Question 36

Maxim (Kant)

Answer 36

An intention that guides you in choosing your actions, specifying the type of action, circumstances, and end.

Question 37

Mill's 'proof' of the greatest happiness principle

Answer 37

Mill argues that because happiness is desired, we ought to maximise happiness.

Question 38

Mill's 'greatest happiness principle'

Answer 38

Actions are morally right to the extent they cause happiness, understood as pleasure and absence of pain.

Question 39

Moore's 'open question argument'

Answer 39

The concept 'morally good' is not synonymous with any other concept, making moral goodness irreducible.

Question 40

Moore's Naturalistic Fallacy

Answer 40

Moral goodness cannot be defined in terms of any other concept; it is an irreducible property.

Question 41

Moral anti-realism

Answer 41

The view that there are no moral properties/facts or that they are mind-dependent.

Question 42

Moral integrity (Williams)

Answer 42

Acting with moral integrity means making decisions based on one's own commitments and values.

Question 43

Moral naturalism

Answer 43

The view that mind-independent moral properties are natural/physical.

Question 44

Moral nihilism

Answer 44

The view that there are no moral properties/facts and that moral knowledge is impossible.

Question 45

Moral non-naturalism (Moore)

Answer 45

The view that mind-independent moral properties are non-natural and known through intuition.

Question 46

Moral progress

Answer 46

An improved understanding of morality and/or an increase in morally good behaviour.

Question 47

Moral realism

Answer 47

The view that there are mind-independent moral properties/facts.

Question 48

Moral reasoning, persuading, disagreeing

Answer 48

The use of moral claims within arguments and the occurrence of moral disagreement.

Question 49

Morality is a system of hypothetical imperatives (Foot)

Answer 49

Foot argues that moral imperatives are hypothetical because it is not irrational to disobey them.

Question 50

Naturalist forms of utilitarianism

Answer 50

If utility is understood as a natural property, such forms of utilitarianism are classified as moral naturalist accounts.

Question 51

What is Foot's view on moral imperatives?

Answer 51

Foot argues that while moral imperatives might seem to be categorical, they are in fact hypothetical because it is not irrational to disobey them (unless they contradict our desires/aims).

Question 52

What are naturalist forms of utilitarianism?

Answer 52

If utility is understood as a natural/physical property (e.g. as being identified with pleasurable physical sensations (by Bentham)), then such forms of utilitarianism would be classified as moral naturalist accounts.

Question 53

What are naturalist forms of virtue ethics?

Answer 53

If the function of humans (and thus a virtuous life for humans) can be understood in terms of a natural/physical property humans have that animals/plants do not (i.e. as being identified with a capacity to reason/act for reasons (by Aristotle)), then such forms of virtue ethics would be classified as moral naturalist accounts.

Question 54

What is non-cognitivism about ethical language?

Answer 54

The view that moral utterances (e.g. 'murder is wrong') are not true or false; they do not express propositions/beliefs. Instead, they have some different function/express some other mental state.

Question 55

What is non-hedonistic utilitarianism?

Answer 55

An action is morally right to the extent that [we can reasonably expect/predict that] it maximises utility, where utility is not understood as pleasure/the absence of pain.

Question 56

What is a non-voluntary action according to Aristotle?

Answer 56

A non-voluntary action is one that (1) is not voluntary (either because it is done under compulsion or because it is the result of ignorance) and (2) is not regretted.

Question 57

Are all non-universalisable maxims immoral?

Answer 57

There are maxims which cannot be universalised without contradiction but are moral (intuitively or according to Kant's second formulation).

Question 58

Are all universalisable maxims distinctly moral?

Answer 58

There are maxims which can be universalised without contradiction but are either immoral (intuitively or according to Kant's second formulation) or are neither moral nor immoral.

Question 59

What is partiality?

Answer 59

Giving/desiring to give preferential treatment to particular individuals (e.g. those we love/relatives/compatriots etc.). Used to object to utilitarianism since maximising utility might preclude such preferential treatment.

Question 60

What is practical reasoning/wisdom?

Answer 60

Practical wisdom is the reasoning we use to make choices about our actions and it requires (1) general knowledge of the good, (2) particular knowledge of how to achieve that good, (3) good reasoning skills, and (4) willpower.

Question 61

What is preference utilitarianism?

Answer 61

An action is morally right if and only if [we can reasonably expect/predict that] it maximises utility, where utility is understood as preference-fulfillment/desire-satisfaction (rather than as pleasure/the absence of pain).

Question 62

What is prescriptivism about ethical language (Hare)?

Answer 62

The function of moral utterances is to prescribe ways of acting/living which apply universally. This involves both moral non-cognitivism and moral anti-realism.

Question 63

What are the problems with calculation in utilitarianism?

Answer 63

Issues with carrying out the calculating/predicting required for determining what to do according to utilitarian theories, including difficulties knowing the future and measuring utility.

Question 64

What is qualitative hedonistic utilitarianism (Mill)?

Answer 64

An action is morally right if and only if [we can reasonably expect/predict that] it maximises utility, where utility is understood as pleasure/absence of pain and some pleasures are of higher quality than others.

Question 65

What is quantitative hedonistic utilitarianism (Bentham)?

Answer 65

An action is morally right if and only if [we can reasonably expect/predict that] it maximises utility, where utility is understood as pleasure/absence of pain and only the quantity of pleasure/pain is considered.

Question 66

What is rule utilitarianism?

Answer 66

An act is morally right if and only if it is in accordance with a set of rules that [we can reasonably expect/predict] will, if accepted, maximise utility.

Question 67

What is simulated killing?

Answer 67

The enactment of a killing within a fictional context (e.g. a computer game).

Question 68

What is stealing?

Answer 68

Taking something that someone else owns with no intention of returning it and without their permission.

Question 69

What is the first formulation of the categorical imperative (Kant)?

Answer 69

Act only according to maxims which you can will as a universal law without this leading to a contradiction.

Question 70

What is the function argument (Aristotle)?

Answer 70

Aristotle's argument that the function of humans is what humans can do that non-humans can't, namely reasoning/acting for reasons.

Question 71

What is the importance of feelings (Aristotle)?

Answer 71

For Aristotle, virtue requires having appropriate feelings; virtuous feeling exists between a vice of deficiency and a vice of excess.

Question 72

What is the possibility of circularity in defining virtuous acts and persons?

Answer 72

The objection that Aristotle’s ethics defines a virtuous person as someone who does virtuous acts and vice versa, creating a circular definition.

Question 73

What is the relationship between Eudaimonia and pleasure (Aristotle)?

Answer 73

Pleasure is good when it is taken in virtuous forms of activity, but it is not the only good and not an end-in-itself.

Question 74

What is the relationship between virtues and function (Aristotle)?

Answer 74

Virtues are those qualities required for humans to perform their function well.

Question 75

What is the second formulation of the categorical imperative (Kant)?

Answer 75

Act in a way that treats yourself and others never solely as a means but always as an end.

Question 76

What is the skill analogy (Aristotle)?

Answer 76

An analogy made by Aristotle where he compares the development of virtues with the development of a skill, requiring practice and an exemplar.

Question 77

What is the value of certain motives?

Answer 77

The objection that particular motives (e.g. love, friendship) have moral value and that Kantian ethics cannot account for this importance.

Question 78

What is tyranny of the majority?

Answer 78

A situation where the majority oppress a minority through social opinion or law, used as an objection to utilitarianism.

Question 79

What is utilitarianism?

Answer 79

An action is morally right if and only if [we can reasonably expect/predict that] it maximises utility, understood in various ways.

Question 80

What is utility calculus (Bentham)?

Answer 80

Steps/criteria to consider when measuring/predicting utility caused by an action, including intensity, duration, and certainty of sensations.

Question 81

What is the verification principle (Ayer)?

Answer 81

A proposition is meaningful if it is analytically true/false or can be empirically verified, challenging moral realists.

Question 82

What are vices (Aristotle)?

Answer 82

Negative moral character traits acquired through habituation, split into vices of excess and deficiency.

Question 83

What are virtues (Aristotle)?

Answer 83

Positive moral character traits acquired through habituation, enabling good moral choices and a good life.

Question 84

What is a voluntary action (Aristotle)?

Answer 84

A voluntary action is one that meets the control condition and the epistemic condition.

Question 85

Must a trait contribute to Eudaimonia to be a virtue?

Answer 85

Aristotle says virtues contribute to human flourishing, but some may live a good life without flourishing.

Question 86

Can Aristotelian virtue ethics give clear guidance about how to act?

Answer 86

Aristotle's virtue ethics does not provide specific guidance, seen as an objection to successful ethical theories.

Question 87

Is pleasure the only good (Nozick's experience machine)?

Answer 87

Nozick argues that pleasure cannot be all that is valuable, as we have reasons not to plug into a machine that guarantees pleasure.