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Contemporary Moral Issues- Quiz 1 > Quiz 1 > Flashcards

Quiz 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

What are meta-ethics?

A

Transcendent realm of ethical existence; abstract

Meta-physics: beyond physical realm
Metaphor: beyond literal meaning

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2
Q

Normative ethics

A

General guidelines for how we conduct ourselves in a moral world

  • Manuals for how to act
  • Realm in which we come up with ethical guidelines & moral principles
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3
Q

Applied ethics

A

Related to everyday existence, apply normative ethics to specific situations

Involves application of normative guidelines to specific, concrete situations

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4
Q

How did philosophers think before the 17th century?

A 
Plato = "justice"
Aristotle = "virtue"

Not in terms of “moral ethics”

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5
Q

Who was Plato?

A

Student of Socrates, wrote Socrates’ dialogues, author o the Republic

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6
Q

Describe Glaucon’s idea of justice in Book II of Plato’s Republic?

A

If we could get away with being unjust we would
Humans are inclined to be unjust –> more success –> get what you want
BUT people won’t trust you if they know you’re unjust
Everyone wants to be treated justly
If you are just and are perceived as just you won’t vain as much as someone who is only perceived as just
If you are just but are suspected of being unjust – worst case scenario
Ideal situation is to be unjust but have people think you’re just

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7
Q

Describe Socrates’ rebuttal to Glaucon’s argument in Book II

A

Human soul requires justness to be well/healthy
Unjust soul is sick/unhealthy vs. just soul is healthy
If you are unjust you aren’t good to yourself/aren’t being healthy

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8
Q

Basic views of Aristotle

A

Humans are by nature virtuous (many kinds– political, rationality, etc)
Similar to Socrates
Not engaged in virtuous activity is not flourishing in life –> not living to ones full potential
Humans are flourishing most when engaged in virtuous activity

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9
Q

Basic views of Stoics

A

ONE distinct feature of humans is virtue
Have to be virtuous to be human
Virtue is THE distinctive trait

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10
Q

What did the ancients emphasize?

A

Self-interest (not the same as selfishness)

Interest of the moral agent

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11
Q

What happened in the 17th century?

A

Emphasis shifted from virtue/justice to morality
Morality as something obligatory regardless of self-interest
Historical shift towards the development of individual identity and conscience
Do things because they’re the right thing to do not because of self-interest
Internalization of right and wrong

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12
Q

What philosophers were influential in the 17th century shift?

A

John Locke- Human understanding
Thomas Hobbes- Leviathan
Sam Puffendor

Introduced morality as something obligatory regardless of self-interest

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13
Q

What does morality signify?

A

Sense that we ought to do certain things regardless of self-interest

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14
Q

What are Kant’s basic beliefs?

A

German
Focused on obligatory aspects of morality
Categorical Imperative- unavoidable, urgent, of paramount importance, you have to do regardless of personal interest, morally binding command, humans MUST follow
Hypothetical imperative- gauge choices in terms of potential good outcome (gauge self interest)
MORAL REASONING

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15
Q

Categorical Imperative

A

Unavoidable, urgent, of paramount importance, you have to do regardless of personal interest, morally binding command, humans MUST follow

Always wrong no matter the circumstance.

If we say that “torture is wrong” is a categorical imperative, it wouldn’t matter if the info was important it would never be morally justifiable.

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16
Q

Hypothetical imperative

A

Gauge choices in terms of potential good outcome (gauge self interest)

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17
Q

Prudential judgment

A

Like Kant’s hypothetical imperative
Prudence
Made from self-interested POV

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18
Q

Moral Judgment

A

like Kant’s categorical imperative

made from a more dissinterested/more impartial POV

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19
Q

Singular Moral Judgment

A

deals with a specific instance, draws on applied ethics

may use moral principles to come to conclusion, more like normative ethics

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20
Q

Conscience

A

Not transparent/obvious, historically inflected
Emerged with 17th century understanding of morality
Conscientia (latin) –> consciousness, awareness
Latin term embraces sense of ourselves as conscience
Locke instrumental in formulating idea of conscience in his Essay on Human Understanding
Acts as a moral guide/source of knowledge

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21
Q

Who was instrumental in formulating the idea of conscience?

A

John Locke

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22
Q

_____ had a large influence on the development of morality/conscience as a source of knowledge

A

Christianity

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23
Q

Christianity gave us what moral idea

A

our knowledge of right and wrong was implanted in us by God.
Draws on natural reason

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24
Q

Great Historical Shift

A

Command mode of morality –> self-governance mode of morality
Sense of right and wrong not imposed from the outside–> internalization of right and wrong + trust individuals to know morals

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25
Shift towards ____ in the west
secularism
26
During shift towards secularism, knowledge of right and wrong comes from where
reasoning not from god, still required reason, but it's not natural (god given) reasoning --> not dependent on divine
27
Principal of individual moral insight
we each have the ability ot know as individuals what is right and wrong
28
Consequentialism
evaluation of things in terms of consequence
29
Deontology
emphasizes sense of "ought" or obligatory aspect of morality | Kant
30
Intuitionism
Moral realists | Presume that moral truths (especially basic moral truths) are self-evident
31
Self-evident
universality, true in all circumstances, needs no supporting evidence, basic and requires no more rational justification
32
Ross
pluralist, intuitionist, multiple (7) basic moral principles
33
____ is not consistent though time
morality | cultural and individual morality change
34
Moral realists
objective reality where things are right or wrong
35
Structure of arguments
syllogism
36
What are the three major parts of a syllogism
1. major premise (all humans are mortal) 2. minor premise (Larry is a human) (secondary importance) 3. conclusion (larry is a mortal)
37
In moral argumentation, what are premises?
justifying reasons, not explanatory ones | moral arguments have premises that consist of justifying arguments
38
Justifying arguments
confer reasonability causality + explain the rightness of something descriptions of the universe + moral principles
39
Justifying reasons have two parts
Descriptive statement + moral principles
40
Types of moral principles
Mediate moral principles can be justified by looking at more general moral principles Basic moral principles are as general as you can get, the atom of moral principles, can't be broken down
41
Mediate moral principles
can be justified by looking at more general moral principles
42
Basic moral principles
are as general as you can get, the atom of moral principles, can't be broken down
43
G.E. Moore
In general, moral arguments are positing some good how do we know what is good/right? get beyond personal explore limitations of intuitionism Infinite regress of argument
44
Where does right/wrong stop for intuitionists
stops at the gut not rational intuitive They're moral realists so they stop the process of rational justification by trusting our intuitive sense of what is right
45
Divine Command Theory
Stop justification because god says it's right/wrong also posits an ultimate good and that derives from the divine --> beyond human reason Impartiality God is impartial --> if we maintain impartiality we will be more like God/more moral
46
Informal definitions of deductive and inductive
Deductively valid arguments-- logically binding if premises are true then conclusion must be true inductively strong arguments are probabalistic
47
Formal logic
Deductive: general --> specific Inductive: specific --> general
48
Natural Law
presumes existence of God | tied to Thomas Aquinas and the Catholic church
49
Positive Law
Constructed by humans and generally codified through legislation
50
Stoics
Founder = Zeno | Use nature as basis for philosophy, constant change, one event causes another
51
Stoic principles
recognition of change in nature recognizable patterns --? provides regularity patterns are rooted in God's intelligence what's natural (aka a product of God's intelligence) is good unnatural = bad Matter is inert and acted upon by God every being has a purpose, human purpose is to reason Natural order is established and maintained by God → natural order = good, must be maintained, conform to God’s plans everything that exists/occurs is the product of intelligence (God’s intelligence) Creatures must live in a way that allow it to continue to exist and do what it’s designed to do (benefit humans) Idea that everything has a “proper function” Controversial: everything is created to help humans/serve human interest
52
Aquainas
Everything has a purpose human purpose is ETERNAL happiness (union with god, beyond this life) material and immaterial
53
Foot
Deep happiness in the present Natural goodness --> things that enable an individual to develop, maintain oneself, and reproduce --> will be different depending on the organism natural defect --> lowers organism's chances to survive and reproduce for humans - deprivation rather than defect, if we don't have the skills to be social or rational ultimate human good is not happiness but living a good life • it is right to behave in ways that will enable us to be deeply happy and wrong to act in ways that will prevent deep happiness
54
Hobbes:
secular and materialistic laws of nature humans are fundamentally social happiness in the now not the afterlife humans are self-interested (prudential) people are a danger to each other as social self interested we have to find a way to live with each other harmoniously we all want to avoid an avoidable death we're more threatened as individuals silver rule: don't do unto others as you would not want them to do to you Emphasis on impartiality-- constant attribute of morality Similar to Divine command theory --> emphasis on impartiality
55
silver rule:
don't do unto others as you would not want them to do to you
56
how is Hobbes' natural law theory similar to DCT
Emphasis on impartiality-- constant attribute of morality | Similar to Divine command theory --> emphasis on impartiality
57
Plato
student of Socrates, founder of moral philosophy
58
three groups of plato's writing
1. early: end in state of puzzlements, lack of closure, a poria, no tangible answer to the philosophical question 2. middle: republic, frequently introduce metaphysics, soul, nature of being 3. late
59
key argument in the republic
soul has three parts
60
3 parts of the soul
1. reason- highest part of the soul, if the soul is healthy it is the governing part of the soul, humans are governed by reason 2. spirit- victory, honor, distinctions (angry domination), quest for social distinction 3. appetite- desire for physical things
61
book 2
try to define justice | justice is one of "the virtues"
62
5 virtues
justice/righteousness, holiness, knowledge, temperance, courage sometimes viewed as all one
63
what did Cephalus think justice was
honesty and abiding by the law socrates-- but what if there's a madman with a weapon and someone could wrestle it away... according to this you'd have to let the madman have it and be implicitly responsible for any harm he causes
64
what did polemarchus think justice was
give people their due, help friends and punish enemies socrates-- but human judgment is fallible, friends can be bad, etc.
65
thrasymachus justice
justice is a ruse, it's whatever the powerful say it is might = right justice is a way in which the strong take advantage of the week
66
glaucon and aedamantas play devils advocate and want socrates to argue that
1. inherent good of justice without dismissing that just will look and suffer consequences while unjust will look just -prove that justice is the highest pleasure (good in and of themselves) if we're looking at the world as though gods are just --> divine law rules --> one can appeal to the afterlife in arguments for justice BUT they don't want socrates to appeal to the afterlife because gods can be swayed by offerings (you can be unjust but of you offer enough you will be forgiven)
67
does socrates advocate censorship? why?
yes denegrates arts because depicts gods as doing unjust things/changeable/deceitful --> not how we want to view gods/not a good ideal for morality
68
Theory of forms
there are metaphysical entities, abstract, epitome of what's real, different from usual idea that real = tangible
69
form
metaphysical entity that serves as a template for all things opposite of hobbes' materialism reality = good, true, beautiful, everything in this world is a semblance of it's form, a little less true/good than their forms
70
poetry is fundamentally bad because it's
less true than reality which is less true than form-- twice removed from form
71
why does socrates not want people in his state to read poetry
doesn't want them to model after poetry that's so far from the truth (form)
72
why does socrates describe state
state justice is individual justice writ large | examine state so we can see justice more clearly, illustration of justice
73
what does division of labor lead to
DOL --> specialization --> luxury --> need more people --> transactions --> greater opportunity for injustice as more people are interacting --> need for more space as state grows --> warfare specialization --> injustice and war
74
3 classes in state
1. warrior class: need people who specialize in war (Like Spirit part of soul, honor, victory) 2. merchants/artisans/laborers (like appetite, hunger for material things) 3. governing class: best leaders are philosophers, philosopher king, guardian of the republic (Reason)
75
Tripartite structure of social class and soul -->
justice for individual and society - harmonious coexistence between three parts of soul/society
76
individual justice
self-consistent and good (good = god, true, beautiful, god doesn't change)
77
Society
consistent | warriors don't overthrow philosopher king, philosopher king always rules, merchants know their place
78
justice is fundamentally
hierarchal
79
moral principles
judgment of a kind of action or omission | generalizations, broad ideas
80
universality
if it applies, it applies to everyone-- different from absolute moral principle
81
absolute moral principle
ALWAYS right or ALWAYS wrong
82
what is a moral judgment
judgment that is not based purely on self interest motive is not relevant presupposes the existence of moral agents
83
If a moral belief would not be accepted if we were judging from the impartial perspective, then it is not justified or reasonable from a moral point of view
*
84
moral domain
the context must be one in which issues of harm and benefit arise
85
whose interests must be factored in when we make impartial moral judgments
anything that can be harmed or benefited
86
moral agents
beings that can freely choose how to act
87
Why do people disagree?
Disagree over facts, depends on self-interest Intuitionists: People who argue that there is nothing morally wrong about being unjust don’t understand the network of concepts employed and presupposed in these claims. They don’t mean what we mean even if they use the same words
88
Why is the idea that immoral = illegal not absolute?
Laws are created by human beings in the context of politics, where the power of different groups determines what the laws will be
89
moral blindness
when intellect is short circuited by our emotions/desire to preserve self-interest
90
What is the controversial stoic principle
everything was created to benefit humans
91
who/which branch of philosophy had the idea of "proper functions"
stoics Proper function of humans depends on role/relationships with others—parent, brother, citizen, farmer For each role we play there are certain appropriate actions Reason tells us the limitations and appropriate actions associated with each role
92
Aquainas
God created each thing with its own proper ends and an inclination to perform its own proper acts (acts that enable it to achieve its proper ends) proper purpose usually tied to capabilities it is always natural and right for something to act in a way that will enable it to reach its proper end/fulfil its proper function ...but is it always wrong if something does not act in a furtherance of its proper ends? acting in a way that would benefit ones proper end is always allowed but not necessarily required proper end of humans = eternal happiness, union with God, material and immaterial, this life and beyond

Contemporary Moral Issues- Quiz 1 (3 decks)

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