Quiz #1 Flashcards
(19 cards)
Naturalism Argument for Specieism
non-humans cannot reciprocate the behaviors and actions of humans because they are intellectually incapable. Therefore, they do not deserve equal treatment as humans. Ex. you feed dog but dog doesn’t feed you.
Earned pleasure (hard hedon) versus Pure pleasure (happy hedon)
Earned pleasure requires a negative exp. or valley for that hedon to occur. Ex. - the hardest roads often lead to the most beautiful destinations. Pure pleasure is something you do not have to earn and is often an enjoyable surprise. Both feelings fade eventually.
How were the Viennese Hospital doctors killing women?
They were not washing their hands after digging in dead bodies.
What matters more? Being a good person or doing the right thing?
Being a good person. However, you can do the wrong thing while trying to be a good person.
Are sports fans happier than anyone else?
No. They invest all their emotion, time and sometimes money on one thing. And inevitablly only one team is going to win, and the chances that it is your team everytime is very slim. Plus, you are sad when it’s the offseason and you could be sad during season which makes you sad all year.
What would it mean that Mary got lucky and did the right thing by committing adultery?
Mary got lucky because she produced hedons for herself and her spouse. Her spouse did not know she was being unfaithful. They were completely blind to the affair and therefore happy bc they thought there was a mutual trust. And those hedons that the partner experienced from that trust was not worth anyless than Mary’s bc ignorance is bliss. All the while Mary got what she desired from the affair and didn’t get caught. Which ultimately proved that her cheating was better than ending her marriage.
Translate shadows on wall to what is morally right or wrong.
Shadows represent the appearance of things in our society versus the reality. In order to determine what is right or wrong we need to go outside the cave and analyze our ordinary beliefs (shadows), where we might find that our opinions based on these shadows are wrong.
According to Epistemological requir. what should moral theory allow us to do?
Determine what is morally right or wrong.
Cohen
Specieist. Argued that it was our moral duty as humans to be speciesists. It would be for the great good/ benefit for non-humans to endure pain over us.
What is measurement problem?
Emotion isn’t something you can quantify or give a universal number to. Everyone experiences emotions in their own way and so it would be irrelevant to give a feeling a concrete value.
Hedometer
It would help the measurement problem bc it records emotions directly from the brain and so you could estimate the value of an experience.
What does it mean to say that I can know an action’s moral status only “a posteriori”?
Can only determine if something is morally right or wrong based on all the results of an action. Therefore if something hasn’t occurred yet you can only hope it has positive implications.
How does speciesism violate impartiality requir.
Specieism believes humans are superior to all living things and therefore any characteristics of theirs are worth more. which clashes with impartiality bc in impartiality all things have equal value. A human hedon= a dog hedon.
Prediction problem with Utilitariansim
Can only determine if an act is morally right or wrong by examining the results at the end. This is an issue bc the grandmother in her specific situation did the right thing by saving hilter. However, is she a morally wrong person bc she saved a future mass murderer? No because she could not foretell the future and see that.
What is speciesism and give an example.
Speciesism in the eyes of Singer is the process of giving the interests and welfare of one species, specifically humans, higher consideration. Interests of o/ species are devalued bc of arbitary facts, like the fact that fish have fins and humans have hands.
Ex. hunting for sport
ppl think it’s ok eventhough deer have a right to live and experience pain bc they cannot consent and do not have as high of an IQ.
2 criteria for assessing strength of an argument.
soundness- are statements true and validity- do the statements give reason to believe the conclusion.
Dignity Defense for speciesism and response known as Impicity Bias Criteria Argument.
Dignity defense is that the importance of human welfare supersedes any equality conflict. BC non-humans are not as intellegent or have the cerebral capacity as humans do, which makes humans more dignified. And this has occurred for centuries, it is formalized in academic and religious views.
The argument against this is the fact that you as a human have a bias to your own species. You would never willingly admit that someone is better than you. So who are you to decide if an elk is lesser then a human. Both have unique characteristics. So GOD is usually suggested as a mediator since he created both.
How does the utilitarian method of analyzing Mary’s adultery raise the question of counter-intuitive verdict challenge?
Mary’s moral status would be determined on her actions. However, people have differing views of what is morally right and morally wrong. So someone being unfaithful in a certain circumstance can be good to one person and for others it can be unthinkable. And that difference can cause you to critisize your own view. Bc the approach you took to a problem can be radically different than the approach another individual took.
analogy to colleges in the Implicity Biased Criteria Argument.
Just as argued with speciesism, you have ties and loyalty to your own college. You would never willingly put your college and therefore yourself down. It is a concept of pride, and confidence.
