Quiz 2

Question 1

Moral realism

Answer 1

assumes correspondence theory of truth

our true statements correspond to an objective reality

Question 2

reasons to embrace moral realism

Answer 2

the law of the excluded middle: two contradictory statements can’t both be true
people change their mind –> come to recognize the truth whereas before they were deceived

Question 3

what is the law of the excluded middle?

Answer 3

the law of the excluded middle: two contradictory statements can’t both be true

Question 4

why was there a shift away from moral realism?

Answer 4

response to Holocaust, attempt to understand evil if you aren’t a moral realist

Question 5

Arendt– dialectical understanding

Answer 5

Thesis (A) and antithesis (B) are fundamentally opposite, and synthesis (C) leads to reconcilliation

I (A) and them (B) are fundamentally opposite but need to be reconciled into a sense of “we” (C) to create collective identity

to be a thinking self is to be a member of the human community (natural law of human identity is to be rational, thinking self)

If you harm another you are hurting yourself– collective sense of identity– can’t commit genocide

Question 6

What did Arendt mean by “the banality of evil”

Answer 6

to be evil is to deviate/failure to uphold the thinking self

Question 7

Andrew Delblanco

Answer 7

how do we account for evil without relying on an outward evil force?
Vascilates between subjective/objective views of evil
historical perspective
we have a hard time talking about evil because of post-modern sensibility

Question 8

Nihlism– what is it?

Answer 8

lack of realism

nothing is right or wrong

Question 9

what branch of philosophy did Nietzsche belong to

Answer 9

nihlism

Question 10

what did nietzsche believe

Answer 10

“god is dead” –> movement away from moral realism

critiqued christian morality

Question 11

nietzsche’s first treatise

Answer 11

our understanding of morality (put others first) derives from slave revolt --> sees christian morality as a revolt by the underclass against the powerful (those who establish what's right/nobilitu) who previously defined right as power, welath, status (things the upper class had and lower class didn't)
how nietzche explains difference between good and evil
etumologically good = noble

Question 12

what is the etymology of good

Answer 12

noble

Question 13

n’s second treatise

Answer 13

difference between right and wrong, origin of guilt/philologist (philosophy + how language has changed historically)
guild = debt in German
how does guild tit into morality?

Historically– nomadic communitiies
survive by huting
being in the wrong = not doing what you were supposed to do to hold up obligations to community –> not paying debt to community
nomadics valued aggression, mobility, defense, hunting
fail to “pay debt” to community –> banishment
society becomes agrarian, inclusive, larger, aggression becomes a destructive force

larger community –> be in wrong no longer requires banishment but still has to be punished, aggression is now internalized without external outlet, shift to psychological instead of psysical expression, people “in the wrong” beat themselves up emotionally through guilt

how nietzche explains right and wrong

Question 14

n’s 3rd treatise

Answer 14

ascetic ideal
self deprivation
the maximization of tendency to be realy hard on ourselves

Question 15

non - cognitivism

Answer 15

form of nihlism
moral judgments/statements can’t be either true or false, purely personal/subjective
moral statements jsut express individual feelings

Question 16

critics of non-cognitivism

Answer 16

language is multifaceted/has many functions on an individual basis

Question 17

moral objectivism

Answer 17

there is right and wrong, but truth is based on community understanding

Question 18

moral subjectivism

Answer 18

there is truth, but it’s true/right/wrong on an individual basis

Question 19

problems with m objectivism/subjectivism

Answer 19

MO
only way to decide morality is to take an opinion poll– is this good?
you can’t have a debate or dialogue about morals
breakdown in communication

both
no way to resolve conflict if everyone is right
some argue it fosters tolerence but it doesn’t always work out that way

Question 20

common sense morality

Answer 20

we should not merely not harm others, but help others to the extent that you yourself are not harmed

empathy is fundamental tennent of morality

Question 21

moral egoism

Answer 21

it’s right/moral to act in your own self interest, self interest is the most important thing

Question 22

psychological egoism

Answer 22

descriptive statement, theory about human behaviour– humans tend to act out of self interet

Question 23

“ought implies can”**

Answer 23

derives from psychological egoism

Question 24

Adam Smith

Answer 24

moral egoism
capitalist philosophy
18th century
wealth of nations, the invisible hand
individual sef interest is key to social well being whereas actively pursuing social interest doesn’t work as well
valorize competition
doesn’t say people can’t be good, just are goo for self-interested reasons

Question 25

invisible hand

Answer 25

impersonal, individuals don't understand big picutre but everything works out if they ursue self interest, focus of market Smith --> invidible hand - god's hand, benegolent god that wants to maximize human happiness

Question 26

what does smith assume

Answer 26

all people are equally happy- perfect god is not going to create an imperfect world, but god has made it so we believe we will be happier with more welath, thus we are dissatisfied and strive to make more money, extra capital leads to general human happiness because society has more money

Question 27

Herbert Spencer

Answer 27

"survival of the fittest" people are going to suffer wanted to abolish England's poor laws let free market dictate how people interact laissez faire economy is the counterpart to Darwinian idea of adaptation (or not) to (economic) environment

Question 28

Mill's speech on Capital punishment

Answer 28

cap punishment is the ideal punishment values feeling over existence Mill feels it's more hunane recognizes that fear of death is ery prevalent fear can be used to better society death is not the worst thing, looks worse than it is, CP is better than it looks, certainly better than life with hard labor existence is of secondary importance

Question 29

Gendered nature of abolishing CP

Answer 29

effininancy, inconsistent/weak/illogical/lenient/feminine nature feminization of britain means lack of strength/willpower to follow through Men are supposed to be prepared to fight/sacrifice life --> masculine education Masculine aspect of debate is related to the issue of education --senese that life is not most important, men should be prepared to sacrifice their lives or kill for higher purposes, protection of other citizens, we have to be "men" about CP

Question 30

what is the power of punishment

Answer 30

how punishment is perceived is more important than how it actually is

Question 31

what are criticisms of CP and how does mill refute

Answer 31

CP not effective -we can't know, no way to measure crime that didn't commit hypocritical thinking -punishment should fit the crime, suffering when crime is committed, why can't you impose suffering on someone who imposed suffering on someone else? nature of punishment- we impose suffering on people who impose suffering irrevocable, can't un-kill if later proven innocent -careful to make sure prisoner doesn't show remorse/can't live peacefully in society

Question 32

how does Mill employ intellectual elitism

Answer 32

cultural confidence in thoroughness of British legal system, willing to go the extra mile to make sure not executing wrongly, sophisticated judicial system, not universally moral but moral here because of cultural circumstances

Question 33

who is a hedonist

Answer 33

Mill, belief that we should maximize pleasure and avoide pain generally assume people know what is pleasurable/painful

Question 34

desire fulfillment utilitarianism

Answer 34

generate most good but doesn't necessarily relate to pleasure, want to know truth even though ignorance is bliss/truth may hurt, happiness is not necessarily equated with pleasure

Question 35

critique of DFU

Answer 35

doesn't account for happiness distribution

Question 36

Equality for its own sake U

Answer 36

always aim for ***

Question 37

critique of EFIOSU

Answer 37

if everyone's equal some will be dragged down, those with naturally greater abilities will need to be handicapped

Question 38

Prioritarianism

Answer 38

the good/happiness allocated to those who are worse off is more important than good allocated to those who are better off emphasizes quantification

Question 39

sufficientarianism

Answer 39

posits that there is a threshold fo wellbeing after hwich inequality is acceptable

Question 40

desert oriented utilitarianism

Answer 40

posits that people should be as happy as they deserve to be | you get what you deserve

Question 41

act utilitarianism

Answer 41

focused on maximizing happiness with choices/acts in the here and now, very specific

Question 42

problems with AY

Answer 42

considered too variable, not consistent enough, unrealistic expecataions, too much is required of individuals, quantifying happiness is subjective, too much emphasis on quantification of happiness to decide what will maximize happiness, not enough knowledge about future to know what will be best to calculate everything before acting./dont' have enough time to decide in a crisis, ignores past obligations/responsibilities, individual differences don't natter

Question 43

Rule Utilitarianism

Answer 43

circumvent some AU problems | society is better off if people come up with general rule to accomodate problems

Question 44

what is happiness? who deserves happiness?

Answer 44

hierarchy of being, person counts for more than animal/inanimate objects sentience/consciousness - important factor in who should be happy

Question 45

Mill's U ch I

Answer 45

complaints about previous thinkers - no consensus about definition of right/wrong, too little progress in figuring out what is r/w, in coming up with a first principle if r/w - question science, characteristic of inductive reason, look at details first --> characteristic of philosophy until utilitarianism

Question 46

mills wants to be __

Answer 46

deductive, general priciple of happiness -> specific rules, argues that utilitarianism offers this

Question 47

greatet happiness principle

Answer 47

maximize happiness in the wprld everyones happiness matters equally--> don't confuse with distribution, all people deserve happiness, but not all kinds of happiness, not all kinds of happiness are equal *Phillipa Foot, deep happiness

Question 48

kinds of being in Mills U

Answer 48

swine criticism = misunderstanding of Epicuras few humans... fullest allowance of beasts pleasure scale of being, hierarchy of creatures, hierarchy of pleasures different kinds of specific people and creatures related to understanding of human dignity, prevents us from choosing lesser pleasures

Question 49

human dignity...

Answer 49

prevents us from choosing lesser pleasures

Question 50

human nobility...

Answer 50

we want our happiness and happiness of others, willing to forego some of our own happiness if we believe it will benefit others, prevents choosing selfish pleasure/being self-serving