Reviews Flashcards
Physical Continuity
- Something is the same thing at two different points in time if at both points it is the same material substance
- Objection: Cell Replacement Thought Experiment
Something is the same thing at two different points in time if at both points it is the same material substance
- Humans are the same person if they have the same body
Objection: Cell Replacement Thought Experiment
- How much do you have to change to make a difference person? It is not clear what amount of the physical material has to change, and why a certain point matters more than any other
Locke’s Continuity of Consciousness
- Being the same continuous consciousness is what makes a person the same over time
- Our intuition is that the same person has to be the same substance, but there is reason to doubt this
- This matters because how we reward and punish people depends on the person being the same person over time, with responsibility for past actions and investment in future well-being
Being the same continuous consciousness is what makes a person the same over time
- If your consciousness can be extended back to a past action or thought, and you are aware of it, then you are the same person, the same self
- Consciousness is what relates the actions to the person, regardless of the substances involved
Our intuition is that the same person has to be the same substance, but there is reason to doubt this
- Consciousness can be interrupted by forgetfulness
- Different streams of consciousness are different people
Objection to Locke
- Locke’s argument leads to counter intuitive results
- Common sense tells us it is possible for someone to not remember doing something, but still be the same person as did that thing
- Not remembering what I did when I was 3 years old doesn’t make me a different person than when I was 3
The social groups that you belong to
- Result of a combination of ones own choice and others’ perception
Social Identity
Biological
- Male and female, intersex
Sex
Social
- Man and woman, non-binary, transgender
Gender
about common physical characteristics often held to be inherent
Race
about common ancestry, cultural attachment, linguistic heritage, religious affiliation, etc.
Ethnicity
Biological based views
- Views that claim biological features at birth determine aspects of human life such as social roles, psychology, and behaviour
- Examples: biological determinism of gender, racial naturalism
Problems of biological based views
- Empirical counter-evidence
- Practical problems of restricted potential
Social Constructivist Views
- Social identities are the result of socialization, how people are treated, institutions, or some other social factor
- Examples: social constructivism of gender, racial constructivism, think constructivism, institutional constructivism, interactive kind constructivism
Problems of social constructivist views
- still assumes that there is something shared by all members of the group, fails to take into account cultural and class differences
- gives a problematic normative ideal
Skepticism
- Race and/or gender do not exist or identify anything real in the world
- Often can lead to eliminativism (the concept in question should be discarded)
Problems of skepticism
- People do use these categories
- These identity categories have real, severe impacts on people lives
- Invidious sexual inequalities in the explicit rules and implicit norms governing and structuring social institutions
- Example: women being banned from the Catholic priesthood
Institutional Sexism
Involves interactions between persons that are not governed by explicit rules but that create, constitute, promote, sustain, and/or exploit invidious sexual inequalities (intentionally or not)
Interpersonal Sexism
The psychological mechanisms and tacit beliefs, emotions, and attitudes that create, constitute, promote, sustain, and/or exploit invidious sexual inequalities
Unconscious sexism
Part of racism is the theoretical content, but it also has an element of irrationality
- We have biases that distort our judgment
- This is particularly the case when it is to our advantage to believe something, because it justifies special advantages we gain
This deformation of rationality in judgment, where the person is not just theoretically attached to the proposition about race, but will also hold onto that belief despite counter evidence due to its advantage for them
Racial prejudice
Need to be alert for such prejudice, and take special care if you have evidence that:
a. that you reasoning in a certain domain is distorted by prejudice and
b. that the distortions conform to a pattern that suggests a lack of impartiality
Kantian Ethics
- Characteristics of the act itself are what matter morally
- the good will, rational action done from duty, is the only intrinsic good
- categorical imperative (1 rule, stated 4 ways)
- perfect duties
- imperfect duties
Characteristics of the act itself are what matter morally
- follow duty and rules
Categorical Imperative (1 rule, stated 4 ways)
- Universal law formula
- Humanity formula