Samuel Clark Flashcards
(27 cards)
What term refers to the concept of not judging other cultures’ morals?
Moral isolationism
This term suggests that one should refrain from making moral judgments about practices in different cultures.
What is the definition of a moral saint?
A person whose every action is morally good
Moral saints embody the highest moral standards and act in accordance with them at all times.
What are the two types of moral saints identified?
- Loving saint
- Rational saint
Loving saints act out of love for others, while rational saints act based on reasoned moral principles.
What is the distinction between normative and descriptive claims?
Normative claims express how things should be, while descriptive claims describe how things are.
This distinction is crucial in moral philosophy.
What is the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions?
- Necessary conditions must be met for something to occur
- Sufficient conditions guarantee that something will occur
Understanding this difference is important in logical reasoning and argumentation.
What does the author seek to understand regarding work?
The kind of work that is good for human beings and the kind that is bad
This inquiry aims to connect work with human flourishing.
What analogy does the author use to compare beneficial work?
Beneficial work is analogous to eating greens and exercising for health.
This comparison highlights the importance of work for human flourishing.
What distinguishes good work from righteous work?
Good work benefits the individual, while righteous work may not
An example of righteous work being bad for the individual is a single mother working exhausting hours to support her children.
What is the connection between work and human needs?
Work is necessary and has a connection to our needs rather than just desires.
This highlights the role of work in fulfilling essential requirements for living.
What is a key characteristic that defines work?
Work is productive activity, not consumption or leisure
This definition excludes activities like eating, which are considered consumption.
Fill in the blank: Work is _____, not rest or idleness.
activity
This emphasizes the active nature of work.
What is the author’s position on theories of right action?
The author does not commit to any specific theory regarding right action.
The focus is on the relationship between work and human flourishing rather than moral theories.
What does the author mean by ‘causal responsibility’?
The obligation or accountability for the consequences of one’s actions
This is often contrasted with moral responsibility.
What is the significance of ‘2nd-order volitions’?
They refer to desires about one’s own desires
Understanding 2nd-order volitions can help in discussing autonomy.
True or False: Work can be optional or purely playful.
False
The text states that work is necessary and not optional.
What is the main premise of the perfectionist account of the good?
The human good is the full development and expression of essential human potentials and capacities.
How does development and expression occur according to the perfectionist account?
Over a lifetime through appropriate practice.
What do repeated actions influence according to the perfectionist account?
They shape who and what we become.
What are critical practices that need scrutiny in the perfectionist account?
Institutions, habits, rituals, roles, familiar strategies, social tools.
What questions should we ask about our practices according to the perfectionist account?
Do they create conditions for development? Do they thwart it? Do they misdirect and distort it?
What are the three central capacities discussed by Clark related to human flourishing?
- Pleasure
- Skill
- Democracy
What does Clark mean by ‘humans are passionate choosers’?
It refers to the capacity of pleasure.
What does Clark mean by ‘humans are skilled makers’?
It refers to the capacity of skill.
What does Clark mean by ‘humans are social negotiators’?
It refers to the capacity of democracy.
