Week 2 Kuhse and Singer, Steinbock, Francis

Question 1

Define Metaphysics

Answer 1

the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space. (What are ethics? What is good? What is a person?)

Question 2

Define epistemology

Answer 2

the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.

Question 3

What are the 2 subcategories of epistemology and what do they mean?

Answer 3

1. Empiricism - Justify knowledge by using your sense

2. Rationalism - Justify knowledge using intellect and reason

Question 4

What are the 3 categories of ethics and define each

Answer 4

1. Meta-ethics - explores the status, foundations, and scope of moral values, properties, and words i.e. what is morality (vs is this moral or not)
2. Descriptive - empirical research into the attitudes of individuals or groups of people
3. Normative - investigates the set of questions that arise when considering how one ought to act, morally speaking. … Most traditional moral theories rest on principles that determine whether an action is right or wrong.

Question 5

What are 3 subcategories of meta-ethics and define each

Answer 5

1. Nihilism - there are no moral facts, no moral truths, no moral knowledge
2. Moral relativism/ emotivism - moral judgments are right or wrong based on a cultural perspective, emotivism is whether something feels right or wrong
3. Moral absolutism - ethical view that particular actions are intrinsically right or wrong

Question 6

Compare bioethics and medical ethics

Answer 6

Medical ethics - focus on physician-pt relationship, think hippocratic oath
Bioethics - umbrella term that began with the development medical of technology in the ’60s

Question 7

Define technocratic paradigm

Answer 7

a way of science that sees the human as a mind-body machine, disregarding the spirit

Question 8

Define scientism

Answer 8

thought or expression regarded as characteristic of scientists