Philosophy (Chapter 11: What is a Good Life? Ethics)

Ethics

A branch of philosophy that asks how we best live in the world

Cynics

A group that advocated a simple life without possessions and considered most of society's rules unnatural - thus trace their origins largely to him

Moral Nihilism

A position that holds that "right and wrong" does not truly exist.

Egoist Ethics

An act-based approach to ethics that looks to consequences and focuses on what will most benefit me

Egoism

An approach that makes decisions based on what will bring about the greatest benefit to me as an individual. Like utilitarianism, it is an act-based ethic that focuses on the consequences of an action, rather than on ethical duties or principles.

Capitalism

An economic system by which individuals compete for resources; those with resources sell them for as much as they can, while those acquiring them pay as little as they must.

Universal Rights and Wrongs

As we are defining them, ethical duties that are universal and timeless, but not exceptionless.

Immanuel Kant

Believed that we have certain built-in categories of thinking that can help us determine right and wrong

Golden Rule

Do to others what you would have them do to you.

Act-Based Ethics

Ethics oriented around what we should do or not do

Virtue-Based Ethics

Ethics oriented around who we should be or not be

Jeremy Bentham

Father of modern Utilitarianism -All pleasures must count exactly the same -Creating the laws of the land and making political decisions was a matter of adding up the total pleasure a decision would make for the populace, subtracting the total pain it would bring, and then comparing the result of the calculation with the other potential decisions

Utilitarianism

Focuses primarily on the consequences of actions

Sophists

Generally cultural relativists

Gyges's Ring

Gyges was a shepherd who found a ring that could make him invisible. So he placed himself among certain delegates to the king and then proceeded to have an affair with the king's wife, who then plotted with him and killed the king. The question posed in this story by Plato is whether or not we should to the right thing even when we will not get caught.

End in Itself

If we say something is this, we do it or value it regardless of whether or causes something else good or bad to happen. It is good for its own sake.

Absolutes

In ethics, a principle of action that applies in every situation, time, and place

Communism

In theory, "from each according to his ability; to each according to his need," a system in which everything is held in common, where everyone contributes as much as he or she can to society and takes only what he or she needs.

Epicureans

It's all about pleasure; good and bad correlate directly to pleasure and pain, and pleasure is the highest good -Temporary pain can lead to greater long term pleasure

Categorical Imperative

Kant's idea that if something is a "must do," an imperative, then it is always something you must do, without exception

David Hume

Largely believed that our passions and emotions were what stood behind our moral statements. He did not believe that reason had anything to do with our morality; he believed that "facts" and "values" were completely different kinds of things.

Stoics

Lived in accordance with the reason that was inside of them - emotions are the enemy of reason and thus that a person should strive to eliminate all emotion, to achieve apatheia or an emotionless state.

Golden Mean

Moderation in all things

John Stuart Mill

Offered some critique and modification to the utilitarian system of Bentham, as well as to Adam Smith -Rejected the notion that all types of pleasure should count as the same when one is trying to determine what course of action will have the greatest benefit -Happiness is something more sophisticated -Those who experience the pleasure of art and music usually recognized that reading poetry is a more significant pleasure than playing a child's game -Everyone gets an education

Intrinsic Goods

Something that is an end in itself, good for its own sake

Instrumental Goods

Something that is good only because it leads to something else that is good

Ayn Rand

Supported an ethical approach sometimes called universal ethical egoism. This is the idea that everyone should always do what is in his or her best interest. Altruism, giving to others when it brings you no clear advantage, is immoral.

Fact-Value Problem

The difficulty of finding an intrinsic connection between the facts of the world and the values we assign to them

Eudaimonia

The good life, the art of living well.

Personal Relativism

The idea that right and wrong is a function of one's individual values and convictions.

Cultural Relativism

The idea that right and wrong is a function of the culture in which you are located.

Ends Justify the Means

The idea that the goal we are moving toward is so good or valuable that it does not matter how we achieve it, even if we have to break a few rules in the process of getting there.

Axiology

The study of what is valuable, another way of viewing ethics

Moral Relativism

There are common misconceptions of this. Someone of this belief does believe in right and wrong, but simply believe that it is relative to the person's culture.

Skeptics

We cannot know whether or not moral claims are true or false

Four Cardinal Virtues

Wisdom: knowing the right thing to do Courage: being willing to do the right thing, despite obstacles Self-Control: controlling passions that would lead to doing the wrong thing Justice: doing the right thing at the right time

Sins of Commission

Wrongs a person does by doing something

Sins of Omission

Wrongs a person does by not doing something (James 4:17)