Ethics Final Fout
two types of actions
a. human acts b. acts of a human being
making rules vs. finding standards/guidelines
main concern of ethics is making rules -can society make a moral mistake?
cooperation in evil
a. direct vs. indirect b. proximate vs. remote c. formal vs. material
categories of action
a. good b. evil c. indifferent
The parts of a good life
a. human work b. recreation or play c. subsistence work d. sleep, etc.
characteristics of a man with no common power
no intrinsic evils, have a right to everything, nothing is unjust
natural state of man with no common power
no law, no injustice
Is it possible to draw a line? (status of being in the womb)
no possible to draw a line
Is the essence of a human/person present from conception?
no, if voluntarist yes, if realist
Is the self-interested life the happy life?
no, the very things we want out of life is found in ethics. The ethical life is indeed the good life
Rachels' two utilitarian arguments
on pages 254-255, 256
Human acts are...
a. deliberate b. voluntary
Where do all moral principles originate, according to Kant?
nature
act itself
the actual action
is capital punishment required?
NO
motive
intention, why
How does Jensen define habit?
performing an action so regularly it becomes automatic
relation between the will and the intellect
the will influences the intellect
Cicero on the natural law
'True law is right reason in agreement with nature. It is applied universally and is unchanging and everlasting... one eternal and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and times and there will be one master and rule, that is God.'
How is order achieved in society according to Hobbes?
...
three elements of the human being
a. knower b. does c. maker
three elements of a human act are
1. Act itself 2. intention 3. circumstances
Thrasymachus in Plato's Republic
Laws are only what people in power want them to be
What does Kant mean by a "good will"?
-intentions, will a part of reason -willing to do what is right because it is right
What motivates ethical conduct for Hume? What is the role of reason? On what is ethics based?
-neither relation of ideas or matters of fact motivate ethical conduct for hume -reason should be the slave of the passions -ethics is either the result of reason or the passions
If choices must be made according the the intellect's ability to accurately apprehend the good, the the question arises whether practical wisdom is a virtue of the intellect or the will, of knowing or loving, of the knower or the doer. Is it just practical or is it both theoretical and practical?
...
Is the violinist example a good analogy? is abortion "unplugging"?
...
difference between a social fact and an ethical norm
...
law and custom
...
Why do you have to follow a certain but invincibly erroneous conscience?
1. If you did not have to follow a certain but invincibly erroneous conscience, then you would not have to follow a certain and correct conscience 2. but you do have to follow a certain and correct conscience 3. therefore, you do have to follow a certain but invincibly erroneous conscience
Conscience
1. actions are objectively either good, evil, or indifferent 2. ways of describing the conscience a. antecedent or consequent b. correct or erroneous c. certain or doubtful
two ways of using the term decide
1. all decisions are choices - relativism 2. some decisions are choices and some decisions are judgements
Two rules of conscience
1. always follow a certain conscience 2. never follow a doubtful conscience
2 areas off limits (Kant)
1. human nature 2. circumstances of the world
Three kinds of good
1. intrinsic-in itself 2. instrumental only- for its result only 3. both intrinsic and instrumental- both
cultural relativism
1. moral principles describe social conventions
realistic ethics and virtue and the emotions
1. the unifying factor is Eudaimonia 2. natural perfection 3. the standard of right action is a fulfilled human nature 4. "a whole life made good by the participation in all the real goods toward which the common human nature of each individual tends for the satisfaction of its inherent needs"
State Kant's Categorical Imperative
Act in such a way that you can will that the maxim of your action can become a universal law
Role of consent
Does consent make any action ethical? -no can we consent to wrong actions? -yes
Emotivism
Hume, all evaluative judgments are nothing but expressions of attitudes and feelings or preference -not all expressions of emotion are ethical judgements 1. interjections/performatives 2. relation to desire the true and the true good 3. relationship between world, reason, emotions according to each 4. real good and apparent goods 5. relation between reason and emotions/passions/appetites/drives
Acts of prudence
a. counsel-observe b. judgement- judge c. command- act (command is the essence of practical wisdom)
Speculative virtues do not move our choices a. Plato's view vs. Aristotle's view
Plato- if we know the good we will do the good Aristotle says we will not always do good b. the choice of the good is the key c. morality resides in the will can choose the good without knowing the good
Why lead the moral life?
The moral life and the happy life are not separate, they are in fact one in the same
The question of Thrasymachus- Who is happier?
Thrasymachus believes the unjust man is happier because the unjust man is never caught, becomes ruler of the city, is well liked by everyone, and achieves all that he hopes for
persons vs. human beings
a. all human beings are persons- non voluntarism/CR/NLE/Thomism b. some human being are not persons- voluntarism
ways of describing the conscience
a. antecedent or consequent b. correct or erroneous c. certain or doubtful
Types of Justice
a. arithmetic b. proportional
Ethical vs. legal
Voluntarism- all rights are conventional/legal/man-made realism- some rights are legal and some rights are natural
Does knowledge follow desire or does desire follow knowledge?
Voluntarist- knowledge follows desire realist- desire follows knowledge
When does Jensen say we enter the domain of moral blame?
When there is deliberation and free choice
three elements in action
a. act itself b. motive c. circumstances
what determines the evil of an action?
a nature of the act b. intention with which the act is performed c. consequences that flow from the action
gyges ring- relationship between human justice and human fulfillment
a story designed to show that without fear of punishment that all people would behave unjustly.
Definition of abortion
a. Spontaneous- miscarriage, misfortune b. Procured- good or evil, just or unjust, right or wrong
Types of Euthanasia
a. Voluntary (includes assisted suicide) b involuntary (does not want to be killed) c. non-voluntary (includes abortion and infanticide) active, passive
moral blame is not being assessed
a. act b. knowledge c. consent
How do we have ethical knowledge?
a. if voluntarism is true, ethical knowledge is essentially denied b. If voluntarism is false, ethical knowledge must have a basis beyond will -Self evident -understanding of the subject matter leads to understanding of the truth -we understand our capacities (nature) then we understand our obligations -fulfillment of our nature (capacities) is the basis of our obligations
Rights
a. inalienable b. alienable c. all rights are alienable- voluntarist view d. some rights are inalienable- realist view e. basis of rights -nature -convention -all rights are conventional-voluntarist view -some rights are natural- realist view
two opinions regarding killing/injury in self defense
a. indirect b. direct
Marquis' argument is primarily consequentialist.
a. intrinsic vs. instrumental evils b. negative ethical norms vs. positive ethical norms c. loss of "valuable future" d. Down Syndrome
Good judgement
a. is right reason about things to be done b. is rooted in principle and applied through experience
how does capital punishment serve the three functions?
a. it is as close as you can come to re-establishing justice b. cannot correct the offender c. debate on whether or not it deters function c.
human goods able to be defended by force
a. life b. liberty c. limbs and faculties d. chastity e. material goods of great value
Justifiable Self Defense
a. motive is self defense alone b. force used only at "time of attack" c. only if no other way of repelling the attack d. only necessary injury
without right desire...
a. no right choice b. no right judgement
Does birth mark an ethically significant dividing line?
a. no- voluntarist (pro choice) position- the being is not a person before birth and does not become a person at birth b. no- non-voluntarist (pro life) position- the being is both a human and a person before and after birth
the basis of ethics- human fulfillment
a. ontology- being, what is, nature b. human capacities c. right vs. wrong
care
a. ordinary b. extraordinary
"Pursue good and avoid evil."- The basic guideline
a. preserve one's own life b. preserve the species c. live in community (friendship) d. know the truth and do the good
Just War
a. proper authority b. just cause (proportion, last resort, fair hope) c. right intention d. right use of means (killing, prisoners and spies, non-combatants, bombing, chemical, bacteriological, siege and blockade, reprisals, hostages, torture, enemy property, neutrals)
hedonism/utilitarianism/consequentialism/proportionalism
a. quantification b. pleasure c. distinction in pleasures d. "higher" pleasures e. quality f. socrates and the fool g. desirability
voluntarist view of personhood
a. rational b. autononoous c. self-conscious
three functions of punishment
a. re-establish justice b. correct the offender c. deter others
the good life depends upon what we are-human beings/persons
a. reason b. will c. emotions d. friendships
hume's two kinds of knowledge
a. relations of ideas b. matters of fact
Acts vs. Omissions
a. results -caused -accepted b. all results are caused- voluntarist view c. some results are cause and some results are accepted- non voluntarist view
principal of double effect
a. the act itself must be good or at least indifferent b. the good effect must not be obtained by means of the evil effect c. the evil effect must not be intended for its own sake, but only permitted d. there must be a proportionately grave reason for permitting the evil effect
By observing behavior, we realize inclination; upon knowing inclination, we naturally discover the good
a. understanding b. desire c. we ought to desire that which is really good for us
three kinds of speculative virtues
a. understanding b. science c. wisdom
three aspects of Kant's ethics
a. universality of the moral law b. supreme worth of each rational person c. freedom or autonomy of the will
error based on ignorance
a. vincible-ignorance that should be overcome b. invincible- have no way of knowing anything you might do
What are the two kinds of desire?
natural desire (humanly needed) and conscious desire (personally wanted)
What is meant by rational control?
being able to reasonably control your desires
How is the main immediate goal of the act of abortion best described?
bringing pregnancy to an end a. act b. intention c. circumstances (consequences)- what is an essential consequence of a successful abortion
methods for resolving a doubtful conscience
can always follow the ethically safer course
What is the relationship between law and justice for Hobbes?
cannot be justice without laws
seeking human fulfillment means we seek the right goal (Classical realism)
classical realism/natural law ethics/aristotelianism/thomism says the right goal is our natural perfection as human persons -love of the true good -reasonable emotions
Could abortion be used as self-defense?
depends on if voluntarist or realist... also depends on if it is for protection of the mother's life
What is "right desire"?
desire that falls between needs and wants
pregnancy
development of a new, biologically human organism in the womb of a woman that starts with the process of the impregnation of an ovum and ends with the birth of a child
seeking human fulfillment means we seeks the right goal (part c.)
development of the divine element within us is the love of the complete and infinite good
Why is someone with good emotions not just lucky?
emotions can be trained
ethics concern guidelines not rules
ethics concern guidelines not rules
Happiness as Eudaimonia, virtue, fortune
eudaimonia- fulfillment, a whole life well lived virtue- habit of doing the ethically right action, second nature fortune- elements of our lives that we had no choice about
How can it be said that everyone has a God?
everyone is searching for a meaning?
circumstances
facts and conditions that affect a situation place, time, instrument, who, how, effects, upon what/whom
feeding the fleas and letting the elephant go hungry
feeding the fleas and letting the elephant go hungry
Does following some set of rules mean we give up happiness?
no
Hume's skepticism
he thinks that much of our alleged knowledge essentially involves beliefs that cannot be rationally justified and that hence much of our alleged knowledge is not knowledge at all.
in order to desire well, we need to think well
in order to desire well, we need to think well
What is Thomson's standard of "decency?" How does it apply?
indecent to have an abortion due to inconvenience i.e.- having an abortion so you could go on a vacation
why is the following statement self-evident?- "we ought to desire that which is really good for us and nothing else."
it seems impossible to think the opposite
What can reason do that the will emotions can not do?
know the good
synderesis
knowledge of the principles of ethics
Meaning of eudaimonia
life of activity, a whole life well lived
self control- what is the role of reason? what do we mean when we say "I lost control"
losing control is when we let our emotions/desires rule
what is the relationship between moderation and practical wisdom?
moderation is the essential characteristic of all virtue command is the essence of practical wisdom
moral virtues need intellectual virtues
moral virtues need intellectual virtues
How do we know our nature?
our upbringing, what has been instilled in us
Doer
practical wisdom-will-love-good
maker
productive wisdom- appetites-beauty
does one who has committed a capital crime merit death?
punishment should be proportionate to the crime, can be decreased not increased
Hume's view of the relationship between the world, reason, emotions
reason should be the slave of the passions
Why is PDE formulated?
some can figure out what our ethical responsibility is when we know the action
act (PDE)
the act itself must be good or at least indifferent
Why are our emotions not entirely beyond our control?
the control of reason modifies the emotion itself
intention (PDE)
the evil effect must not be intended for its own sake but only permitted
effects (PDE)
the good effect must not be obtained by means of the evil effect
Is the ethical life the happy life?
the perfectly just man has a reputation for injustice, people do not like him but despise him, so that in the end he is falsely accused and found guilty, finally being put to death.
Knower
theoretical wisdom-intellect-truth
What does man's natural state mean for justice and injustice
there are no unjustices
proportion (PDE)
there must be a proportionately grave reason for permitting the evil effect
what is the role of the emotions?
to point to what is good because it is enjoyable, can also lead us off the track
habit as that which we ought to desire or getting used to excellence
virtue
seeking human fulfillment means we seek the right goal (voluntarism)
voluntarism/consequentialism/subjectivism/utilitarianism says any goal is the right goal (who is to say)
Is the fetus merely part of the pregnant woman's body?
voluntarist- yes realist- no
How important is it to desire not just do the right thing?
we should seek not only to choose well, but also to desire well
The role of instinct in Hume
when reason fails, instinct takes over
When do our actions have moral worth, according to Kant?
when we do the right thing for the right reason
does the status of the being in the womb depend on what one wants?
yes, if voluntarist no, if realist