Ethics Midterm

What does WK Clifford claim about belief?

-"It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone to believe anything on insufficient evidence -Justified true belief -- grounded accurate beliefs

What is Rawls's contract theory?

-A contract view holds that certain principals would be accepted in a well-defined initial situation. -Principals that would be chosen by rational persons, and that in this way conceptions of justice may be explained and justified.

ESSAY: Socrates is charged with "Investigating all things under the earth" and "Making the weaker argument appear the stronger" (18b-24a). Explain these charges and Socrates response to them.

-Accusation 1: cosmology, physicalism, natural philosophy -- questioning things and creating new ideas -------Socrates response: That's a misconception based on Clouds. Ask anyone who has heard me converse and they will tell you I am not a natural philosopher. -Accusation 2: getting money to teach people ethics and moral skepticism -------Socrates response: You are confusing me for the sophists. While educating people can be a good thing, worthy of payment, I do not take money and I don't really have anything to teach.

ESSAY: Explain the Euthyphro's Dilemma about the nature of piety. What possible implications does this have for a moral theory based on a higher power (divine command theory)?

-Argument against divine command theory leaves you with problem: -X is pious if x is loved by all gods -X is pious outside of god's love -Is x pious because all gods love x OR is loved because it is pious

What is the "ethics of belief"?

-Article by Clifford -Name of topic of ethics -Notion of having criteria for ethics -Search for good and bad ethics

What are some basic objections against utilitarianism?

-Can we really calculate/predict? -Do we have enough info/time? -What consequences do we consider? -They say that people judge higher pleasures more worthwhile than lower pleasures, but surely those who have experienced both sometimes prefer the lower -Many who start out with preferences for higher pleasures tend to lose this preference as they sink into indolence and selfishness -Impersonal -- sacrifice family for strangers -Negative responsibilities -- responsible for everyone everywhere, not just the people we know

How do we decide whether higher or lower pleasures are better (i.e., who decides and how)?

-Can't equate pleasures -- always strive for higher pleasures -Does motive/intention really not have anything to do with moral rightness? -Need someone who has experienced both higher and lower pleasures then they can tell us -- intellectual will hopefully win

Explain the theory and two possible issues for act utilitarianism

-Considers only the results or consequences of the single act -An action becomes morally right when it produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people -Problem: It is too hard and too much to require that people should always act in order to promote the general interests of society -- starbucks example -- we could never do anything for ourselves -----------Debate: Allowing personal motives is better for everyone, you could sometimes do stuff for yourself and it would fit with the principal -Problem: Utilitarianism is a godless doctrine ----------Debate: since God is omnibenevolent (all good) and he wants happiness for all his creatures, he would like this idea because he wants happiness for all. -Problem: Utilitarianism requires too much weighing and calculating consequences, we will often not have time to analyze a situation properly -----------Debate: We will build rule-of-thumbs that will help when time is short

What was Socrates accused of in the Apology (earlier and more recent charges)?

-Corrupting the youth -- later -Not believing in the gods of the city -Sentenced to death -Cosmologist and sophist -- earlier

ESSAY: Why didn't Socrates fear death?

-Death is either "like being nothing and the dead man had no perception of anything, or else, in accordance with the things that are said, it happens to be a sort of change and migration of the soul from the place heere to another place" -------Either going to sleep forever or your soul goes and he would meet many great people and continue philosophizing with them -------Either way, death is not a bad thing. For no harm can come to a good person

What is the difference between a moral (or prescriptive or normative) statement and a nonmoral (or descriptive) statement?

-Descriptive is how the world is and normative is how the world ought to be -Normative -- devise system that tells you what to do -- not application of it -Deontology and utilitarian and ethics of care -Applied ethics -- application of normative theories -Applying utilitarianism to farming -Meta ethics -- higher level qs about how ethics should work in general -Descriptive--describing ethical issues -- company putting chemicals in river is killing fish -- explaining matters of fact about the world -Take the statement and say it is bad to kill the fish and the company should stop -- prescriptive moral view

What are the four branches of ethics?

-Descriptive: describing ethical issues -- company putting chemicals in river is killing fish -- explaining matters of fact about the world -Normative: The branch concerned with the creation and analysis of ethical concepts and systems. -Metaethics: Theoretical study of ethics and how it ought to be done. Asks questions about the nature of value and the best way to talk about moral issues -Applied: The branch concerned with applying normative concepts to real situations.

Who was Socrates?

-Ethical philosopher who went around teaching people how they should live -Socratic method: start with one question, go back and forth with questions, then never get an answer -"Mid-wife" -- helped others give birth to new ideas -Father of western philosophy -Never wrote anything down -469-399

ESSAY: What is the difference between higher and lower pleasures for Mill? Who is competent to decide which type is better? Why? Which of the types is better? Why?

-Higher pleasures = intellectual, lower pleasures = bodily -It is about the quality of the pleasures because some kinds of pleasures are more desirable and more valuable than others (higher) -The only person who is competent to decide which type is better is someone who has experienced both higher and lower pleasures and chooses without any feeling of moral obligation to prefer one, they will choose the most desirable pleasure -Relative quality of two pleasures cna only competently be judged by one who has experienced both -------These judges also tend to prefer pleasures that employ the "higher faculties", even if they lead to discomfort or dissatisfaction --------Since they all say higher pleasures are more worthwhile than bodily pleasures, it must be the greater quality --------Therefore, pleasures employing higher faculties must actually be of greater quality

What are 4 intrinsically valuable things for Aquinas?

-Human Procreation -Knowledge -Sociability (being a good member of the community) -Human Life

What are two forms of the categorical imperative (Humanity and Universal Law)?

-Humanity as an end in itself -- treat people not as an end, but also as an end -------Not as mere means -Universal law -- (maxim) needs to exist as a system of nature

How does one become a virtuous person, according to Aristotle?

-Intellectual and moral virtues to work together -Habituate the virtues and work on it over time

For William James, what does it mean that a belief is live, momentous, and forced?

-Intellectually undecidable (ex. Existence of God) -It is "live", as it is still a live option for belief -The choice is forced, in that if we don't decide the choice will be made for us -The choice is momentous or significant, it will change how we live

Why didn't Socrates fear death?

-It is either like sleeping forever or the soul will migrate to a new place, which is good because he can continue to philosophize with new people -Either way it is good because no harm can come to a good person

What is intrinsic value?

-It is the ethical philosophic value that an object has "in itself;" "for its own sake", an intrinsic property. An object with intrinsic value may be regarded as an end or end-in-itself. -Valuable in itself -- people

Who was Immanuel Kant?

-Moral law and good will -Categorical imperative (no exceptions, always true) -- decision procedure -Only cares about the action/intention -Good Will -- an objective action according to our imperative moral laws -Hypothetical imperative -- represent the practical necessity of a possible action as means to something else that is willed -Categorical imperative -- represented an action as necessary of itself without reference to another end -- person must do (governs moral choices)

ESSAY: What is moral relativism? What is Midlegy's argument against moral relativism?

-Moral relativism: people cannot criticize other customs or cultures that they don't belong to AND simply denying that we can never understand any culture except our own well enough to make judgements about it. -----Cultural, subjective, descriptive (types of relativism) -----No universal things -- only individual cultures ------Saying there is no fact of the matter, but sometimes clearly there is a fact -Moral relativists claim we ought to respect all other cultures because we couldn't possibly know enough to judge -- problem is if we don't know enough about a culture to criticize it, how do we know enough to praise and respect it -- can we even really understand our own culture -- to judge and learn our own culture is to learn about others

What is Mary Midgley's main point in Trying out One's New Sword?

-Moral relativists claim we ought to respect all other cultures because we couldn't possibly know enough to judge -- problem is if we don't know enough about a culture to criticize it, how do we know enough to praise and respect it -- can we even really understand our own culture -- to judge and learn our own culture is to learn about others

What are the two types of virtue, according to Aristotle?

-Moral virtue -- acquired by developing the habit of exercising them -Intellectual virtue -- acquired by instruction

What is consequentialism?

-Morality is all about producing the right kinds of overall consequences -- promotion of pleasure and prevention of pain -Intentions usually won't matter -Morality of an action is solely judged by the consequences/outcomes -Utilitarianism (mill and bentham)

What is affected ignorance? What are four common forms of affected ignorance according to Moody-Adams?

-People choosing not to investigate whether some practice with which they engage is, or might be immoral. -Choosing not to be informed on what we can and should know because afraid of what we will find 1. Linguistic deceptions (euphemism, calling things meat/beef rather than cow flesh) 2. Idea of not wanting to know, but get it done -- looking past the wrongdoings 3. Self deception -- not asking questions even though you have a reason to think something is wrong 4. Avoid knowing that humans are fallible -- pretending we are perfect

What is the difference between a perfect duty and an imperfect duty?

-Perfect duties -- duties without exception ------Humanity is an end in itself -Imperfect duties -- a duty which one must not ignore but admits of multiple means of fulfillment --------two imperfect duties: the duty of self-improvement and the duty to aid others.

What is hedonism?

-Pleasure is the highest good and proper aim of human life -Jeremy Bentham -- pleasure hedonism -------All pleasures are equal -- to do ethics, just add them up with hedonic calculus

What is the difference between a positive/negative right?

-Positive rights require others to provide you with either a good or service -A negative right only requires others to abstain from interfering with your actions

What is the Greatest Happiness Principle?

-Principle of utility -Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure.

Who was Plato?

-Socrates' student -Wrote things down because Socrates didn't -36 dialogues -Created the first Academy

Who was Aristotle?

-Studied philosophy at Plato's Academy -Tutored Alexander the Great's son Phillip -Started own school: Lyceum -Charged with impiety, but escaped and ended up dying in exile -"I will not allow the Athenian to sin against philosophy twice" -Wrote on philosophy, math, physics, politics, drama, poetry, etc. -Logic -Known as "THE Philosopher"

What is The Euthyphro? What lesson(s) can we draw from it?

-The Euthyphro is a paradigmatic early dialogue of Plato's: it is brief, deals with a question in ethics, consists of a conversation between Socrates and one other person who claims to be an expert in a certain field of ethics, and ends inconclusively. It is also riddled with Socratic irony: Socrates poses as the ignorant student hoping to learn from a supposed expert, when in fact he shows Euthyphro to be the ignorant one who knows nothing about the subject (holiness). -Argument against divine command theory leaves you with problem: -X is pious if x is loved by all gods -X is pious outside of god's love -Is x pious because all gods love x OR is loved because it is pious

What is teleology?

-The study of ends, aims, or functions -Everything has function or an aim

What is utilitarianism?

-Under umbrella of consequentialism -Greatest good for everyone -- pleasure -Creating best consequences -Impartial to ourselves and family

Who was John Stuart Mill?

-Utilitarianism -Believes in higher and lower pleasures -Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote overall human happiness -Pleasure is only intrinsic value

What is extrinsic (instrumental) value?

-Valuing something as a means to an end, outside factors -Money -- valuable because we can spend it

What is the social contract?

-War of all against all -- you can do whatever you want (state of nature) -We ought to live our lives on moralities and laws -- what's best for all people -Fix state of nature

Why is Socrates considered the wisest man according to the oracle?

-While others believe they know things, Socrates knows that he does not know -"Human wisdom is worth little or nothing"

What is the golden mean?

-a sliding scale for determining what is virtuous. Aristotle believed that being morally good meant striking a balance between two vices. You could have a vice of excess or one of deficiency. -Strive for this if you're a virtuous person

What is deontology?

-an ethical theory that uses rules to distinguish right from wrong -believed that ethical actions follow universal moral laws

What is the banality of evil?

-evil that is different -one person can get a charge and direct other people to do really bad things -You don't need a lot of evil people -- most likely good people will perpetuate and follow leader -- worry about normal people following along

What is the state of nature?

-the hypothetical life of people before societies came into existence. -----Really bloody and awful -Everyone has all the rights - no laws or morality

What is freedom for Kant?

-the moral law is only that I know myself as a free person. -To be free you need to act according to the moral law/the good will

Who was Thomas Aquinas?

-theory involves both principles - rules about how to act - and virtues - personality traits which are taken to be good or moral to have. -NAT. law theory

What are the 12 virtues from the reading?

1. Courage -- bravery 2. Temperance -- moderation 3. Liberality -- spending 4. Magnificence -- charisma, style 5. Magnanimity -- generosity 6. Ambition -- pride 7. Patience -- temper, calm 8. Friendliness -- social IQ 9. Truthfulness -- honesty, candidness 10. Wit -- humor, joy 11. Modesty -- ego 12. Justice -- sense of right/wrong, indignation -excellence/right way and then there is cowardice and then there is rashness or stupidity -Typical virtues include courage, temperance, justice, prudence, fortitude, liberality, and truthfulness. Vices, by contrast, are negative character traits that we develop in response to the same emotions and urges. Typical vices include cowardice, insensibility, injustice, and vanity.

What is the IAT?

A test designed by psychologists to probe aspects of thought that are not easily accessible or immediately available to introspection. Through this unconscious association, biases are revealed.

What is the difference between act and rule utilitarianism?

ACT: -Considers only the results or consequences of the single act -An action becomes morally right when it produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people RULE: -Considers the consequences that result of following a rule of conduct -Moral correctness of an action depends on the correctness of the rules that allows it to achieve the greatest good

What is a prima facie duty?

According to Ross, a duty that is binding or obligatory, other things being equal.

What does John Locke say about rights?

Among these fundamental natural rights, Locke said, are "life, liberty, and property." Locke believed that the most basic human law of nature is the preservation of mankind. To serve that purpose, he reasoned, individuals have both a right and a duty to preserve their own lives.

Why might implicit biases be morally relevant?

Causes us to act immorally towards others ----NBA refs, grading papers, job applications, etc.

What is cultural relativism?

Cultural relativism is the idea that a person's beliefs, values, and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture, rather than be judged against the criteria of another.

What is the function or aim of a human?

Everything we do ultimately has happiness as its aim

What is Eudaimonia?

Happiness and deep flourishing

What is the distinction between higher and lower pleasures?

Higher = intellectual Lower = bodily Only Mill has this distinction

What is subjective relativism?

In subjective relativism, moral rightness and wrongness are relative not to cultures but to individuals. An action then can be right for you but wrong for someone else.

What are Ross's 7 prima facie duties?

Justice Benevolence Self-improvement Nonmaleficence Fidelity Reparation Gratitude

What is Natural Law theory?

Locke's theory of the rights that all humans should have 1. Live 2. Reproduce and educate young 3. Seek knowledge 4. Shun ignorance 5. Live in society -- be a good friend/citizen

How does Kant feel about lying?

Lying is always morally wrong -- no exceptions

What is moral pluralism?

More than one thing has intrinsic value

What does it mean to say: "the unexamined life is not worth living"?

Socrates believed that living a life where you live under the rules of others, in a continuous routine without examining what you actually want out of it is not worth living.

ESSAY: Be prepared to respond to an ethical dilemma from 5 different perspectives: Act & Rule Utilitarianism, Deontology, Virtue Ethics, and Ross's theory of Prima Facie Duties

Utilitarianism: -Bentham: Actions are good and bad according to the tendency they have to augment or diminish the pleasure or happiness of the parties whose interests are in question -Mill: Actions are good in proportion to which they tend to promote happiness and bad as they tend to produce unhappiness ACT -------Considers only the results or consequences of the single act -------An action becomes morally right when it produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people RULE --------Considers the consequences that result of following a rule of conduct --------Moral correctness of an action depends on the correctness of the rules that allows it to achieve the greatest good Deontology: -Kant -an ethical theory that uses rules to distinguish right from wrong -believed that ethical actions follow universal moral laws -Rightness of an action depends on intrinsic value -Consequences don't matter -- only intentions Virtue Ethics: -Aristotle -Type of moral theory that takes considerations of virtue and vice to be the basis for defining or characterizing the rightness and wrongness of actions -An action is right if and only if it is what a virtuous agent might choose to do in the circumstances under consideration. ---------Virtue examples: honesty, courage, justice, temperance, beneficence, humility, loyalty, and gratitude Ross's Theory of Prima Facie Duties: -Ross -A duty that is binding or obligatory, other things being equal. -More than one thing has intrinsic value -7 Prima Facie duties: -------Justice (just) -------Benevolence (kindness) -------Self-improvement -------Nonmaleficence (least harm possible) ---------Fidelity (faithful) ---------Reparation (making amends) ---------Gratitude (thankful)

What is the original position?

We can best decide what a just world is if we strip away the things of our identity - race, sex, class, etc. -- strip away and we will be in a better position to decide what is moral and fair because everyone is in the same place -- no moral ignorance

What is an implicit bias?

the unconscious attribution of particular qualities to a member of a certain social group.

How does William James disagree with Clifford?

you can decide things on insufficient evidence, but use the criteria below -The truth is what is useful -- truth is created, not discovered -Faith -Four conditions when deciding anything on insufficient evidence: ------Intellectually undecidable (ex. Existence of God) ------ It is "live", as it is still a live option for belief ------The choice is forced, in that if we don't decide the choice will be made for us ------The choice is momentous or significant, it will change how we live