PHIL: Ethics Fall 2017 - Unit Two

Temperance is a virtue (True/False)?

True

According to Mill, it is better to be satisfied pig than a dissatisfied human (True/False)?

False

According to Mill, pleasure is the only thing desirable for itself and not as a mean to some other end (True/False)?

True

Aristotle things that certain passions and action are inherently wrong (True/False)?

True

The Formula of the End in Itself requires that one must

treat all rational agents as ends in themselves..

Mill argues that we are incapable of choosing as good we know to be less valuable than some alternative (True/False)?

False

O'Neill finds the requirements of Kant's moral theory to be excessively demanding (True/False)?

False

Pojman accuses rule utilitarianism of relativism (True/False)?

False

Rules are of no importance to act utilitarianism (True/False)?

False

To avoid doing wrong, Kant thinks we should act to promote the happiness of as many people as possible (True/False)?

False

Virtue ethics is appealing because of its practicality in guiding our behavior (True/False)?

False

Virtue ethics is primarily concerned with improving welfare (True/False)?

False

Kant thinks we have a moral duty to cultivate our natural talents ( (True/False)?

True

Mill believes that utilitarianism is compatible with Christian moral principles (True/False)?

True

In Aristotle's view, for a thing to perform its function well is to achieve what is good for it (True/False)?

True

In some circumstances, a rule utilitarian might correctly identify the moral thing to do with an action that does NOT maximize happiness (True/False)?

True

Only a rational being can have a will (True/False)?

True

Pojman finds rule utilitarianism more credible than act utilitarianism (True/False)?

True

The integrity objection claims that utilitarianism

True

The person who performs a just act is not necessarily a just person (True/False)?

True

To have a virtue, one must have a stable character trait (True/False)?

True

Act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism differ in that

null

According to Kant, is using someone as a means always wrong?

Not is not correct. It is only wrong when the person being used does not agree to the actions he/she is performing.

Are some types of pleasure more worthwhile than others?

?

Can you imagine circumstances in which breaking a promise would not be wrong?

?

Human beings have no particular function according to Aristotle (True/False)?

False

It is impossible to treat oneself as a means to some other end (True/False)?

False

What is the justice objection to utilitarianism?

?

Why does Mill believe lying is wrong?

?

Why is it wrong to deceive others?

?

By what argument does Kant seek to prove that the first formulation of the categorical imperative demonstrates the immorality of your making a promise you don't intent to keep?

??

According to Held, what is "the ethics of care"?

?

According to Mill, is the agent's own happiness the standard of right conduct?

?

Does Mill believe the principle of utilitarianism can be proved?

?

Does analyzing a moral problem from the perspective of the ethics of care sometimes yield a different result than that obtained by using either a Kantian or utilitarian standard?

?

Does utilitarianism imply that under certain circumstances a physician may be morally justified in killing one patient to save the lives of five others?

?

Explain the difference between act utilitarianism and the rule utilitarianism.

?

Is the ethics of care a form of virtue ethics?

?

What does Held mean by her claim that care is both a practice and a value?

?

What is the integrity objection to utilitarianism?

?

Maxim

A general truth or rule of conduct

What does Kant mean by acting from duty?

A person acts from duty when she acts in a morally correct way in accordance to a universalize principle (meaning it can be willed by all rational persons) that requires her to meet the needs of humanity.

How is moral virtue acquired?

According to Aristotle one becomes virtuous by habit; one becomes good by doing good

Define "Happiness"

According to Mill's utilitarianism, pleasure and the absence of pain are the only intrinsically desirable goods

Second formulation of the categorical imperative

Act in such a way that you use humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means.

First formulation of the categorical imperative

Act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law

Define "Moral Worth"

An action's quality of being morally praiseworthy or blameworthy; determined solely b y the principle that motivates the action and not by an y of the consequences that potentially or actually follow from it.

Define "No-rest objection"

Argument that utilitarian morality is too demanding because it requires that I constantly consider whether I might be able to better promote utility by sacrificing my rest and my enjoyment of life

Define "Integrity objection"

Argument that utilitarianism is an inadequate moral theory because it can sometimes require us to violate our most central and deeply held principles

Define "Justice Objection"

Argument that utilitarianism is an inadequate moral theory because it can sometimes require us to violate the rights of individuals

Define "Care"

Both a practice of responding to the needs of particular others and a value manifested in relationships of mutual trust and consideration

For Aristotle, happiness and long-term pleasure are essentially the same (True/False)?

False

Define Hypothetical Imperative

Command of reason that recommends some action as necessary to achieve some desired objective

Define "Intention"

Conscious motivation of an action; used by O'Neill as equivalent to Kant's "maxim," because given any intention, a corresponding maxim can be formulated by omitting reference to the particular situation

6.By "care," Held means the benevolent disposition of one individual toward another.

False

7.The ethics of care is interested in describing but not evaluating the various aspects of care and caring relations.

False

According to Kant, an action is not morally praiseworthy unless it is done in accordance with one's strongest inclinations (True/False)?

False

According to Mill, moral rules admit no exceptions (True/False)?

False

According to O'Neill, to treat another rational agent as a mere means is wrong unless doing so is required to treat other rational agents as ends in themselves (True/False)?

False

Which rules capture Mill's understanding of utilitarian ethics?

Love your neighbor as yourself..

According to Kant, what is the only thing in the world that is good without limitation?

Good will

Who is Immanuel Kant?

He is a German philosopher (1724-1804), a dominant figure in the history of modern philosophy who was one of the most influential of all ethical systems.

According to Pojman, how might a sophisticated utilitarian argue that torturing an innocent person is immoral, even when immediate utility concerns recommend doing so?

Human rights are outcomes of utility considerations and should not be violated lightly..

How does Kant differentiate between a hypothetical and a categorical imperative?

Hypothetical imperatives tell you what to do in order to achieve a particular goal: "If you want to have enough money to buy a new phone, then get a job"; "If you don't want to go to prison, then don't steal cars". Hypothetical imperatives only apply to people who want to achieve the goal to which they refer. If I don't care about having enough money for a new phone, then "If you want to have enough money to buy a new phone, then get a job" doesn't apply to me Categorical imperatives, unlike hypothetical imperatives, tell us what to do irrespective of our desires. Morality doesn't say "If you want to stay out of prison, then don't steal cars"; it says "Don't steal cars!" We ought not to steal cars whether we want to stay out of prison or not.

Define "Mean"

In Aristotle, the virtuous intermediate state between the two extremes of excess and defect in passions (feelings) and actions

How does moral virtue differ from intellectual virtue?

Intellectual Virtues: Excellence of Mind • Acquired by inheritance and education • Two Kinds: 1. Philosophical Wisdom (understanding nature and reality) 2. Practical Wisdom (knowing how to live life and achieve goals) Moral Virtues: • Examples: Courage, Modesty, justice, truthfulness, Friendliness • By repetition or practice. • Virtue is a habit, done naturally and easily. Intellectual virtues are about learning to be the best you can be by understanding the world and achieving goals. Moral Virtues are about doing the greater good and being a better person by learning from mistakes and doing what feels right naturally.

Define "Higher Pleasures"

Intellectual and moral pleasures, which are superior to lower, merely bodily pleasures not because of their intrinsic nature but because of their circumstantial advantages, such as greater permanence, safety, and inexpensiveness

In what sense is moral virtue a "mean" according to Aristotle?

It occupies the middle ground between excessive and deficient possibilities of feeling and acting..

Define "Utilitarianism"

Moral theory holding that actions are right to the extent that they promote as much happiness as possible and wrong to the extent that they promote unhappiness, each person counting equally

Define "rule utilitarianism"

Moral theory holding that an act is right if and only if it is required by a rule that is a member of a set of rules whose acceptance would lead to a greater utility than any available alternative

Define "Act utilitarianism"

Moral theory holding that an act is right if and only if it results in as much good or utility as any available alternative

Define "Virtue ethics"

Moral theory such as Aristotle's that focuses primarily on what kind of person it is good to be, what kinds of traits it is good to embody; an ethics of Being as opposed to an ethics of Doing

Define "The Formula of the End it Itself"

O'Neill's term for Kant's second formulation of the categorical imperative, which O'Neill interprets as a command never to involve someone in a scheme to which he or she could not in principle consent

Define "Continent"

One who performs the right action but requires effort to align one's emotions with what one knows to be the right action

Define "Maxim"

Principle according to which one sees oneself as acting.

Define "Characteristic Function"

That function the performance of which defines a being as the kind of being it is; humans' characteristic function is an activity of soul involving reason

Define "Ethics of care"

Relatively young moral theory that focuses on the importance of attending to the needs of the particular others for whom we take responsibility; rooted in a vision of human interdependence, it values emotion as a potential guide to understanding and implementing what morality recommends and stresses the cooperative well-being of self and other together.

What does Pojman suggest as an appropriate rule-utilitarian response to the objection that utilitarianism is far too demanding?

Rules prescribing rest and advising against preoccupation with the needs of distant people have a place in any utility-maximizing set of rules..

Define Categorical Imperative

Supreme command of reason that directs the will absolutely or unconditionally, irrespective of anyone's particular desires; given multiple formulations by Kant

Virtue according to Aristotle is,

Synonymous with "excellence" in Aristotle; comes in two forms in humans: intellectual virtue, which is acquired by birth and teaching, and moral virtue, which comes about by habituation

According to Aristotle, what is the function of human being?

The function of a human being is to be good at acting in accordance with reason. In other words to be good at (or do well at) rational activities makes human beings happy, signifying that they have achieved their peculiar function, according to Aristotle.

What does Kant mean by the maxim of an action?

The guiding principle underlying a decision to act in a particular way. The maxim of an action is often referred to as the agent's intention. In Kantian ethics, the categorical imperative provides a test on maxims for determining whether the actions they refer to are right, wrong, or permissible

Define "The doctrine of the mean"

The idea that virtues will tend to lie between two extremes, each of which is a vice

5.Held claims that the ethics of care starts with the moral claims of particular others.

True

8.Held believes that empathy can become excessive.

True

A morally valid principle is one that can serve as a universal law, applicable to all at any time or in any place (True/False)?

True

Utilitarianism does not recognize personal integrity as an absolute value (True/False)?

True

When one's feelings harmonize with what one judges to be right, one is virtuous (True/False)?

True

Define Imperative

a command or rule; a statement that you 'should' do something.

According to Kant, "law" is

a principle that meets the standards of the categorical imperative, or about the categorical imperative itself. He is not talking about a political law, but a moral law.

According to Kant, "duty" is

acting in a way that corresponds with the Categorical Imperative

Happiness according to Aristotle is,

an activity of the soul exhibiting moral and intellectual virtue over the course of a complete life.

1.According to Held, the central focus of the ethics of care is

attending to and meeting the needs of the particular others for whom we take responsibility..

Why am I not necessarily acting immorally when I use a bank teller to cash my paycheck?

because the teller can consent in principle to being used in this way.

2.Held understands care as

both a value and a practice..

How does Mill think his assertion that happiness alone is desirable in itself can be proven?

by observing the fact that people actually do desire it, and only it, as a good in itself.

Driver notes that sometimes to decide what to do we first

consider how we ought to be..

One objection to virtue ethics Driver considers is that the theory

does not guide action..

3.According to the ethics of care, someone in a genuinely caring relation acts

for self-and-other together..

4.Held claims that persons in caring relations are acting for

for themselves and particular others

What does Kant consider to be unconditionally good?

good will

What does Aristotle identify as the chief good?

happiness

The objection that virtue ethics is not action guiding

has long been a standard objection to the view..

According to Kant, "good will" is

having the intention to do one's duty

What kind of imperative commands an action to be done as a man to some other end?

hypothetical

Mill claims that of any two pleasures, one is preferable to the other if and only if

it is preferred by those who are acquainted with both..

Bravery is a virtue that

lies between cowardice and foolhardiness..

Mill thinks it is, in general, immoral to lie because

lying undermines trustworthiness, which is indispensable to human well-being..

To do one's duty, Kant argues, is to act

out of respect for the moral law

How does Mill define Happiness?

pleasure and the absence of pain.

According to Kant what are we obligated to do?

put the interests of others before our own

Aristotle claims that the function of human life is

rational activity..

Define "end in itself"

something that has absolute worth, that possesses value in its own right rather than mere usefulness as a means of achieving some goal external to itself.

Define "mere means"

something which doesn't matter at all except for its use for a particular purpose.

What type of statement would a rule utilitarian affirm?

the best moral policy is to follow a set of rules most likely to maximize utility

How does moral virtue arise?

through habituation

According to Kant, for an action to be moral, the principle motivating it must be

universalizable

What is Aristotle's doctrine of the mean?

virtue is a mean state between extremes of excess and deficiency. Aristotle describes this mean state as an "intermediate relative to us."

The doctrine of the mean holds that

virtue is a mean state—that it lies between two opposed vices..