Ethics Test #2

59. What are the eight major variations of Utilitarianism?

(10/26 notes)

51. Can you outline Aquinas' response to their two reasons?

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45. Is there a contradiction within this school of thought? If so, what is it?

God determines the outcome of everything BUT you are free to make your own choices (a contradiction mostly seen in the early stoics)

27. What did Hedonism hold to be synonymous with the good?

Hedonism held pleasure to be synonymous with the good.

28. How is Hedonism similar to Epicureanism? How is it different from Epicureanism?

Hedonism is similar to Epicureanism in that they both believe the good to be a physical condition or state. Hedonism is different from Epicureanism because Hedonism thinks of the good in terms of a positive condition (pleasure) while Epicureanism views the good as a negative condition (the absence of pain).

64. Know and understand the Decadence of Culture diagram. 4 stages.

4 stages

63. What is the major flaw in Utilitarianism? Does this flaw affect all forms of Utilitarianism, or only some? If some, which one(s)?

Any action becomes good provided that it produces pleasure/good no matter how bad. Just some, the ontological version.

29. Three theoretical difficulties with Hedonism were discussed in class. List and briefly discuss them. Three theoretical difficulties with Hedonism include:

Any actions, even terrible ones, automatically become good if the person doing the action feels pleasure Hedonism doesn't provide a way to judge between competing pleasure claims Hedonist Paradox: intense periods of pain are often followed by intense periods of pleasure and intense periods of pleasure are often followed by intense periods of pain

Mansini Reading (10/19) How does aquinas understand causing?

CAUSE=PRODUCE. If you cause something you determine it IN THIS LIFE if you are the primary agent. Primary vs secondary agent. God produces your free choice, he does not determine the choice.

52. What do the three "good passions" have in common? Is there a form of sorrow that has this trait, too? Would such a sorrow then be considered good?

Moderated sorrow

57. Given Augustine's definition, what are the two types of evil and what are their definitions?

Natural and moral evil. Natural the privation... Moral the privation...DONE WITH KNOWLEDGE AND WILL.

44. Did the early members of this school deny the existence of evil as evil?

Yes

53. Does Augustine agree with the Stoics that God is all good/knowing/powerful and that man is free?

Yes

30. In addition to the above three problems, Hedonism was said to share two additional problems with Epicureanism. What are they?

Two additional problems that Hedonism shares with Epicureanism are that they are both atemporal, a method of decision making that doesn't take the future into account, and egocentric, they tell you how to make decisions for yourself not how to live in a community in peace.

49. What are the three "good passions" according to the stoics? What three "disturbances" do they replace?

Fear replaced by caution; mirth replaced by joy; covetousness replaced by desire Disturbances are not moderated by reason Sorrow is a disturbance that has no moderation

62. What two ancient positions are linked to Utilitarianism, and how?

Epicureanism and hedonism. Positive vs negative and that they think the good is a physical state.

56. How does Augustine's definition of evil allow him to avoid the contradictions found in Stoicism?

Everything God creates is GOOD but EVIL is not a thing needing to be created. Evil is real but it is not real THING. Everything is good as far as it goes, but god permits certain things to exist with less than their full goodness.

61. What sort of Utilitarianism is implicit in American government? What is the principle used to jlimit the application of the Utilitarian formula? Can this principle be justified exclusively on Utilitarian grounds?

Methodological. Natural rights AS NATURAL. No, it assumes a broader ethical theory to justify natural rights (the brackets).

54. Does Augustine agree with the Stoics about the existence of evil?

No, neither with the early or the later (it's absurd and heresy) (god doesn't create the world from pre existing things, he creates from EX NIHILO)

60. What is the difference between Ontological Utilitarianism and Methodological Utilitarianism?

Ontological -the good is identical with the product of the formula vs methodological- the formula is useful but only with certain limits (the brackets - natural rights)

31. What is Psychological Hedonism? What does Psychological Hedonism get right? What does it get wrong?

Psychological Hedonism states that everything you do, you do for the sake of pleasure (short and long term). Psychological Hedonism gets it right in the sense that the only motivation you have for anything is the pleasure associated with the action as long as the definition for pleasure is broad enough to include things like satisfaction. Where Psychological Hedonism falls short is in saying that pleasure is the only thing that motivates you - this is a reductionist theory.

50. What were the two main reasons for the stoics saying that sorrow was incompatible with virtue?

Sorrow is not in the virtuous man because sorrow is always about a present evil (something that is happening right now) and in the virtuous man, there is no evil and nothing to be sad about (the body is not the real you but the chaos - anything bad happening to the body is not happening to you ((your soul)).) Aquinas: You are a composite of soul and body (contrary to the stoics) - when something bad happens to the body, it IS happening to you (being sick, an ailment that comes with a moderate or proportionate sorrow) Even if you're virtuous, you can still commit small sins and can sorrow over your failings You can sorrow over past deeds, reflecting upon them brings sadness You can sorrow righteously over the evils that affect others Even if there was something to be sad about, the wise man would not be sad because sorrow destroys the mind (a disease of the mind) and the mind is essential for right living (turning disturbances into virtues). Not all sorrow destroys the mind, just UNCONTROLLED sorrow destroys the mind The virtuous mind should sorrow when he encounters evil

42. What school held that the good life, and hence the moral life consisted in the endurance of pain? Name some members of this school.

The Stoics held that the good life, and hence the moral life, consisted in the endurance of pain. Some members of this school would include Marcus Aurelius and Mr. Spock.

58. What is the good for the Utilitarian? Who are the three major Utilitarians mentioned in class?

The greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of time for the greatest amount of people. Jeremy Bentham & James and John Stuart Mill.

55. How does Augustine define evil?

The privation of some perfection appropriate to the thing

43. What was their argument for their position?

They think the world is created by the Logos, He is all powerful, knowing, and good. How can there be evil in a world with an all knowing, all good, and all powerful Logos? Early stoics deny the existence of evil (problems: it's absurd, it's obvious that there is evil in the world and their view creates a contradiction with the idea of free will) CAUSE = DETERMINE if your choices have been determined by the Logos, then you don't have free will. Later stoics: evil is real but the Logos is creative and creates the world out of the VOID or the chaos (preexisting formless and chaotic thing) that allows the good and the evil to exist; evil = disorder and the evil is always trying to get out. The good is trying to pull us to the good and our body is trying to pull us to the evil and that's where free will comes into play. Problem: if the Logos is all powerful, he would be able to change the void.