ETHICS WEEK 4

Aristotle

. For ___________, our chief good is not something we merely possess but something that we continually actualize (in practice).

priori principles

Kant insists that every time we confront moral situations there are formally operative a ________ that can be brought to the fore.

sapere aude

Kant then bids his students _________ that is "dare to think for yourselves."

duty

is a doable good for the human will

Utilitarianism

is a moral theory that tries to grapple with these questions

virtue

is a state of one's character that is the result of choice. This choice is governed by prudence or practical wisdom (phronêsis)

Eudaimonia (happiness)

is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue." In addition, the chief good is not achieved by one grand act or one big decision, for it is something one constantly strives for.

soul

is composed of both rational and irrational elements

duty

while founded on human reason for determination, is at the very same time originating from the goodwill as a voluntary action that is doable for the human being

conscience

"it is the proper functioning of reason in moving the human person towards an end goal that is fitting of his/her dignity."

Fear of displeasing God

A believers moral compass is oftentimes determined by his or her desire to please his creator. It is one of the external sanction that provide the impetus for moral conduct.

Mill

According to him, it is man's "feeling for humanity" that constitutes the ultimate sanction of the principle of utility.

Happiness (Eudaimonia)

Activity of the soul

Decisions

Are the basis of one's freedom in choosing what one wants to be.

Eudaimonia (happiness)

Aristotle names the chief good for the human person as happiness or ___________

vegetative part

Aristotle says that this part of the soul is not relevant in discussing happiness or virtue. Since this is also found in any other living being, it is not distinct to the human person.

Plato

Aristotle's teacher

Divine wisdom

Deposit of knowledge

Aristotle

For _________happiness is the self-sufficient, final, and attainable goal of human life.

Eternal law

For aquinas, God reveals his goodwill as the ______ reflected in the order of reality.

Plato and Aristotle

For both of these thinkers, the ultimate purpose cannot be fully understood without understanding the place of reason in ordering one's life.

Aristotle

For him, we can only fully actualize our potential as human beings once we understand what being human essentially aims to and do the necessary things to fulfill our function (ergon) in the most excellent way possible

Ethical acts

Give direction through freedom to build up the self towards a particular goal.

Thomas Aquinas

He begins from the standpoint of faith. His perspective presupposes the existence of a God who is the author (source) and the goal (end) of all reality.

Aristotle

He is not simply interested in finding out the different ends or purposes for human life. He wants to find out what our chief end is. He is interested in finding out what all our lives essentially and ultimately aim to.

Aristotle

He says, "One swallow does not make a spring nor does one day. And in this way, one day or a short time does not make someone blessed and happy either."

duty

Kant calls ________ the obligation that follows what reason deems as the action which is most worthy of our humanity.

John Stuart Mill

His utilitarian theory of morality is a development and clarification of the earlier form of the theory authored by Jeremy Bentham [1748-1832] and espoused by his father, James Mill [1773-1836].

Plato and Aristotle

If ______ firmly believes that ignorance is solely responsible for committing immoral acts, thinking that once one truly knows the good, one will inevitably do the good, ________ believes otherwise.

Happiness (Eudaimonia)

Is a lifelong activity. One cannot be complacent in times of good fortune because it is more than one's fate. It is something we decide to do for ourselves.

Chief good

Is not achieved by one grand act or one big decision, for it is something one constantly strives for.

Reason

Is the foundation of what is ethical

Conscience

Is the internilization of external sanctions of morality that feels remorse each time one acts without considering first the effect or consequences of ine's action in other people's lives.

Happiness (Eudaimonia)

It is self-sufficient because to have it makes human life complete. It is final because it is desired for itself and not for the sake of something else, and it is attainable because, as shall be explained later, it is not a mere theoretical construct but something that one actually does practically.

Mill's utilitarian doctrine

Makes a concrete distinction between higher and lower forms of pleasure.

Fear of Disapproval from other people

Mill says that such a fear is allayed when one understands that ones action contributes to the general happiness.

Dignity

One who can reach wisdom at the very heart of all things is obliged to act in accordance with his/her _______

phronesis and mesotes

One's capacity for choice and action must be guided by the intellectual virtue of ________in pursuit of the mean or the ________ for one to be able to call himself/ herself morally virtuous.

Goodwill

Source

Rational part

Speculative part and practical intellect

Self-governance

Self-knowledge and self-determinantion are here bridge by ________.

Immanuel Kant

The German thinker ___________ proposed a viable human solution to this quandary. His philosophy views man as autonomous and most of himself/ herself as not subject to external conditions, results, and mandates.

Nicomachean Ethics

The Greek philosopher Aristotle [384-322 B.C.] wrote his _________________

Aristotle

The Greek philosopher ___________ wrote his Nicomachean Ethics

self-actualization

The human person is not only bound to find full maximum capacity of one's being in a search for _______.

Who do i want to be?

The human person's self-knowledge is dynamic, that is, it is always open to the direction set by what one wants to make of himself/herself. Self-knowledge here is malleable towards self-determination. Ethical acts give direction through freedom to build up the self towards a particular goal. The human reason is so gifted that it is able to discern through options and daily realities. Decisions are the basis of one's freedom in choosing what one wants to be. The self also considers the truthful transition to what one ought to be. Given this knowledge of himself/herself and the ability to evaluate his/her options and possibilities, the self can also better give direction to himself/herself.

St. Thomas aquinas

The true destiny of man lies in a gratuitous perfection that is beyond the human person yet relates with him/her thoroughly in freedom and, therefore, in fullness of love.

Who am i?

Thomistic Natural Law interrogates the identity of the human person. If one is endowed with his/her own facticity, history, and abilities, his/her present reality is accessible to him/her through self-knowledge and reflection. This assessment of one's own strengths and weaknesses is critical in being able to do good and avoid evil. The task of knowing the self is the point of departure for the task of building up the identity of the human person. Defining the self gives one a chance to clarify his/her goal. Ethics for Aquinas is primarily a question of human identity.

etsi deus non daretur

Those who came up with this expression do not advocate aethism or protest against the faith.

Irrational part

Vegetative and appetitive

Mill

________ holds that happiness (the predominance of pleasure over pain) is the goal of morality. One deliberates and reflects upon what is right before acting because one takes into account the potential effects of one's actions on other people's happiness.

Principle of Utility (Greatest Happiness Principle)

____________ is the supreme measure of morality.

Etsi Deus non daretur

______________________ is an expression that highlights the validity of this ethical system with or without faith in the Creator God.

Practical wisdom (phronesis)

aids one in being happy. It is comprised both of knowledge and action.

How can i get there?

also fully utilizes the sound judgment of human reason and evaluates the best route to get to the goal decided upon. The last question breaks down the task to be done into the particulars of actions and daily routine. Self-knowledge and self-determination are here bridged by self-governance. The human person does not only access reason to assess his/her personal identity and personal goal; he/she is also gifted with the will to command the self to go through the steps and, hence, be able to do the transition from knowledge to a fully determined self. Goal setting through reason and decision is complemented by the ability to freely move the self and command the body in action. It is in orchestrating the actions to be consistent with the end in mind that the self reaches improvement.

callous and scrupulous

are binary opposites but both are malformed in being too lax or too strict.

Eudaimonia (happiness)

as the proper end of man, is not some kind of inactive state but is actually something that one does

Aristotle

considers that morality is not merely a matter of knowing the good but actually doing or practicing the good habitually. We become what we are by what we do and not merely by what we know.

priori truths

can better help the learner of ethics sort through his/her task of living ethically. Kant's research on ethics has named these as reason, goodwill, and duty. These are, for Kant, respectively, the foundation (reason), source (goodwill), and motivation (duty) of ethical living.

Scrupulousness

fails to trust one's ability to do good and, hence, overly concerns itself with avoiding what is bad to the point of seeing wrong where there really is none.

Human freedom

for St. Thomas, therefore, is an imprint of the divine will in the very being of the human person. This sharing of human reason in the eternal will or divine law is for him/her the natural law.

ergon

function

human being

gifted with "the ability to know the highest good" that engages him/her in freedom in "choosing to act on the good that he/she ought to do."

Practical wisdom (phronesis)

guides the human person in choosing the mean between the extremes of excess and deficiency. It constantly adjusts its reckoning based on the shifting conditions that permeate a specific situation, relative to oneself.

Aristotle

he shares with his teacher the fundamental assumption that what radically distinguishes the human person from other forms of being is his/her possession of reason (logos).

Happiness (Eudaimonia)

in this context is understood as the predominance of pleasure over pain. John Stuart later on revises this doctrine by highlighting a distinction between qualities and quantities of pleasures and pains.

speculative part

is concerned with pure thought and is essentially the base of contemplation, while the practical intellect is in charge of action and the practical determination of the proper means to attain a specific end. (responsible for knowledge)

Mill's moral theory

is considered as consequentialist in that it judges the rightness and wrongness of actions based on their consequences

vegetative part

is in charge of the nutrition and growth of the human being. This part of the soul takes care of all the involuntary functions of the body, from breathing to digestion and the like.

unhappiness

is pain or the absence of pleasure.

Eudaimonia (happiness)

is sought for its own sake. All other ends, such as health, wealth, and power, are sought because they are perceived to be instrumental in one's flourishing.

Phronesis (practical wisdom)

is the human person's instrument in dealing with moral choices. It is a kind of knowledge that deals with practical matters and not just with ideas or concepts.

Phronesis (practical wisdom)

is the intellectual virtue responsible for bringing the human person closer to his/her chief good in the realm of morality.

duty

is the motivation for reason and goodwill of the human person.

soul

is the part of the human being that animates the body.

Ignorant

lacking knowledge

reason

logos

Etsi Deus non daretur

means "even if there is no God." This implies that the wisdom of the ethical system that is natural law is valid and binding for the human person even if we bracket belief in God.

Natural law

necessarily takes precedence over positive laws. Not all that is legal in human society reflects the law that dictates on the human person as ethical in accordance with natural law—what is legal then is not always necessarily moral.

Callousness

of the conscience results in the long-time persistence in doing evil that the self is no longer concerned whether what he/she does is good or bad.

perplexed

one needs guidance in sorting out one's confusion.

Practical wisdom (phronesis)

participates in the capacity of the rational part of the soul to reckon situations without easily giving in to the push and pull of the various desires which emanate from the appetitive part of the soul

Happiness (Eudaimonia)

pleasure and the absence of pain

duty

presupposes our ability for otherwise it is only a bother to the human person.

practical intellect

responsible for choice and action. It is in charge of action and practical determination of the proper means to attain a specific end.

God

reveals his Goodwill as the Eternal Law reflected in the order of reality.

appetitive part

shares in the rational element in the soul. It cannot itself reason, but it does share in the rational element in that it can be influenced by it.

Ignorant

uninformed conscience simply lacks education