Exam 2

Louis Pojman - "A Defense of the Death Penalty"

-Backward-looking perspective: deontological; Kant, since humans are rational agents with dignity, if there is premeditation/malice in murder the person forfeits right to life, deserves death -Forward-looking: consequentialist (utilitarian); Bentham (actually against death penalty on the ground of deterrence), Mill, Ernest van den Haag; punishment as a deterrent -says both perspectives are sound and together make strong case in justification -All the guilty deserve to be punished, Only the guilty deserve to be punished, The guilty deserve to be punished in proportion to the severity of their crime - desert not vengeance

Bentham vs kant

-Bentham: outcome/consequences, principle of utility (universal) Kant: good will is the only thing that is good in and of itself, ignores consequences, universalize maxim

Darwin - "The Origin of the Moral Sense" -on Kant -backing for thinking it probable that animals with certain characteristics "would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience" -on what would happen if humans "were reared under precisely the same conditions as hive-bees" -proposal regarding ethics

-Dismissive of Kant's views towards his own, thinks he's great tho, Kant says to be moral have to make universal maxims etc., animals not capable of, holds morality within human sphere; Darwin does not, Not big connection btwn Kant and Darwin thematically, Kant talks about animals as things-contrasts humans which are worthy ends themselves, Hume talks about animals -capability of generosity/kindness, humans must be capable which is more thematically like Darwin (Mentions duty and dignity - identifying key virtues in victorian society, not about Kant per se, his account would fail if didn't tie into (then) contemporary virtues) -Social instincts and sympathy (Darwin + Hume and Smith); Past action that allows for dissatisfaction - ability to compare situations vs eternal now; Language and community - morality is social affair (Hume also mentions language as vehicle for formalizing, coming to agreement) -if humans were raised as hive-bees - With only those conditions, sense of moral conscience, but content would be different

Christine Korsgaard - "Morality and the Distinctiveness of Human Action"

-Frans de Waal (opposes)-veneer theory( "Morality is a thin veneer on an essentially amoral human nature", Self interested, conform to moral norms to avoid punishment) - Question whether morality has roots in evolutionary past or represents radical break with past -probs with veneer (unestablished -people don't pursue own best interests, unclear self interest is well formed, moral stds define ways of relating to people, non-human animals not likely self-interested) -morality as break with animal past - intentional vs purposeful action -self consciousness as source of reason -dewaal sees continuum, korsgaard sees break but both oppose veneer theory

Judith Jarvis Thomson - "A Defense of Abortion" -the unconscious violinist -her analogies -decency and rights -kinds of samaritans -central argument

-If Jones takes a coat to keep self alive but it's Smith's coat, Smith has right to take coat to keep HIMself alive; window - robber, people seed -fetus human from birth, but does not guarantee use of another person's body -argues that the killing is justified, permissible to violate right to life as result of mother's autonomy -When easy to provide, ought to do the thing, but not obligated -right not to be killed unjustly

Stephen Nathanson - "Why We Should Put the Death Penalty to Rest"

-If we want to find the most terrible punishment with most deterrent power, should consider executing the criminal's close family and friends as well, but this would be unjust and immoral even though it would save more lives -eye for an eye is flawed, desert and justice misapplied -practical application - unjust system, inconsistency in respect for human life,

John Noonan - "An Almost Absolute Value in History"

-Question of when human life begins, human from moment of conception, human life protected at any stage, denies that one can be more or less human, "Once conceived, the being was recognized as man because he had man's potential" - conceived by human parents = human -rejects: viability (can't live w/out mom), experience as distinction, appeal to feelings of adults -theological

Margaret Olivia Little - "The Moral Permissibility of Abortion"

-The right to life does not include the right to have all assistance needed to maintain that life (Thomson) -In ending pregnancy, taking away something that would not have been had without the mother's aid to begin with -ethics of gestation, gestational assistance -norms of responsible creation -Killing vs letting die (Marquis) - if whole argument is what makes killing wrong and opponent can show that it's not really killing at least in some cases this is a big opposition

Bob Brecher - "Torture and its Apologists"

-Ticking time bomb: Erroneous assumptions (It is known that the captive has the information, which is unlikely, How does anybody but the bomber know time is running out and other methods are useless, Since torture interrogational only, captives would lie and buy time, torture would work)

Don Marquis - "Why Abortion is Immoral" -general argument on abortion -on what makes killing wrong -implications of M's position

-abortion is as wrong as killing adult human -What makes killing wrong: Effect on the victim: loss of life deprives of all experiences, activities, projects, and enjoyments they'd have had in the future, one of greatest possible losses on victim is what makes it wrong -also wrong to kill other species, active euthanasia may be accepted, infanticide wrong

Audrey Shenandoah - "A Tradition of Thanksgiving"

-being thankful -attitude not just one action -holistic view (beyond utilitarian/kant) -Kant: humans superior, nature for our use -utilitarian: Singer, expands circle of consideration to some animals but still say rivers for our use

Fritz Allhoff - "Ticking Time-Bombs and Torture" -on ticking time bombs -utilitarianism and torture -deontology and torture -rights and torture -"a-principle" and "a-practice"

-bentham: two cases torture would be acceptable(Certain the person knows the information, Last resort where case requires no delay, Minimal means, Benefits > costs) -utilitarian: torturing for information could prevent the deaths of many -deontology: actions can lead to forfeiture of rights, justified infringement -a-principle: torture never could be justified (Very extreme, Kantian-categorically impermissible, Allhoff cals this implausible, does a weird mathy thing) -a-practice: could but never would, Daniel Statman -Conclusion pertains to implementation in practice, there are cases in which it would be justified but these would not occur in the real world

Patrick Lee and Robert George - "The Wrong of Abortion"

-choice of abortion objectively immoral -embryos/fetuses complete but immature humans -human vs person: false premise identifies human with consciousness instead of physical organisms

Frans de Waal - "Crooked Timber"/The Age of Empathy

-competitive nature, good/bad of empathy, dependent on identity (in/out crowd) -social nature -not just out for ourselves, half truth -Darwin - humans in continuity with other species, de Waal affirms, opposes human exceptionalism

Prinz - "The Genealogy of Morals" -on Nietzsche -on the genealogy of morals and its ramifications -on marriage

-critical of nietzsche's historical analysis but uses his genealogical approach -use genealogy/view history to understand morals better, see the source and what it really is, unmask, remove false sense of security -marriage as benefit to church, decreased birthrate and increased property given to church

Chandran Kukathas - "The Case for Open Immigration"

-defense of free immigration

Kant - "Jealousy, Envy, and Grudge", "Good Will, Duty, and the Categorical Imperative", "On Duties to Animals" (VV432) -good will -hypothetical imperatives -the categorical imperative -the practical imperative -suicide -comparisons -the devilish vices (ingratitude, envy, malice) -favors -animals

-devilish vices: ingratitude (hate and persecute one from whom we've reaped a benefit), envy (want to be the only happy person), malice (direct pleasure from misfortune of others) -good will is only thing that is good without qualification -hypothetical imperative: need to do an action as means of getting something else you want -categorical imperative: necessary in itself, universify maxim -practical imperative: treat oneself and all humanity as an end and never as a means. -suicide is bad, cannot hold as a maxim -bad to compare self to others, would increase own self worth or diminish his -don't accept favors, will be forever indebted -animals are practice for humans but not moral agents themselves -Korsgaard: even if beings don't hold same values we assign, not necessarily worthless/immoral -Cohen, resembles Kant, rights as valid claims w/high threshold for who qualifies, rises in human sphere so we're all covered

-deontology -principle/doctrine of double effect -W.D. Ross (Darwall)

-ends not justified by the means, self justified/defended directly not through simpler means, duty -doctrine of double effect: moral difference between causing harm as an unintended side effect of an intended action/policy and intending harm (doing vs allowing) -W.D. Ross: duties, prima facie (can be overridden) -criticisms: response to ethical relativism, duties are absolute - no recognition of conflict, sacrifices community for indv autonomy, doesn't take sentience into account

David Miller - "Immigration: the Case for Limits"

-for immigration, value of freedom, liver where you want -limitations: detriment to state (people should have "sufficient" ability to move so that fulfills rights), bare (do not warrant protection) vs basic (people should have as a matter of right) freedom - no general right to migrate to country of one's choosing -justified restricting immigration: preserving culture, controlling population -refugees may be admitted

Nietzsche - "Beyond Good and Evil"

-history of ranking/hierarchy origination -christianity as slave morality, runs contrary to nature -antimoralists/tranasmoralists

Mary Anne Warren - "On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion"

-moral vs genetic personhood = who is human -personhood (consciousness, esp capacity to feel pain, Reasoning, Self-motivated activity, Capacity to communicate messages of an indefinite variety of types, Presence of self-concepts, self-awareness) -If her argument holds, then infanticide is not murder, however is not permissible either

Nel Noddings - "An Ethic of Caring" -on natural and ethical caring -on universality -on a "feminine ethic" -on abortion

-natural: does not require an ethical effort to motivate it -ethical:Ethic built on caring-- source of ethical behavior is in two sentiments: one feels directly for the other and one that feels for and with that best, who may accept and sustain the initial feeling rather than reject it -Can't depend on universifiability, to do so would require sameness which often is lacking -Women view morality as human problems, approach through caring rather than abstract reasoning - (87) legal - supreme court, leads up to with morality; herself vs. worried daughter - love/prior relation etc with regards to "information speck", in general does not find it Right or Wrong, needs to be worked out contextually in terms of specific relations

David Hume - "Of Self-Love"; "Of Benevolence" -arguments concerning ideas that a) "all benevolence is mere hypocrisy" and b) "we seek only our own gratification" even when appearing to act altruistically

-opposes benevolence as hypocrisy etc -paradoxical to reduce benevolence to self love, simplicity ideal - simplest is doing it for good, animals can't be suspected of duplicity, love causes burdens -ie mother's love would not fit -we have generous sentiments so at least not ALWAYS selfish, sympathy, morals come from common sentiments so there's that,

Celia Wolf-Devine - "Preferential Policies Have Become Toxic"

-people today are neither direct victims nor perpetrators -cultural damage -probs with compensatory - had ancestors not been slaves they would not be here, no clear standard to indicate when justice achieved -corrective agmnt - counteract existing bias in hiring process -direct policies to poor to break cycle of poverty or redirect resources to black community to compensate

Fred Sommers - "The Holocaust and Moral Philosophy" -on Kant -"the domain of moral patients" -on Hume and related moral philosophers

-rationalist - persons and our duties to them vs sentimentalist - all beings that can feel pain/pleasure and prohibits cruelty to all -Kant's view of nonrational beings was extended to people, forgiving, his warnings of cruelty leading to corruption were not persuasive -Hume, Bentham, etc (sentimentalists, utilitarian) -factors leading to holocaust (Christianity, secular moral philosophy- Kant, moral agency, antisemetic, would've been horrified

Albert Mosley - "A Defense of Affirmative Action" -defense of affirmative action - on affirmative action as "compensatory justice" -on "standardized tests and race" -on affirmative action and "equal protection"

-remedy for past injustice -to make up for poor treatment, restitution, put in position they'd be in had we not harmed -standardized tests show bias against minorities, bc of this right to compete does not suffice -

Richard Taylor - "A Critique of Kantianism" -what does he advocate/implicitly endorse concerning ethics -how does Kant illustrate an approach to ethics which Taylor finds to be misguided -examples Taylor provides of Kant's views being misdirected -What does Taylor contend in the section "The Significance of Kant"

-says kant is too abstract, loses connection to practicality -dangerous for ethical problems to be viewed solely as intellectual question needing philosophical answer -kant's moral law opposite natural/human/practical (obligations and duties, good will- actions must be from sense of duty/moral law instead of respect for others, categorical imperative- no purpose/end, command absolutely and for own sake) -says his ideas probably haven't impacted people's actions but have greatly impacted philosophy