Ch 4-7 Phi

Universality Categorical Imperative

''Act only on that maxim which you can at the same time will to be a universal law.''

Morality

referring to the laws, rules, regulations, standards, and customs of a society

Rule Utilitarians

tell us we should use the principle to establish governing social principles, rules, and policies.

Good Will

the intention to do the right thing for its own sake.

Structure

the nature of the logical relationship between the premises and the claim the argument purports to establish. The main principle is that statements in the premises should directly connect with the point the argument is meant to establish.

Consequential

theories base morality on the results or outcomes of behaviors. Actions with good consequences are morally right; actions with bad consequences are morally wrong.

Utilitarianism. Two types what are they.

theories emphasize the aim of producing the greatest possible good for the greatest possible number. Act- Jeremy Bentham Rule-John Stuart Mill

"Act only on that maxim which you can at the same time will to be universal law" is which ethical principle?

Categorical Imperative of Universality

Deductive Arguments

Deductive arguments have very rigid and formal structures—similar to mathematical equations. If an argument is deductive the premises and conclusion must interrelate. That is, the premises must be relevant to the other premises in the argument as well as the conclusion. When the premises and conclusion have such a relationship we say that the conclusion "follows from" the premises, or that the premises "entail" the conclusion. When deductive arguments are properly structured, they are truth preserving. If we put true premises into the argument it will yield a true conclusion. The fact that deductive arguments are truth preserving determines their force, as we'll shortly see.

This philosopher from ancient Greece was influential on the founders of utilitarianism. He argued that good and evil consist of pleasure and pain, respectively.

Epicurus

Three Principles of Justice

Equal Liberty Principle Equal Opportunity Priniciple The Difference Principle Rawls maintains that, while in the original position, all rational contractors would be logically bound by three key principles.

Autonomy

derived from two Greek words: auto, meaning "self," and nomos, meaning "law." So literally, autonomy means "self-law," "self-rule," or "self-governance."

Egoism

emphasizes the aim of always acting for perceived self-interest, usually in the long term, even at the expense of others if necessary.

Ethics

evolved into the studying, questioning, and challenging of these social standards.

The fallacy of "Two Wrongs Make a Right" is when one tries to defend his/her wrongdoing by pointing out unethical behavior in others as a way of dodging responsibility.

True

True or False: According to natural rights theorists, immoral actions are those that violate the positive or negative rights of individuals.

True

True or False: Nietzsche was not an act utilitarian.

True

True or False: Thomas Hobbes is a famous English philosopher associated with Ethical Egoism.

True

True or False: Virtue ethics believes that the focus of ethics should be on developing good character rather than on merely following principles.

True

True or false: According to Aristotle, moral virtues have two opposite vices: one of having too much of the virtue, and one of having too little of the virtue.

True. Golden Mean.

A deductive argument with good logical structure (regardless of the truth of the premises) is called:

Valid

What is the name of the hypothetical blinding to which Rawls thinks contractors must be subject to in the original position in order to ensure fairness in the social contract?

Veil of Ignorance

David Hume supported what?

Virtue Ethics

The Difference Principle

We generally associate fairness with equality. The more equal things can be, the more fair they usually seem.

four virtues according to plato

courage, wisdom, self control, justice classical" virtues: self-control (or temperance), courage, wisdom, and justice (or moral rightness).

Respect for Persons

"Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or that of another, always as an end and never as a means only."

Equal Liberties Principle

"Everyone is entitled to as many rights and liberties (freedoms) as possible, as long as rights and liberties are not taken from others."

Thomas Aquinas quote

"Good is to be done and pursued, and evil avoided." Universal Human Goods - God Based. Natural Right life, health, procreation, knowledge, child welfare, relationships

Is/Ought Confusion

"That's the way we've always done it here, so it must be right!" How many times have you heard someone utter that sentence? The is/ought fallacy tries to argue for the legitimacy of an idea, practice, or trait based only on the fact that the thing already is that way. The mistake rests in thinking that facts entail that things ought to be a certain way. However, there is no such logical entailment between facts and value judgments. Just because things are what they are, it does not mean that they should (or shouldn't) be that way.

Quote Socrates said and what did he contribute to philosophy?

"the unexamined life is not worth living for man." One of Socrates' important contributions was in finding a way to distinguish between ethics and morality.

Evaluation

A key tool in this process is to identify the best arguments against our decision or conclusion. evaluate how we reached our decision to ensure that we have not slipped up somewhere along the way.

Faulty Causation Fallacies. Three types. What are they?

A causal argument is an attempt to show that one thing causes another (A causes B). we sometimes jump to the conclusion that one thing causes another when no such causal connection exists. Post Hoc (after the thing) Slippery Slope (domino effect) Statistical Correlation (two natural phenomena are related)

Argument

A series of statements that work together to establish the truth of some point.

Ego

Act in your own longterm interests.

Util

Act—The right action is the one that produces the greatest possible good for the greatest possible number. Rule—One should follow the moral rule that would produce the greatest good if everyone followed it.

Psychological egoists believe that:

Altruism is impossible--all human action is selfishly motivated.

Equivocation

An argument is ambiguous when one uses a word or phrase in such a way that its meaning is not clear or can be taken in more than one way. In other words, instead of using language to clarify a point, words are used to make things more confusing. Play on words.

Genetic Fallacies two types. What are they?

An attempt to discredit a position by condemning its source, or to establish a position by condemning the source of an opposing viewpoint. Are fallacious because the quality of an argument or truth of claims does not depend on their source—they depend on facts. The name is derived from genesis, meaning source or origin. Ad Hominem - abusive to the man. Ad Hominem - abusive to circumstances.

Fallacy

An illogical argument, often appearing logical at first glance, involving a statement or statements that in one way or another deceive or mislead.

Categorical Imperative

An imperative is a duty, a command. Categorical means across all categories, all the time. So this central ethical principle reveals our "all the time, no exceptions, moral duties." What is this ultimate moral command? Kant argued that it had several formulations or expressions, two of which are included here.

Deontology, Kant Objections

Another problem with Kant's theory is the question of what constitutes a person. Many critics point out that Kant's clear-cut moral absolutes are not always so clear after all. What should we do when we face conflicts between two seemingly universal moral principles? Consequentialist critics are put off by Kant's total disregard for the outcomes of actions, exemplified by his famous quote, "Do the right thing though the heavens fall!" He recognizes that actions have consequences, of course, but Kant maintains that those consequences are ethically irrelevant. They have nothing to do with whether actions are morally right or wrong. Actions are always right or always wrong, depending on whether they pass the tests of the categorical imperative. Thus, a lie is a lie is a lie, and there's no moral difference between a lie told to cheat a friend out of money and a lie told to save that friend's life. But the consequentialist is quick to point out that Kant's view is counterintuitive on this point—surely most of us recognize a moral difference between the two lies.

Application

Application is the step that makes this model of critical thinking distinctly relevant to ethics, as opposed to any other kind of problem solving or decision-making. Our goal is to make not just thoughtful or wise decisions but ethical ones. To do that, we must apply ethical principles. These are sometimes referred to as general moral principles, because they can be applied to a wide range of ethical questions and problems.

Aristotle's virtue ethics may also be guilty of a logical fallacy at its foundation.

As you recall, Aristotle argued that ethical right and wrong are based on our purpose in life, which is, in turn, based on our human nature. What we ought to be is based on what we are. This is the is/ought fallacy: human nature is a certain way, therefore we ought to act that way. There's also a problem specifying which exact virtues are moral and contribute to human flourishing. Finally, looking at moral right and wrong only through the virtue ethics window can lead to a kind of "character trap." If you think about it, this theory is basically about being a good person. Most people seem to think that they are already good, but how good is good enough?

The fallacy of "begging the question" is to be guilty of:

Assuming the conclusion of the argument as one of the premises in support of that same conclusion--arguing in a circle.

Nonconsequential theories. 5 types what are they?

Base these judgments on factors other than the outcomes and consequences, maintaining that something other than mere results caused by an action must factor in determining whether that action was right or wrong. Virtue Ethics Natural Law Natural Rights Deontology Contractarianism

Research

Ethical decisions are informed decisions; critical thinking about human problems requires knowledge. We need information about the central problem—its history, possible solutions, and the consequences of various decisions. Our goal is to relate insightfully ethical concepts and ideas from multiple sources, using new information to better define the problem and identify options. It is also important to be able to recognize what types of information might be missing from our decision-making process and to correctly identify the potential effects of the new information that we find.

What is the "highest good" according to Aristotle? What is it that all humans seek by nature?

Eudaemonia--"faring well"

Equal Liberties Principle

Everyone is entitled to as many rights and liberties (freedoms) as possible, as long as rights and liberties are not taken from others.

Equal Opportunity Principle

Everyone should have equal and fair opportunities to improve his or her situations in life.

Contrac

Fairness, veil of ignorance, Difference Principle.

True or False: According to Rule Utilitarianism, we should use the Utility Principle on a case-by-case basis as the means of solving our moral problems.

False

Nat Law

Follow universal human values embedded into human nature by the Creator.

Act Utilitarianism

From Jeremy Bentham, maintains that the right thing to do in any situation is the action that produces the greatest possible good for the greatest possible number.

What did Aristotle contribute to society?

He made significant contributions in mathematics. Anatomy books today still rely on his method for defining organs and body parts primarily in terms of their functions. Some consider Aristotle to be the world's first naturalist. He dedicated himself to the observation and study of the natural world and found many applications there for philosophy and ethics.

Critical Thinking

Identification Research Analysis Application Decision Evaluation Reflection

Unsound

If any one of the premises is false or the structure is invalid, the argument is?

According to Kant, when couldn't we universalize a maxim (i.e., take a rule from the form, "It's morally ok to do X," to the form "Everyone MUST do X")?

If the maxim doesn't respect the rights of individuals.

An inductive argument is uncogent if?

If the premises are false and/or the argument is weak or implausible,

Invalid

If the structure of the deductive argument is not logically correct, the argument is? cannot be sound.

Ethical Egoism and Utilitarianism are consequentialist ethical theories. According to theories like these,

Only the outcomes or results of our actions should factor into our ethical judgments.

Kants D

Our duty is to obey the categorical imperative (universality, respect for persons).

Nat Rights

Our only moral duty is to respect the rights of others.

primary goods of which Rawls argues all hypothetical contractors would want a share.

Income and Wealth Powers and Opportunities Rights and Freedoms Self Respect

False appeal to Authority

It is fairly common for people to cite authority figures or experts to back up a point of view. That can be a wise idea. The whole point of research is to find others with more expertise in an area than one has. False appeal fallacy

Conclusion

It is the point that the premises were designed to support or demonstrate. An essential step is to be clear about what the conclusion is before any other parts of the argument are evaluated because the conclusion defines the argument.

The English philosopher generally regarded as the founder of Utilitarianism is:

Jeremy Bentham

Negative Rights

Negative implies a freedom from interference from others. Having a negative right to something means that no one else is obligated to provide it for you—others are required to simply stay out of your way. You have the right to get it for yourself. If you can't get it, there is no one else to blame. Nobody owed it to you in the first place. It may not sound like much at first, but a negative right is basically the right to try to obtain the object of the right. Others are supposed to avoid interfering unfairly with your attempt to get something for yourself. College is a good example.

Identification

Obviously, the first step to solving a problem is to figure out what that problem is.

Natural Rights Objections

One criticism of natural rights involves our obligations and responsibilities to others. The theory maintains that, save for keeping the promises and commitments we make, we only owe others "the right to try" for the things they want and need. But this implies that we have no moral responsibilities to those who are not able to meet even their basic survival needs.

Ethical egoism argues that there is only one thing that is ultimately good. What is it?

Ones own long term best interest

V Ethics

Personal character. A life of virtue and excellence leads to happiness and fulfillment.

What did Plato and Aristotle agree with Socrates about?

Plato and Aristotle shared Socrates' conviction that logic and reason, not religion, superstition, or cultural pressures, ought to guide us to answers to difficult moral questions. These Greek luminaries primarily focused on the notion of personal character, convinced that living virtuously was essential to a fulfilling human life.

"good life." who by?

Plato. If our goal is to achieve happiness and fulfillment, then it might be wise to find some happy, fulfilled people and observe what they appear to be doing right.

Three Parts of an Argument

Premises, Structure, Conclusion

Justice as Fairness

Rawls sees fairness as the central value in ethics, something which most of us have understood since childhood.

Objections to contractarians

Rawls' theory (and other versions of contractarianism) also assumes that the contractors are basically perfectly rational thinkers who would propose rules as balanced as possible and therefore in their favor. But why should we assume this? Some critics worry that Rawls never achieved his central goal of harmonizing fairness and self-interest.

Which step of the critical thinking model involves stepping back and looking at the process of forming a decision for sake of identifying strengths and weaknesses in one's own thinking?

Reflection

Rawls 4 primary goods

Rights and liberties—The members would want as many personal rights and freedoms as possible. Powers and opportunities—People would want as much power and influence in society as possible. They would also want as many opportunities as possible to improve their lives and advance their interests. Income and wealth—Humans require food and shelter. Money and material possessions are necessary to consistently meet these basic needs, as well as to enjoy life's luxuries and amenities. All participants would recognize their financial interests and would try to get money and material possessions for themselves. Self-respect—In Rawls' view, this one is most important. Self-respect is one of our deepest human needs, and Rawls believes it would be irrational for people to sacrifice personal self-respect for money or power (although humans seem to do so far too often). Thus, the contractors will vote for principles and policies that maximize personal self-respect and avoid any that would endanger it.

John Locke

Rights are morally authorized claims that impose legitimate obligations on others. If one has a right to something, then the rest of us have a duty to avoid violating that right. Human Rights.

Decision

Select the morally right or best option and be able to justify it. Our critical thinking about human problems must include our decisions, resolutions, and actions.

What do the classical utilitarians define as morally "good"?

Sensations of pleasure

Which philosopher was the first to use philosophical thinking to investigate questions about good and evil, right and wrong?

Socrates

What was Socrates the first to point out?

Socrates is the first to point out that questions of moral value are important and part of the philosophical enterprise.

Positive Rights

Someone else "owes" you the thing to which you are entitled. You do not have to get it for yourself; someone else is supposed to get it for you. That is, your positive right to something creates a "duty of performance" for another person (or persons). Therefore, if you do not obtain this right to which you are entitled, someone has wronged you. One "owes" it to you. We refer to these as positive rights because someone is required to take proactive steps to provide you with something.

Slippery Slope

Sometimes referred to as "the domino effect," this fallacy occurs when the conclusion of an argument depends upon the claim that a certain event will set off a chain reaction, leading in the end to some undesirable consequence—yet there is not sufficient logical reason that the chain reaction should necessarily take place. Faulty Causation Fallacy

A deductive argument that has good logical structure and all true premises is called:

Sound

Reflection

Stepping back and looking at the process of forming your decision as objectively and honestly as possible. The goal is to identify strengths and weaknesses in your own thinking. You may recognize personal assumptions and values that influence your ethical thinking more than you had thought. You might discover that your beliefs and values differ from those of your friends and family members and that you are beginning to develop your own moral perspective—a big step in the moral development process. It is important to remember that reflection aims at self-improvement—it's a kind of self-coaching to improve our decision making.

Which of the following is an objection to Natural Law Theory?

The theory makes sense if you start from the premise that God exists, but without that assumption the theory cannot convince a non-believer.

What Classical utilitarians believed and who are some classical utilitarians?

Tell us that "satisfaction" is identical with the good. It is the only thing good in and of itself, as far as classical utilitarians are concerned. Utilitarians alternately use the expressions "satisfaction," "happiness," "pleasure," and "good"—to them the words are synonymous. Good outcomes are those that bring happiness. Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill

"Everyone is entitled to as many rights and freedoms as possible, provided that rights and freedoms aren't taken from others" is which ethical principle?

The Equal Liberties Principle

Friedrich Nietzsche

The Prince, he advises acts of pure and sometimes ruthless selfishness for those with ambitions for power. egoistic ideal is someone who can exploit these and other seemingly altruistic roles for personal advantage. Wolves in sheep's clothing can be especially successful. For egoism

Critical Thinking

The active and systematic process of communication, problem solving, evaluation, analysis, synthesis, and reflection, both individually and in community, to foster understanding, support sound decision making, and guide action.

Logic

The branch of philosophy that deals with the principles of good thinking and reasoning processes.

Virtue Ethics and who are the proponents of it?

The central issue focus is whether we have the personal character traits—the self-control, courage, wisdom, justice, honesty, caring, and respect—to act with moral maturity in each situation. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

Premises

The premises are the reasons and evidence that are cited, directly or indirectly, to support the conclusion.

What is the name of the principle that natural law theorists use to resolve conflicts between competing goods? That is, what principle do they use to decide whether an action is morally allowed when it has more than one outcome, one that promotes a universal human good and one that interferes with a good?

The principle of double effect

Utility Principle

The right action in any situation is the one that tends to produce the greatest possible balance of happiness over unhappiness for the greatest possible number. Happiness - Unhappiness = net utility

Identify the most correct wording of the ethical egoist principle

The right action is the one that best promotes one's own long-term best interests.

Contractariansim

Theory bases ethics on the values of justice and fairness, providing processes to help people understand what an ideal, fair solution would be. John Rawls

Kant Deontology

Theory bases moral right and wrong on self-derived, universal, moral duties determined through reason and intuition.

Natural Rights

Theory emphasizes the exclusive protection of and reliance upon basic human rights. John Locke's key principle is the fundamental duty to avoid violating the rights of others. Life, Liberty, Property

What is life to Aristotle?

Therefore, ethics to Aristotle means living a life of reason and logic, developing friendships and relationships, and achieving happiness and fulfillment through being an excellent human being. In this way, our lives flourish. Virtue ethics' emphasis on fulfillment impels us toward the goal of excellence in all that we do. There is a strong undertone in this theory of self-actualization, of "being all you can be."

False Appeal Fallacy. Three types, what are they?

These fallacies have to do with inappropriately appealing to an outside source or factor to make one's argument sound stronger. False appeal to Popularity (bandwagon) False appeal to Authority (citing an authority figure) False appeal to Emotion (manipulating feelings)

Red Herring

This argument is about distraction. The arguer introduces an irrelevant (but tempting) point to divert the reader's attention from the main issue—red herrings are a way of changing the subject. This term originates from the tactic reputedly used by escaped prisoners of dragging a strong-smelling fish across their trail to trick the tracking dogs into following the wrong scent.

Statistical Correlation

This fallacy begins with the finding that two phenomena are related statistically. The more often A happens, the more often B happens. And that may very well be a fact. The fallacy occurs when one jumps to the conclusion that this statistical relationship necessarily implies a causal relationship (therefore, A causes B). We can use statistics to help support an argument, but correlation does not prove causation. Faulty Causation Fallacy

Questionable Claim Fallacy

This fallacy involves seriously dubious premises. It often occurs when we use statements that are so broad and general that they cannot withstand scrutiny. Other times, questionable claims contradict common sense or other claims we have good reason to believe. We ought to be suspicious when claims conflict with well-grounded knowledge. Words like all, every, never, none, and always can be clues to the presence of a questionable claim fallacy.

Either/Or

This fallacy is also called a "false dichotomy" or "false dilemma." The argument tries to make others think they are in a logical trap by suggesting that there are only two sides to an issue—one (seemingly) right, one wrong. Either/or fallacies work by tricking one to believe that one's options are limited. The truth is that there are almost always more than two options or points of view in any situation or issue. It sometimes takes creative thinking to come up with other options, but they are there.

False appeal to Emotion

This fallacy is used to manipulate others into agreeing with a point of view by playing on their feelings rather than by appealing to logic and reason. Instead of arguing about the facts of an issue, a writer or speaker might play upon the audiences' negative feelings about such words as "terrorism," "evil," or "hate" or their positive feelings about words like "God," "America," "family," "liberty," or "love." The arguer avoids any discussion of the merits or weaknesses of the ideas under discussion and merely substitutes an emotional appeal. False appeal fallacy

Two wrongs make a right

This fallacy occurs when we try to defend our own wrongdoing by pointing out similar behavior in others, usually to avoid taking responsibility for what we did wrong. The rightness or wrongness of individual actions is not dependent on what others do.

Post Hoc (after the thing)

This is a fallacy about time. One event occurs, and later on another event occurs. So someone jumps to the mistaken conclusion that the first event must have caused the second, only because it happened first. Faulty Causation Fallacy

Begging the Question

This is also known as the fallacy of circularity. One "begs the question" when one assumes the point to be proven in an effort to prove it. That is, the arguer uses the conclusion of the argument as one of the premises in support of the same conclusion. This fallacy shortcuts the support that a conclusion must have and, thus, does not provide adequate reason for us to accept it. In a way, it is argumentative sleight of hand.

Veil of Ignorance

This is an imaginary process that keeps the contractors in the original position from knowing specific facts about themselves that might influence their decisions.

Ignorance

This is the fallacy of basing beliefs on a lack of evidence or, arguing that a lack of evidence proves some claim to be true. But not having evidence for our beliefs is the same as having no premises in our argument, so we should not come to conclusions with no good reason. Often, this fallacy involves arguing that some claim X is true because it hasn't been proven false or that X is false because it hasn't been proven true. The rational attitude when we have no good evidence one way or another is agnosticism—admitting our ignorance.

False appeal to Popularity

This is the fallacy of claiming that an idea is true because many people think it is, that an action is right because it is popular, or that it is wrong because it is unpopular. Bandwagon. False appeal fallacy

Hasty Generalization

This is the fallacy of stereotyping, caused primarily by poor inductive reasoning. A person sees a few examples or cases of something and stereotypes those findings out onto a larger group. This is probably how most of our prejudices originate. We make an illogical leap from a specific case to an overgeneralized rule without having enough reasons or examples to justify the claim.

Straw Man

This occurs when an arguer takes the opponent's argument and distorts it, takes it out of context, or exaggerates it so that it might be more easily attacked. The fallacious arguer then tries to use the distorted argument against the opponent to make him or her look wrong or ridiculous. The term is derived from "setting up" an opponent as a straw man, or scarecrow, and then knocking him or her down.

Analysis

To analyze a problem means to examine it more closely with the goal of understanding it better. Analysis involves looking at the smaller parts of a problem and seeing how they work together to create the bigger picture. We need to make sure that we have correctly interpreted the facts of the situation and the relevant information that we have gathered. We want to identify available options and then compare and contrast those options. We must carefully consider the implications and consequences of available options for stakeholders, those who could be affected by our decision and our actions.

Deontology

We know our duties via our reason, logic, critical thinking, and perhaps moral intuition. The deontologist emphasizes moral duty—our obligation to do the right thing because it's the right thing to do. The concept of moral duty is based on the notion that some behaviors are right or wrong, period. The circumstances or results of the behaviors are morally irrelevant. Immanuel Kant.

What is the basic idea expressed by the categorical imperative of Respect for Persons?

We should not use people as mere stepping stones to our own ends.

Contractarian believers

With Hobbes and Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a Swiss philosopher of the 18th century, was a major early contributor to the social contract tradition.

Thrasymachus

also argued that no one should pursue anything but self-interest. For him, whoever ruled a society determined the standard of "justice" in that particular society. For egoism

Act Utilitarians

argue we should apply this principle to every action we take while the

Thomas Hobbes

attempts to show that everyday ethical considerations (helping others, being honest, etc.) are warranted not on the basis of altruism but purely for the sake of advancing our own goals. Thus, he argued, self-interest is the foundation of ethics. For Egoism

Consequential Theories. Three types what are they?

base ethical judgments on the results or outcomes of actions or rules. Egoism, Act U, Rule U

Why is the stoic version of Natural Law bad?

because it leads to a kind of moral paralysis. If we can only control our reaction to what happens in the world, then why bother trying to do anything to change the world?

Ayn Rand

championed a version of ethical egoism reminiscent of Hobbes. She called her philosophy objectivism, and like Hobbes argues that human beings are rational egoists who ought to avoid acting in ways that would alienate one from his or her community or bring harm on oneself. Rational people would therefore avoid stealing, looting, or other brutal activities—in the long run it will come back to haunt you. Thus, egoism is compatible with living together amicably and working cooperatively. For Egoism

Syllogism

consist of two statements (premises) followed by a conclusion. must always consist of two premises and a conclusion; the pattern is very determinate. A common form reasons from a rule statement, expressing a general proposition about how things are or should be, and a fact statement, asserting a state of affairs, to some particular conclusion.

Inconsistency

his is the fallacy of contradiction, and is a violation of one of the logic's most fundamental rules: The Principle of Non-Contradiction. This logical rule tells us that no two opposite predicates can be true of the same thing at the same time. In daily life, inconsistency might be a matter of saying one thing and doing another. Or perhaps you make opposite statements to two different people, in an attempt to please them both. Sometimes we might find ourselves trying to believe two contradictory ideas. Inconsistency is also one of the most important fallacies in ethics. Reason requires that we work out a harmony between our ethical beliefs and the way we live.

Teleology

idea or principle that everything in existence has some purpose or function to fulfill. Aristotle came up with it.

An inductive argument is cogent if?

if both the premises are true and the reasons make a strong argument for the conclusion being plausible or likely.

Rule Utilitarianism

inspired by John Stuart Mill, maintains that the right thing to do is to follow rules that promote the greatest possible good, assuming they are followed generally.

Psychological Egoism

is the psychological theory that people are inherently selfish. Altruism is impossible.

Ethical Egoism

is the view that people OUGHT to be selfish—or at least self-interested. Altruism is possible however, pure altruism is immoral.

Altruism

our ability to act unselfishly and act from concern for others. crucial feature of morality.

Contractarians

theories of ethics believe that right and wrong are a matter of agreement. Moral edicts, principles, and rules of conduct are the results of social contracts. Fairness, veil of ignorance, Difference Principle. So Kant maintains that it doesn't matter what the actual social contract is now; we should act consistently with how we would logically want it to be—how it ought to be.

Is/Ought Confusion Fallacy

tries to argue for the legitimacy of an idea, practice, or trait based only on the fact that the thing already is that way. The mistake rests in thinking that facts entail that things ought to be a certain way. However, there is no such logical entailment between facts and value judgments. Just because things are what they are, it does not mean that they should (or shouldn't) be that way.

Epicurus

was the first major proponent of Hedonism—the philosophical school arguing that pleasure is the only thing inherently good. Pleasure is good. isn't advocating a "sex, drugs, and rock n' roll" lifestyle. Moderate enjoyment is key to a happy life—it's easier to avoid pain if we don't go to extremes.

Sound

when both the structure is valid and the statements in the premises are true.

Valid Deductive Argument

when the structure is logically correct. In other words, the premises are logically connected so that the conclusion necessarily follows