Slajchert Theology III test I
Morality of Happiness (Socrates)
Living a moral life is the good life and brings happiness
Act utilitarianism
Looks at the consequences of each individual act and calculates utility each time the act is performed
Rule utilitarianism
Looks at the consequences of having everyone follow a particular rule and calculates the overall utility of accepting or rejecting the rule
Utilitarianism
Morality is about producing good consequences, not having good intentions - we do whatever benefits society the most (intrinsic value)
Consequentialism
Morality is all about producing the right kinds of overall consequences (teleological ethics)
Divine Command theory
Morality is dependent upon God, moral obligation consists in obedience to God's commands
Dominant strain in the Christian moral tradition
Morality of happiness (Though as of late morality of obligation)
Glaucon's conclusion
People accept justice because they are weak and a person with the power to successfully carry out misdeeds would be a fool not to
Criticisms of Utilitarianism
Responsibility, integrity, intentions, moral luck, who deos the calculations, and who is included
Jeremy Bentham
Founder of utilitarianism - English philosopher and radical - followers were John Stuart Mil, Robert Austin, and John Austin
Ideals
G.E. Moore
Deontology
An action defined morally good because of some characteristic of the action itself, not because the product of the action is good
Why are you morally good?
Do you believe following "the rules" will lead to a satisfying, fulfilling life, or do you follow "the rules" because of fear from being punished
What is utilitarianism classified as
Moral realism
Morality of Obligation (Glaucon)
-Morality (Justice) is a compromise: we agree to a system of rules because it is the only thing keeping us from harm -morality is a burden, not something chosen - we would be much happier if we could do whatever we want whenever we wanted to
Ring of Gyges story
-Shepard finds a magical ring of invisibility after an earthquake -seduces queen, kills the king and takes power
Glaucon's Challenge
-Why be moral? No one is willingly just, we are all selfish. -Challenges Socrates to show that justice is intrinsically preferable to injustice
Glaucon's beliefs
-people find it desirable or good to inflict wrongdoings on others -when one has been on both ends of misdeeds, they quickly realize that the pains of being a victim far outweighs the benefits of being the victimizer -to avoid being victims, people come together and forge agreements which = justice
Socrates response to Ring of Gyges
-the just or moral life is the good (correct) life -the virtuous life is the most fulfilling life
Descriptive morality
All people have some identifiable ways of living their lives (What do people think is right?)
Normative Morality
All people live the way they should live their life (How should people act?)
Utilitarianism
Always act in the way that will produce the greatest overall amount of good in the world
Utilitarianism dream
Brining scientific certainty to ethics
Socrates most important question
How to live life well
Pleasure
Jeremy Bentham
Happiness
John Stuart Mill
Preference
Kenneth arrow
Aretology (virtue ethics)
Moral philosophy dealing with virtue, its nature, and the means of arriving at it
Dolors
Negative effects
Ethical Relativism
No objectivity to ethical judgements and an ethical judgement is merely a matter of opinion and opinions vary from culture to culture, person to person
Hedons
Positive effect
Aristotle
Preaches Eudaimonia - the greatest good is eudaimonia (living well, doing well, flourishing)
Moral realism
The belief that there are moral facts, in the same way that there are scientific facts
Intrinsic value
Things that aren't instrumental but have values themselves
Glaucon's response to Ring of Gyges
Whomever would use the ring un-selfishly would be praised but regarded as a fool for not using the power to benefit themselves