Ethics Final 3

Front 1

What is Existentialism? (introduced by Kierkegaard)

What does Kierkegaard say about your identity?

Back 1

The belief that each individual—not society or religion—is solely responsible for giving meaning to the life they're living.

Each person forms their identity based on their relationships/what they relate to.

Front 2

According to Kierkegaard, what is Despair?

Back 2

"Constantly dying without being able to die". In other words, relating to something that changes (because when the relation changes/ceases to exist, your identity/self changes, which is a form of "death" of the self).

Front 3

According to Kierkegaard, what are the "Three Stages along life's way"? What kind of person (and what kind of corresponding despair) characterizes each stage?

Examine the example of reacting to losing a lover to explain this.

Back 3

1) The aesthetic dimension. This person responds to losing a lover with the attitude, "Well, the next person will be just as good." It's all about comfort/aesthetic aspects of the relationship.

-In terms of despair, this self is self-destructive, because it's a self that is not actively trying to resist "dying."

2) Knight of Infinite Resignation: This person/self says, "i'm done. I'm never getting into another relationship."

-In terms of despair, this self is forever holding onto/relating to a shadow, something that no longer exists.

3) Knight of Faith: This person views it as a blessing from God that they were able to love anyone at all and accepts the loss serenely.
-Operating at this stage is the only way to avoid despair: by seeing the event as an act of God, you choose to relate to something that does not change (God) and you avoid death of self/despair.

Front 4

How does Nietzsche's State of Nature theory differ from Hobbes's?

Back 4

1) Hobbes has a pessimistic view of the state of nature, describing it as an unpleasant war of everyone against everyone else. He makes it clear that the "natural" response to this state nature is desire to abandon everything about it by making social contract(s).

2) Nietzsche, while also acknowledging that the state of nature involves wanton carnage, references the Greeks' full incorporation of war and carnage into their organized society and has a more optimistic view. He says that in the state of nature, you are innocent and this is why you can enjoy "bad" stuff (because when you see violence in nature, it's not due to a competition for resources, but it's simply nature being playful/joyful).

Front 5

What is the difference between the master mentality and the slave mentality? (Nietzsche)

Back 5

1) Masters are born into the world naturally more fit (stronger, smarter, more beautiful, etc) than slave types and naturally enjoy their attributes and their existence. They enjoy being who they are and comes to understand that in existence, there are some things that are "good" and others that are "bad. "

2) Slave types resent the masters and make sense of their own shortcomings as a form of punishment/evil. They have hate in their heart and don't understand that not everyone else has this hate in their hearts. They understand the world in terms of "good" and "evil."

Front 6

What is the origin of the concept of guilt according to Nietzsche? How does this lead to the spread of Slave mentality?

Back 6

Origin of guilt is Debt (in any form).

"slave" mentality people try to overcome masters by either A) directly, by giving out loans, or B) morally, by telling the masters that they are morally guilty/bad and therefore must spend the rest of their lives trying to overcome this original sin/guilt.

Front 7

What is Amor Fati? (Nietzsche)

Back 7

Literally "love of one's fate", it's the idea that since you can't change the cards you were dealt in life, you should choose to see your life as wondrous and beautiful and embrace it.

This is how you turn what is given to you (by a higher dimension/karma/God) into something beautiful.

Front 8

1) What is the Eternal Return?

2) How is it diagnostic?

3) How is it prescriptive?

Back 8

1) It's the question/thought experiment, "How would you respond to the proposal that your life will be repeated the exact same way it is now for eternity?"

2) If you say, "aw, that sucks", then that's a sign (diagnosis) that you need to change something about how you relate to your life.

3) Whatever you need to do to change your perspective so that you would embrace the Eternal Return, do that thing. Your prescription is to change your relation to the content of your life.

Front 9

If the "Call of Conscience" refers to your future self calling back to you in the present, what does it say? (Nietzsche)

Back 9

Remember from Aristotle: "It is impossible for an acorn to become a rose, but given the right conditions, it can achieve its final cause (in this case, an oak tree).

So, your Call of Conscience is basically your final self from the future calling back to you in the present and giving you hints/clues as to what your final cause is/how to attain it. These clues and hints can be discovered by examining the existential conditions that surround your life.

Front 10

What is the premise of Care Ethics?

Back 10

It's based on the model of the mother-child relationship. Since everyone has been cared for by someone in some way in order to survive, the impulse to care must be a naturally-occurring feeling. And because it's natural, you should strive to be caring of others in order to be excellent.

Front 11

What are the 3 prerequisites for having an obligation to care for someone, according to care ethicists?

Back 11

1) There must be some sort of relationship that exists with this person (even if you're just sharing a bus with them, for example).

2) The need for care must exist.

3) You must be capable of providing the care.

Front 12

The Care Ethicist's Theory of friendship proposes 3 qualities that must be present in a friendship. What are they?

Back 12

1) Closeness=the state of having knowledge about the other person.

2) Mutuality= how much you share with the other person (knowledge, experiences, etc.). This ties people together.

3) Completeness= the state of the person providing care being aware of the appreciation of the other person being cared for. It "completes" the act of care.

Front 13

According to Zen Buddhism, what is Centering?

Back 13

Bringing focus to the body (posture and breathing).

Front 14

How does centering and mindfulness relate to the phrase "Be Here Now" in Zen?

Back 14

The idea of "being here now" relates to being centered and being "present" in the current moment (which is important because the present is the only thing that exists). It's important to Be Here Now because if you spend all your time worrying about the future or thinking you'll be happy once a future event happens, you won't be able to be happy when the hypothetical future becomes the present because you'll still be in that mindset.

---You can strive to Be Here Now by doing 2 things:

1) Centering on the body

2) Having mindfulness: focusing on your breathing.

Front 15

)What is a "mindweed"? (Zen)

Back 15

If the mind is a garden, attaching to any one thought is a "weed" among the "tranquil garden of your mind."In other words, it's a distraction that makes you less able to live your life efficiently.

Front 16

Why should we be grateful for our mindweeds?

Back 16

If you see/recognize a mindweed, you can now know the difference between a weed and a flower. Furthermore, you want to be grateful for mindweeds because you don't want to be attached to the idea of having a mindweed, which is itself another mindweed. This is an attitude.

Front 17

What is an "attitude" according to Zen?

What attitude toward our thoughts are we trying to cultivate in Zen?

Back 17

An attitude is a Relation.

In Zen, we are trying to develop an attitude of non-attachment. You can do this through having a mindset of gratefulness for our thoughts and for our mindweeds, because when your garden produces a weed, it renews your appreciation of the flowers in the garden.

Front 18

What is the difference between Small Mind and Big Mind?

Back 18

1) Small Mind: When your mind is related to something outside itself, it is a small mind, or a limited mind. When we have a small mind, we are distracted from the task at hand by some preoccupation (and this can even be the preoccupation of trying to control the outcome of the task).

2) Big Mind: an attitude of non-attachment; in other words, the mind of Buddha/God.

Front 19

What is it that mindfulness gives us an awareness of regarding "presence"?

Back 19

It makes us fully aware and accepting of our moment-to-moment thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations and environment. In other words, mindfulness gives us freedom in the relation to our thoughts (not the thoughts themselves).