Ethics Key Words

Front 1

Absolutist

Back 1

A rule that is true in all situations

Front 2

Relativist

Back 2

A judgement that depends on circumstances.

Front 3

Subjective

Back 3

Judgements are based on personal opinion.

Front 4

Objective

Back 4

Judgements are based on impartial absolute value system.

Front 5

Deontological

Back 5

Inherently right or wrong. Circumstances/outcome not taken into account.

Front 6

Teleological

Back 6

Concerned with purpose or ultimate goal.

Front 7

Final cause

Back 7

Aristotle used this to mean the purpose of something.

Front 8

Efficient cause

Back 8

Aristotle used this to explain how something happens, the agent which brings something about.

Front 9

Eudaimonia

Back 9

The aim of all human activity is to achieve all-round well-being.

Front 10

Real good

Back 10

A correct judgement arrived at by the right use of reason along with the Natural Law.

Front 11

Apparent good

Back 11

A faulty judgement as a result of the misuse of reason or misunderstanding of Divine Law

Front 12

The purpose

Back 12

To achieve perfection with God

Front 13

The way

Back 13

Follows Natural Law by doing good and avoiding evil.

Front 14

Five primary precepts

Back 14

The five basic principles of Aquinas’ Natural Law

Front 15

Secondary precepts

Back 15

The rules that are developed from Aquinas’ Five Primary Precepts.

Front 16

Hypothetical imperative

Back 16

An action which achieves a goal or purpose.

Front 17

Categorical imperative

Back 17

An absolute and universal sense of moral duty which directs humans to the right action.

Front 18

Maxims

Back 18

Rules which are derived from the categorical imperatives

Front 19

Prescriptive

Back 19

A statement makes a rule about how people should behave.

Front 20

Descriptive

Back 20

A sentence simply states how things are.

Front 21

Principle of utility

Back 21

Bentham’s belief that the right course of action is that which brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number.

Front 22

Hedonic calculus

Back 22

Bentham’s method of measuring the good and bad effects of an action.

Front 23

Higher pleasures

Back 23

Those that involve the intellect, like reading, art or music. According to Mill,higher pleasures are more valuable than lower pleasures because only a human can appreciate them.

Front 24

Lower pleasures

Back 24

Those that please the body, like food and sex. Because these would also please an animal, Mill rates them as lower pleasures.

Front 25

Autonomy

Back 25

Morality existing independently of religion. Its ideas are shaped by reason alone.

Front 26

Heteronomy

Back 26

Morality shaped by religious beliefs. Its rules are taken directly from religious teachings.

Front 27

Theonomy

Back 27

The principles and values behind both religious and ethical rules are the same

Front 28

Euthyphro dilemma

Back 28

Is something right because the gods command it or do the gods command it because it is right.

Front 29

Divine command theory

Back 29

Something is good simply because God commands it and for no other reason.

Front 30

Sanctity of life

Back 30

Human life is worthy of special respect.There is something holy about it

Front 31

Abortion

Back 31

The deliberate expulsion of the foetus from the uterus.

Front 32

Pro-life

Back 32

Pro-life supporters argue that a foetus is a human life from the moment of conception because it contains the blueprint for a person.

Front 33

Pro-choice

Back 33

Pro-choice supporters say that a foetus is only a potential human, the mother is an actual person so has the right to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy.

Front 34

Doctrine of double effect

Back 34

If doing something morally good has a morally bad side-effect, it is right to do providing the bad side-effect was not intended.

Front 35

IVF

Back 35

(in vitro fertilisation) when sperm and an egg are put together in a tube until an embryo is formed which is then transferred into a woman’s womb.

Front 36

Euthanasia

Back 36

Involves assisting a person to die to spare them suffering. A gentle or peaceful death.

Front 37

Active euthanasia

Back 37

This is when action is taken to bring life to an end: for example a lethal dose of drugs might be given. Currently illegal in the UK.

Front 38

Passive euthanasia

Back 38

This is when a decision is made to stop giving further treatment either though this death will be the result.

Front 39

Personhood

Back 39

Characteristics that are considered to clarify what constitutes a ‘person’. Capable of rational thought, Having formed a consciousness that enables them to feel pain or pleasure, Self-awareness, Having human genetic make-up, Being able to survive independently as a human.

Front 40

Slippery slope argument

Back 40

When an action such as euthanasia is legal on grounds of terminal illness for example, it then allows society to permit other categories for euthanasia to be acceptable. Thereby removing barriers and opening the floodgates to devalue human life.

Front 41

Genetic engineering

Back 41

The process of artificially manipulating genes.

Front 42

Cloning

Back 42

A form of genetic engineering that produces a new life that is a genetic copy of its parent.

Front 43

Therapeutic cloning

Back 43

A medical procedure where single cells are taken from one person or embryo and ‘reprogrammed’ to create stem cells which can be used in medical treatment.

Front 44

Reproductive cloning

Back 44

Cloning which creates offspring.

Front 45

Transgenic organism

Back 45

Where a living organism is given genes from a different organism like a plant, an animal, virus or bacteria.

Front 46

Jus in bello

Back 46

Rules which define the correct conductin war.

Front 47

Jus ad bellum

Back 47

Rules which state whether it is right to go to war

Front 48

Jus Post Bellum

Back 48

Rules which state how peace must be established after a war

Front 49

Pacifism

Back 49

Belief that all fighting is wrong