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49 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Absolutist
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A rule that is true in all situations
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Relativist
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A judgement that depends on circumstances.
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Subjective
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Judgements are based on personal opinion.
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Objective
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Judgements are based on impartial absolute value system.
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Deontological
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Inherently right or wrong. Circumstances/outcome not taken into account.
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Teleological
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Concerned with purpose or ultimate goal.
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Final cause
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Aristotle used this to mean the purpose of something.
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Efficient cause
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Aristotle used this to explain how something happens, the agent which brings something about.
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Eudaimonia
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The aim of all human activity is to achieve all-round well-being.
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Real good
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A correct judgement arrived at by the right use of reason along with the Natural Law.
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Apparent good
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A faulty judgement as a result of the misuse of reason or misunderstanding of Divine Law
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The purpose
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To achieve perfection with God
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The way
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Follows Natural Law by doing good and avoiding evil.
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Five primary precepts
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The five basic principles of Aquinas’ Natural Law
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Secondary precepts
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The rules that are developed from Aquinas’ Five Primary Precepts.
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Hypothetical imperative
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An action which achieves a goal or purpose.
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Categorical imperative
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An absolute and universal sense of moral duty which directs humans to the right action.
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Maxims
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Rules which are derived from the categorical imperatives
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Prescriptive
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A statement makes a rule about how people should behave.
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Descriptive
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A sentence simply states how things are.
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Principle of utility
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Bentham’s belief that the right course of action is that which brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number.
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Hedonic calculus
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Bentham’s method of measuring the good and bad effects of an action.
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Higher pleasures
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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.
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Lower pleasures
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Those that please the body, like food and sex. Because these would also please an animal, Mill rates them as lower pleasures.
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Autonomy
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Morality existing independently of religion. Its ideas are shaped by reason alone.
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Heteronomy
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Morality shaped by religious beliefs. Its rules are taken directly from religious teachings.
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Theonomy
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The principles and values behind both religious and ethical rules are the same
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Euthyphro dilemma
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Is something right because the gods command it or do the gods command it because it is right.
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Divine command theory
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Something is good simply because God commands it and for no other reason.
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Sanctity of life
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Human life is worthy of special respect.There is something holy about it
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Abortion
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The deliberate expulsion of the foetus from the uterus.
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Pro-life
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Pro-life supporters argue that a foetus is a human life from the moment of conception because it contains the blueprint for a person.
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Pro-choice
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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.
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Doctrine of double effect
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If doing something morally good has a morally bad side-effect, it is right to do providing the bad side-effect was not intended.
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IVF
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(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.
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Euthanasia
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Involves assisting a person to die to spare them suffering. A gentle or peaceful death.
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Active euthanasia
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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.
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Passive euthanasia
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This is when a decision is made to stop giving further treatment either though this death will be the result.
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Personhood
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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.
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Slippery slope argument
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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.
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Genetic engineering
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The process of artificially manipulating genes.
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Cloning
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A form of genetic engineering that produces a new life that is a genetic copy of its parent.
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Therapeutic cloning
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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.
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Reproductive cloning
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Cloning which creates offspring.
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Transgenic organism
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Where a living organism is given genes from a different organism like a plant, an animal, virus or bacteria.
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Jus in bello
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Rules which define the correct conductin war.
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Jus ad bellum
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Rules which state whether it is right to go to war
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Jus Post Bellum
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Rules which state how peace must be established after a war
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Pacifism
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Belief that all fighting is wrong
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