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70 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Do absolutists or relativists believe that there are unconditional, universally binding moral truths?
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Absolutist |
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Does absolutism or relativism in its extreme form mean that anything goes? |
Relativism |
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Do absolutists or relativists tend to be more religious, and does one need to be religious in order to hold this ethical perspective? |
-Absolutists
-No |
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What is cultural relativism and how does it imply moral infallibility? |
-Your culture decides your morals.
-You should go against immorals. |
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What is the cultural relativist's opinion of moral reformers? |
They're always wrong |
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Which law states that nothing can both be and not be at the same time and in the same respect? |
Law of Non-contradiction |
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What is the greatest problem raised in the absolutism-versus-relativism controversy? |
How to introduce stability, order, and security (absolutism) into morality and moral systems, while still allowing for individual and group freedom and creativity (relativism). |
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What is the most basic reason to universalize the prohibition of killing? |
Being alive is a necessary precondition of morality. |
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What is Honor Killing? |
Killing another family member for bringing shame to the family. |
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What is another term for universal causation, and what does it mean? |
Determinism: -The theory that everything in the universe has a cause. |
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What are the two major challenges to morality that arise with universal causation? |
1. You can't prescribe behavior to someone.
2. How can you hold them morally responsible. |
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What is another term for religious determinism, and is this theory generally accepted by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? |
- Predestination
- No |
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What is the number one theist justification for the existence of evil? |
Free-will, evil is man's fault, not God's. |
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How does religious determinism make God responsible for all the evil in the world, and theories of salvation nonsensical? |
If everything is determined by God, then so is evil. It makes no sense for God to make man evil, and then punish him for it. |
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Which type of scientific determinism stems from Newton's Laws? |
Physical |
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Which theory asserts that everything, including humans, is material and is, therefore, governed by fixed, natural laws? |
Physical Determinism |
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Which type of scientific determinism is best exemplified by Darwin's theory of natural selection? |
Biological |
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Which theory states that human beings are totally determined by their genetic makeup, over which they have no control? |
Genetic Determinism |
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Do scientific theories that ignore an immaterial human side deny that humans have a mind? Explain. |
No, because the mind exists apart from the brain. |
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Explain Hegel's deterministic theory |
An absolute mind that is trying to realize itself in a state of perfection. |
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What main problem does Hegel's deterministic theory share in common with religious determinism? |
You can't prove that there is an absolute mind |
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Who argued that the inevitable force of nature is economic, and how did he refer to his theory? |
-Karl Marx
-Dialetical Materialism |
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What was the first dialetical method? |
The Socratic Method |
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Who theorized that human beings are determined, even prior to birth in the womb, by their unconscious minds and by various natural drives that their societies require them to repress? |
Freud |
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What is the major criticism of Freud's theories? |
They are too generalized |
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What is this Oedipus Complex? |
That sons are in love with their mothers |
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What is the Electra Complex? |
That daughters are in love with their fathers |
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How did Sophocles' Oedipus fulfill his prophecy, and how did he punish himself? |
Oedipus murdered his father, married his mother, and punished himself by scratching his eyes out. |
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Why did Sophocles' Electra and her brother kill their mother? |
Because their mother killed their father |
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Which deterministic approach is best exemplified by the work of B. F. Skinner? |
Behaviorism |
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Who first developed the concept of "conditioned reflex"? |
Pavlov |
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How did Pavlov condition his dogs to salivate in response to the sound of a ringing bell? |
Pavlov would present the dogs with food whenever he rang the bell. After a while, he stopped presenting the dogs with food when he rang the bell. |
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How did Skinner feel about traditional statements concerning the soul, psyche, self, or mind? |
Supersticious |
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Why was Skinner's theory so controversial? |
It egonized human freedom |
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How does determinism differ from fatalism? |
Determinism: No such thing as an uncaused event.
vs.
Fatalism: Nothing can be altered. |
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Was Osmo a fatalist? Explain. |
Yes, because he realized that fatalism must be true. |
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Which theory denies an essential human nature and maintains that each of us creates our own essence through free action? |
Extentialism |
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To what extent did Sartre believe in determinsm? |
People can't help how they're born. |
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What did Sartre mean by "existence precedes essence"? |
We exist, and then we create our own essence |
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How is extentialism both empowering and frightening? |
Because humans are given the ultimate responsibility. |
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Why did Sartre say that we are "condemned" to be free? |
Because people are afraid of the ultimate responsibility. |
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Which philosopher's idea of the Superman was used to underpin Nazism? |
Nietzsche |
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What did Nietzsche view as a weak religion of pity offering nothing more than a slave morality for diseased priests and resentful paupers? |
Judeo-Christianity |
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What is probably the oldest form of justice? |
Retributive Justice |
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Which form of justice concerns itself essentially with the equitable distribution of good and bad to human beings on a just and fair basis? |
Distributive Justice |
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How does retribution differ from restitution? |
Retribution: Giving people what they deserve.
vs.
Restitution: Compensation |
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What are the four ways in which rewards can be distributed? |
1. Equally 2. Ability 3. Merritt 4. Needs
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What is dialysis? |
Removing waste from the body due to kidney failure. |
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How did Swedish Hospital's medial panel select kidney patients to receive treatment? |
By choosing patients that were the most medically qualified. |
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Who was on the Swedish Hospital's nonmedical panel? Name four factors they considered in determining which kidney patients would receive treatment? |
- Lawyer, clergymen, housewife, banker, labor leader, and two physicians.
- Age, sex, marital status, number of dependents, and income. |
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What is the drawing of straws approach? |
The Lottery Method |
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What are the two major theories of how to reward, and which theory claims that rewards should be based upon future good consequences for everyone? |
- Retributivism & Utilitarianism
- Utilitarianism |
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Which contemporary philosopher argued that human rights are natural rights, and what are those three rights? |
- Nozick
- Life, Liberty, and Property |
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What is the name of Rawls' theory of justice? |
Justice as Fairness |
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Explain Rawls' veil of ignorance and original position. |
Fair principles are made behind a veil of ignorance. You make principles without actually knowing how those principles will affect you.
All factors stripped for one principle over another. |
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What is the main idea behind Rawls' equality principle? |
Freedom for all |
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Which principle allows for inequality as long as such inequalities are arranged so as to be reasonably respected to be everyone's advantage and attached to positions open to everyone? |
Difference Principle |
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What was the political difference between Nozick and Rawls? |
Libertarianism vs. Liberalism |
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What are the four requirements of punishment? |
1. Unpleasant 2. Opposed by someone of authority 3. A reason for it 4. Abides by certain rules/laws |
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What are the three major theories of punishment? |
Retributive, Utilitarian, & Restitution |
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Which theory of punishment is concerned with the past, and which theory of punishment is future oriented? |
Retribution = Past
Utilitarian = Future |
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What are the two retributivist views based on the Old Testament's "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" retributivist saying? |
Mirror image theory & Punishment must be appropriate to the crime |
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Which fallacy is committed when you try to justify a wrong by pointing to a similar wrong perpetrated by others? |
Two wrongs make a right |
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How does fighting fire with fire differ from the Mirror image theory? |
Mirror Image Theory: Punishment
Fighting fire with fire: Using a wrong to contrast another wrong |
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Which philosopher stated that punishment should always, have as its aim, the good of society? |
Benthem |
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What are Benthem's two types of sanctions meant to discourage or eliminate criminal behavior, and how do they differ? |
Internal & External
Your own conscious vs. established laws |
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What, according to the utilitarian, is the purpose of punishment, what sort of treatment do utilitarians propose to fulfill this purpose, and what are two problems with this treatment? |
Punishment is meant to allow people to reform and rehab their mistakes.
Utilitarians propose psychiatry as a form of treatment.
Two problems are that offenders are often resistant to therapy and therapists are given too much power. |
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What was Lorena Bobbit's crime of passion, and was she found guilty? |
Bobbit cut off her husband's penis.
She was found Not Guilty |
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How do Utilitarians respond to the charge that the deserts theory of punishment is not concerned with justice, but rather with social engineering? |
Justice is old fashioned while social engineering is for the greater good. |
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Which theory prompted the establishment of the theory of restitution? |
Crimes-against-the-state Theory |
