Phil 1104 Final

Front 1

Conventionalism

Back 1

means that something is right or wrong because some person, or group, says it (Divine Command Theory, Ethical Relativism)

Front 2

Natural Law Theory

Back 2

acts which are natural for humans are good and acts which are unnatural are bad

Front 3

Paternalistic Principle

Back 3

Laws should be made to protect people from themselves
Ex: seatbelt laws, laws against suicide

Front 4

Moralist Principle

Back 4

Laws should be made to enforce morality

Front 5

Divine Command Theory

Back 5

an act gets its moral status from God's commands
2 possibilities:
1. x is wrong because God says it's wrong
2. Gods says x is wrong because x is wrong

Front 6

Ethical Relativism

Back 6

right and wrong are relative to a culture
problem: does not seem to allow for moral progress

Front 7

Other possible liberty limiting principles (3)

Back 7

- paternalistic principle
- moralistic principle
- offense principle

Front 8

Offense Principle

Back 8

Laws should be made to protect people from offensive behavior

Front 9

The Spheres of Liberty (4)

Back 9

1. The inward domain of consciousness
2. Freedom of speech
3. Tastes and pursuits
4. Freedom of association

Front 10

Virtue Ethics

Back 10

emphasizes the virtues (courage, friendship, temperance, etc.); good acts are ones done out of good character

Front 11

Harm Only Principle

Back 11

the sole reason we have we have for interring with the liberty of action of any person is for self protection. Also, the harm prevented must be greater than the harm caused by interfering with someone's liberty
*Excludes children and the mentally incompetent

Front 12

Benefits of individuality (2)

Back 12

1. Necessary for geniuses to exist
2. Experiments in living

Front 13

Problems with following customs (3)

Back 13

1. sometimes the experiences they are based on are too narrow
2. personality difference and/or circumstantial differences make following customs problematic
3. blindly following customs starts our intellectual growth

Front 14

Mill on Censorship

Back 14

- Absolute certainty vs. personal certainty
- Personal certainty is all humans are capable of

Front 15

Self/other objection to Mill

Back 15

the harm only principle relies on a distinction between self-regarding and other regarding behaviors but no such distinction exists

Front 16

Hedonic Calculus

Back 16

7 aspects of pleasure/pain
1. its intensity
2. its duration
3. its certainty/uncertainty
4. its propinquity (nearness)/remoteness
5. its fecunity (how likely pleasure/pain is to lead to more pleasure/pain)
6. its purity
7. its extent (how many people are affected)

Front 17

Mill's response to the self/other objection (4)

Back 17

1. sometimes there are other obligations
2. society had control over these people as children. if they turn out bad, society has only itself to blame
3. if a behavior has negative consequences, people will be able to see it
4. when society interfers, it is likely to make things worse more often then it makes things better

Front 18

Swine Objection

Back 18

following Bentham's theory leads to being no better than swine wallowing in the mud, pursuing basic pleasures

Front 19

Extrinsic Value

Back 19

x is valuable as part of a means to something with intrinsic value

Front 20

Psychological Egoism

Back 20

the view that all people are inherently selfish

Front 21

Mill's Competent Judges Test

Back 21

ask people which pleasures are better; if all, or almost all, competent judges would prefer even a small amount of x to an enormous amount of y, then x is a higher pleasure and y is a lower pleasure

Front 22

Act Utilitarianism

Back 22

always act in such a way so as to maximize happiness/pleasure and minimize unhappiness/pain

Front 23

Rule Utilitarianism

Back 23

always act on a rule that maximizes pleasure/happiness and minimizes unhappiness/pain

Front 24

Desire-satisfaction Utilitarianism

Back 24

satisfying peoples' desires is the good
problem: not all desires are good, or ought to be satisfied

Front 25

Ideal Desire Satisfaction Utilitarianism

Back 25

satisfying the desires people ought to have is good

Front 26

Problem of Justice

Back 26

the principle of utility seems to conflict with peoples' rights

Front 27

Maxim

Back 27

a reason on which you act

Front 28

The Good Will

Back 28

a good will is motivated by duty

Front 29

Hypothetical Imperative

Back 29

conditional upon desire

Front 30

Categorical Imperative

Back 30

hold regardless of desires

Front 31

Perfect Duties

Back 31

tell you what you cannot do; must always be followed (problem at step 3)

Front 32

Mill's Proof of Utilitarianism (8)

Back 32

1. seeing something proves it's visible
2. desiring something proves it's desirable
3. each person desires their own happiness and that is the only thing they desire in and of desire
4. each person's happiness is their own good
5. the good of society is just the aggregate of the goof of its members
6. the good of society is just the aggregate happiness
7. if something if good we have a duty to maximize it
8. therefore we have a duty to maximize happiness

Front 33

Imperfect Duties

Back 33

tell you what you must do; must be followed some of the time (problem at step 4)

Front 34

Kant's 4 Examples

Back 34

1. suicide
2. false promises
3. rusting talents
4. helping others

Front 35

Political Authority

Back 35

the right to make people do what you choose
1. divine authority
2. natural authority
3. perfectionism
4. consent-based view (social contract theory)

Front 36

Desert

Back 36

- always based on past actions
- can be positive or negative

Front 37

4 Primary Social Goods

Back 37

1. rights & liberties
2. powers & opportunities
3. income & wealth
4. self-respect

Front 38

Rawls' Basic Structure of Society

Back 38

major institutions within society
ex: courts, education, laws, markets, etc.

Front 39

"Justice as Fairness"

Back 39

a just society is one that is fair and a fair society is one that everyone would agree to in principle ( in the original position)

Front 40

Communitarianism

Back 40

emphasizes a shared conception of the good

Front 41

Egalitarianism

Back 41

equality is the most important value

Front 42

Political Liberalism

Back 42

views humans as free and equal moral persons, emphasizes liberty and freedom, claims people should be free to develop their own life plans

Front 43

Original Position

Back 43

-don't know your race, class, gender, occupation, natural assets or abilities, conception of the good life
- do know you have a conception of the good life and some facts about human psychology

Front 44

Maximin Rule

Back 44

maximize what you would have if you wind up in the worst position in society

Front 45

Veil of Ignorance

Back 45

in the original postion one chooses things behind a veil of ignorance that will make for a just society

Front 46

Liberty Principle

Back 46

each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive scheme of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar scheme of liberties to others

Front 47

Difference Principle

Back 47

social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both reasonably expected to be to everyone's advantage

Front 48

Utility Principle

Back 48

all social values and goods should be arranged so as to maximize the total amount of happiness
problem: might lead to great inequalities

Front 49

Equality Principle

Back 49

all social values and goods should be distributed equally
problem: already accepted difference principle, okay to have inequalities

Front 50

Intrinsic Value

Back 50

x is valuable in and of itself
ex: happiness, pleasure

Front 51

Fallacy of Equivocation

Back 51

using a word with two meanings as if it had only one meaning

Front 52

Categorical Imperatives (2)

Back 52

1. act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should be a universal law
2. act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of another, never merely as a means, but always at the same time as an end

Front 53

Duties of Beneficence

Back 53

requires you to help people accomplish their ends

Front 54

Duties of Justice

Back 54

prevent you from treating someone as merely a means

Front 55

Difference between Utilitarianism & Kantianism (3)

Back 55

- Utilitarianism has a wider scope than Kantianism
- Utilitarianism says life has a high, but derivative value whereas Kantianism says human life has absolute value
- Kantianism is more precise

Front 56

Problems with Mill's Proof (2)

Back 56

- does 2 commit the fallacy of equivocation
- 3 assumes psychological egoism

Front 57

Responses to the problem of justice (4)

Back 57

1. look for other reasons to not frame the innocent stranger
2. the innocent stranger is a rare exception
3. bite the bullet and reject intuition
4. reject act utilitarianism in favor of rule utilitarianism

Front 58

Hedonic Calculus

Back 58

how you would decide how much pleasure/pain an act would cause by looking at different aspects

Front 59

Mill's response to the swine objection

Back 59

concept of higher and lower pleasures applied using the competent judges test

Front 60

Tyranny of the Majority

Back 60

fear that the majority in a democracy might abuse, or use its power in an unacceptable manner

Front 61

Acting on Duty (2)

Back 61

motivated by duty
1. acting in accord with duty- not necessarily acting because of duty
2. acting from duty- directly from duty

Front 62

Acting on Inclination

Back 62

motivated by desires

Front 63

Maxim 4 Steps

Back 63

1. individual maxim
2. generalize maxim
3. could generalized maxim hold as a universal law?
4. would it be rational to will it?

Front 64

Raz's Multiculturalism

Back 64

encourages cultures to retain their identity

Front 65

Sen's Problems with Multiculturalism (5)

Back 65

- Problem of determining identity
- Problem of conflicting identities
- Does identity liberate and protect, or restrain and limit?
- Does within group solidarity lead to between-group disorder?
- Do we discover our identities or do we choose them?

Front 66

Greatest Happiness Principle

Back 66

actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness and wrong as they tend to produce unhappiness