Phil 3340 Exam 1

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Principle of Equal Treatment

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We should treat people in the same way unless there is a revelant difference between them
Ethical Egoism is a moral theory of same type. it advocates dividing the world into 2 categories of people; ourselves and everyone else-it urges us to regard the interests of those in the 1st group as more important of those in the 2nd group

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False Dichotomy

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Arises when the premise of an argument presents us with a choise between two alternatives and assumes that they are exhasutive and exclusive when in fact they are not

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Altruism

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Any act that seeks to advance the good of others for thier own sake and not fot the sake of advancing the self-interest of the agent

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Psychological Egoism

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Each person "does in fact" pursue his or her own self interests exclusively
If psychological Egoism is true, then there is major implications for ethics for ex. we couldn't be alturistic

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Ethical Egoism

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Each persom "ought" to pursue his or her own self interests exclusively

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Natural Law Theory

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1) The world has a rational order, with values and purposes built into its very nature
2) Laws of nature describes not only how things are but also how things ought to be
3)That which is natural is determined by reason

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Difficulties of the Devine Command Theory

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1)This makes morality mysterious-how does God make something right and can he make anything
2) The conception of morality makes God's commands arbitary-hecould command antyhing whatsever
3) This conception of morality provides the wrong reasons for moral principles

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Euthyphro

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Socates raises the question, Is conduct right because the gods command it, or do the gods command it because it is right?

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Objections to Natural Law Theory

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1) The world-view of the greek and middle ages has been replaces by a scientific world view
2) Just because something is the case does not mean it ought to be the case
3) Natural law theories will conflict with each other if they are based on different thrological world-views and so we'll get different moral codes
4) If ultimately it is reason and evidence that determines what is right and wrong , one needs to be a theist in order to inquire into nature what is right and wrong

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Devine Command Theory

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The basic idea that God decides what is right and wrong. Actions that God commands are morally required; actions that God forbids are morally wrong; and all other actions are permissible or merely morally neautral

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Atheism and Agnostics

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Atheists do not believe that god exists while Agnostics are unsure what to believe

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The Religious Perspective

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1) God is the creator and ender of the universe
2) we are able to commune with god
3) the universe has a purpose and meaning and so do our lives
4) there is a code of conduct handed down from god thagt we should follow

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Threee traditions devine attributes of monotheism

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God exists and is
1) all-loving
2) all powerful
3) all-knowing

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Ethical Subjectivism

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The idea that our moral opinions are based on our feelings and nothing more "no such thing as objective right or wrong"

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Normative Statments

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Expresses a value judegment of some kind. It is defended by appeal to a norm or standard
1) Antonio Gaudi is a great architect and artist

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Factual Statements

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Statements describing some state of affairs
1) it rained on this day last year

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Values shared by all cultures

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1) any culture that continues to exist must care for its young
2) every society must value truthfulness
3) the prohibition against murder

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Consequences of cultural Realtivism

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1) we could no longer say that the customs of other societies are morally inferior/superior to our own
2) we could decide whether our actions are right or wrong just by consulting the standards of our society
3) the idea of moral progress is called into doubt

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The cultural Differences Argument

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1) different cultures have different moral codes
2) if different cultures have different moral codes, then whether it is right for an individual to act in a certain way depends entirely on the society to which he/she beloings
3) therefore, whether it is right for an individual to act in a certain way depends entierly on the society to which he/she belongs

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Is the "cultural difference" arguement sound?

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the cultural differences arguement tries to derive a substartive conclusion about a subject from the mere fact that people disagree about it. But this is impossible. So no, the argument is not sound

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Five features of cultural relativism

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1) different societies have different moral codes
2) (a) the "good" is determined by society; (b) an act is "right" if it is allowed by the guiding ideals of the society in which it id performed, and "wrong" if it is forbidden by those ideals
3) there is no objective standard that can be used to judge one society's code as better than anothers
4) the moral code of our society has no special status
5) we should adopt an attitude of tolerance

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Two Basic elements of Ethics

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1) the nature of morality or what is good
2) how we ought to live our lives

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The minimum conception of morality

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Morality is, at the very least, the effort to guide one's conduct by reason- to do what there are the best reasons for doing-while giving equal weight to the interests of each individual affected by one's decision

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Impartiality

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Basic Idea; each individual's interests must be given equal consideration

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Reason and Impartiality

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1) our feelings are important, but they must be guided by reason
2)ethics includes the idea of impartiality

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The slippery slope argument

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1) if we accept any sort of mercy killing, we will have stepped onto a "slipery slope" down which we will inevitaby slide
2) in the end all life will be held cheap
3) if all life will be held cheap, tracy should not have been killed
4) hence tracy should not have been killed

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"we should not use people as means"

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1) it is wrong to use people as a means to other people's ends
2) if we harvest theresa's organs, we would be using her as a means to benefit other children
3) therefore, we should not harvest theresa's organs

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Baby Theresa: The Benefits Argument

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1) if we can benefit someone, without harming anyone else, we ought to do so
2) transporting the organs would benefit other children without harming baby theresa
3) therefore, we ought to transplant her organs

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Argument

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Examine what reasons can be givin in support of an ethical position

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Sound Argument

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A valid argument that contains only true premises
1) if we are in corpusn then we must we are in Tx
2) we are in corpus
3) hence, we are in Tx

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Valid Argument

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if the premises are true, then it is impossible for the conclusion to be false
1) if A, then B
2) A
3) hence B