Philosophy Exam 3

Front 1

What are the branches of Ethics

Back 1

Meta Ethics, Normative Ethics, Applied Ethics

Front 2

Define: Meta Ethics

Back 2

What is the nature of ethical properties statements attitudes and judgments?

Front 3

Define: Normative Ethics

Back 3

How should we act? Theories of right and wrong

Front 4

Define: Applied Ethics

Back 4

Philosophical examination from a moral standpoint of particular issues.

Front 5

What makes murdering another human being wrong?

Back 5

Wrong because the law says so, we do not wield the power of life, I would not want to be killed myself. Not always wrong, maybe okay to remove a person that is doing harm to others

Front 6

What is Utilitarianism

Back 6

an act is right if and only if it brings about a state of affairs that maximizes the good

Front 7

Define:Consequential ism:

Back 7

All that matters is the results of the action or the state of affairs that arises because of it. Neither the method nor the intent make any moral difference, absent how they may alter the state of affairs

Front 8

Define: Teleological:

Back 8

Right is defined in terms of the good and any theory of the good can be inject into the theory

Front 9

Define: Maximizing (in terms of Utilitarianism)

Back 9

Does not seek equal distribution, but rather the maximal output of good (or the maximal reduction of bad)

Front 10

Define: No essential reference to what entities are morally relevant:

Back 10

means it doesn't have to be just humans.

Front 11

Define: Impartiality/agent neutrality:

Back 11

all morally relevant beings count for one, no one for more than one.

Front 12

Define: Hedonistic Utilitariansim

Back 12

An act is right if it maximized pleasure and or minimizes pain. Pleasure is the good (pain is opposite)

Front 13

What does Jeremy Bentham believe (utilitarianism)

Back 13

i. Felicific Calculus: Intensity, duration, certainty, proximity, fecundity, purity and extent
ii. All pleasures could be on an equal plane- counting blade of grass and reading philosophy are equal
iii. Animals feel pain just like humans, and are thus on an equal moral field.

Front 14

What did John Stuart Mill believe (utilitarianism)

Back 14

i. Greatest happiness principle: within reason, always act to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people
ii. Greater and lower pleasures- it is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied.

Front 15

Define: Preference Utilitarianism:

Back 15

An act is right if it maximized preferences satisfaction.

Front 16

Define: Divine Command theory:

Back 16

Wrong and right are wholly defined by what god wills

Front 17

Define: Psychological Egoism:

Back 17

on thing anyone is capable of desiring or pursuing ultimately is their own self interest

Front 18

Define: The Biological explanations

Back 18

Dawkins and others argue that biologically all we can do is work for our own self interest

Front 19

Define: Relativism

Back 19

Right and wrong vary from individual/group/culture to individual/group/culture and therefore the truth and falsity of moral statements is unique to each particular individual/group/culture.

Front 20

Define: De-ontology

Back 20

An act is right if it conforms to a moral norm/rule

Front 21

Defining features of De-ontology:

Back 21

1. Consequences are wholly irrelevant, except perhaps in the formulation of the initial rule.
2. Right is more important than the good- it may be right to do an action that actually lessens the good.
3. Emphasis on rationality- It is rational to act according to the rules, because the rules are laws of rationality.
4. Rights can be derived from deontological obligations

Front 22

Define: Hypothetical imperatives:

Back 22

what you should do to satisfy a desire (if you want to pass this class, you ought to show up to class.)

Front 23

Define: Categorical Imperatives:

Back 23

do them regardless of your desires ( you ought not lie)

Front 24

Define: Act Utilitarianism:

Back 24

Each and every act has its rightness and wrongness determined by its particular consequences

Front 25

Define: Rule Utilitariansim:

Back 25

Universalized rules are formed based on their tendency to maximize the good.