Phil Exam Terms :)

Front 1

Fact/Fiction divide

• to
• crossover
• subjective journalism

Back 1

The divide between fact and fiction refers to their differing respective duties.Factual information aims to educate, communicate, and inform. In contrast,fiction aims to entertain and to engage its audience. However, there is inevitable crossover between factual and fictional texts. While non-fictional texts by nature are meant to be true, there are elements of truth found in fictional texts. They can, for example, reveal a truth about the human condition. Additionally, due to the subjective nature of journalism, some fictionalising of an account intended to be factual is unavoidable.

Front 2

Is/Ought divide

• david
• earth evidence, death no fact
• descriptive prescriptive
• moral claims || empirical discourse

Back 2

The is/ought divide,as articulated by David Hume, describes the non-objective nature of ethicalclaims. While an objective claim like "the earth is flat" can beproved true via assessment of evidence, an ethical claim such as "murderis wrong" has no basis in fact. The former claim is descriptive, an"is", and the latter is prescriptive, and should be an"ought". It contextualises moral claims as being separate fromempirical discourse.

Front 3

Deontology

• objective duties
• right b/c commitment
• moral facts

Back 3

Anethical system that regards an action be right or wrong in the light of ourobjective duties. An action (e.g., keeping a promise) is right, not because ofits consequences, but because it is dutiful commitment. Deontological ethicsdraw from our knowledge of moral facts(self-evident truths about our lives), and we are moved to act on the basis ofthis knowledge.

Front 4

Virtue Ethics

• right = virtuous person
• cardinal values
• conflict - promise

Back 4

Anethical system based on the notion that a right act is the act a virtuousperson would perform under particular circumstances. It emphasises cardinalvirtues (such as prudence, or discipline). Problems arise when these cardinalvirtues are in conflict. For example, an individual would experience a moraldilemma if two of their cardinal virtues were honesty and loyalty, and they hadto lie to protect a friend.

Front 5

Consequentialism

• right = consequences
• utility or consequences
• intrinsic or extrinsic

Back 5

Anethical system that regards actions to be right or wrong in the light of theconsequences they bring about. An action is considered right if it maximizesutility or desirable consequences (typically not just for oneself but for themany). The measures of utility andconsequences desired can be intrinsic (e.g. happiness) or extrinsic (e.g. deathtoll).

Front 6

Censorship

• government
• examples
• problems - free speech, what requires

Back 6

Censorshipis the act undertaken by an official body (government or otherwise) to deemcertain material in the media unacceptable to be broadcast/distributed, and issubsequently suppressed. This can include violent images, materials instructingviolent acts, or images of abhorrent sexuality. Problems arise in that people perceive censorship to infringe upon the right to free speech, and struggle to define what requires censorship.

Front 7

Free speech

• protects public comm.
• comm = symbolic expression
• arguments

Back 7

Freespeech is a right afforded to individuals. It protects the individual's freedomto communicate in public, both between individuals and to the government.Communication refers broadly to symbolic expression, such as actual speech, thecreation of art, and protests. Arguments for free speech include the argumentfrom truth and the argument from democracy.

Front 8

Blogging

• alt to mass media
• authenticity?

Back 8

Bloggingrefers to the writing and posting of opinion on the internet. The popularity ofblogging is of significance in that journalistic blogging is seen to be analternative to traditional mass media. While this may seem to increase the"authenticity" of blogger's opinions, increased desire for popularityand advertising revenue introduces mass media-like qualities into theblogosphere, with bloggers pandering in order to keep and expand theiraudience.

Front 9

Free press

• unregulated by gov't = impartial
• political truths, unbound

Back 9

A free press is thatwhich remains unregulated and uninfluenced by governmental or ideologicalpressures, achieving true impartiality. Only a free press can discoverpolitical truths and communicate them to the public, as they are unbound fromrestrictions such as what is placed on partisan news media.

Front 10

Public sphere

• landscape
• different localities
• public

Back 10

Thepublic sphere is the landscape of communication. It includes many differentlocalities of differing accessibility, varying from press junkets at the WhiteHouse to the comment section on a Facebook post. They are public spacesavailable for public discourse.

Front 11

Defamation

• disseminate
• reputation
• quoting

Back 11

Defamation means to disseminate false, negative information aboutsomeone which could do them harm. This in turn could possibly ruin the reputation of the subject, affecting them in their workplace or profession. Defamation can also occur when quoting someone else's opinion, and can be practiced by more than one person acting in tandem.

Front 12

Argument from democracy

• free speech
• public discussion = legitimacy of law
• communication = criticism, accountability

Back 12

In the argument fromdemocracy, free speech is considered important because it protects fundamentaldemocratic interests. One such interest is that publicdiscussion and consensus over particular issues is necessary to ensure thelegitimacy of the law making process and by implication, the legitimacy ofgovernment. Another is that protection of communication enables citizens tocriticise government decisions and policy, ensuring accountability forgovernment officials. This process informs the electorate, legitimisingelections.

Front 13

Public service model

• mass media
• imparting info = informed electorate
• public watchdog

Back 13

The public service model as it pertains to themass media is defined as being created and ran for the people. The mass mediahas a number of important democratic functions. One such function is that ofimparting information and ideas on matters of public interest, creating aninformed electorate. It also acts as a public watchdog, ensuring that there istransparency for all government officials.

Front 14

Imagination-as-simulation

Back 14

Imagination-as-simulation is a function of the imagination in which the individual assumes the beliefs, desires, and experiences of an individual in a particular situation in order to play out how they themselves would react in that situation. By living vicariously through the hypothetical individual, one can examine one's own possible reactions and beliefs in that situation.

Front 15

Secondary imagining

Back 15

Secondaryimagining occurs when an individual engages with a fictional text. Secondaryimagining builds upon primary imagining, which involves picturing eventsoccurring in a story. Secondary imagining seeks to fill in the gaps thatinevitably occur in the story, typically that of the mental mindset of thecharacter.