set of beliefs about what constitutes good conduct and good character
value
where do you learn these basic values
at home
a judgement of someone’s behavior according to wether or not it corresponds to certain moral rules
moral value
refers to good or bad but has no moral value
nonmoral value
breaking moral rules
immoral
not having any moral standards
amoral
refers to the moral rules we follow or the values that we have
morality
theories about the rules
ethics
when we reach a conclusion based on a rational decision we reach an
argument
a conclusion based on a gathering of evidence but you can’t be certain its true
inductive argument
100% accurate or true
deductive argument
a sound argument which has a valid form
deductive argument
why be moral?
- reason
- biological trait
- religion
- laws
law reflects a test of universal standards
naturalism
rules for everyone
code of ethics
by this age a child should have developed a sense of values to have a conscious adult mind
7
moral center of the brain
prefrontal cortex
used to trick/deceive people
logical fallacies
appeal to authority
no reason other than authority
begging the question
trying to prove with nothing to back it up
ad hominem
a person is correct/incorrect based on who they are
generalization
hasty generalization/sterotype
ad baculum
physical threat (bully)
slippery slope
exaggeration
straw man
radical
bifurcating
creating a false dilemma
red herring
deflection a way of the truth
ad misericordia
bad excuses that appeals pity for the individual
- founded after WWII
- ratified human rights declaration
- world peace, harmony
general assembly of the united nations
certain principles are universally valuable such as respect for life and liberty
cosmopolitan perspective
certain principles are universally valuable such as respect for life and liberty
cosmopolitan perspective
developed tolerance and respect/ liberty in the 18, 17th centuries in Europe
enlightenment era
makes religious freedom, government cannot get in between people and their religious values
first amendment
morality and religion are
inseparable
ethics looks to
reason
certain actions ar right because that is what God wills for us
divine command theory
one approach that all religions have a common core
religious pluralism
do unto others as you would have them do to you
golden rule
argument that attempts to justify God that is all powerful and all knowing despite the problem of evil
theodicies
passed down from Adam to the rest of the world; God did provide us the free will to choose between good and evil
original sin
effort to coexist
secular ethics
spiritual concerns are replaced by worldly concerns
secularization
prayer out of school is an example
secularization
our judgements about ethics are relative or too dependent upon something else
relativism
no right no wrong values
moral nihilism
we cannot know wether there are any moral truths
moral skepticism
moral viewpoint is only valid for the person who holds it
moral subjectivism
4 approached to moral differences
moral nihilism
ethical relativism
soft universalism
hard universalism
no universal moral truths
ethical relativism
ethical and moral subjectivism
have moral values
few moral views
soft universalism
absolutism, is one universal code
hard universalism
3 key issues by ruth Benedict
- normality is culturally defined
- the concept of the normal is variant of the concept of good
- the majority any group conformed to the values of the group
James Rachel 3 universal values
rules against lying
rules against murder
care enough for infants so the group can continue
theory that people always act selfishly
born selfish
psychological egosim
a person that thinks of themselves in terms of their advantage disregard the interest of others
egoist
a person who has a high opinion of themselves
egotist
all emotions of self love humans feel pity for others because they do fear the same thing would happen to them
Thomas hobbs
6 main arguments against ethical relativism
- we can neither condemn or praise other cultures
- majority rule
- are we talking about a professed or actual morality
- what is a majority
- what is a culture?
- can tolerance be a universal value
3 ways to refute
- the flat earth arguement
- problem of induction- we can never know for certain when we have accumulated enough material to make a theory
- soft universalism- all cultures have something in common, we just accept it in different ways
3 reasons why psychological egoism is popular
appeals to honesty
appeals to modern day citizenism
serves as an excuse for not trying to something for others
3 shortcomings of psychological egoism
falsification is not possible
doing what we want is always selfish
a problem of language we do not invent words
suppressed correlative
we do not invent words
everyone must look out for themselves
ethical egoism
doing a good deed
altruism
psychosocial altruism
unselfish by nature
implies something is wrong with a person wanting to benefit their self
ideal altruism
showing that behavior is an instinctive way to promote the survival of our genes
selfish gene theory
single moral code- make life as bearable as possible for as many people as possible
utilitarianism (consequentialist)
pleasure is good, pain is bad, greatest happiness principle
principles of utility
thought all humans were hedonism pleasure thinking
Jeremy bentham
the harder you look for happiness the less likely you will find it
hedonistic paradox
things that bring you pleasure
intrinsic value
anything that helps us to achieve or avoid pain
instrumental value
where you calculate the utility of an action according to its ability to produce pleasure
hedonistic calculus
4 arguments against hedonistic calculus
it is biased in favor according to our choice of value
hard to place value for each consequence
humans don’t always value rational argument
its merely impossible to breakdown values to numbers
its okay to test on animals because humans are major
-only if few animals suffer and cause humans to benefit more
utilitarian view of animal testing
says test animals, they don’t feel pain nor does it matter
Renee Descartes
reasons for John Stuart mills’s breakdowns
overworked
lonely and depressed
was an intellectual in a feeling oriented age
mills believes __ pleasures and ___ pleasures are more valuable than physical pleasures
spiritual and intellectual
proposed some pleasures are more valuable than others
higher/lower pleasure
how did mills believe to determine lower/higher pleasure
to ask people who have experienced different pleasures
known for the harm principle
mills
only reason for interfering with other people if they are doing direct harm to others
harm principle
consequences of any single act is what counts
act utilitarianism
do whatever act that will create the greatest happiness for the greatest amount of people
rule utilitarianism
for example, wondering whether one should eat grapefruit, wear socks of a specific shade of color, or part your hair on the left side of the head are all usually considered nonmoral issues. Yet there are circumstances where such actions could have moral consequences.
nonmoral value
telling a lie is an
immoral action
For example, a sociopath, sometimes called a person without a conscience, and a very young child are called “amoral” because such people have no feeling or understanding of the concepts of right and wrong.
amoral