Module 3 Learning Objectives

Question 1

Normative moral theory

Answer 1

everyday pre-theoretical principles and convictions

Question 2

Metaethics

Answer 2

• study of moral thought and moral language.
• Rather than addressing questions about what practices are right and wrong, and what our obligations to other people or future generations are – questions of so-called ‘normative’ ethics – metaethics asks what morality actually is
• does not tell us what we can or cannot do
• what it means to claim that something is right or wrong
• ie) “this is a good gun” - what do we mean by the word “good”? is it “good” because it fulfills its purpose or cus I approve of it?

Question 3

Normative ethics

Answer 3

• deals with what things are right or wrong
• study of ethical actions
• attempts to evaluate or create moral standards and prescribes how ppl ought to act
• help ppl understand what is right and moral and what is wrong and immoral
• tell ppl what to do and what not to do
• study of ethical actions
• “this is a good gun” - is the gun morally good?

Question 4

Descriptive Ethics

Answer 4

• empirically based
• aims to discover and describe the moral beliefs of a specific culture
• the study of people’s beliefs about morality.
• analyzes people’s moral values, standards, and behaviours
• describes how ppl behaves, and what types of moral standards they claim and follow

Question 5

Explain ethical relativism

Answer 5

• claims that there is no objective truth in ethics, and that there isn’t a universally applicable set of criteria by which we can judge acts as right or wrong
• when in rome, do as romans do

Question 6

Motivations of ethical relativism

Answer 6

• rejection of ethnocentrism: rejecting the uncritical belief that one’s culture is superior than others
• shift in public opinion regarding minority: rejecting ethnocentrism contributed shift in opinion
• apparent belief that this promotes tolerance (healthy appreciation for traditions that differ from our own) and peace (respect for unique traditions)

Question 7

Problems of ethical relativism

Answer 7

• not enough when method of philosophical analysis is applied
• theory is ultimately self-defeating: tolerance is myth cus certain societies assigned moral virtue to intolerance and determined to impose its will on groups that do not share its values
• conduct of other societies is completely immune from reproach: make no sense for anyone to criticize the customs of a society as long as customs conform to standards the society has set for itself (ie. slavery, ethnic persecution, sexual relations with minors, etc)
• conduct of one’s own society is completely immune from reproach: wrong for ppl to criticize practice of own society (ie. Martin luther king, ghandi, and other peace makers)
• moral change, not moral progress: allow moral standards in society change but moral progress cant take place
• the minority is always wrong: moral issues in same society
• there are moral universals: prohibitions against gratuitous theft, murder, rape

Question 8

What is subjectivism?

Answer 8

• morality not on social customs but the individual
• “in the eye of the beholder”
• makes morality useless concept for on its premises, no interpersonal criticism or judgement is even logically possible
• only way of judging would be if they fail to live up their principle but even then theres still loophole like not living up to their principle is morally acceptable
• not ever possible to judge anyone’s morality as wanting or deficient

Question 9

Good example of subjectivism

Answer 9

Louis Pojman:
- “return their next test with F and I explain to them that I am a subjectivist, and it feels very good to me as a sadistic professor to give everyone an F and watch them groan. When the students express outrage at this injustice, I point out that from the perspective of subjectivism, the principle of justice has no objective validity”

Question 10

Utilitarianism

Answer 10

• Moral theory that focuses on results, or consequences, of our actions, and treats intentions as irrelevant
• good consequences = good actions

Question 11

Consequentialism

Answer 11

the view that whether an act is morally right or wrong depends entirely on the results it produces

Question 12

Who founded the utilitarian doctrine?

Answer 12

Jeremy Bentham

Question 13

Principle of Utility

Answer 13

approves of an action insofar as it has an overall tendency to promote the greatest amount of happiness

Question 14

Happiness in philosophy

Answer 14

pleasure or absence of pain

Question 15

felicific (or happiness-making) calculus

Answer 15

takes into account only the intensity and duration of pleasures and pains

Question 16

Classical Act Utilitarianism

Answer 16

defines an act as morally right if and only if it produces the maximum net utility
- act is morally right if and only if there is no other act the agent could have performed instead that would have yielded a higher net utility

Question 17

John Mill

Answer 17

• supported utilitarianism
• happiness is the only thing that has intrinsic value; it is good in itself
• everything else has instrumental or extrinsic value

Question 18

Hedonism

Answer 18

• view that pleasure (or freedom from pain) is the ultimate good
• part of utilitarian thinking

Question 19

What are the 3 things that Classical Act Utilitarianism is composed of?

Answer 19

1) Consequentialism: position that the right act is determined entirely by its consequences. Motives, principles, all irrelevant. This attitude makes utilitarianism a consequentialist theory
2) Hedonism: sole ultimate good = pleasure, sole ultimate bad = pain
3) Equal Consideration: belief that no one’s pleasure/pain is to count as more important than anyone else’s.
- Utilitarianism is egalitarian

Question 20

Calculating net utility for Classical Act Utilitarianism

Answer 20

• always choose the act that yields the highest net utility, given all the options available in a given situation
• pleasure minus pain

Question 21

What are the 2 equivalent claims of Classical Act Utilitarianism?

Answer 21

1) An act is morally right if and only if it produces the maximum net utility
2) An act is morally right if and only if there is no other act the agent could have performed instead that would have yielded a higher net utility

Question 22

Difference between act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism

Answer 22

ACT:
- considers axn case by case and looks at consequences of each axn to calculate utility for best results
RULE:
- considers general rules instead like always tell the truth for best consequences

Question 23

Deontology

Answer 23

• normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules, rather than based on the consequences of the action
• ethical theory that uses rules to distinguish right from wrong.

Question 24

What is ethical universalism?

Answer 24

Ethical universalism is a concept in which the ethical implications of an action applies universally to anyone, regardless of circumstance

Question 25

What is ethical absolutism?

Answer 25

Moral absolutism is an ethical view that all actions are intrinsically right or wrong. Stealing, for instance, might be considered to be always immoral, even if done for the well-being of others, and even if it does in the end promote such a good