Katie’s STUDY GUIDE for Midterm
Opens Thursday @ Noon- Closes 8 PM Friday
People
Plato- Ring of Gyges, Psychological egoism
Jeremy Bentham- Utilitarianism/ Greatest Happiness/Hedonistic Calculus
John Stuart Mill- Utilitarianism/ Greatest Happiness
Aristotle- Intellectual Virtue, Principle of the Mean, Moral Virtue, Teleology
Immanuel Kant- Categorical Imparative/ Goodwill
Epicurus- Ataraxia, Happiness, Epistemology
John Rawls -The Two Principles of Justice
Concepts
Moral Philosophy (Also known as ETHICS)- is the study of morality using the methods of philosophy, and morality concerns beliefs about right and wrong actions and good and bad persons or character.
Normative Ethics- Philosophical exploration and evaluation of moral norms (principals, virtues, values, and theories). Goal is to use critical thinking to search for norms that we are justified in using as guides to the moral life.
Descriptive Ethics- The study of morality using the methodology of SCIENCE, not philosophy. Aims to examine the empirical facts of the moral life- the descriptive details of peoples moral beliefs and behavior.
Applied Ethics- the application of moral principals, virtues, or theories to real-life cases or issues. Its aim is to arrive at informed, well-reasoned answers to specific moral questions or problems. Ex: Medical ethics, legal ethics, environmental ethics, etc.
Virtue Ethics- a moral theory that focuses on the development of virtuous character
Teleology- (Aristotle) Everything is aimed at some end.The being of a living thing is thus inextricably bound up in its being alive and living the life that a thing of its kind lives. So, we ought to aim at the best human life. The ultimate end of human life is happiness/eudemonia.
Intellectual Virtue* The knowledge, supplied by reason and experience, of what is just and admirable. Without prudence and cleverness, a well-disposed person can never be truly virtuous, because these intellectual virtues help us grasp the right principles of action. These virtues are gained primarily through teaching and experience. (Aristotle)
Moral Virtue* A morally virtuous person habitually and without hesitation does what is just and admirable. Knowledge is useless without action. This is the virtue of action. (Aristotle)
Principle of the Mean*- Moderation. (Aristotle). Aristotle’s claim that virtue can be learned only through constant practice implies that there are no set rules we can learn and then obey. Instead, virtue consists of learning, through experience, where the path of the mean lies, relative to ourselves, between the vices we may be liable to stumble into. Both deficiency and excess are fatal. (Aristotle imports this way of thinking into his account of ethical excellence or excellence of character. Bodily strength and health are destroyed by excess and deficiency. Too much food, or too much exercise, are bad for health, just as too little food or exercise are. The same holds in ethical matters)
Eudemonia- Greek translation for happiness/welfare. “Human Flourishing”. Significantly different from modern conception of happiness.
Utilitarianism-The ethical theory proposed by Jeremy Bentham and James Mill that all action should be directed toward achieving the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
Greatest happiness principle holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the privation of pleasure. (Jeremy Bentham and James Mill)
Epicurean definition of happiness*- the most pleasant life is one where we abstain from unnecessary desires and achieve an inner tranquility (ataraxia) by being content with simple things, and by choosing the pleasure of philosophical conversation with friends over the pursuit of physical pleasures like food, drink, and sex. Epicurus then claims that there
