Podcast
Questions and Answers
According to Kant's categorical imperative, which action is morally justifiable?
According to Kant's categorical imperative, which action is morally justifiable?
- Using a person's skills to achieve your goals without regard for their personal aspirations.
- Making an exception to a universal rule when it benefits the majority.
- Prioritizing personal relationships and showing partiality even if it means not applying the same principles to everyone.
- Treating all individuals as having inherent worth and respecting their capacity to make their own rational decisions. (correct)
Which of the following scenarios best highlights a challenge to deontological ethics?
Which of the following scenarios best highlights a challenge to deontological ethics?
- Balancing a duty to truthfulness with a duty to protect someone from harm. (correct)
- Evaluating the long-term character development of a person who consistently acts kindly.
- Determining the virtues most relevant to success in a competitive environment.
- Allocating resources to maximize overall happiness in a community.
If honesty is considered a virtue, which of the following represents the most accurate understanding of how virtue ethics defines it?
If honesty is considered a virtue, which of the following represents the most accurate understanding of how virtue ethics defines it?
- A calculation of the potential benefits and harms of telling the truth in each situation.
- A social construct that varies according to cultural norms.
- A rigid adherence to facts, regardless of the consequences.
- A character trait that is consistently demonstrated through actions and contributes to a person's well-being. (correct)
How does virtue ethics address the issue of impartiality?
How does virtue ethics address the issue of impartiality?
In what way is virtue ethics considered insufficient as an action guide?
In what way is virtue ethics considered insufficient as an action guide?
Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the core principle of utilitarianism?
Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the core principle of utilitarianism?
Utilitarianism asserts that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its consequences. Which of the following scenarios poses the most significant challenge to this assertion, based on the potential conflict between consequences and inherent moral values?
Utilitarianism asserts that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its consequences. Which of the following scenarios poses the most significant challenge to this assertion, based on the potential conflict between consequences and inherent moral values?
A government is deciding whether to build a new hospital or a new stadium. According to utilitarian principles, what information would be most critical in making this decision?
A government is deciding whether to build a new hospital or a new stadium. According to utilitarian principles, what information would be most critical in making this decision?
Why is the 'experience machine' thought experiment a challenge to utilitarianism?
Why is the 'experience machine' thought experiment a challenge to utilitarianism?
What is the fundamental difference between utilitarianism and deontology?
What is the fundamental difference between utilitarianism and deontology?
Flashcards
Ethical Theories
Ethical Theories
Theories that attempt to define what makes behavior morally right or wrong.
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism
A type of consequentialism where the moral status of an action is determined only by its consequences.
Utilitarianism Principles
Utilitarianism Principles
Actions are right/wrong based solely on consequences. Happiness or unhappiness is the only relevant factor in assessing outcomes. Each person's happiness counts equally.
Quantity of happiness (Utilitarianism)
Quantity of happiness (Utilitarianism)
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Deontology
Deontology
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Categorical Imperative (First Formulation)
Categorical Imperative (First Formulation)
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Categorical Imperative (Second Formulation)
Categorical Imperative (Second Formulation)
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Virtue Ethics
Virtue Ethics
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Virtue Definition
Virtue Definition
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Virtues as Means
Virtues as Means
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Study Notes
- Ethical theories attempt to define the meaning and nature of right and wrong behavior.
Utilitarianism
- This is a form of consequentialism.
- Moral status is determined solely by the consequences of an action.
- The consequences to consider are happiness and unhappiness.
- An action should maximize happiness and minimize unhappiness.
- Actions are judged solely by their consequences without regard to anything else.
- Only the amount of happiness or unhappiness that an action creates matters when assessing consequences.
- Each person's happiness is equally important when determining what actions produce the greatest balance of happiness over unhappiness,
- Utilitarianism is not the same thing as moral democracy.
- What matters is the quantity of happiness generated rather than the number of people affected.
- Examples of Utilitarianism, Robin Hood and Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Problems with utilitarianism: consequences become the only thing that matter at the expense of human rights, potentially leading to torture or forced organ donation.
- Nozick's experience machine questions whether happiness is all that matters.
- Utilitarianism is considered too demanding.
Deontology
- Something inherent to actions makes them right or wrong.
- Actions adhere to moral rules.
- Immanuel Kant believed rules come from our own rationality.
- The categorical imperative can expressed through "Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law"
- A maxim must be something you "Do as you would be done by" but also cannot be self-contradictory.
- Humanity should always be treated as an end, never simply as a means.
- Respect rationality and autonomy of persons.
- However, rules can conflict and require decisions, as illustrated by scenarios like the "inquiring murderer" or a case of HIV disclosure.
Virtue Ethics
- Focuses on the character of the moral agent, determining the right action as that which a virtuous person would do.
- Virtue is defined as a character trait manifested in habitual actions which is good for a person to have
- Examples of virtues include honesty, courage, and loyalty.
- Virtues are means between two vices.
- Focuses on Importance of motivation
- Allows for partiality, with different virtues are appropriate for different roles
- Problems include being insufficient as an action guide, such as altruism vs. loyalty.
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Description
An overview of Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist ethical theory that determines moral status based on the consequences of an action. The consequences to consider are happiness and unhappiness where the goal is to maximize happiness and minimize unhappiness.
