Ethics of Responsibility Vocabulary Terms - Rachels Chapter 1

**The Ethics of Responsibility** **Vocabulary Terms: Rachels Chapter 1** **Anencephaly:** Anencephaly is a birth defect in which the brain and bones of the skull don't form completely while the baby is in the womb. As a result, the baby's brain, particularly the cerebellum, develops minimally. The...

**The Ethics of Responsibility** **Vocabulary Terms: Rachels Chapter 1** **Anencephaly:** Anencephaly is a birth defect in which the brain and bones of the skull don't form completely while the baby is in the womb. As a result, the baby's brain, particularly the cerebellum, develops minimally. The cerebellum is the part of the brain primarily responsible for thinking, movement, and senses, including touch, vision, and hearing. There is no known cure or standard treatment for anencephaly. Almost all babies born with anencephaly will die shortly after birth. **Autonomy:** In Western ethics and political philosophy, the state or condition of self-governance, or leading one's life according to reasons, values, or desires that are authentically one's own. Although autonomy is an ancient notion (the term is derived from the ancient Greek words autos, meaning "self," and nomos, meaning "rule"), the most-influential conceptions of autonomy are modern, having arisen in the 18th and 19th centuries in the philosophies of, respectively, Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill. **Conscientious:** Guided by or in accordance with the dictates of conscience; principled. Wishing to do what is right, especially to do one\'s work or duty well and thoroughly. **Ethics:** The discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation. A set of moral principles: a theory or system of moral values. **Impartiality:** The equal treatment of all rivals or disputants; fairness. Not biased: treating or affecting all equally. **Knowledge:** Facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. **Morality:** A particular system of values and principles of conduct put forward by a society or a group (such as a religion), or accepted by an individual for her own behavior. **Philosophy:** (from Greek, by way of Latin, philosophia, "love of wisdom") The study of the basic ideas about knowledge, right and wrong, reasoning, and the value of things. The rational, abstract, and methodical consideration of reality as a whole or of fundamental dimensions of human existence and experience. **Reason:** The power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments by a process of logic. A cause, explanation, or justification for an action or event. **Slippery Slope:** An idea or course of action that seems to lead to something unacceptable, wrong, or disastrous. In a slippery slope argument, a course of action is rejected because, with little or no evidence, one insists that it will lead to a chain reaction resulting in an undesirable end or ends. **Socratic Method:** A method of inquiry employed by Socrates that forces students to define, articulate, and apply their thoughts. The teacher imparts no information, but asks a sequence of questions, through answering which the pupil eventually comes to the desired knowledge. **Stakeholder:** Stakeholders are broadly defined as anyone who is impacted by a decision-maker\'s decision. **Universal:** Existent or operative everywhere or under all conditions. A characteristic or property that particular things have in common. **Wisdom:** The quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. The ability to use your experience and knowledge in order to make sensible decisions or judgments.