Topics for Exam #3 (fall 2019)

Topics for Chapter Ethics is the study of moral values. Metaethics is the study of ethics.

Moral values are behaviors of fundamental consequence for human welfare.

moral judgments = moral norms + "facts"

click here for how moral norms emerge from facts.

Cultural relativism: The doctrine that what makes an action right is that it's approved by that culture. Counterarguments: 1- Cultural relativism makes moral disagreements impossible, 2- Cultural moral norms are not that different. Though there are differences at superficial values (domestic habits, etiquette, fashion, cuisine), most culture share general "deep" moral values (i.e., human behavior of fundamental consequence for human welfare).

 5. Logical Structure of Moral Arguments: mj = mn + "facts" (this is not a formula, just an approximation). What is a "fact"? A belief held by factual evidence (i.e., child abuse is wrong because of the facts we know about psychology & child development).

 6. Are there universal moral principles? YES.They serve to preserve the species.  

 Difference between Consequentialist and Formalist theories

Consequentialism is the theory that judges the rightness or wrongness of an action in terms of its consequences. Formalism is the theory that judges the rightness or wrongness of an action in terms of the action's form.

 2. Intrinsic value: a value for its own sake, i.e., personhood (reason, autonomy, sentience, freedom) is intrinsic and instrumental values: value for the sake of something else: i.e., getting a degree is an instrumental value.    

 3. Ethical egoism: What makes an action right is that it promotes one's best interest. This is equivalent to a calculus of prudence. Counterarguments: 1- Moral agents are not instruments to serve  one's interest.

Click here for my notes on Ethical Egoism.

 4. Act Utilitarianism (or Traditional utilitarianism): What makes an action right is that it maximizes happiness everyone considered (remember this is only a particular milieu: family, class, Miami, Florida, the USA). Counterarguments: (see my notes on utilitarianism).

click here for my notes on utilitarianism.

5. Kant's Formalism: Formalism is the theory that AIR because of the action's form.

Kant’s Categorical Imperative: What makes an action right is that everyone can act on it (which yields universalizability), and you'd have everyone acting on it (which yields reversibility: Golden Rule).

Duties: obligations one has by virtue of one's embeddedness in society. Perfect duty: A duty that must always be performed no matter what (ex. telling the truth). Imperfect duty: A duty that doesn't have to be performed all the time (ex. giving money to the homeless).

click here for my notes on Kantian ethics + categorical imperative.

Kant's Second Formulation: TREAT PEOPLE AS ENDS, NEVER AS MEANS TO AN END. Problems with the second formulation? C/A The problem with Kantian theory is the problem of exceptions to the rule. Should I keep a promise even if it puts some one's life in danger? Then, some times we have to treat people as means to ends.

click here for my notes on Kant's second formulation.

A counter usually leveled against Kantian ethics is that it doesn't allow for exceptions to the rule. What to do then?

6. Virtue morality

click here for Aristotle's virtue morality.