Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Topics for exam #2 SUMMER B (miniterm 2018)

Chapter 3


3.1
 

Causal Determinism (C-->E + LN) and Hard determinism (the doctrine that there are no free actions). 

Hard determinism assumes that: if CD is true ---> -Fw  

As our bodies made up of matter, we must be subjects to the same laws of causation which apply to all matter.

In addition, if HD is true ---> -HR (there's no human responsibility) if we are not free, we cannot be responsible for our actions (since one is responsible if and only if one can make choices). 

3.2
 
Compatibilism is the belief that free will and determinism are not mutually exclusive.

Soft determinism: Determined actions can nevertheless be free.

1- Traditional Compatibilism (Free actions are 1- caused by one's will and 2- not externally constrained). The reasoning is this:

Principle of alternative possibilities: one can be held responsible for doing something only if one could have done otherwise. "could have done otherwise." 


which means "if you had chosen otherwise, then you would have done otherwise." 

Think of this example: a student being late for class. He chooses ( A) "having coffee with lots of traffic," instead of (B) "not having coffee and no traffic." For Traditional Compatibilism the student is responsible for being late since "if he had choosen (B) instead of (A), he would have been on time for class. 

C/E "Taylor's Ingenious Physiologist. Here the physiologist plants desires in the subject and he acts on these desires. But the desires are not his. This brings the problem that not all of our desires at a given time are necessarily ours.


 Taylor is also getting at the fact that there are internal constraints one may not be aware of. Take for example phobias and addictions. These may not be external constraints.


Punishment: How do compatibilists see punishment? Take a look at p. 203. Punishment cannot be  retributive (eye-for-an-eye). The only legitimate way of punishment is rehabilitation and deterrence. Criminal actions are dictated by genes and habits (nature and nurture). Retributive punishment makes sense if it's deserved. But according to the Compatibilist nothing people do is really up to them. 

Punishment is good as education. It can teach criminals their error and help rehabilitate them.

3.3 Libertarianism
 
You should know the difference between "event causation" and "agent causation." 

synaptic activity is event causation. mental states causing synaptic activity is agent causation. 

Libertarianism holds that agents can cause events. How? Well, our actions are under our control because they are caused by ourselves. 

Keep in mind that acting freely requires deciding for yourself what desires you're going to act on. If your actions are based on desires that have been programmed into you from without, then you don't act freely.

There are two arguments here:


Argument from Experience. Argument from deliberation. In class I called it argument from experience, because you experience it from the inside. You feel you wanted to come to class, you got ready, drove through rush hour and got to the class on time. You feel you chose that. You are responsible for that action. 


Read pages 216 and 217! For the libertarian if the wants you act on are not yours, you are not free and therefore not responsible. If you declared nursing as a major because it's the dream of your parents that doesn't automatically make you free.That may not be your desire. In fact you may not even know what you really want! 
 

Libet's Neurophysiological challenge: it seems to show that consciousness of a decision arises only after the decision has already been made (the 300 millisecond gap between the decision to press the button and the brain signal).


Rebuttal by libertarians: There's a difference between making a "conscious decision" and a "meta-conscious decision" (meta-conscious awareness is second order). For the libertarian, the subject in Libet's report is not having a "conscious" but a "meta-conscious" decision. So it's no surprise that it happens "after" the conscious decision was made.



Tuesday, July 11, 2017

List of student assistants for Summer B class

Sofia Fascia
Selina Savage
Gersch Schiff
James Reyes

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Final exam, Chapter 5 MINITERM

Section 5.1

Ethics is the study of moral norms & values.

Moral norms emerge from non-moral norms. i.e., "incest is wrong" only when brother & sister have sick babies.

Moral norms are behaviors of fundamental consequence for human welfare. They ensure survival.

mj= mn + mf (moral judgments are equivalent of moral norms and moral facts)

Ethics can be broadly divided into objectivism (Formalism, Realism)  and subjectivism (Relativism, Consequentialism). Formalism is the view that right and wrong are independent from peoples' beliefs. Relativism is the view that right and wrong are dependent of peoples' beliefs.

Cultural relativism: The doctrine that what makes an action right is that it's approved by that culture.

Counterarguments to cultural relativism here

What's the structure of moral knowledge? Find it here.

6. Are there universal moral principles? YES. 1- Principle of mercy (Unnecessary suffering is wrong) 2- Principle of justice (Treat equals equally).

Section 5.2

Difference between consequentialist theories 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 (i.e., "killing is wrong": the formalist believes that moral actions are objective).

Intrinsic (value for its own sake; personhood is an essential value: a-reason, b-autonomy, c-sentience, d-freedom) and instrumental values (value for the sake of something else).

Ethical egoism: What makes an action right is that it promotes one's BEST interest. This is equivalent to a calculus of prudence.

Find more arguments for Ethical Egoism here.

Counterargument: Moral agents are mot mere instruments for one's interest.

 Act Utilitarianism: What makes an action right is that it maximizes happiness everyone considered.
Counterarguments: (a) McCloskey’s informant (problems with rights) (b) Brandt’s Heir (problems with duties), (c) Goodwin's Fire Rescue (problems with duties), (e) Ewing's Utilitarian torture (problems with justice). Duties: obligations one has by virtue of one's embeddedness in society. Filial, social, etc. Justice: justice is fairness.


Here you have more arguments for traditional utilitarianism. 

Section 5.3

 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). Remember Triff's circuit.

Perfect duty: A duty that must always be performed no matter what (keeping our promises). Imperfect duty: A duty that doesn't have to be performed always (taking a shower every day). 

Problem with Kant's first formulation: (a) Hare’s Nazi fanatic (I've commented this as the Al Qaeda paradigm). The Al Qaeda jihadist tells you that he's following Kantian ethics. He follows reversibility since he immolates himself with his victims. His actions follow a universalizability principle since (even if he was an infidel) he would wish that all infidels die -including himself.

Can Kant respond to that counter?

Kant's Second Formulation: TREAT PEOPLE AS ENDS, NEVER MERELY AS MEANS TO AN END. 

Kant's second formulation yields the principle of respect.  Are there problems with the second formulation? Counterargument: This is known as the problems of "exceptions to the rule". Some times we have no choice but to treat people as means to ends. In the book you have  Broad's Typhoid Man. In class we discussed a Danish family protecting a family of Jews in their basement and telling the truth (??)  to the Gestapo officer looking for Jews to be sent to Concentration Camps. In this case it's clear we're supposed to lie to the Gestapo. Moreover it's our duty to do so.

Sunday, July 2, 2017

draft revisions (glossary of my symbols)

here are the symbols I use in the revision of your drafts:
______________________________
C/P: Fix copy and paste ratio, this is a red rflag for plagiarism. Fix it by paraphrasing in your own words the whole paragraph.

FixSent: Fix the sentence, it reads awkwardly.


FdbetAr: Find a better argument. Generally it means the argument is not relevant. Find a new one.

InsuffRsrch: Insufficient research.

?? : Don't get it, "what do you mean," vague, etc.

Hypb: Hyperbolic. Fix the tone of your sentence. Hyperbolic language is a sign of poor research.  

TooW: Too wordy, cut, trim, less is more.

Need+W: The draft is short on words. 1,000 words minimum,

WT: Who talks? Proper prefacing, i.e., Same-marriage critics, or Same-marriage activists, never mind the cacophony, what we need is clarity.

Mss1Pt, missing first point, Mss2Pt, missing second point, Mss3Pt, missing third point,

Insffexpl: Insufficient explanation,

Insffinfo: Insufficient information,

ITC: Missing in-text-citation,

OS: The paragraph needs outside source,

Prefproprly: Preface the paragraph properly with either _____ advocate or ______ critic,