Theology Unit Two Test Study Guide

Natural Law

The basic knowledge of standards of good and evil

Subjective Truth

Feelings about the world and the truth of the statements depends on who is speaking

-Ex. Hawaiian pizza is good

Objective Truth

Reality as it is, apart from what we think or feel about it. Ex. the earth is round

Truth

The virtue which consists in showing oneself true in deeds and truthful in words, and in guarding against duplicity, dissimulation, and hypocrisy

What are some examples of object and subjective truth? (Possible Short Answer)

objective- everything is made up of atoms

subjective- matcha is delicious

How do natural law and our conscience help us know the "good" we are called to do? (possible short answer)

The capacity to know natural law is imparted to human beings by God, this forms our conscience. Therefore, in a healthy state, our consciences are aligned with the will of God and automatically lead us to what is good and just.

Utilitarianism

Good actions cause the greatest amount of pleasure to the greatest amount of people

Consequentialism

All actions are morally neutral until you know the consequence of the actions

Hedonism

life is about pleasure

Pleasure/Happiness Principle

society exists to maximize pleasure

Do the ends justify the means? Why? (possible short answer)

No, just because an action has a good outcome, that doesn't mean the actions to get there were good. Cheating on a test isn't right, even if it results in a good grade.

What are the main issues with Utilitarianism? (possible short answer)

The issue with consequences, the family problem, and groupthink

Freedom for Excellence (the good)

-the ability to do the right thing

-the SHOULD

Freedom of Indifference

-there are no restrictions on actions and we have the LICENSE to do whatever we want.

-laws then have no purpose

Virtues

-names for appropriate/ good behavior

-the baseline for all good acts

Relational Law

-How should I treat the people around me?

Civil Law?

-A law that governs relationships between individuals and defines their legal rights.

-codifies what people do in relationships

What is the difference between freedom and license? (possible short answer)

-License is the permission/authority to do whatever we want.

-Freedom is the inalienable rights of an individual and the power to speak, act, and think without hindrance or restraint

Conscience

Using your freewill and reasoning to figure out your goal in life and judge the morality of past, present, and future actions

Well-formed Conscience

Not just doing good but being good

Malformed Conscience

-a conscience that is confused and mistaken about what is good and what is evil

-you can end up convincing yourself something evil is good

Vincible Ignorant Conscience

-you don't know good from evil, but you should or could

Invincible Ignorant Conscience

-you don't know good from evil, but there is no expectation that you could or should know

Scrupulous Conscience

-picky, over-analytical, overly critical, too-strict moral compass

-you think everything you do is wrong and that you are bad.

Lax Conscience

-opposite of scrupulous, easily permissible, weak moral compass

-you think nothing you do is wrong and that you are right

Legalistic Conscience

-knows the rules, but forgets the meaning, literalist, excessive conformity to the law

-what should I do, not who I should be

What is our conscience? How do we begin to form our consciences well? (possible short answer)

Our conscience is imparted to us by God, and it uses freewill and reasoning to figure out our goal in life and judge the morality of our actions. We can form our consciences by knowing virtue and listening to what God teaches us.

Give an example of Vincible and Invincible Ignorant Conscience. How does an ignorant conscience affect a person's actions? (possible short answer)

Vincible- A child hitting another child

Invincible- A mentally ill person doing something wrong

-an ignorant conscience can lead to someone doing wrong without realizing the full scope of their actions

Object

-the act itself with basic intention

-the WHAT

Intention

-the goal/deeper intention

-the WHY

-clarifies the object

Circumstance

-overarching situation of the act

-affects the gravity of the act

-Who? What? Led to?

Principle of Double Effect

-one can do a good act even if one foresees an evil potentially resulting from the act done

-However there are "4 ifs" to the PDE

1. The act itself must be good.

2. One must only intend the good act

3. The good effect cannot arise from the bad effect

4. The bad effect must be proportionate to the good.

What is the Moral Act formula?

Moral Object + Intent + Circumstance

What is the Principle of Double Effect? How does it aid us in discerning what we should and should not do?

The principle of double effect states that an act can still be good even with a secondary evil effect. It helps us by providing specific guidelines for determining when its ok to perform a controversial or difficult action.