Ethics as Investigative Acts and Human Acts Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key definitions, types of acts, moral dilemmas, free will, and moral frameworks from the Ethics lecture.

Ethics

The investigative study of moral standards to determine whether such standards are reasonably correct.

Normative Ethics

A branch of ethics that concludes about what situations or actions are right and wrong.

Prescriptive Ethics

An approach to ethics that determines decisions and courses of action.

Descriptive Ethics

An approach that merely explains human behavior and reaches no conclusions about whether actions are as they ought to be.

Difference in Human Behavior

The observed gap between ethical attitudes and ethical actions, where people do not always perform morally good actions even when they know what is right.

Dilemma

A situation in which a tough choice has to be made between two or more options, especially more or less equally undesirable ones.

Moral Dilemma

Also known as an ethical dilemma, a situation in which a choice must be made between two or more acceptable but often opposing alternatives that transgress a moral principle.

Personal Dilemmas

Ethical dilemmas that are experienced and resolved on the personal level through individual ethical decision-making.

Organizational Dilemmas

Ethical cases encountered by social organizations, including moral dilemmas in fields such as medicine, engineering, business, and public sectors.

Structural Dilemmas

Ethical cases involving a network of institutions that encompass multi-sectoral institutions and organizations.

Moral Agent Traits

Unique traits of human beings, specifically being rational, autonomous, self-conscious, and capable of acting morally or immorally.

Moral Community

A collective group composed exclusively of human beings because only humans are rational, autonomous, self-conscious, and morally accountable.

Human Acts

Free and conscious activities performed by a human person through understanding and free will to attain a desired end.

Acts of Man

Involuntary or non-moral animal activities shared with brutes (such as feeling, hearing, eating, tasting, and smelling) that lack conscious deliberation.

Deliberate Act

An essential quality of a human act where the person acts consciously, knowing what they are doing and being aware of its good or evil consequences.

Free Act

An essential quality of a human act where the person performing the act is free from external forces beyond their control.

Voluntary Act

An essential quality of a human act where the action is performed out of the active will and decision of the person.

Involuntary Natural Acts

Intuitive, involuntary, or reflex actions exhibited by humans that fall under the category of acts of man.

Voluntary Natural Acts

Non-moral acts that are voluntary and natural with a degree of freedom, categorized under acts of man because they are neither moral nor immoral.

Moral Acts

Human acts that observe or conform to an established standard or norm of morality.

Immoral Acts

Human acts that deviate from an established standard or norm of morality.

Amoral Acts

Neutral human acts that are neither moral nor immoral in themselves, but may become ethical or unethical depending on surrounding circumstances.

Elicited Acts

Acts that begin directly from the human will and are completed in the will without requiring bodily movement.

Commanded Acts

Acts of body and mind done to carry out the elicited acts of the subject or agent.

Paul Glenn

The author who identified and classified the six distinct elicited acts of the human will.

Wish

The first elicited act according to Paul Glenn, defined as the natural inclination of the will towards an object, whether possible or impossible.

Intention

The second elicited act according to Paul Glenn, defined as the tendency of the will towards something attainable but not obligatory.

Consent

The third elicited act according to Paul Glenn, defined as the acceptance of the will to implement a person's intention.

Election

The fourth elicited act according to Paul Glenn, defined as the agent's choice from a variety of means believed to be most effective to carry out the intention.

Use

The fifth elicited act according to Paul Glenn, defined as the command of the will to make use of the selected means in carrying out the intention.

Fruition

The sixth elicited act according to Paul Glenn, defined as the enjoyment experienced by the will as a result of attaining the desired object.

Internal Commanded Acts

Commanded acts that refer to purely mental faculties operating under the command of the human will.

External Commanded Acts

Commanded acts performed physically by the body as commanded by the human will.

Mixed Commanded Acts

Commanded acts performed through a combination of both bodily actions and mental powers.

Advertence and Will

The elements of conscious attention and intention that transform classified acts of man into human acts.

Components of Human Acts

The three elements determining the ethical quality of an act: the intention/motive, the means, and the end of the act.

Motive of the Act

The intention driving a human act, serving as one of its three core evaluation components.

Means of the Act

The specific methods or actions employed by an agent to perform a human act.

End of the Act

The outcome, ultimate goal, or result attained through a human act.

Human Will

The agency of choice and part of the soul that controls internal action, stirring a person to act or hampering them from acting.

Character

The moral strength or weakness of an individual, determined by the strength or weakness of their human will.

Will (Intellectual Definition)

The natural tendency of being attracted to what is good and beautiful and repulsed by what is evil and ugly after being presented by the intellect.

Freedom (Negative Definition)

The definition of freedom characterized specifically as the absence of constriction.

Freedom (Positive Definition)

The definition of freedom characterized positively as the power to be and act under free will and choice.

Intellect

The rational mental faculty that presents concepts of good, evil, beauty, or ugliness to the human will.

Morality

A question of choice involving the selection of ethical codes, values, or standards to guide daily human life.

Foundation of Morality

Freedom, because making moral choices and selecting ethical values is impossible without it.

James Rachels

The philosopher who stated that moral judgment must be backed up by sound reasoning and impartial considerations of all parties involved.

Minimum Requirement for Morality

The combination of reason and impartiality required to make sound moral decisions, as defined by James Rachels.

Reason in Morality

The principle that while human feelings may be important in ethical decisions, they must be guided by rational thought.

Impartiality

A concept where each individual's interest and point of view are treated as equally important, basing decisions on objective criteria without bias.

Evenhandedness

An alternative term for impartiality that describes making decisions without bias or prejudice.

Fairmindedness

An alternative term for impartiality emphasizing objective decision-making over personal preference.

Prudence

A gift or virtue requested to discern what is right during moral reflection and decision-making.

Fortitude

A gift or virtue requested to uphold the dignity of every human person.

Conscience

An internal moral sense formed in truth to help individuals speak and act with charity and humility.

Yellow Light Dilemma Questions

Practical self-reflection questions assessing legality, fairness, personal guilt, social embarrassment, and publicity before acting.

Non-Moral Acts

Voluntary natural acts that carry no moral or immoral classification.

Ethical Dilemma

Another term for a moral dilemma where choices transgress a moral principle.

Rationality of Human Person

The foundation of human acts that involves conscious understanding and free will.

Passions vs Reason

The internal psychological conflict where the will either prompts reason to overpower emotion or allows passion to overrun rational thought.

Agency of Choice

The primary role of the human will in choosing actions and mediating between reason and passion.

Ora et Labora

A traditional Latin motto meaning 'pray and work,' highlighted within the lecture material.

Objective Criteria

Unbiased standards required by impartiality to ensure decisions are made without prejudice or favoritism.

Human Being as a Moral Being

An individual who possesses dual animal and spiritual natures, whose deliberate choices carry moral responsibility.