PHIL 3000 midterm: Confucius, Aristotle, Kant

Goodness

refers to deep moral concern and compassion for others and is the foundation of all virtues

Ritual

refers to proper conduct, customs, and social norms by training moral character through practice

Righteousness

refers to doing the appropriate in a given situation

Sympathetic understanding

refers to empathy and compassion for others (golden rule)

Happiness

activity of the soul tied to virtue that involves flourishing, living well, and fulfilling human potential through rational and virtuous activities

Virtues in their general sense

qualities that enable something to preform its function well

Human moral virtues

acquired by habit and include: states of character, lying in the mean, and related to actions and passions

Practical wisdom

intellectual virtue that allows one to deliberate well about how to act in a given situation

First proposition of duty

an action only has moral worth if it is done from duty

Second proposition of duty

an action done from duty derives its moral worth from the maxim (principle) on which it is preformed— not its consequences

Third proposition of duty

duty is the necessity of acting out of respect for the moral law

Categorical imperative: general version

only act in such a way that you could will your maxim to become a universal law

Categorical imperative: law of nature formulation

if you imagine your maxim as a universal law, and it creates a contradiction, then it is immoral

Categorical imperative: end-in-itself formulation

treat humanity as an ends and never as a means

Hypothetical imperative

conditional, based on personal desires or goals

Categorical imperative

unconditional, apply to everyone, express moral laws

Autonomy

self-legislation by reason

Heteronomy

governed by something external

Virtue ethics

a branch of normative ethics focused on the development of moral character

Normative ethics

concerned with moral standards

Deontology

branch of normative ethics focused on duties, rules, and moral laws