Ethics and Moral Philosophy Practice Flashcards

A comprehensive vocabulary flashcard set covering key terms, historical figures, definitions, standards, and types of dilemmas across Chapter 1 through Chapter 4 of Ethics.

Thauma

A Greek word meaning wonder or wondering, which Socrates identified as the starting point and birth of philosophy.

Atman and Brahman

Ancient Hindu philosophical concepts representing the individual soul (Atman) and the universal soul or divine (Brahman) in their search to answer "Who am I?"

Thales

The ancient thinker regarded as the first philosopher because he wondered earlier than Pythagoras and postulated the principle of life.

Pythagoras

The 6th century B.C. thinker who coined the term philosophy from the Greek words Philos and Sophia.

Philos

A Greek word meaning lover or friend.

Sophia

A Greek word meaning wisdom, which refers to lived-out knowledge or the practical application of understanding in daily human affairs.

Etymological Definition of Philosophy

Defined as the love of wisdom, derived from the Greek words Philos (lover/friend) and Sophia (wisdom).

Common Definition of Philosophy

The science of all that exists in their ultimate cause through the aid of human intellect alone.

Father of Moral Philosophy

Socrates, recognized as the first thinker to study man as a moral being and wonder about the morality of human actions.

Examined Life

A life guided and enriched by self-awareness and self-knowledge, identified by Socrates as the right way of life.

Know Thyself

The first ethical imperative according to Socrates, stating that a moral being has an obligation to know oneself and rediscover humanity.

Ethos

The Greek root of the word ethics (ethicos), meaning characteristic way of acting, habit, or customs.

Mos or Moris

The Latin term meaning customs or norms, from which the words moral and morality originate.

Ethics

A normative branch of philosophy that deals with the principles of man's right and moral actions as endowed by reason and free will.

Morality

The relationship of agreement or disagreement of human activity with the dictates of human reason.

Human Act

An action performed intentionally, freely, knowingly, and deliberately with advertence (awareness) and motive.

Act of Man

An instinctive physiological or psychological activity performed without advertence, such as breathing, feeling happy, or falling in love.

Material Object of Ethics

The human act itself, which serves as the action being examined.

Formal Object of Ethics

The rectitude of human acts, which evaluates whether an action is right or wrong, good or bad, and moral or immoral.

Moral Standards

Norms or prescriptions that serve as frameworks for determining right or wrong actions, good or bad character, and what ought to be done.

Non-Moral Standards

Social rules, etiquette, good manners, language standards, or sports rules (also called folkways) where moral categories do not apply.

Teleological Standard

A consequence-based standard that determines the rightness or wrongness of an action or rule based on the results, outcomes, or good produced.

Deontological Standard

A non-consequence standard holding that the rightness or wrongness of an action depends on duty, natural law, virtue, or circumstances rather than outcome alone.

Natural Law

The law of God revealed through human reason, described as the law of God written in the hearts of men.

Categorical Imperative

Immanuel Kant's criterion for moral standards: Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.

Norms

General rules or prescriptions about our actions or behaviors.

Values

Enduring beliefs or statements concerning what is good and desirable or bad and undesirable.

Dilemma

A situation where a person is forced to choose between two or more conflicting options, none of which are desirable or acceptable.

Problem

A difficulty encountered by a person that needs to be resolved by finding an answer or solution.

Moral Dilemma

A situation where a moral agent is forced to choose between conflicting options, none of which resolves the situation in a morally acceptable manner.

Epistemic Moral Dilemma

A dilemma where two or more moral requirements conflict and the agent cannot easily know which requirement takes precedence or is morally right.

Ontological Moral Dilemma

A dilemma involving conflicting moral requirements where neither requirement overrides or is stronger than the other.

Self-Imposed Moral Dilemma

A moral dilemma created directly by the moral agent's own prior wrongdoings or conflicting promises.

World-Imposed Moral Dilemma

A moral conflict caused by external circumstances or events in the world beyond the agent's control.

Obligation Dilemma

A situation in which a moral agent faces two or more feasible actions that are all obligatory, making simultaneous compliance impossible.

Prohibition Dilemma

A situation in which all feasible actions available to the moral agent are forbidden or morally wrong.

Single Agent Dilemma

A moral dilemma where a single individual is compelled to choose between conflicting moral options.

Multi-Person Dilemma

A moral dilemma involving several individuals (such as a family, organization, or community) who must reach a general consensus on a moral decision.