PHIL102: Ethics, Hedonism, and Human Welfare

Vocabulary flashcards covering introductory ethical theory, hedonism, arguments against hedonism, logic, and theories of human welfare from PHIL102.

Instrumental goods

Things that are valuable because of the good things they bring about.

Intrinsically valuable

Things that are good in and of themselves.

Hedonism

The view that pleasure is the only thing that is intrinsically valuable, and pain is the only thing that is intrinsically bad.

The paradox of hedonism

The phenomenon that those who are constantly trying to maximize their own enjoyment almost never succeed.

Argument from evil Pleasures

An argument against hedonism proposing that happiness resulting from evil deeds is not as good as happiness resulting from kind and decent actions.

Argument from False Happiness

An argument concluding hedonism is false because lives based on false beliefs are worse than lives based on true beliefs, even when equally happy.

Autonomy

Being able to make one's own choices.

Paternalism

Someone limiting your liberty but for your own good.

Argument from Autonomy

An argument against hedonism asserting that autonomy directly contributes to a good life even when it fails to make us happy.

Trajectory Argument

An argument against hedonism stating that the overall quality of life depends on whether one's life reflects an upward or downward trajectory, not solely on happiness and unhappiness.

Argument from Multiple Harms

An argument concluding hedonism is false because a person can be harmed in ways other than being saddened.

Ethics

The philosophical study of morality that determines what is right or wrong in society.

Morality

The particular values of a specific group at a specific point in time, concerned with protecting people's well-being.

Morals

The principles that guide individual conduct within society and serve as standards of behavior that change over time to judge right and wrong.

Values

Individual beliefs that motivate people to act one way or another.

Value Theory

An area of ethics focused on answering: What is the good life?

Normative ethics

An area of ethics focused on answering: What are our moral duties?

Metaethics

An area of ethics focused on answering: What is the status of moral claims and advice?

The golden rule

The moral principle stating that how you want to be treated should be how you interact with others.

Egoists

Theorists or individuals who are primarily interested in self-interest.

Behaviorists

Theorists or individuals who are interested in how we have been conditioned.

Freudians

Theorists or individuals who are interested in our sexual impulses.

Moral reasoning

A process involving a set of reasons and a conclusion that those reasons are meant to support.

Argument

A chain of thought in which reasons are offered in support of a particular conclusion.

Premises

Reasons used in an argument to support a conclusion.

Validity

A measure of how well an argument’s premises support its conclusion.

Logically valid argument

An argument structured so that it is impossible for all premises to be true while the conclusion is false.

Sound arguments

Arguments that are logically valid and contain only true premises.

Moral agents

Individuals who control their behavior through moral reasoning.

Desire satisfaction theory of human welfare

The theory stating that your life goes well for you to the extent that you get what you want.

Objective theory of human welfare

The theory stating that certain things are good for people whether or not they believe in them and whether they satisfy a person's actual desires.

Argument for Self-Interest

An argument stating that if something makes us better off, it satisfies our desires, and if it satisfies our desires, we have reason to obtain it.