PHIL303- Ethics

What are the arguments Socrates presents in the play Crito?

• you must never harm others —> Socrates’ escaping would harm the state (show disregard for state laws)

• by choosing to live in a city, a citizen is agreeing to abide by and endorse its laws

• a citizen is bound to the law like a “child is bound to a parent or teacher” —> one should never disobey their parent

What are the general moral principles Socrates bases his argument on?

1) you must never harm others

2) we ought to keep our promises/contracts

3) we ought to obey/respect our parents

What is the context of Crito?

Socrates is explaining why he won’t leave Athens, even though by staying he will be put to death

What is Franken’s main message?

Every moral argument needs 1 factual premise, and at least 1 moral premise

What is the main dilemma presented in Euthyphro by Plato?

Is what is good good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good?

Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious? Or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?

What is divine command theory?

the metaethical theory that moral rightness and wrongness depend entirely on the will or commands of God.

"what is good, bad, right, or wrong is whatever God wills it to be”

What is morality according to Divine Command Theory?

Morality is just what God says it is, so ethics is simply the study of what Gos says.

“An action is morally right only if God commands it."

“An action is morally wrong only if God commands it.”

What is DCT not?

A theory about what specific acts are right or wrong, only about what makes them so.

What is the 1st objection to DCT?

DCT makes God’s commands arbitrary (following a personal whim/preference rather than a consistent, enforceable rule).

EX: Story of God instructing Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac

What is a counteresponse to “DCT makes God’s commands arbitrary”?

God won’t make arbitrary commands, and God is mysterious beyond people’s ability to understand (Job).

What is the 2nd objection to DCT?

DCT makes the claim that “God is good” meaningless.

What is a rebuttal to “DCT makes the claim that God is Good meaningless?”

Theres no independent standard of goodness that by which we can say God’s commands flow from a necessarily good nature, not random will.

What is the 3rd objection to DCT?

DCT implies that “might makes right.”

What is an rebuttal to “DCT implies that might makes right”?

Without DCT, might makes right because:

without God’s commands, there is no real objective moral standard —> there isn’t a higher moral standard to hold people accountable —> power becomes the default (de facto) to decide what’s acceptable —> what is right is only right in the sense that it is unopposed or unavoidable

What are the arguments for DCT?

1) No law without a law giver

2) Gives us an objective standard for morality, NOT might makes right

3) Denying DCT assumes Gods powers are limited, which is not true so DCT must be true

What is the liberal democracy argument against DCT?

There are things that many religions value in addition to belief (like peace, tolerance,
the right of people to choose for themselves) —> should lead them to favor freedom of religion and moral choice over DCT —→ in a liberal democratic society, religions should favor freedom of religion over DCT.

Crito: What is the Tacit Agreement Argument?

Crito: What is the Parent/Offspring argument?

What kind of theory is DCT? Metaethical, normative, textual, or applied?

What does DCT believe is the answer to Socrates question to Euthypro?

What are the two versions of the argument for Cultural Relativism?

Why do both versions of the argument for Cultural Relativism fail?

Why can the cultural relativist not consistently recommend tolerance to everyone?

What does cultural relativism imply about the abolition of slavery?

What is Humes famous sentence about what reason is?

What does Humes mean when he says the “destruction of the whole world/scratching of my finger”?

What is cognitivism?

What is simple (speaker) subjectivism?

What does Mackie’s Error Theory say about ordinary moral claims?

Psychological egoism

Everyone always ultimately acts in their own self-interest.