Ethics Lessons Review: Rationality, Laws, Utilitarianism, and Gender

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering basic ethics, natural law, utilitarianism, justice frameworks, and gender studies based on lecture transcripts.

Rational Animal

Aristotle's description of a human being, possessing a rational soul that makes us superior to animals and plants through the tendency to think logically and reasonably.

The Will

The faculty of the mind used to stimulate motivation of a purposeful activity, derived from rationality and used to practice self-control.

Acts of Man

The involuntary and natural acts of vegetative and sense faculties.

Human Acts

Actions that proceed from the will, done intentionally and freely, which are the only acts determined as moral or immoral.

Object

A determinant of moral action referring to the thing done, which provides the character of objective morality (e.g., the act of giving money to the poor).

End/Intention

The purpose, motive, or ultimate reason that determines the moral act.

Circumstances

The part of a human act that must be considered to evaluate the total moral act, such as whether a drink given to a thirsty person is poisonous.

Physical Freedom

The material perspective of freedom involving the ability to use, move, and control one's own body.

Psychological Freedom

The freedom to make choices, characterized by self-awareness and the ability to act or not act in a specific way.

Determinism

The concept that every event, including human behavior and decisions, is determined by an unbroken chain of occurrences or forces that compel us to act.

Thomas Aquinas

A philosopher and theologian who developed Aristotelian ethics by applying Christianity and established a hierarchy of laws.

Human Law

The moral codes that are created by humans.

Natural Law

The law of knowing and doing what is right, based on the first precept "do good and avoid evil."

Divine Law

Law that is given through sacred scriptures.

Eternal Law

The law of the universe.

Conscience

The consideration of a specific situation in the light of moral knowledge; using the God-given gift of reason before, during, and after decisions.

Invincible Ignorance

A type of ignorance where it is impossible for the individual to remove it because they have no way of suspecting they are ignorant.

Vincible Ignorance

Ignorance that the agent could and should know, which can be cleared up if one is diligent enough.

Concupiscence

Strong tendencies towards the possession of something evil, such as actions of lust or greed.

Passion

Strong tendencies towards the possession of something good, such as actions of joy or being inspired.

Utilitarianism

An ethical theory that argues for the goodness of pleasure and determines right behavior based on the usefulness of the consequences.

Consequentialism

A framework where the moral value of actions and decisions is based on the consequences.

Principle of Utility

Jeremy Bentham's concept that actions are governed by two sovereign masters: pleasure and pain.

Felicific Calculus

A framework used to calculate pleasure produced by actions using variables like Duration, Certainty, Propinquity, Fecundity, Purity, and Extent.

Higher Pleasures

John Stuart Mill's term for pleasures related to intellectuality, creativity, and spirituality.

Lower Pleasures

John Stuart Mill's term for base pleasures such as eating, drinking, and sex.

Distributive Justice

Refers to the fair and appropriate distribution of responsibilities, rights, roles, resources, and privileges.

Criminal Justice

Refers to the infliction of punishment or penalty proportionate to the crime committed.

Rectificatory Justice

Refers to just compensation for transactional problems such as breaches of contract and civil law practices.

Egalitarian

A framework, associated with John Rawls, that views justice as the equal distribution of goods and services.

Libertarian

A framework, associated with Robert Nozick, that views justice as the lack of restraints on individual liberty.

Gender Identity

A personal conception of oneself and the sense of who we are, such as seeing oneself as a man, woman, or neither.

Sex

Refers to biological and physical differences such as chromosomes, hormonal profiles, and internal/external sex organs.

Gender

Involves how a person identifies, existing as a broad spectrum rather than binary forms.

Implicit Bias

Relatively unconscious and automatic features of prejudiced judgment and social behavior.

Ethics of Care

A moral theory emphasizing relationships, empathy, and meeting the needs of oneself and others to maintain a network of social relations.