Ethics midterm

Autonomy

the power to guide our life through

our own free choices.

Desire satisfaction theory:

the view that some-

thing is intrinsically good for you if it satisfies

your desires, only if it satisfies your desires, and

because it satisfies your desires.

Hedonism

the view that a life is good to the

extent that it is filled with pleasure and is free

of pain.

Instrumental goods:

things that are valuable

because of the good things they bring about.

Intrinsically valuable:

worth pursuing for its

own sake; valuable in its own right.

Absolute rule:

a rule that may never permis-

sibly be broken.

Act utilitarianism:

The moral theory that says

that an action is morally required just because

it does more to improve overall well-being than

any other action you could have done in the

circumstances.

Consequentialism

The family of moral theo-

ries that say that an action or a policy is morally

required just because it produces the best over-

all results.

Decision procedure:

a method for reliably

guiding our decisions, so that when we use it

well, we make decisions as we ought to.

Moral community:

that group of individuals

who are morally important in their own right

and, as such, are owed a certain amount of

respect. Membership in the moral community

imposes a duty on everyone else to take one’s

needs seriously, for one’s own sake.

Optimific

producing the best results.

Optimific social rule:

a social rule which, if

nearly everyone accepted it, would yield better

results than any competing social rule.

Principle of utility:

the central doctrine of act

utilitarianism.

Rule consequentialism:

the view that an action

is morally right just because it is required by an

optimific social rule.

Standard of rightness:

a principle that tells us

the conditions under which actions are morally

right.

Supererogation

action that is “above and

beyond the call of duty.”

Vicarious punishment:

punishment that tar-

gets innocent people as a way to deter the guilty.

Principle of humanity:

always treat a human

being (yourself included) as an end, and never

as a mere means.

Principle of universalizability:

an act is

­ morally acceptable if, and only if, its maxim

is universalizable.

Universalizable

a maxim is universalizable

if and only if the goal that it specifies can be

achieved in a world in which everyone is acting

on that maxim.