Ethical Theories

Flashcards of key terms and definitions from the lecture notes.

Ethics

Substantiated standards of right and wrong that propose what people should do, coming from obligations, benefits to society, fairness, and specific terms.

Ethical Theories

Obligations, virtues and rights such as honesty, compassion, loyalty, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Development of Standards

Reasonable and well-founded, constantly looking at the standards to make sure they are still applicable.

Morality

What society thinks is right and wrong, why do we think this is a wrong action.

Morals

Evaluated with ethical theories why we think something is right and wrong.

Ethics Study

A rational systematic analysis of conduct or behavior that can cause benefit or harm.

Consequentialist Ethics

Ethics based on outcomes or results.

Nonconsequentialist Ethics

Ethics based on motivation regardless of the consequences.

Workable Ethics

Ethics relying on logic and reasoning from commonly held values.

Relativism

The good exists inside the human mind, whatever you think is good, that's it.

Objectivism

The good exists outside the human mind

Subjective Relativism

Everyone decides for themselves what's right or wrong.

Cultural Relativism

What's right and wrong depends on the society's moral guidelines.

Ethical Egoism

Whatever is best for you, whatever is best in your self interest.

Kantianism

The importance of goodwill or the motivation is very important and has two categorical imperatives.

First Categorical Imperative (Kantianism)

Act only from moral rules that you can at the same time will that that universal laws.

Second Categorical Imperative (Kantianism)

Treat both yourself and someone else not as a means to an end, but a means in themself.

Perfect Duty (Kantianism )

Something you're obliged to fulfill without exception, which is telling the truth.

Imperfect Duty (Kantianism)

Fulfilling in general, but maybe not every time, that's helping somebody.

Consequentialist Theory

The evaluation of the consequences to say if an action is right or wrong.

Utilitarianism

Proposed by John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham, if there's more benefits than harm, then it's ethical, vice versa, it's unethical.

Act Utilitarianism

Based on the individual action; if the net effect of the affected beings is more happiness, more benefit, then it is ethical.

Act Utility Goal

Right or wrong to the extent it increases or decreases the total happiness of affected parties, you have to list who all the affected parties are.

Bentham's Attributes

Intensity, duration, certainty, particularity, fecundity, purity, and extent used to measure the action itself of sanity, purity, and extent.

Fecundity

Will it produce more experiences of the same kind.

Act Utility

The effect of the action of the person.

Rule Utilitarianism

People following the moral rule, there is more good than bad. Following the moral rule and the consequences of it.

Rule

The utility of more benefits, less harms.

Social Contract

We implicitly accept because we live in a community, as it benefits the community the most.

Social Contact Purpose

Life we don't want to live in fear, danger, or death.

Social Contract Consequentialism

There is no consequence measurement

Negative Right

A right that means it's guaranteed to you by leaving you alone.

Positive Right

Somebody has to do something on your behalf; somebody's obligated to do something in order for you to have that right.

Absolute Right

Guaranteed without exception.

Limited Right

Freedom of expression.

John Rawls, Principle of Destiny

Each person may claim a fully adequate number of basic rights and liberty so long as these claims are consistent with everyone else having to claim to.

Equality

Fair and equal opportunity to achieve.

Equal Opportunity

Everyone has an opportunity to earn an A.

Equal outcome

Everyone's gonna get an A because they don't know, or everybody's gonna get a C because you're even gonna get a C.

Virtue Ethics

Has intellectual virtues for the reasoning of truth and moral virtues for character such as honesty.

Virtues

Altruism, ambition, charity, compassion, conscientiousness, continence, courteousness, courtesy, discretion, empathy, generosity, hospitality.

Virtue Ethics Goal

Action is an action that a person of good character, acting in good character would do in that circumstance; is an action ethical or unethical.

Virtue Ethics Key

An action that a virtuous person acting in character would do in the same circumstances.

Vices

Opposites of virtues; every virtue is in between two vices.

Rawls's Principle of Justice

Each person may claim a fully adequate number of basic rights and liberty so long as these claims are consistent with everyone else having to claim to.