Socials Studies - The French Revolution

etymological definiton of philosophy? (by pythagoras)

philo: love

sophia: wisdom

karl marx in his theses on feuerbach highlights two important activities in Philosophy

The Philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it

What is the main content that we talk about in Philosophy?

Big questions, Philosophical problems

What methodology do we pursue in Philosophy?

Conceptual analysis, Rational justification

branch of Philosophy: What is real? What exists? What is time? Space?

-the study of the most basic items or features of reality or the study of the most basic concept used in an account of reality.

Metaphysics

branch of Philosophy: 'What is knowledge? What is the nature, source of knowledge?'

-the inquiry into the nature, sources and validity of knowledge.

Epistemology

Episteme (greek)

knowledge

branch of Philosophy: , 'What is beauty?

What is art?'

-the nature, perception and evaluation of art and beauty.

Aesthetics

Aisthesis (greek)

(sensation/perception)

branch of Philosophy

-the study of the methods and principles used to distinguish good (correct) from bad (incorrect) reasoning.

Logic

Anthony Kenny: Philosophy permeates all fields of knowledge & thinking as clearly as possible about the most fundamental concepts

Philosophy of X

branch of Philosophy: 'What is good? What is right?

-the systematization, defense and recommendation of concepts of right and wrong behavior

Ethics

According to Andresito Acuna in the Philosophical Analysis, what are the Fundamental elements of Ethics?

-a definition of good

-what is right in terms of good

-a statement of the moral principle in clear and uncertain terms

category of ethics: 'What do these judgments mean? What does "right" mean?

-the study of the basic ethical concepts and principles that aid in the discussion of Ethics

Metaethics

category of Ethics: 'How should we act?'

-the study of various Ethical Frameworks or Theories that aim to guide our conduct.

Normative/Prescriptive Ethics

category of Ethics: 'How do we practice it?'

-concerned with the practical questions about what is moral; deals with controversial moral problems such as abortion, pre- marital sex, capital punishment, euthanasia, civil disobedience, race, LGBTQ++, etc.

Applied/Practical Ethics

Feature of moral principles: must be practical, or action-guiding (this is the nature of morality. This feature involves commands.

Prescriptivity

Feature of moral principles: a moral principle could applied to all evaluative judgments.

Universalizability

Feature of moral principles: moral principles have predominant authority and override other kinds of principles

Overridingness

Feature of moral principles: moral principles must be made public in order to guide our actions.

Publicity

Feature of moral principles: must be workable and its rules must not lay a heavy burden on us when we follow them.

Practicability

an act that is permissible for you to do. It may be either (a) obligatory or (b) optional.

Right acts

an act you ought not to do; it is not permissible to do it.

Wrong acts

morality requires you to do; it is not permissible for you to refrain from doing it.

obligatory act

neither obligatory nor wrong to do. It is not your duty to do it, nor is it your duty not to do it. Neither doing it nor not doing it would be wrong.

optional act

domains of ethical assessments

action, consequences, character, motivation

branches of philosophy

aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, logic, metaphysics, others (philosophy of X)

categories of ethics

metaethics, normative (prescriptive) ethics, applied (practical) ethics, descriptive ethics *not learnt

features of moral principles

prescriptivity, universalizability, overridingness, publicity, practicability

domain of ethical assessment

-If these are on balance positive, then the action is right, if negative, then wrong.

consequences

good character traits

virtues

bad character traits

vices

domain of ethical assessment

-For a full assessment of any action, it is important to take this into account. Two acts may appear identical on the surface, but one may be judged morally blameworthy and the other excusable.

motivation

branches of metaethics

cognitivist, non-cognitivist

norma (greek)

right (right-angle ruler or square)

models of reasoning (2)

deductive model & reflective equilibrium

evaluating an example of human conduct based on a general rule (ethical framework/theory) that dictates what should be considered ethical

deductive model

evaluating an example of human conduct based the person's moral judgments their principles

(if you believe something is ethical then it is)

reflective equilibrium

1. when someone makes a moral claim they are

expressing a belief.

2. moral claims can be true or false; this

is part of cognitivism because beliefs

are the sort of thing that can be true

or false.

cognitivism

1. if a person makes a moral claim they are

expressing a non-belief state such as

an emotion. Expressions of approval

or disapproval (emotion) are not the

sort of things that can be true or false

non-cognitivism

branch of non-cognitivism

-Moral claims are not claims about reality but are personal prescriptions

prescriptivity

branch of non-cognitivism

-Moral judgements are not claims about reality, but are emotional expressions of the speaker.

emotivism

branch of cognitivism

-when someone makes moral claim, they are expressing a

belief they have about reality. Moral judgements express beliefs about something relative and are not

objective or universally true.

moral relativism

branch of cognitivism

-Moral values are true regardless of what the

individual thinks

moral realism

sub-branch of cognitivism

-This is a theory in Metaethics claims that the only things that exist are those things that would appear in the scientific picture of what exists. They say that moral properties are part of the natural world and can be reduced to natural and nonethical properties (for example, moral goodness to well-being, moral badness to pain).

Naturalism (under moral realism)

sub-branch of cognitivism

-theory in Metaethics thinks that there are some things that exist that could not show up on the scientific picture of what exists. Moral properties cannot be reduced to non-ethical parts. Moral values are real and independent of nature. Moral values merely describe actions in nature as either good or bad.

Non-naturalism (under moral realism)

This theory in Metaethics states that there are objective universal moral principles, valid for all people and all social environments.

moral objectivism

This theory in Metaethics states that there are non-overrideable moral principles that one

ought never violate. Moral principles are exceptionless.

moral absolutism

The Natural Law Theory

The Doctrine of Double Effect

Thomas Aquinas' Doctrines

Thomas Aquinas proposed this theory which claims that there exists an eternal moral law that can be discovered through reason by looking at the nature of humanity and society. This is a moral theory that is based on the belief in an objective moral order inherent in nature

TLDR: humans are born with a certain moral compass that guides behaviors

The Natural Law Theory

Thomas Aquinas proposed a doctrine that is used to assess the morality of an action that has both good and bad consequences. It provides a framework for determining whether an act that produces both desirable and undesirable outcomes is morally permissible.

TLDR: in pursuing the good it is sometimes morally permissible to bring about some evil as a side-effect or merely foreseen consequence

Doctrine of Double Effect (DoDE)

-Human beings have an essential rational nature established by God, who designed us to live and flourish in prescribed ways

-Even without knowledge of God, reason, as the essence of our nature, can discover the laws necessary for human flourishing

-The natural laws are universal and unchangeable, and one should use them to judge individual societies and their positive laws.

key ideas of the natural law tradition

conditions for morally permissible acts (according to the DoDE)

The nature-of-the-act condition

The means-end condition

The right-intention condition

The proportionality condition

The action must be either morally good or indifferent (ex. Lying or intentionally killing an innocent person is never permissible).

The nature-of-the-act condition

The intention must be the achieving of only the good effect, with the bad effect being only an unintended side effect. If the bad effect is a means of obtaining the good effect, then the act is immoral. The bad effect may be foreseen but must not be intended.

The right-intention condition

The bad effect must not be the means by which one achieves the good effect.

The means-end condition

The good effect must be at least equivalent in importance to the bad effect.

The proportionality condition

There are universal and objective moral principles, valid for all people and social environments. (??? same as moral)

moderate objectivism