Ethics and Moral Philosophy

These flashcards cover key concepts in ethics and moral philosophy, including definitions of various ethical theories, principles of moral reasoning, and types of rights.

Ethics

A formal study of moral right and wrong.

Moral Realism

The view that there are mind-independent moral facts that exist independently of human beliefs.

Moral Anti-Realism

The belief that moral facts are mind-dependent and are a human creation.

Moral Subjectivism

The idea that there are no moral facts, only personal opinions and feelings.

Moral Relativism

The belief that moral facts are context-dependent and do not universally apply.

Descriptive Ethics

The field studying how people actually make moral decisions.

Normative Ethics

The study of how people ought to make moral decisions.

Haidt’s 3 Principles

Intuition leads, reason follows; there is more to morality than harm and fairness; morality binds and blinds.

Moral Agents

Individuals who have the capacity to act morally.

Moral Sensitivity

Awareness of how one’s actions affect others and recognizing moral issues in situations.

Utilitarianism

An ethical theory asserting that the best action is the one that maximizes utility, typically defined as that which produces the greatest well-being of the greatest number.

Social Contract Theory

A theory asserting that individuals consent, either explicitly or implicitly, to surrender some freedoms to authority in exchange for protection of their remaining rights.

Psychological Egoism

The view that humans are always motivated by self-interest, even in what seem to be acts of altruism.

Natural Rights

Rights that are not contingent upon the laws, customs, or beliefs of a particular society and are often considered to be universal.

Negative Claim Rights

Rights that require others to refrain from actions that infringe upon the right-holder's freedoms.

Positive Claim Rights

Rights that impose an obligation on others to take action to benefit the rights holder.

Categorical Imperative

Kant's principle stating that one should act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.

Negative Liberty

The freedom from interference by others, typically understood as the absence of constraints.

Positive Liberty

The ability to act upon one’s free will, often through self-realization and the fulfillment of personal potential.

Moral Motivation

The likelihood that we will prioritize moral values over other considerationsin decision-making and actions.

Moral Character

The ability to keep sight of a moral goal while figuring out specific necessary actions, working around potential impediments, and overcoming distractions and frustrations

Moral Patients

Those who deserve moral treatments

Moral Sociality

The background moral conditions for moral problems and solutions

The State of Nature

Everyone has equal rights to everything, including each other

6 Forms of Consent to Political Obligations

Hypothetical consent; tacit/passive consent; voting as consent; residence as consent; fairness as consent; community as consent

Normative Political Rights

Justifying the distribution and deployment of power that some human beings have over a significant number of others

Rights as Trumps(Dworkin)

Basic rights take moral and legal precedence over other norms, including the interests of the community as a whole

Security Rights

Protect people against murder, torture, and genocide

Due Process Rights

Protect people against arbitrary and excessively harsh punishments and require fair and public trials for those accused of crimes

Liberty Rights

Protect people’s fundamental freedoms in areas such as belief, expression, association, and movement

Political Rights

Protect people’s liberty to participate in politics by assembling, protesting, voting, and serving public office

Equality Rights

Guarantee equal citizenship, equality before the law, and freedom from discrimination

Economic and Social Rights

Require governments to forbid slavery and forced labor, enforce safe working conditions, ensure to all the availability of work, education, health services, and a standard of living that is adequate

Dentology

Duty-based ethics / Kant says that consequences have no moral worth / An action is done for the sake of duty, by a good will

Practical Imperative

You must always treat others as ends in themselves and never merely as a means to an end / never objectify others / always respect their autonomy

Republican Liberty

The opposite of slavery / we are not free if there is even the potential that someone could have the power to remove our freedom