PHR 304: Environmental Ethics

Anthroposcene

The place where humans act

Anthropomorphize

To give something human qualities

What is ethics?

The study of moral values; how to practice and prioritize them.

What are values?

The things we care about.

We heavily consider values in ethics to interpret what good means, how we treat others, and how we interact.

True

Greek “ethos” means “character” or “habit”

True

Greek “mores” means “customs” or “manners”

True

We as philosophers want…

The truth. As such, we want our beliefs to be true.

Because we (philosophers) want the truth, philosophy asks us to…

Examine questions

What are opinions?

Ideas with no research to back them. We, as philosophers, do not rest on opinions.

A descriptive statement DEscribes…

What something is or will be. They want to describe how the world actually is.

Descriptive statements can be true or false without saying what SHOULD happen.

Ex. Nef could say she dreamt she was a cat, but would have no proof even if she described it.

A normative statement PREscribes…

• A set of standards

• If involving an evaluation concerning value, tells you how to act

• Ex. You SHOULD like this painting.

Normative statements often…

Include reason for action or judgement

In ethics, we are talking about…

What is not and what should change.

In ethics, “bad” can be translated to [], “good” should be translated to [].

Shouldn’t; should

Descriptive or normative? “The government shutdown will be bad for the economy.”

Descriptive; states what “should” or “might” be.

Descriptive or normative? “People prefer healthy babies.”

Descriptive; doesn’t say “should” or “shouldn’t” but needs facts to back it up.

Descriptive or normative? “People should prefer healthy babies.”

Normative; prescribes/tells you what you SHOULD like.

Does legal = moral, and vice versa?

NO!

What three things do all arguments consist of?

1. Conclusion (your beliefs; like a thesis statement).

2. Premise(s) (How you justify your conclusion; your supporting evidence)

3. Inference rule

While the conclusion and premise of an argument are propositions, the inference rule is…

More abstract.

A good argument has:

1. Compelling reasons to support the conclusion

2. Reasons that are factually true

3. Reasons that are relevant to the conclusion

The conclusion is

What the argument aims to establish.

The premise of an argument:

supports or backs up the conclusion.

Why is clear speech important in arguments?

So that people understand the point you are trying to make and how and why your argument makes sense

Inference rules…

• Allow you to INFER a conclusion from the premise

• Are the vehicle that get you from premise to conclusion

Which parts of this statement are the premises? “Larry Bird is a man. All men are mortal. Therefore, Larry Bird is mortal.”

“Larry Bird is a man. All men are mortal.”

What is ontology?

The theory about what exists.

What is a fact?

A propositional structure with supporting content; a representation.

What is perception?

The psychological process that causes us to make sense of stimuli in the world; turns the thing in the world into mental representation.

What is a belief defined as?

Any statement or sentence (linguistic structure) expressing ideologies that may or may not be factual.

What is propositional structure?

Everything expressed by language

If a description is accurate based on the world…

We consider it true.

What is indicative of a valid statement?

A statement is valid if, when you imagine a world where the premises are facts, the conclusion makes sense.

What is an argument?

A conclusion defined by at least one premise.

(Blank) depends on inference rules and does not equal truth. If the facts aren’t (blank), we can reject the argument immediately.

Validity; valid

(Blank) has to do with the structure of an argument, and (blank) has to do with content.

Validity; truth

Is this statement valid? Why or why not? “It’s Thursday. Trump is president. Therefore, France has a democracy.”

Invalid.

• It is a bunch of true statements lumped together, but the premises are not relevant to the conclusion!

• You can have truth without having validity.

An argument is only valid if…

it is not possible for all the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false.

Although AI can maintain validity…

It cannot find truth, as it does not have a body to experience stimuli and find truth with.

The inference rule keeps structure valid, even if…

There is no truth in the premises or conclusion. HOWEVER, THE CONCLUSION MUST FOLLOW THE PREMISES!

“Aids can’t be cured by anti-biotics because aids is caused by a viral infection and anti-biotics don’t cure viruses,” is an example of…

Standardizing

Validity applies to [], truth applies to [].

Arguments; statements

T or F: Fact and value are hard to separate and are very intertwined.

True

Although justice is not descriptive, it is…

Still real; a normative demand.

T or F: The inference rule keeps structure valid, even if there is no truth.

True

Why does AI maintain validity while neglecting truth?

AI does not have a body with which to experience stimuli, and therefore no way to find truth (truth is based in the world, which is experienced by the body). Therefore, it cannot differentiate between truth and validity. It may piece together statements that are structurally correct, but are not true.

T or F: Humans do not control all that AI does, and I is a conscious being.

False

Are arguments that have normative (prescriptive) conclusions valid?

No!

True or false in arguments evaluates

Statements in the argument (each premise, the conclusion).

Valid or validity evaluates

The structure of an entire argument.

For an argument to be accepted, the premises need to be SO clear that your conclusion is…

completely supported by them and undoubtable by anyone.

To accept an argument, we need…

Validity AND truth.