Ethics Spring Exam Vocabulary 2023

Ethics

Also known as "moral philosophy" which asks foundational questions about the good life, about what is better or worse, about where there is any objective right and wrong, and how we know there is.

Conscience

The inner feeling of the rightness or wrongness of an action

Motive

The inclination or reason for an act

Obligation

A legal or moral responsibility or duty

Consequence

A result or effect of an action or condition

Binding

These are the obligations that accompany ethical study - it is not enough to know, we need to do.

Principle

A fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief.

Virtue

The quality of goodness

Morality

The content of right and wrong; a set of absolute standards of right and wrong.

Worldview

A person's view of reality and how it works, representing their most fundamental beliefs and assumptions, and encompassing issues of who we are, why we're here, the meaning of life, and what is good

Euthyphro Dilemma

Socrates grounding problem: Does God's command make something good or is God's morality based on another source of goodness?

The “is ought” problem

David Hume's objection to the natural law theory because just because things are a certain way doesn't mean they should to be that way.

Grounding

In ethics this is what is known as the basis or foundation of a decision/action\-- that which serves as the basis for determining the course of action to take.

Theocracy

A system of government led by religious leaders in adherence to God’s law with God governing as the head.

Universal Morality

Morality that is applied to all cultures though it may manifest itself or ‘look’ slightly different in each.

Objective Morality

Morality that is true no matter one’s perception of it.

Transcendent Morality

Morality which originates, expands, and surpasses humans because humans do not create it but must adhere to it.

Ethical Principals

Refers to those general judgments that serve as a justification for particular ethical decisions and evaluations of human actions.

Deontology

The ethical theory that judges the morality of an action based on the action's adherence to rules. Described as duty or obligation, because rules 'bind you to your duty'

Natural Law Theory

What is good and evil is derived from instinctual drive for the basic goods and the rational nature of human beings.

Divine Command Theory

The meta-ethical theory which proposes that an action's status as morally good is equivalent to whether it is ordered by God.

"Consequentialist or

Teleological Ethics"

The ethical theory that judges an act is judged based on the results. An act is right if it produces more happiness than its alternatives choices do. There is no intrinsic value of right and wrong.

Ethical Theory

A systematic exposition of a particular view about what is the nature and basis of good and right.

Epistemology

The philosophical study of knowledge

Aesthetics

The philosophical study of art/beauty

Metaethics

The study of the meaning of ethical language; the study of the foundations of morality

Ethical Egoism

The ethical theory that what is in a person's self-interest is what determines right and wrong--not narcissism, but that the moral thing to is what advances one's self-interest.

Descriptive Ethics

The observation and affirmation that people’s moral beliefs differ from culture to culture.

Moral Realism

The belief that moral facts and moral values exist and that these are objective, universal and transcendent.

Relativism

The view that morality is relative to one’s culture and community, and, as a result, there are no moral absolutes that transcend culture and time.

Subjectivism

The view that each person's moral standard depends of what that person believes to be right.

Absolutism

The view that morality is absolute, objective, and universal.

Utilitarian View

The view that morality is determined by the greatest good for the greatest number, or the action that produces the greatest balance of benefits over harms is the moral thing to do

Theological Ethics

The ethical belief that right and wrong are grounded in God’s character, and a Christian ethic is one which submits to the moral authority of God through obedience to his commands as a way of having and displaying one’s relationship with him and impacting the society for his glory

Act Utilitarianism

The ethical belief that the morality of a person’s action is dependent on the consequences of that act, i.e. the value of an act is determined by the amount of good it can produce. This moral assessment is done after the act and an evaluation of the effects.

Rule Utilitarianism

The ethical belief that one should determine whether or not to perform an act based on a predictable track record of consequences. The moral evaluation is done prior to the act and functions to determine the right course of action.

Contractarianism

Creating shared agreements which require freedom, self interest, and rational thinking humans

Ontology

The study of nature, being and existence of a thing.

Ethical Egoism

The ethical belief that one’s own self-interest determines whether an action is morally right or wrong.

Psychological Egoism

A view of human nature that humans are incapable of acting in any other way except in self-interest, i.e. whether one attempts to be self-sacrificing or not, one is unconsciously acting in a way that will benefit the self; man is innately self-interested.

Moral Subjectivism

Cultural relativism for a culture of one person, i.e. the individual. This view is relativism narrowed to a singular subject’s morality; e.g. what I think is good for me is good and what you think is good for you is good is good for you.

Golden Mean

The sweet spot between virtue and vice.

Prima Facie

At first glance.

Intrinsic

To essentially belong to a particular nature of a thing or being.

Ultimate

This word means last, final, elemental, fundamental, or maximum. As a noun it is a final point or result.

Begging the Question

Assuming one’s conclusion to an argument to be true prior to formulating an argument

Penultimate

Second to last, second most important

Sanctity of Life

A principle applied in ethics in which it is believed human life has an inherently sacred attribute that should be protected and respected at all times.

Bodily Integrity

A principle applied in ethics in which it is believed that one has the right to do with one’s body as one chooses.

Personal Autonomy

A principle applied in ethics in which it is believed that one has the capacity to decide for oneself and pursue a course of action in one's life, often regardless of any particular moral content, i.e. I have the right to do with my mind and body that which I choose regardless of moral consequence because it is mine.

Personhood

An individual person with a subjective identity allowing that individual access to moral rights.

Continuity of Personhood

The concept that a person remains the same person irrespective of time and change

Viability

The ability of a thing, in this case a baby, to maintain life without aid (outside the womb).

Sentience

The ability to feel (emotions), experience (pain), and perceive (consciousness).

Degreed Property

An attribute that can be granted at more or less of a degree; not an all-or-nothing attribute

False Dichotomy

An inaccurate dilemma rooted in the limitation of alternative choices; e.g. the limitation of choices that either A or B, when there is also a possible option C to be considered.

Personal Autonomy

A principle applied in ethics in which it is believed that one has the capacity to decide for oneself and pursue a course of action in one's life, often regardless of any particular moral content, i.e. I have the right to do with my mind and body that which I choose regardless of moral consequence because it is mine.

Beneficence

An action done for the benefit of others

Nonmaleficence

The obligation we have to "do no harm" to others. One of the four fundamental ethical principles--Where harm cannot be avoided we must minimize as much as possible.

Normative (moral)

The type of ethical judgment that places a value (negative or positive) on some practice. These judgments rely on on some belief about what is good or right (in other words on norms or standards of what is right or wrong)

The Horrific Evils Objection

If relativism were true, then any sort of immoral practice could be acceptable as long as a society's majority accepted it.

The Reformer’s Objection

If relativism were true, then the great social prophets and advocates of change within society must be considered evil because they opposed the status quo.

The Moral Progress Objection

If relativism were true, then any notion of improvement in a society makes no sense because there can be no objective standards to progress.

The Social Groups Objection

If relativism were true, then most people in modern pluralistic societies have no definite moral standard because most people belong to several groups at once.

Categorical Imperatives

The commands you must follow, regardless of your desires. It's about morality.

Eudaimonia

A life well lived life recognized in human flourishing

Habituation

Doing virtuous things repeatedly, so it becomes automatic

Justice as Equality

Everyone should get the same kind and amount of stuff

Need-based Justice

Everyone should get what they need, not the same, since our needs are different

Merit-based Justice

Giving unequally based on what each person deserves. You get what you earn

Retributive Justice

A wrongdoer should suffer in proportion to the way they’ve made others suffer.

Justice as Deterrence

Punishment intended to prevent a wrongdoer from committing further crimes, while also discouraging others from breaking the rules. Punishment is good not just for the wrongdoer, but also for society as a whole.

Restorative Justice

Justice where the focus is on making amends, rather than on making the wrongdoer suffer. The hope here is that the right approach to wrongdoing will lead to healing and growth, both for the wrongdoer and the wronged.

Advance Directive

A written legal document that states your healthcare wishes in the event that you are unable to communicate or make decisions.

Living Will

A type of advance directive that shapes end-of-life treatment

Palliative Care

Medical care that is intended to relieve pain and make the patient as comfortable as possible without trying to heal them.

Physician Assisted Suicide

A physician providing, at the patient’s request, a prescription for a lethal dose of medication that the patient can self-administer by ingestion, with the explicit intention of ending life.

Do Not Resuscitate

A medical order written by a doctor. It instructs health care providers not to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if a patient's breathing stops or if the patient's heart stops beating.

Termination of Life Support

The decision to end treatment either because it is no longer effective or the patient decides it is no longer desirable.

Euthanasia

The painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. The practice is illegal in most countries.