FINAL EXAM PHILOSOPHY YAYYYYY

FINALLY

What does the philosophical task of ethics entail?

Examining your values, shaping and rethinking them in light of your own experience and your own reasoning

Morality

Standards an individual/group has about what’s right and wrong or good and evil

Moral Standards

Rules/statements indicating the kinds of actions that are morally/right and the kinds of values that are morally good

Ethics

Study of morality and branch of philosophy that attempts to determine what things are morally good/bad and which actions are morally right/wrong

What does reaonsable mean?

Supported by good reason

What does developing reasonable moral standards indicate?

Looking at standards we hold and weighing the reason for/against those standards

Ethical relativism

Moral right and wrong depend on the society or culture to which you belong

How do social sciences differ in studying morality compared to ethics?

Social sciences study morality through a descriptive/factual investigation of moral behavior and beliefs (how people behave and what people believe

Ethics and social sciences both address the issue of ___ ___

Moral diversity

Descriptive relativism

Different societies/cultures have different moralities

Why is descriptive relativism considered descriptive?

It only describes the moral beliefs/standards of different societies/cultures but says nothing about whether they’re correct/wrong

Ethical relativism states that as people grow up, they do what with their societies culture and moral standards?

They internalize them

What does ethical relativism believe about moral standards?

There’s no single correct set of moral standards everyone should follow (morality is subjective)

How are ethical relativism and descriptive relativism different?

Descriptive relativism holds that what people believe is morally right/wrong differs from one society to another while ethical relativism states that what actually is morally right/wrong differs from one society to another

How are ethical relativism and descriptive relativism related?

Ethical relativism relies on descriptive relativism being true

Who is Melville J. Herskovits?

Ethical relativist who called ethical relativism, “culture relativism”

What are Herskovits three points?

(1) no moral system can be absolutely valid (2) what’s morally right/wrong is based on one’s cultural experiences (3) moral standards are gained through enculturation

What’s the first problem with ethical relativism?

Without objective moral standards we cannot evaluate or criticize our moral standards

What’s the second problem with ethical relativism?

Implies one has to conform to moral standards of the society/group they belong to

What’s the third problem with ethical relativism?

Cultural disagreements about moral matters show that no moral standards are valid for all societies

What’s the fourth problem with ethical relativism?

Moral disagreements would be impossible since moralities differ.

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