philosophy 1000 exam 2

Moral evils

brought into existence by human action

i.e. murder and theft

natural evils

exists because of natural events

i.e. hurricanes, tornados

theist responses to argument of evil

theodicy and defense

Theodicy

attempts to explain why an all-pkg God would allow for evil to exist

Types of Theodicies

soul building and free-will

defenses

skeptical theism

first version of argument from evil

no God exists because no all-pkg God would allow for evil to exist

second version of argument from evil

the amount of evil would not exceed a soul-building minimum

third version of argument from evil

an all-pkg God would not allow for more than a minimum required for soul-building and is a consequence of freedom

3 types of metaethics

subjectivism, conventionalism, realism

subjectivism

view that there are no moral truths- no true or false and is all opinion based

emotivism

boo/hoorah theory

conventionalism

ethical truths are true because someone said so

different conventionalisms

divine command theory, relativism, existentialism

relativism

right and wrongness is settled by societies “say-so”

Divine Command Theory

an actions right/wrongness is settled by the divines “say-so”

existentialism

moral truths change from person to person- determined individually

realism

truths are independently true

objectivism

there are objective moral truths

relativism

right/wrongness of an action is settled by societies say so

moral relativism

not just an idea that whats right changes depends on the circumstances

ethical relativism

Arbitrariness and conformism

arbitrariness

ethical relativism entails that society determines if things are right/wrong

conformism

relativism entails people should conform to norms of society

Humes “is/ought” gap

the idea that you can not jump from simply stating how things are (“is”) to automatically concluding how things should be (“ought”)

Moores Naturalistic Fallacy

assuming something good because it is natural, or defending its goodness

two kinds of normative ethics

consequentialism and deontology

consequentialism

the idea that what makes an action right/wrong depends on how good the consequences are

key concept = utilitarianism

deontology

the idea of an action being right/wrong depends on its conformity with duties not to perform an action independent of consequences

utilitarianism

the idea that the only thing that determines the right/wrongness of an action is the sum total happiness among everyone

four key concepts of utilitarianism

consequentialism, welfarism, impartiality, aggregationism

welfarism

theory of happiness

hendonism

balance of sensations of pain and pleasure

bentham (simple) hedonism

the quantity and intensity of the sensations

mills (sophisticated) hedonsim

higher and lower pressures

Act utilitarianism

choose action that maximizes overall happiness

rule utilitarianism

act in a way where a rule, if followed by everyone, would maximize overall happiness

kantian deontology 3 concepts

morality’s derived from rationality and must therefore be universal, a good will is the only thing unconditionally good, moral importance of rational autonomy

ie. logic

categorical imperatives

unconditional; apply no matter what your goals and desires are

hypothetical imperatives

conditional; based on goal-directed reasoning

universal law formulation

act only on maxims that you can will to become universal laws.

golden rule

treat others the way you want to be treated

rule consequentialism

judges the morality of an action based on if it was a rule everyone followed, it would produce the best overall consequences for society

formula of humanity

Treat others never merely as means to your ends, but always also as ends in themselves.