Studied by 3 people
Utilitarianism
The rightness or wrongness of actions is determined by the results they produce
Utilitarian philosophers
Jeremy Bentham
John Stuart Mill
Act Utilitarianism
When faced with a choice, act utilitarian consider the particular situation to determine what individual act would maximize happiness.
Rule Utilitarianism
Generate rules or derive guidelines from the greatest happiness principle that look beyond the immediate case and bring in other considerations
Preference Utilitarianism
Suggests that the moral endeavor is to fulfill as many preferces as possible
Deontology
An ethical framework that maintains that acts are morally correct insofar as they conform to a principle of duty or obligation
Deontology philosophers
Immanuel Kant
Categorical Imperative
A rational decision procedure that can be determined through a thought experiment rather than through gathering evidence
Perfect Duties
Generally Prohibitions
Imperfect Duties
Those that encourage us to improve
Normative Ethics
Tells what people ought to do
Descriptive Ethics
Tells us what people do
Maxim
A moral principle that will govern the behavior of all reasoning people
Collateral Damage
Unintended result from a good intention
Double Effect
The problem of multiple results emerging from a good intention
Doctrine of Double Effect
The way the problem of multiple results emerging from a good intention is reconciled as morally acceptable
Antirealists
What is considered good will completely depend on the interests of people involved, not some external moral standard
The Watergate Scandal
Nixon’s administration tried to cover up their involvement with breaking in and spying on their opponent
Three of the “greasiest” and why (Watergate)
Nixon: he covered up for himself
Dean: Spilled/snitched. He made himself look good
Baldwin: He went behind the coverups back
The Madoff Ponzi Scandal
Bernard Madoff stole 65 million dollars from the people
Three of the “greasiest” and why (Madoff Ponzi)
Bernie Madoff: stole the money, used it for himself
SEC: Didn’t do their jobs, sorta looked the other way
Walter Noel: Funneled billions of dollars to Madoff, giving him huge returns to his firm
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Flashcard (24)