PHIL 103

as of Oct 1

Philosophy

The attempt to think carefully and critically about some of life’s most important questions and the attempt to live out the answer to those questions

Applied ethics

is this the right thing to do? is it typically forbidden?

Normative Ethics

What makes right acts right and wrong acts wrong (there is no one answer)

Meta-ethics

What is the fundamental nature of morality

Premises

reason

conclusion

thesis

Ad Hominem fallacy

Attacking the claim or messenger and not the evidence

“oh you’re a (insult) for believing so” → to counter: “why do you think so”

strawman fallacy

Attacking a weak version of a viewpoint
“you believe in evolution? so then you say my grandpa is a chimp”

John Mill’s view

An action is right if it gives the greatest amount of happiness to the most people and bad if it removes from that

Immanuel Kant’s view

Action is right if done out of duty and wrong if it violates the categorical imperative

Conceptual Analysis

Thinking carefully can yield truths about the world

Good Will

The only thing that is good without qualification is a good will.
- “Gifts of nature” (talents) can become bad if a persons will is bad (think of supervillains) 

Hypothetical imperatives

Laws that are conditional and goal oriented
“Drivers must drive on right side”, there’s rules and conditions

Categorical imperative

Unconditional and apply to us because of the kind of beings we are
“You should not steal” “Do good”

According to Kant, Moral law has to be…

A categorical imperative as moral law is not goal oriented and some moral rules apply to us regardless of what we want, “No torturing babies”\

Autonomy

The capacity to make free and informed choices. What every human being is

According to Kant, what gives us moral rules is…

being autonomous beings. As a rational being, the good laws are the ones that everyone should live by, binding by all autonomy beings

Universal law formula

1. state the motive

2. make it a rule on everyone

3. consider world governed by said rule

4. consider whether you want to be governed by such rule

if all is good, it is a universal law

Natural inclination

A deposition of a certain sort, as determined by that thing. Ex: A natural inclination of a stone is to fall to earth, a seed is meant to grow into a plant
A natural inclination of animal is to protect their life 

According to Aquinas, law is based on…

Reason. Reason performs the laws