Ethics and Moral Philosophy

Flashcards covering key concepts from ethics and moral philosophy, including definitions of terms and important principles.

Ethics

The rational justification for moral judgments, deriving from the Greek word ethos meaning character.

Morality

A set of moral principles that guide behavior.

Mores

Norm conventions that dictate social behaviors.

Values

Enduring beliefs or statements about what is good or not.

Norms

General rules about actions or behaviors.

Moral standard

Norms that define what is believed to be morally right or wrong.

Non-moral standard

Standards used to judge goodness or badness in a non-moral context, such as etiquette.

Eudaimonia

Living a good, meaningful, and virtuous life where one flourishes.

Syllogism

A rhetorical method of deductive reasoning that starts with a major premise, narrows down to a minor premise, and arrives at a conclusion.

Categorical syllogism

A form of syllogism which asserts that if A is in C, then B is in C.

Conditional syllogism

A form of syllogism stating that if A is true, then B is true (If A then B).

Disjunctive syllogism

A syllogism stating that if A is true, then B is false (A or B).

Moral Agency

An individual's ability to make moral judgments based on notions of right and wrong.

Human Act

An act that is deliberate, intentional, and has moral significance, proceeding from deliberate free will.

Act of Man

Actions that are merely the result of human agency without moral implications or responsibility.

Knowledge, Freedom, Voluntariness.

Three elements of human act

Moral Agent

A person capable of discerning good from evil and bearing moral responsibility for their judgments.

character

greek word ethos

socrates

father of western philosophy

Plato

socrate’s student

Aristotle

Plato’s student at the academy

Argument

Piece of reasoning expressed in words or symbols.

premise

it acts as support for your conclussion

Conclusion

Main claim or position

St. Augustine

Considered the “sinner among the saints