PHI 110: Ethics - First Exam Overview Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering normative ethical theories, philosophical concepts, objections, and applied ethics case parameters for PHI 110 Exam 1.

Consequentialism

A foundational component of Utilitarianism holding that the moral rightness of an act is determined solely by the outcomes or consequences it produces.

Hedonism

In the context of Utilitarianism, the philosophical view that pleasure is the intrinsic good and pain is the intrinsic evil, forming the standard for evaluating consequences.

Act Maximizing Relationship

The principle in Utilitarianism dictating that an agent must perform the specific action that maximizes the overall net good compared to all available alternatives.

Principle of Utilitarianism

The moral rule resulting from consequentialism, hedonism, and the act maximizing relationship, asserting that an action is morally right if and only if it produces the greatest amount of overall utility or happiness.

Good Will

In Kantian Deontology, the only thing that can be conceived of as good without qualification, acting purely from moral duty rather than desire, inclination, or expected consequences.

Motive of Duty

The Kantian requirement that an action possesses genuine moral worth only when performed out of respect for the moral law itself rather than from personal inclination or self-interest.

Hypothetical Imperative

In Kantian ethics, a conditional command of reason that specifies an action as necessary to achieve a specific desired end or goal (e.g., 'If you want $X$, do $Y$').

Categorical Imperative

In Kantian ethics, an unconditional, universally binding command of practical reason that applies to all rational agents regardless of their individual inclinations, desires, or ends.

Formula of Humanity

A formulation of Kant's Categorical Imperative (interpreted by O’Neil) requiring rational agents to always treat humanity, whether in oneself or in another, as an end in itself and never merely as a means.

Eudaemonia

The ultimate goal or highest good in Aristotelian Virtue Ethics, translating to human flourishing, true happiness, or living and faring well.

Unique Human Function

In Aristotelian ethics, the distinctive characteristic activity that sets humans apart from all other beings, identified as the active life of the rational part of the soul.

External and Bodily Goods

Material, relational, and physical goods (such as health, good birth, wealth, and friends) identified in Aristotelian Virtue Ethics as necessary instruments or conditions for fully realizing eudaemonia.

Intellectual and Moral Virtues

The two categories of human excellence in Aristotelian ethics: intellectual virtues (acquired through teaching and rational contemplation) and moral virtues (acquired through habituation and practice).

Doctrine of the Mean

Aristotle's standard for moral virtue, stating that every virtue is an intermediate or balanced state between two vices: an excess and a deficiency.

Rule of Virtue Ethics

As interpreted by Hursthouse, the normative principle that an action is morally right if and only if it is what a virtuous agent would characteristically do in the given circumstances.

"Reason is and ought only be the slave of the passions"

David Hume’s foundational ethical argument asserting that rational cognition alone cannot motivate the will or oppose passion, meaning reason can only discover means to satisfy desire.

Humean Normative Principle

The principle derived from Hume's view that moral motivation and moral obligations originate in sentimental passions, emotional attachments, and human desires rather than purely rational facts.

Prudential Oughts vs. Moral Oughts

The distinction in Humean ethics between prudential requirements (actions one ought to take to satisfy individual self-interest or desire) and moral requirements (actions commanded by impartial sentiment and general human well-being).

Sympathy

In Humean ethics, an essential and universal human psychological capacity that allows individuals to share in, mirror, and feel the pains and pleasures of others, grounding moral sentiments.

Humean Constructivist Principle

The ethical framework developed through Hume's ethics where normative moral values and shared standards are constructed out of universal human sympathy and generalized moral sentiment.

Euthyphro Dilemma

A foundational philosophical dilemma asking: Is an action morally good because God commands it, or does God command an action because it is morally good?

Divine Command Theory

The horn of the Euthyphro Dilemma stating that moral rightness and wrongness are directly determined and created by the commands of God.

Moral Arbitrariness Objection

An objection to Divine Command Theory arguing that if God's commands alone define morality without independent moral reasons, God's commands become entirely arbitrary.

Morally Imperfect God Objection

An objection to Divine Command Theory asserting that if 'good' simply means 'what God commands', the statement 'God is good' is rendered empty and tautological, undermining God's objective moral perfection.

Evil Morality Objection

An objection to Divine Command Theory holding that if God were to command heinous or cruel acts, those evil acts would absurdly become morally obligatory.

Patient Confidentiality Exception

The professional rule under which a psychologist is strictly bound to protect patient disclosures unless the patient is expected to cause serious and imminent physical threat to the health or safety of themselves or another person.

Erythropoietin (EPO)

A performance-enhancing hormone that vastly improves oxygen delivery to working muscles, banned in competitive triathlon racing as cheating.