Ethics & The Good Life

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the fundamentals of ethics, ancient Greek and Jewish ethics, Catholic ethical teachings, and contemporary ethical systems.

Ethics

The systematic reflection on moral values, rules, and principles to determine what constitutes right and wrong conduct.

Ethical Issue

A problem or situation requiring a decision between competing moral principles, directly affecting the well-being of others.

Deontological Ethics

A duty-based framework asserting that actions are intrinsically right or wrong in themselves, regardless of the consequences they produce.

Teleological Ethics

A consequence-based framework in which the moral worth of an action is judged exclusively by its results.

Virtue Ethics

A character-based moral philosophy centered on cultivating excellent personal qualities and practical wisdom rather than merely following rules.

Free Will

The philosophical capacity of rational agents to make unconstrained moral choices of their own volition.

Determinism

The philosophical doctrine that all human actions and events are entirely dictated by antecedent external causes such as genetics, environment, and physical laws.

Socrates & The Unexamined Life

The philosophical conviction that human beings must critically interrogate their beliefs, values, and soul rather than passively conforming to societal expectations.

Socratic Method

A dialectical form of cooperative inquiry utilizing targeted questions and answers to stimulate critical thinking and expose underlying assumptions.

Eudaimonia

Aristotle's concept of the supreme human good, representing flourishing, true fulfillment, and living well through the continuous exercise of virtue.

Aristotle's Golden Mean

The ethical principle that moral virtues represent a balanced middle ground between the opposing vices of excess and deficiency.

Covenant (Hesed)

A formal, binding agreement between God and the Jewish people defined by mutual commitment, steadfast love, and enduring faithfulness.

Halachah

The comprehensive body of Jewish religious law derived from the Written and Oral Torah that regulates daily ethical and ritual conduct.

Tikkun Olam

A Jewish moral imperative translating to 'repairing the world' through social justice, charity, and active partnership with God to heal society.

Orthodox Judaism

The traditional movement maintaining that Torah law was revealed verbatim at Sinai, remaining divinely authoritative and unchangeable throughout history.

Conservative Judaism

A centrist denomination that regards Halachah as binding while permitting gradual, scholarly adaptation to modern historical and cultural circumstances.

Reform Judaism

A progressive movement that prioritizes ethical principles and personal autonomy over the strict observance of traditional ritual laws.

Foundations of Catholic Ethics

The four primary sources utilized in moral discernment: Scripture, Tradition, Natural Law, and Conscience.

Dignity of the Human Person

The foundational Catholic teaching that every human being possesses inalienable sacred value because each is created in the image and likeness of God.

The Beatitudes

Teachings delivered by Jesus during the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) presenting core virtues and spiritual attitudes defining the Kingdom of God.

Natural Law (Aquinas)

The philosophical principle that human reason can comprehend universal moral truths intrinsic to human nature, reflecting participation in God's eternal law.

Primary & Secondary Precepts

The distinction in Thomism between universal, immutable principles (such as preserving life) and the specific human rules deduced from them.

Principle of Double Effect

A moral doctrine permitting an action with both positive and harmful outcomes, provided the harm is unintended, proportionate, and not the means to the good.

Act Utilitarianism (Bentham)

The quantitative moral theory asserting that an action is right if and only if it produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people in a given instance.

Rule Utilitarianism (Mill)

The moral framework asserting that actions are right when they follow general guidelines that systematically maximize overall welfare, favoring higher intellectual pleasures.

Categorical Imperative (Kant)

Kant's supreme deontological test requiring actions to be based only on principles that can be universally willed without contradiction.

Formula of Humanity (Kant)

Kant's imperative commanding that rational agents must always treat humanity, in oneself and others, as an end in itself and never merely as an instrumental tool.

Situation Ethics (Fletcher)

A Christian ethical system holding that the only absolute moral standard is responding with unconditional love adapted to the specifics of each circumstance.

Agape Love

Selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional goodwill directed toward the welfare of others, recognized as the sole intrinsic good in Situation Ethics.

Ethical Egoism

The normative moral theory asserting that individuals are ethically obligated to act exclusively in pursuit of their own long-term self-interest.

Phronesis (Practical Wisdom)

Aristotle's concept of practical reasoning that enables a person to discern appropriate moral actions and identify the Golden Mean in specific situations.

Care of the Soul (Socrates)

The philosophical teaching prioritizing moral integrity, virtue, and truth over material wealth, social status, and bodily pleasures.

Mitzvot

The divine commandments and duties (traditionally 613) outlined in the Torah that govern Jewish legal, ritual, and moral life.

Pikuach Nefesh

The Jewish legal doctrine asserting that the preservation of human life takes precedence over almost all other religious commandments and ritual restrictions.

Tzedakah

The Jewish obligation to act with fairness and charity, regarded as a mandatory fulfillment of justice rather than voluntary generosity.

Imago Dei

The theological doctrine that human beings are formed in the likeness of God, establishing an inalienable basis for human dignity and moral worth.

Role of Conscience (Catholic Ethics)

An inner moral sanctuary and judgment of reason where an individual perceives divine law and determines the moral quality of concrete actions.

Synderesis

The innate human intellectual capacity or habit that naturally inclines rational agents toward doing good and avoiding evil.

Hedonic Calculus

Bentham's quantitative algorithm for measuring the overall net pleasure and pain generated by an action across criteria such as intensity, duration, and extent.

Higher vs. Lower Pleasures (Mill)

The qualitative distinction separating intellectual, artistic, and moral satisfactions from purely physical, bodily sensations.

Universal Law Formulation (Kant)

The primary test of duty demanding that individuals act solely on maxims that they can simultaneously will to become binding rules for everyone.

The Good Will (Kant)

The only thing considered intrinsically good without qualification, defined by acting out of pure respect for moral duty rather than inclination or outcome.

Four Working Principles (Situation Ethics)

Fletcher's foundational guidelines for applying love in practice: Pragmatism, Relativism, Positivism, and Personalism.

Psychological Egoism vs. Ethical Egoism

The contrast between the descriptive theory that people naturally act only in self-interest and the normative theory that people ought to do so.

Moral Relativism vs. Moral Absolutism

The contrast between the view that ethical truths depend on cultural or individual norms and the view that ethical rules apply universally and objectively.