Philosophy 120 Sem test 1

  According to Sarah J. Harper, what is moral life composed of?

 Moral life is composed of actions, principles, rights, duties, and obligations.

According to Sarah J. Harper, what is ethical life composed of?

 Ethical life is composed of feelings, inclinations, preferences, motives, and virtues.

What did the Latin mos emphasise?

Mos emphasizes social expectations

What did the Greek ethikos relate to?

Ethikos relates to individual character

Why do Anscombe and Williams think that modern morality should be abandoned?

Because modern morality is harmful and depends on a notion of ethics that no longer survives.

According to Sarah J. Harper what is said to be the distinction between ethics and morality?

Morality is about how a person should treat others (universal principles), while ethics is about what kind of life is good to lead (personal convictions).

What does scalar refer to?

Scalar refers to evaluation in degrees and applies to ethical life.(e.g. good better/best)

What does non-scalar refer to?

 Non-scalar refers to evaluation in absolutes (e.g., right/wrong) and applies to moral life.

Between ethics and morality, which one is said to be self-regarding?

Ethics

Between morality and ethics, which one is said to be other-regarding?

Morality

Relying on Brandt, Sarah J. Harper introduces a distinction between duty and obligation, how are the two said to be distinct?

 Obligation arises from agreements/promises, while duty arises from social roles or positions like an office.

According to Julia Annas, why does Bernard Williams think that ancients were better off without the notion of morality?

Because the notion of morality is objectionable and confused, and the ancients, by lacking it, avoided those confusions.

According to Julia Annas why should modern philosophers not be hostile to ancients?

Because ancient thought is still part of the same moral/ethical endeavor.

What is said to be attractive about moral reasons (which ancients are said to have lacked)?

Moral reasons are universalizable without contradiction and override other reasons.

What are ancient theories said to limit themselves to?

Ancient theories are said to limit themselves to an individual’s possession of practical wisdom and living well.

For Stoics, what is a preferred indifferent?

Things like health or wealth – not good in themselves, but preferred over their opposites.

For Aristotle, what are the two extremes of the mean?

Extremes of excess and deficiency.

Why does Julia Annas think that no modern believes that a good person is one who applies procedure?

 Because moderns value dispositions and character over mechanical rule-following.

According to Julia Annas why do moderns think that ancient ethics is defective as morality?

 Because ancient ethics it begins with self-concern and lacks impartiality.

What is agent-centred ethics said to fail at?

 Seeing morality as a perspective from which an agent is impartial between their own concerns and those of others.

According to Peter Simpson what led to the emergence of virtue ethics?

Dissatisfaction with Kantianism (deontology) and utilitarianism led to the emergence of virtue ethics.

According to Peter Simpson what does virtue ethics hold to be the fundamental task of moral philosophy?

The fundamental task is judgement of agents (good person = good character).

According to Peter Simpson who do virtue ethicists cite as their finest?

Modern virtue theorists cite Aristotle as their finest.

For Peter Simpson what do virtue ethicists fail to link which betrays their fundamental misunderstanding of Aristotle?

They fail to link the Nicomachean Ethics to Politics.

Why would Aristotle consider Nicomachean Ethics incomplete, according to Peter Simpson?

Because its object is not to theorise but to do; not to know virtue but to possess and exercise it.

In the account of virtue and eudaimonia, how is a circularity said to arise?

Virtue is defined through eudaimonia, and eudaimonia is defined through virtue, which creates a circular definition.

Where is Aristotle said to derive virtues from?

From the common opinions of the citizens of the day.

For Aristotle, what should the virtuous be trained in?

They must be trained in their habits.

Aristotle says the first principles of study are facts. Name two of those facts.

The just and the beautiful

In adopting the mean, what two extremes would an agent have avoided?

Extremes of excess and deficiency

In the Aristotelian account why are virtue and intuition said to be circular?

Because the virtuous are those with the right intuition, and those with the right intuition are virtuous.

Why does Simpson believe that Aristotle does not leave us with a circle of intuition and virtue?

Because those who are virtuous and are within the circle understand that it is not circular. His logic will only be understood by those who are truly virtuous.

What do those who are not virtuous lack?

They lack knowledge or appreciation of beauty and reason, and end up thinking vice is good.

What makes Aristotle’s virtue ethics NOT a theory in the modern sense, according to Simpson?

It is only about particulars, not a universal moral theory like deontology or utilitarianism.

What argument about virtues do modern virtue ethicists seek to make which Aristotle does not, according to Simpson?

They seek to argue and establish that virtues are virtues and are good, whereas Aristotle simply includes virtues within eudaimonia.

According to Simpson, for Aristotle, why are the vicious not virtuous?

Because their reason and desire are corrupted by bad habits, so they love vice and mistake it for good.

For Simpson, why is prudence associated with perception?

Because prudence is like an eye: it perceives what accords with reason in the here and now, rather than applying a fixed criterion.

For Simpson, why do modern virtue ethicists ultimately fail to make Aristotle their own?

Because Aristotle’s account is not a moral theory in the modern sense, so they cannot build their project on him.

For Simpson, why does Aristotle consider philosophy the life of virtue?

Because philosophy is contemplative, a life of virtue devoted to truth and beauty, and higher than indulgence or politics.

According to Simpson, who has the ultimate task of training the youths?

The city, through politics and legislation, not just the family.

For Immanuel Kant, what is the major aim of moral philosophy?

The major aim of moral philosophy is to seek out the foundation of a metaphysics of morals, which is a system of a priori moral principles that apply to the Categorical Imperative (CI) to all humans at all times.

For Kant why would a priori moral principles that apply to the Categorical Imperative be accepted to all sane individuals?

Because through rational reflection, such principles would be acceptable to all sane adults. They are based on reason rather than experience, and thus bind universally.

In developing the Categorical Imperative, Kant noticed tension between two ideas. What was the tension between?

The tension was between causal determinism and the freedom required for morality.

For Kant, how can the tension you identified in the previous question be solved?

It can be solved through the distinction between phenomena (things as they appear) and noumena (things in themselves), which allows space for free will in the noumenal realm.

For Kant, what is the major question to be answered in moral philosophy?

The major question is: “What ought I to do?”

Give one reason Kant provides for justifying the necessity of a priori to setting moral principles.

Moral requirements must be rational principles that provide overriding reasons to act. Only a priori methods can guarantee universality and necessity.

Give at least one reason why Kant values good will.

Kant values good will because moral worth comes not from consequences but from acting out of duty, guided by rational principles. A good will is intrinsically valuable regardless of outcomes.

For Kant, how are natural desires constrained?

Natural desires are constrained by rational moral requirements, determined a priori as principles of duty.

What is the difference between a Categorical and Hypothetical Imperative?

A Hypothetical Imperative is conditional (“If you want X, then you ought to do Y”), while a Categorical Imperative is unconditional and applies universally, commanding action regardless of desires or ends.

Complete this Kantian formulation: “Never act….”

“Never act except in such a way that you can will that the maxim of your action should become a universal law.”