PHIL 104 – Final Exam Flashcards (All Texts & Authors)

A comprehensive set of flashcards covering key terms and definitions from the PHIL 104 course, focusing on various ethical theories, legal cases, and social justice concepts.

Grant the Premise - Thomson

Accepting, for the sake of argument, that a fetus has a right to life does not by itself show that abortion is morally impermissible.

The Violinist Thought Experiment - Thomson

Being forced to use your body to keep another person alive does not create a moral obligation to do so, even if unplugging would cause death.

Moral Kindness vs. Moral Obligation - Thomson

Allowing someone to use your body may be a moral kindness, but it is not something you are morally required to do.

Right to Life vs. Right to Use Another’s Body - Thomson

A right to life does not include a right to be given or continue using another person’s body.

Burglar Analogy - Thomson

Taking a foreseeable risk does not automatically grant others rights to your property or body.

People-Seeds Analogy - Thomson

Using precautions against pregnancy undermines the claim that consent to sex equals consent to gestation.

Future-Like-Ours (FLO) Theory - Marquis

Killing is wrong primarily because it deprives a being of a valuable future containing experiences, projects, and enjoyment.

FLO and Abortion - Marquis

Because a fetus has a future like ours, abortion is presumptively seriously wrong unless overridden by compelling reasons.

FLO Compatibility with Contraception and Euthanasia - Marquis

Contraception and some euthanasia are permissible because no valuable future is deprived. Author:

Virtue Ethics - Hursthouse

Moral evaluation focuses on character and human flourishing rather than strict moral rules.

Moral Wisdom (Phronesis) - Hursthouse

Knowing what is right requires experience and sensitive judgment, not simple formulas.

Abortion and Character - Hursthouse

Abortion may reflect vice or virtue depending on context, motives, and life circumstances.

Reproductive Justice Framework - Zakiya Luna & Kristin Luker

Justice requires the right to have children, not have children, and parent with dignity.

Right to Parent with Dignity - Zakiya Luna & Kristin Luker

Focuses on incarceration, family separation, coerced reproduction, and state control over parenting.

Buck v. Bell (1927) - Wendell Holmes Jr.

The Supreme Court upheld forced sterilization under eugenics, legitimizing state control over reproduction.

Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942)

The Court rejected criminal sterilization laws, recognizing reproduction as a fundamental right. Author: U.S. Supreme Court

Ethics of Animal Confinement -DeGrazia

Animal confinement is morally permissible only under strict standards that protect welfare and dignity.

Five Standards of Justified Confinement - DeGrazia

Basic needs, comparable life, no unnecessary harm, worthwhile life, and respect.

The Absent Referent -Adams

Animals become absent through meat consumption, language, and metaphor, enabling moral denial.

Master/Monster Narrative - Plumwood

Nature encounters are framed as battles of domination, erasing ecological humility.

Ecological Identity - Plumwood

Humans must recognize themselves as part of the food chain, vulnerable and interdependent.

Capabilities Approach - Nussbaum

Justice requires guaranteeing a threshold level of central human capabilities for all citizens.

Central Capabilities - Nussbaum

Life, bodily health, bodily integrity, senses/imagination/thought, emotions, practical reason, affiliation, other species, play, and control over one’s environment.

Ableism - Taylor

Systemic prejudice against disabled people that defines which bodies are valued or devalued.

Disability as Socially Constructed - Taylor

Disability definitions change across legal, cultural, and political contexts.

Super Crip Narrative = Taylor

Disabled people are framed as inspirational for overcoming personal tragedy instead of confronting oppression.

Disability and Animal Oppression - Taylor

Ableist frameworks justify the exploitation of both disabled humans and nonhuman animals.

Myth: People Just Need Personal Responsibility - Victoria Law

Mass incarceration reflects structural inequality, selective enforcement, and institutional failure—not individual moral weakness.

Myth: Prisons Are Places of Rehabilitation = Victoria Law

Prisons prioritize punishment and control, often worsening trauma and recidivism.

Myth: Race Has Nothing to Do with Mass Incarceration - Victoria Law

Racial disparities are produced by historical design, policing practices, and unequal enforcement.