Moral Philosophy & Logical Reasoning – Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards summarizing key terms and definitions related to moral philosophy and logical reasoning from the provided lecture notes.

Meta-ethics

The branch of ethics that investigates the nature, status, and knowability of moral value (e.g., whether values are objective and how we can know what is good).

Normative ethics

The branch of ethics that asks what we ought to do and how we should live, often seeking general moral principles or decision procedures for right and wrong.

Applied ethics

The field that addresses concrete moral problems (e.g., abortion, terrorism) by applying normative theories to specific cases.

Moral reasoning

The use of logical and other argumentative techniques to examine moral questions and arrive at justified ethical judgments.

Argument (logical)

A structured set of statements in which premises are offered to support a conclusion.

Premise

A statement in an argument that provides support or evidence for the conclusion.

Conclusion

The statement that an argument aims to establish on the basis of its premises.

Formal logic

A deductive system that derives conclusions from premises according to explicit logical rules.

Logical validity

The property of an argument whereby it is impossible for the premises to be true while the conclusion is false; the conclusion necessarily follows.

Soundness

An argument is sound when it is both logically valid and all of its premises are true.

Logical necessity

The relation that holds when a conclusion must be true given the truth of the premises; characteristic of valid arguments.

Implied premise

An unstated assumption required for an argument’s validity, often left implicit in ordinary discourse.

Deduction

Reasoning that moves from general premises to a conclusion that follows with logical necessity.

Validity test

A method for checking validity: ask whether a world can be imagined where the premises are true and the conclusion false; if yes, the argument is invalid.

Equivocation

A logical fallacy in which a key term is used with different meanings in different premises, undermining the argument.

Logical fallacy

An error in reasoning that weakens or invalidates an argument (e.g., equivocation, circularity).

Methodology (in moral philosophy)

The collection of techniques and patterns of reasoning—logical principles, thought experiments, intuition appeals—used to investigate moral issues.

Thought experiment

A hypothetical scenario devised to test intuitions, clarify concepts, or reveal the implications of a moral principle.

Moral intuition

An immediate, pre-theoretical judgment about what is morally right or wrong, often elicited by thought experiments.

Normative theory

A systematic framework of moral principles used to guide and evaluate actions (e.g., utilitarianism, Kantian ethics).

Circular argument

A fallacious argument in which the conclusion is assumed or restated within the premises, providing no independent support.