ETHICS MIDTERMS REVIEWER

The Vedas

means “knowledge”, oldest texts of Hinduism containing different collections containing hymns, poems, prayers, and religious instruction that glorify the __ gods

RITA

most basic insight of the Vedas, it is the founding principle of all things

Upanishads

seek to understand the fullness of humans becoming by realizing the deepest insight about the true nature of spiritual enlightenment

Virtue Ethics

broad term for theories that emphasize the role of character and__ in moral philosophy rather than doing one’s duty or acting in order to bring about good

Nicomachean Ethics

emphasizes how spiritual growth can be achieved only by working on yourself everyday, and how the process never really ends, although you become self-actualized on the way.

Indian Philosophy

It takes an introspective approach to reality, concerning itself with knowledge of the inner life and self of man, rather than with the nature and structure of the physical world.`

Samsara

is the continuous cycle of birth, death and rebirth. In order to escape this cycle, one must realize that everything is one, everything is Brahman. In other words, one's individual soul is the same as the universal soul.

The Upanishads

teach that by living a life of meditation and purification, one achieves a state of spiritual enlightenment.

Eudaimonia ( Happiness)

Aristotle assumes that any activity, practical, theoretical aims towards some end or good

Aristotle’s Ultimate Goal

HAPPINESS

Rational Aspect

responsible for speculative knowledge and reasoning and practical choice and action Ir

Irrational Aspect

responsible for the involuntary functions of the body V

Vegetative

in charge of nutrition and growth

Appetitive

reflects the passions, desires, and urges of the human person

What happens if we give in to raw and unchecked appetites?

Giving in to__ is oftentimes the reasons a person commits immoral acts.

Buddhism

provides a way to understand what a good human being ought to do to come to the fullness of human life

Eightfold Path

provides a guidepost to acting in this world

Virtue

is a way of how human person can fulfill their function in accordance with our true nature

Moral Virtue

excellence in the performance of decisions relating to moral and practical activity

Intellectual Virtue

capacity to harness reason’s contemplative capacity for arriving at knowledge

How does a person become virtuous?

Aristotle emphasized the role of practice and habit in the formation of moral virtue

Mean

intermediary point between excess and deficiency (vices)- in a mean (mesotes) that can be considered as the appropriate response to the demands of the different situations.

is not a fixed point but rather a moving target.

on your ability to adjust yourself to the situation which determines whether you may be considered virtuous or not in the given situation.

Practical Wisdom (Prudence)

Virtue is a state of character that is the result of choice.

Phronesis

is the human person’s instrument in dealing with moral choices.

What do these ideas of Aristotle teach us?

emphasized the art of living well through the habitual practice of virtue which essentially translates into having a virtuous or excellent character.

Aristotle

teaches that character is the most essential components of ethics

virtuous character

is the result of the proper combination of practical wisdom and habituation in the pursuit of the mean (mesotes).

Natural Theory

theory in ethics and philosophy that says that human beings possess intrinsic values that govern our reasoning and behavior.

maintains that these rules of right and wrong are inherent in people and are not created by society or court judges.

Natural laws are prescriptive

because they tell us how we ought to behave. In this sense, they are unlike physical laws aka laws of nature (e.g., gravitation), which tell us how things do in fact behave and are, therefore, descriptive.

Natural laws are absolute,

because the goods in which they are grounded are in commensurable - that is, there is no common metric that would allow us to compare them. Hence, there can be no ‘trade-offs’ between, say, protecting life and seeking knowledge; or, more importantly, between protecting this life rather than that life

Eternal Law

Aquinas means God’s rational purpose and plan for all things. Thinks that everything has a purpose and follows a plan. If fulfils its purpose/plan then it follows this law.

Divine Law

are those that man receives by special revelation from God. Divine laws are those that God has in his grace, seen fit to give us and are those “mysteries”, those rules given by God which we find in the scripture.

Primary Precepts

Protect and preserve human life

Reproduce and educate one’s offspring
Know and worship God
Live in a society

Self-preservation

natural inclination to live

Procreation

Natural inclination to reproduce

Knowledge

Natural inclination to love and seek affection

Human Laws

devised by man for specific purposes

The Principle of Forfeiture

According to the principle of___, a person who threatens the life of an innocent person forfeits his or her own right to life.

(i.e., violate the principle concerning the protection of life),

…I forfeit my right to life.

Thus, killing in self-defense is morally permissible.

“If you take another life, you forfeit your own right to life”

The Principle of Double Effect

A wrong or evil result brought about because of some morally right action (undertaken with intention to do good) is not itself blameworthy. Sometimes it is permissible to perform an action that has, besides its desired (good) effects, a second effect that it would be impermissible to bring about, either as an end or as a means.

Principles of the DDE:

first principle is that the act must be a good one. The second principle is that the act must come about before the consequences. The third is that the intention must be good. The fourth, it must be for serious reasons.