Midterm

Knowledge

  • Gained on really through falsification

  • Things are only accurate until there is evidence to disprove the claim

  • Newtonian Physics and Relativity

  • It’s all relatrive

    • What I think is right can be wting for someone else

    • There can be some conditioning factors that paten then relativity of morality

    • Not everyone lives the same life

    • Should you hit your kids? Should you lie to your kids?

Summary

  • It is hard to actually be sure of consequences

  • We cannot predict the future

  • We still have to always predict outcomes

  • We will be wrong

  • But consequences are important, and in most cases, we do at least minimally consider them

2 Major Schools of Ethics

  • Consequentialist

    • Ends matter most

  • Deontological

    • Means matter most

  • There is also kind of a third

Consequentialism

  • An ethical theory that judges whether or not something is right by what its consequences are

  • What is best or right is whatever makes the world best in the future

  • The ends justify the means

  • Good idea or bad idea?

Delving Deeper

  • Are all ends valued the same?

    • Not getting enough sleep can make many decisions harder throughout the day

    • Having a conscience is used to work out what matters most to us

      • Internal/gut feeling of what is the better decision

    • If you are doing something good to make yourself feel better, it can be selfish

  • Which ends are more important than others?

  • How do we prioritize?

  • What id we disagree on which ends matter most?

  • Are there dangers of this ethical approach?

Actual vs Expected

  • We often (almost always in domains) make mistakes in predicting future outcomes

  • Even though something usually works it will not always work

    • David Hume

    • “That the sun will not rise tomorrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction, then the affirmation, that will rise”

    • Black swan events

Expectations Continued

  • There are many things that we can predict

    • We can’t predict the future

    • We don't know if Hampton is the best university you could go to for you life

  • Should we change our understanding of how things work based on experience?

    • Every experience?

    • Do we do this reality?

  • Should we throw aware our decision making approach whenever things don’t work out?

  • What if you are better at predicting the outcomes of decisions? or worse?

  • What if the outcome cannot be changed no matter what you do?

On the “benefits” of experience

  • More experience doesn’t necessarily increase understanding

  • Some approaches to learning yield more benefits

  • We can focus on the wrong outcomes

  • We can not understand the consequences

  • You can be correct for the wrong reasons

    • Gettier Problems: right for the wrong reasons

      • Saying something that is factually correct but the

Prioritizes means over ends

  • We need to care about the process

Who Cares about Consequences

  • Some actions should never be done under any circumstances

    • Drop out of college

    • Cut off your arm

  • Sometimes, processes are really important, and we need to proceed even when it goes against our perceived interests

Irrespective and Regardless

  • Some principles must always be adhered to

    • Due process under law regardless of identity

    • Rights

    • Freedoms

    • Wearing

  • Do we like this?

  • Can you do anything to lose rights?

    • Is this good?

    • What should the limits of rights be?

    • What would happen if there was no limit?

  • Underlying conditions

  • If it has criteria, then they get x regardless of the outcomes

  • Learn how to argue deontologically

What Happens When…

  • Tow rights are in conflict?

  • Rights are incompatible?

  • We know there is likely to be a terrible outcome from the action?

  • When the action is against our own self-interest?

  • Is freedom a process or an outcome?

  • Telling gabbi jamel cheated on her