Ethics - Core Concepts

Ethics - Core Concepts


1. Foundational Dialogical Skills 


  1. Dennett’s Rules: Principles developed by philosopher Daniel Dennett to guide productive dialogue and critical thinking.


  1. Peter Boghossian’s Seven Fundamentals: Essential elements for rational discourse and argumentation.

    1. Goals

    2. Partnership

    3. Rapport

    4. Listen

    5. Shoot the Messenger

    6. Intentions

    7. Walk Away


2. Classical Philosophers and Concepts


  1. Socrates:

    1. Who is Socrates (d. 399 BCE)? He was an ancient Greek philosopher known for his method of questioning to stimulate critical thinking and illuminate ideas.

    2. Socratic Dialogue: A form of cooperative argumentative dialogue that stimulates critical thinking, typically involving asking and answering questions to stimulate deeper thought.

    3. Socratic Questions: Questions that challenge assumptions, explore deeper meaning, and evaluate evidence, such as:

      1. “Compared to what?”

      2. “At what cost?”

      3. “What is your evidence?”

      4. Why is this important to believe?

      5. Do you think that you are making any assumptions?

      6. What are the ramifications, positive or negative, of accepting your argument?

      7. Would any evidence change your mind? If so, what?

  2. Plato:

    1. Who is Plato (d. 348 BCE)? A student of Socrates and a foundational figure in Western philosophy.

    2. Allegory of the Cave: A metaphor for human perception, illustrating how people are often trapped in a limited understanding of reality.

      1. Epistemology: The study of knowledge—its nature, origin, and limits.

      2. Consciousness and Theory of Mind: Exploration of the nature of awareness and the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others.

    3. Euthyphro dilemma: If something is moral because the gods love it, morality is subjective/arbitrary and based on their whims. If the gods love something because it is moral, morality exists objectively/independently of them.


  1. Aristotle 

    1. Who is Aristotle (d. 322 BCE)? An ancient Greek philosopher and student of Plato, who developed the framework of virtue ethics.

    2. Virtue Ethics: Focuses on developing virtuous character traits as the basis for moral living.

      1. Eudaimonia: The ultimate goal of human life, often translated as “flourishing” or “genuine happiness.”'

      2. Arete: Excellence or virtue, the qualities that lead to eudaimonia.

      3. Telos: The inherent purpose or end goal of an object or being.


  1. Stoicism and its Principles

    1. Who are the Stoics? Philosophers who advocate for rational control over one’s emotions and the pursuit of inner tranquility.

      1. Pragmatism: Practical application of Stoic principles, emphasizing resilience and rationality in the face of adversity.

      2. Setback Exemplar: An individual who exemplifies Stoic ideals by maintaining composure and rationality during setbacks.

      3. Parrhesia: Speaking boldly and truthfully, regardless of consequences.

      4. Ataraxia: Achieving a state of calmness, regardless of the situation.

      5. Antifragility: The ability to thrive and grow in response to stress or adversity.


  1. Augustine 

    1. Who is Saint Augustine (d. 430 CE)? An early Christian theologian who explored issues of faith, suffering, and the nature of God.

      1. Theodicy: The philosophical attempt to reconcile the existence of evil with the concept of a good and omnipotent God.

      2. Augustine on Suffering: Argues that suffering results from human free will and the necessity of moral and natural evil for the greater, mysterious, divine good.

      3. God’s Transcendence and Immanence: Augustine’s view that God exists beyond the material world (transcendent) yet is present within it (immanent).

      4. Fatalism: The belief that all events are predetermined and inevitable. Augustine vehemently opposed this. 



  1. Boethius

    1. Who was Boethius (d. 523)? He was a highly educated and devout Christian who lived in the twilight years of the Roman Empire. His major work is the Consolation of Philosophy. 

      1. During his wrongful imprisonment, he used everything in his philosophical toolbelt to liberate his mind from anguish. 

        1. This work addresses theodicy, Stoicism, virtue ethics, true happiness, attachment, fame, and true liberation.

        2. Boethius describes humans as “rational animals” who have forgotten their higher, divine-inspired telos..

3. Morality and the Existence of God

  1. Ontological Argument: The argument that God’s existence is self-evident through the very definition of a supreme being.

    1. The ontological argument proposes that God’s existence is inherently necessary, as a “most perfect being” cannot be conceived as non-existent. Unlike contingent beings, whose existence depends on external factors, God's existence is self-sufficient.

  2. Cosmological Argument: The argument that everything exists has a cause, leading to the necessity of a first cause—God.

    1. The cosmological argument claims that if the universe had no beginning and always existed, it would lead to an infinite regress of causes, which is impossible.

  3. Teleological Argument: The argument that the universe’s order and design imply an intelligent designer’s existence.

    1. The watchmaker analogy argues that if you found a watch on an abandoned beach, its complex and purposeful design—featuring gears, springs, and precise movements—would lead you to conclude that it must have been created by an intelligent watchmaker, not random chance.

  4. Principle of Sufficient Reason: Everything must have a reason or cause. 

    1. If the reason or cause for the universe cannot be found within the universe, then it must be discoverable outside of the universe.

  5. Moral Argument: The argument that objective moral values point to the existence of a moral lawgiver.

    1. The claim that all morality is subjective is inherently contradictory. Why?

    2. In a purely materialist worldview, the absence of ultimate, divine justice leads to a sense of nihilism, where life lacks inherent meaning or purpose.

  6. Experiential/Phenomenological Argument: The argument is based on personal experiences and the sense of the divine.

    1. This argument is limited in that it relies solely on personal experience and cannot be objectively verified by others.


4. Logical Fallacies and Critical Thinking

  1. Logical Fallacy: An error in reasoning that weakens an argument. Common types include:

    1. Ad Hominem: Attacking the person instead of the argument.

    2. Strawman: Misrepresenting an argument to make it easier to attack.

    3. Slippery Slope: Assuming a small step will inevitably lead to a chain of negative events.

    4. Bandwagon Fallacy: Arguing something is true because many people believe it.

    5. Appeal to Anonymous Authority: Citing an unnamed or vague authority to support an argument.

    6. Red Herring: Introducing an irrelevant topic to divert attention from the original issue.

    7. Circular Reasoning: The argument’s conclusion is included in its premises.

    8. No True Scotsman: Dismissing counterexamples by redefining criteria to exclude them.

    9. The Law of Non-Contradiction: Contradictory propositions cannot both be true simultaneously and in the same sense. 

    10. Cherry picking: selecting and focusing exclusively on the evidence that supports your argument while ignoring the evidence that doesn’t.

    11. Reductio ad Hitlerum: an attempt to discredit an argument or group by comparing it or them to the actions, beliefs, or person of Adolf Hitler.


5. Standpoint Epistemology/Identity-Based Gnosticism

  1. Explores how one’s social position or identity affects one’s perspective and understanding of knowledge.

    1. Should we prioritize the experiential knowledge of oppressed groups?

      1. Does experiential knowledge trump objective knowledge?

    2. Do oppressed groups have a uniform experience?

      1. Is an assumption that oppressed groups inherently have a competence to speak on certain matters problematic?


6. Dan Barker’s Mere Morality (A criticism of faith-based morality)

  1. Harm Principle: Individuals should be free to act as they wish, provided their actions do not harm others. This principle prioritizes personal liberty while safeguarding society from harm.

    1. Religious “morality” surrounding sin, holiness, dress, prayer, diet, etc., are fictive and irrelevant to discussions of morality.  

    2. Concepts like arete, eudaimonia, and parrhesia are not the goal of Barker’s Mere Morality. 

      1. Barker contends that individuals are not morally obligated to help others achieve happiness but are instead bound by the duty not to harm others.

  2. Reason bests revelation: religious morality is subjective, whereas reason-based morality, grounded in logic, evidence, and critical thinking, offers a more reliable framework for understanding the world. (This is essentially the Euthyphro dilemma.)

    1. “Mankind is not likely to salvage civilization unless he can evolve a system of good and evil which is independent of heaven and hell.” (George Orwell)

    2. Barker argues that while religion can inspire bad people to act better, it is also uniquely capable of making good people misbehave. The same, however, cannot be said of reason and rationality. 


7. What should a coherent ethical theory answer?

  1. Where does it get its authority?

    1. Why should we trust this ethical system? 

    2. Does it come from personal beliefs, culture, nature, religion, or something else?

  2. What is its ultimate goal? 

    1. Is it happiness, success, meaning, money, or something else?

  3. What specific rules does it give?

    1. What clear guidelines does it offer for how we should act every day?

    2. Utilitarian, harm principle, etc.

  4. Is it actually applicable in daily, real-life situations?


8. Epistemology begins by asking how we can gain true, reliable knowledge about the world rather than just opinions and what methods we use to do so.

  1. What is dialectic (Socratice dialogue)? It is an insightful, sincere investigation and discussion of the truthfulness of opinions.

    1. How can this be used to discern the truth?

  2. What is rhetoric? It is the art of effective and persuasive communication, whether in speaking or writing, using carefully crafted language to influence or leave a strong impression on its audience.

    1. It’s not just about what you know but how convincingly you can prove it.


9. Moral Relativism: What is considered morally right or wrong depends on the time, place, person, culture, etc., and there is no standard for everyone.

  1. Challenge: If morality is relative, it implies that no individual or culture can be judged by any standard outside their own.


10. Medieval Philosophers: What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem, Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordoba?

  1. A massive territory with countless ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups was now under Islamic rule.

  2. A culture of learning sparked a translation movement that began to take over the Arabic-speaking world. 

    1. State- and private-sponsored schools, libraries, and universities begin to emerge.

    2. Countless scientific and philosophical texts, especially Greek, were translated into Arabic.

  3. Jews, Christians, and Muslims compete to claim the legacy of the Greek philosophical tradition. 

  4. Who is al-Fārābī (d. 950 CE)? He was the founder of Islamic Neoplatonism

    1. He attempted to harmonize Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy with Islamic theology.  

    2. His major work was The Virtuous City (al-Madīna al-Fāḍila)

  5. Who is Ibn Sīnā (d. 1037 CE)? He was one of the most notable medieval thinkers, and physicians who tried to demonstrate that reason and revelation could reveal the Truth of reality. 

    1. In many ways, his works influenced European thinkers like Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, and Leibniz.

    2. His most notable work was a medical compendium called the Canon of Medicine. 

  6. Who was Ibn Rushd (d. 1198 CE)? He was an Islamic rationalist who argued that God was the source of reason and revelation.

    1. Unlike many Muslim theologians, he argued that revelation should be interpreted figuratively if revelation appeared to contradict reason. 

      1. Therefore, to a certain extent, Ibn Rushd prioritized reason over revelation. 

  7. Maimonides (d. 1204)

  8. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274)

    1. Five proofs for God’s existence


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Break from classical and medieval stuff


1. Moral Matrices - According to Jonathan Haidt, a moral matrix refers to the framework of values, beliefs, and social norms that shape how individuals (you) or groups (democrats, republicans, progressives, conservatives, etc.) perceive moral issues and make judgments about right and wrong. 

  1. Haidt identifies five core moral foundations:

    1. Care or harm: Focuses on protecting others and preventing suffering.

    2. Fairness: Emphasizes the immorality of cheating and prioritizes justice, rights, and equality.

    3. Loyalty: Values group loyalty and opposes betrayal.

    4. Authority: Respects traditions and hierarchies and opposes subversion.

    5. Purity: Places importance on sacredness, especially regarding the body and rituals but can also include environment and food.

    6. Liberty: Prioritizes individual freedom and resistance to oppression and the restriction of rights.

  2. Both progressives and conservatives prioritize these moral foundations in very different ways. 

    1. Progressive overwhelmingly prioritize care, specifically for groups that they see as oppressed or marginalized. 

    2. Progressives overwhelmingly prioritize fairness, specifically to rectify past or current injustices and to prevent marginalized groups from being wronged or cheated. 

    3. Conservatives, generally speaking, distribute their moral foundations more evenly, but overwhelmingly prioritize authority, loyalty, and purity higher than their progressive counterparts. 

    4. Libertarians are neither conservative nor progressive. 

      1. Many libertarians oppose government intervention and support the free market. For example, healthcare should be privatized, not subsidized by the government. (Conservative)

      2. Many libertarians oppose gun restriction and support the right to bear arms with minimal government interference. (Conservative)

      3. Many libertarians oppose the enforcement of drugs laws and believe an adult should be able to eat, smoke, drink, etc. whatever he or she wishes. (Progressive)