Copy of PHI-205_ Chapter 10 Questions
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PHI-203-500
6 December 2023
Chapter 10 – Ethics – What Will It Be: Truth Or Consequences?
1. Explain the many different arguments being made in the case of Baby Theresa. 420-421
Some of the different arguments consisted of: taking the life of one to save many others, the
baby will never be able to experience the world and will die soon anyways and required expensive hospital equipment and doctor attention that can be used for someone who can actually benefit from it, in terminally ill patients they have the option to “pull the plug” so what is the difference here, on the other side- they are healthcare professionals and have sworn to preserve life by any means necessary, they are healers and if they can’t heal then they are caregivers, there is also many legal implications with taking the baby life for the organs. 2. Ethics – term 421
Deciding what we should do in the case of Baby Theresa—and all the other moral dilemmas of the modern world
3. Normative ethics – term 421
the branch of ethics that makes judgments about what constitutes moral behavior and intention
4. Metaethics – term 421
the branch of ethics that studies the meaning of ethical statements and terms
5. What are some basic ethical questions? 421
Should we consider the long-term consequences for ourselves and society in deciding what is the right thing to do? Are there rules governing moral choices? If so, where can they be found? Are we bound to respect the integrity of a person under all circumstances, and (most difficult to agree on) what constitutes a person? Are there principles such as “care” or “help” that should be our guiding lights in making moral choices?
6. What are some issues raised in metaethics? 421-422
the question of whether absolute moral values exist (Are there actions that are always right/always wrong, or is morality determined by the customs of a particular society?);
the meaning of ethical statements (When I assert that a particular action is right or good, do I mean anything other than that I or a majority of people approve that action?);
the meaning of ethical terms (When I say, “Cheating is wrong,” there seems to be no way to
verify the statement without using other ethical terms: “Cheating is bad,” or “people shouldn’t cheat”).
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Questions and issues are ever-changing as society changes
7. What is the ultimate ethical question? 422
Why be moral?
Western Ethical Theories
Consequentialist, or Teleological, Ethical Theories
8. Teleological ethical theory – term 423
an ethical theory that evaluates behavior in terms of consequences
9. What is the goal in all utilitarian approaches? 423
the goal is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.
10. Explain how the parents of Baby Theresa were using a teleological ethical theory. 423
They looked to the consequences of possible actions and tried to choose the most desirable option among those available. If they could not take home a healthy child (clearly the most desirable consequence), the next best alternative seemed to them investing her brief life with meaning by donating her organs to other children who desperately needed them. Nonconsequentialist, or Deontological, Ethical Theories
11. Deontological ethical theory – term 423
an ethical theory that evaluates behavior in terms of adherence to duty or obligation, regardless of consequences
12. What matters for deontological theorists? 424
What matters is doing one’s duty; if you want to know what that means, look to ethical laws and principles rather than to consequences.
13. What was clearer with less technology? 424
Before the advent of today’s sophisticated technology, what it meant to do no harm was considerably clearer. (Hippocratic Oath)
14. Categorical imperative – term 424
a deontological ethical principle, developed by Kant, that states unconditionally that one must act in such a way as to desire his or her actions to become universal laws binding on everyone
15. What did Kant suggest when faced with a moral choice? 424
you should imagine a world in which everyone was required to do precisely what you are proposing to do right now. If you favor such a world, you should act as you are proposing; if you do not favor it, you should not do what you propose.
16. Explain the universalizability principle. 424
Kant’s ethical guideline asks you to mentally universalize your proposed action and imagine it as a moral law, binding on everyone. If you can will that what you are about to do should become the law of the land, and can do so without self-contradiction, Kant urges you to go ahead and do it; if you find the prospect of your private action becoming universalized frightening, you should not do it.
17. How did Kant believe it was never acceptable to treat people? 425-426
Swe must always treat people as ends in themselves, never merely as a means to an end. You may be pursuing a college degree as a perfectly legitimate means to a good job, a satisfying and productive career. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. One might even argue that the purpose or the nature of a degree is to serve as the means to an end. Even if your only goal were to increase your knowledge and wisdom, the degree would not be an end in itself but a means to help you achieve your goal.
Kant asserted that even though things like degrees can appropriately serve only as means, people most certainly cannot. To use a person only as a way of making a sale, getting invited to join a club, or being promoted is to behave immorally, according to Kant. It is never permissible to treat people as if they were valued merely as a way of achieving something else. 18. What do people have that can never be compromised? 426
People are people, not things, and as such they have a fundamental human dignity that can never be compromised
19. What would Kant think about the case of Baby Theresa? 426
according to Kant it would be using Theresa merely as a means to an end (that of saving the lives of other ill children) and not treating her as an end in herself (a person with human dignity that can under no circumstances be compromised). If we use Kant’s categorical imperative as our yardstick and if Theresa qualifies as a person, we must conclude that no moral justification exists for taking Theresa’s organs; actually, to do so would be immoral.
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Natural Law Theory
20. Natural law theory – term
in deontological ethical theory, the belief that the rational principle of order that underlies the cosmos also contains a basis for moral action that is discoverable by reason; in Christian versions of this theory, we find the belief that humans, created in the image and likeness of God, deserve special moral status on that account
21. What does natural law theory declare about personhood? 426-427
a person—even one with no brain activity—is still a person. Every person, according to natural law theory, has worth, and this intrinsic worth cannot be compromised.
22. What does the natural law tradition insist? 427
insists that there is an “objective moral order” and that “there are certain moral absolutes that ought never be violated if one hopes to attain personal wholeness or societal health.”
23. Sacredness of human life – term 428
the religious or philosophical belief that human life is sacred and must be respected in all instances
24. Explain the philosopher Dworkin’s point. 428-429
Those on both sides of the debate over abortion and euthanasia share a belief in the sacredness of human life, Dworkin insists; where they differ is in how best to preserve it
This more abstract argument about the meaning and value of human life both unites us and divides us. As the final act in the drama of life, a death with dignity upholds for many people the sacredness of life. To have our own death managed technologically seems to some a violation of life’s sacred character
The Interest View
25. Interest view – term 429
San ethical principle stating that moral status is based on interests; this is derived from Feinberg’s interest principle—to have moral status is to have rights; Steinbock’s application is that the capacity for conscious awareness is both a necessary and a sufficient condition for possessing interests
26. Moral status – term 429
existing in such a way as to have claims on others that must be considered from a moral point of view
27. Explain how those view rights based on interests think people derive rights. 430-431
someone or something must have interests, must be capable of being benefited or harmed or not, to have moral status is to have rights
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Continuous awareness Virtue Ethics: Ancient and Modern
28. Virtue ethics – term 431
an ethical theory that uses as a moral standard what a virtuous person would do, rather than consequences or obligations; the primary question is, What kind of person should I be?
29. What did Aristotle believe must inform our ethical choices? 431
virtue involves acting according to our highest (and, he believed, uniquely human) ability: the ability to reason. It must be our rational self that informs our ethical choices, even if we
lack the time to engage in rational thought
30. Explain how Confucius saw ethics. 432
emphatically agree that acquiring the habits of a virtuous character was necessary for creating social stability and human flourishing
31. Why do some philosophers no longer look to human reason? 432
Some philosophers point out that we have reasoned our way into killing each other and exploiting the limited resources of our planet. If reason can lead to such (in their view) unethical outcomes, then perhaps we should look elsewhere for our guiding principle. One place some philosophers are looking these days is to the emotions.
32. Explain the caring self. 433
If we conclude that there should beno sharp divisions between reason and emotion, then a caring self would cultivate a habit of caring, of being concerned with relationships, of considering the needs of others; the ideal would be interconnectedness rather than autonomy or separateness. 33. Ethics of care – term 433
an ethical theory, which is a variation on virtue ethics, that holds as an ideal the caring self
34. In the world of the caring self as moral agents, who would our concern be for? 433-434
to advance the good of the other(s) in the context of a network of care.
Buddhist Ethics
35. What is the definition of enlightenment? 435
the ability (and the willingness) to see life as it is and to accept it (because there is really no other choice; life is what it is, whether we like it or not)
36. What is the foundation of Buddhist ethics? 436
Buddhism conceives the world as a web of interconnectedness. Nothing stands alone; nothing is or can be separate from anything else. Harm to one part is harm to another; benefit to one part benefits others as well.
This is the foundation for Buddhist ethics. Everything done to any part of the Net affects other parts of the Net. In a very meaningful sense, then, what one person does to another, that person does to himself or herself
37. Karma – term 436
sometimes called the law of sowing and reaping: Whatever I do mindfully benefits me as it benefits others; whatever I do in ignorance harms me as it harms others. African Ethical Theories
38. Life principle – term - 438
the spark of the divine in each human person that is responsible for an irreducible human dignity, according to traditional African ethical systems
39. What happens to people who fall into hubris? 439
(arrogance resulting from excessive pride or passion) are always given enough rope to hang
themselves
empowering someone with an ability or power that will later become a self detriment to them
40. What happens when one lives closer to nature? 439
When one lives closer to nature rather than in artificial, constructed surroundings, one realizes that scientific logic does not explain every phenomenon. The integration of all life and the influence of the life principle are immediate and obvious
Determinism
41. Hard determinism – term 440
the view that the will of an individual is not free and is instead determined by factors beyond his or her control and/or responsibility
42. Soft determinism/compatibilism 440
the view that the will of an individual remains free even if some of that individual’s choices are determined by previous experiences
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43. Explain the difference between hard and soft determinism 440
Soft determinism represents a middle ground, people do have a choice, but that choice is constrained by external or internal factors, where hard determinism believes peoples actions are determined by factors beyond their control, therefor are not free to choose and can’t be held accountable for their actions.
44. What twist has psychology added the the debate? 440
a tendency among some psychologists to claim innate or nearly innate gender tendencies. If
we are born a certain way, how can we be held responsible for being that way? Existentialism: A Radical Concept of Freedom
45. Existentialism – term 441
Belief in the absolute freedom of the individual
46. Atheistic existentialism – term 441
the view that, because there is no God and no resulting moral laws, individuals are free to determine their own human nature through choices for which they stand accountable
47. What atheistic existentialists affirm and what do they reject? 441
Rejecting claims to universal truth and belief in God as incompatible with the uncertainty and brutality of reality, they affirmed the uniqueness of the existing individual.
48. What do existentialists believe about free choices? 441
each individual has the potential to become a self that is of his or her own making
49. What does Sartre mean by his phrase – condemned to be free? 442
What Sartre meant is that we have no option but to be free, and we cannot claim unfreedom
50. Bad faith – term 442
in the existentialist philosophy of Sartre, acting as if one is not free (being-in-itself), denying the freedom and responsibility of the human person (being-for-itself), behaving inauthentically
51. How do we create a human nature for ourselves? 442
As we act and accept responsibility for our actions, we are going about the task of creating a human nature for ourselves.
52. What does it mean to break the moral code of existentialism? 442
what is not morally acceptable is pretending that there is no decision to be made. A human being is not a table or a stone, and to pretend to be one is to break the moral code of existentialism
53. Why must groupthink be avoided? 443
Certain attitudes and judgments will be expected of you; you will be strongly discouraged from adopting any opinion that differs from the group’s position. To submit to this kind of pressure, Sartre felt, is to act in bad faith.
54. Why is love a problem? 443
Once we love and are loved, we become slaves to love, modifying our opinions and our actions to retain the favor of the beloved. For fear of losing the love we have become dependent upon, we do certain things and do not do other things.
55. Excusability – term 444
the state of being excused from moral responsibility for an act that is objectively immoral
Radical Evil and the Question of Punishment
56. What is the problem with proportionate punishment for radical evil? 445
that massive human rights violations can only be carried out if many people participate to a greater or lesser extent, or at least acquiesce, or perhaps ignore what is going on. If almost everyone is guilty, whom do we try?
In a larger sense, how can any punishment be appropriate, given the magnitude of the crime? If capital punishment is the sentence for murder, what more can or should we do to the person who plans or orders the murder of millions?
57. Why trials can have a benefit? 445
The first benefit is a public acknowledgment of the scope and nature of the atrocities, something that repressive regimes take great pains to conceal. The very nature of a trial, especially one in which the legal rights of the defendant(s) are meticulously protected, highlights (by contrast) the unlawful actions of the accused. Perhaps the most significant benefit, Nino believes, is that Trials promote a public discussion that is emotionally cathartic (in somewhat the same way Aristotle saw Athenian tragedies to be) and builds public solidarity. Their value is not compromised even if pardons are issued at the end of the trial, as was the case in Argentina.
Restorative Justice
58. Restorative justice – term 445
a system of justice that seeks healing rather than punishment and requires the perpetrator to restore to the victim some of what the victim has lost—both materially and emotionally