Virtue & Happiness
Ayn Rand
Peter Singer
Chinese Philosophers
Miscellaneous
100
The ultimate or final good of hedonism is this.
What is pleasure?
100
The ultimate or final good of Rand's ethic is this.
What is "life," or my long-term rational survival, or my survival as man-qua-man?
100
For Peter Singer, our approach to eating food should be this.
What is that we should be vegans?
100
This Chinese philosopher was both an ethical egoist and psychological egoist, and set the stage for early Daoism.
Who is Yang Zhu?
100
This is an example of what would fit both poles of yinyang.
What is [anything making yin passive/"feminine", and yang active/"masculine"]?
200
The best translation of Eudaimonia is this.
What is self-actualization or flourishing?
200
For this theory, we naturally tend to be selfish.
What is psychological egoism?
200
In contrast to this other thinker that we covered, charity is morally obligatory for Singer.
Who is Ayn Rand?
200
This Chinese philosopher was concerned with what brought the best result of inclusive care; taking a consequentialist approach that was starkly opposed to the Confucian approach and lined up in several ways with Singer's "effective altruism."
Who is Mozi?
200
Mozi offered a pragmatic justification of this, as it would be a necessary way to ensure that people would not act inappropriately when they were not being watched by other people.
What is Tian/God?
300
This is a legitimate interpretation (given Mill's position) of "a dissatisfied Socrates is better than a satisfied fool."
What is...[something discussing higher pleasures being more worthy, even if they don't give the same amount of satisfaction.]
300

For Rand, we have to say this before we say "I love you."

What is I?
300
In Singer's "The Cost of Being Unscientific," Peter Singer is less concerned (in the case of something like climate change, genetically modified foods, etc.) with questioning scientists than this.
What is the rejection of scientific inquiry as a whole?
300
For this (probably non-existent) thinker, moving away from civilization and back toward nature was a good way to get closer to the Dao (the "way", the authentic path for 'proper' living), although instead of the end being a hermit-like existence (such as Yang Zhu's approach), communes quite like those envisioned by 1960 "hippies" better fit the approach.
Who is Laozi?
300
This is why the clustering of virtues offers a difference between virtues and skills.
What is that memory is fundamentally flawed as a source of knowledge, and becomes less and less reliable as we go back further in time?
400
This is one similarity and one difference between virtue and skill.
What is...[similarities: tied to excellence and mastery (both in practice with habits and in desire), in many cases skill requires intelligent and new responses to circumstances like virtues,...Differences: we cannot fake skill like we could with virtue, there isn't a necessary normative or ethical component with skills, virtues tend to be unified much more than skills, skills tend to be valued more for instrumental goods, while virtues valued intrinsically,...]
400
For Rand, this virtue corresponds with the result of achievement of values (self-esteem).
What is pride?
400
Singer's Bob Bugatti analogy is meant to demonstrate this.
What is that we would be willing to give up quite a bit of our less necessary resources for the sake of saving a child's life when that child is right in front of us, but we are not willing to make much of any sacrifice to save children's lives outside of our line of vision with non-necessary resources we possess?
400
Instead of removing ourselves from a more Yang-centered cultivated world, this Daoist thinker was in favor of living in the society given to us, and "going with the flow" in a present, serene way much like the public view of somebody like Bill Murray.
Who is Zhuangzi?
400

When we state that the method--whether principles, acts, or virtues--in utilitarianism and most forms of consequentialism only has instrumental value, we mean this.

What is results (the greatest happiness, inclusive care, etc.) are all that matter--our methods are only good insofar as they bring us those results?

500
These are two major differences between Eudaimonia and hedonism.
What is...[Eudaimonia: longer-term, more active, based on virtue, more tied to human nature, distinguishes between circumstances and what we do with them. Hedonism: shorter-term, can be more tied to results and less active, based on pleasure, tied more strongly to external circumstances...]
500
This is why Rand's theory is ~very~ different from psychological egoism.
What is...[emphasis not only on ~ought~, but the belief that most people are not truly selfish.]
500
Here are three or more typical indications of anthropogenic climate change.
What is sea level rise, carbon dioxide levels, warmer ocean and land temperatures, melting icecaps, etc.?
500
These are some fundamental differences between Mozi and Confucius.
What is Mozi wants an impartial approach, not one generating from familial relationships outward. Mozi's notions of virtue are always tied to consequences (inclusive care), while Confucian virtues are valued intrinsically. Rituals for social events play a central role in the Confucian approach, while Mozi tends to see the more elaborate ritual practices as wasteful. Mozi's heaven (tian) fits more with the Western God, while Confucius doesn't leave tian out but takes a much more secular approach to understanding it. Confucius also doesn't say anything positive about tian, while Mozi has many positive roles attached to it as the ideal standard for all to follow.
500
These are three or more distinctions between virtues and skills.
What is that (1) virtues tend to be more clustered together, (2) virtues tend to define us better than skills, (3) skills tend to be means to virtues and virtues tend to be intrinsically valuable, (4) virtues tend to have extremes that they are "means" between, (5) we can better fake virtue than skill, etc.
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