Ethics Basics
What are the three main categories into which ethics divides actions?
Moral, immoral, and amoral.
What were early laws often inspired by?
Religion or deities.
What does an absolutist believe?
That moral rules apply in all situations.
Acting only in one's self-interest.
What is Egoism?
The idea that we are free to make our own choices and are responsible for them.
What is Freedom?
What does the term "ethics" mean and where does it come from?
From the Greek word ethikos, meaning character.
Name one of the three types of laws.
God Made/Eternal Laws, Man Made/Temporal Laws, or Custom Laws.
What is moral relativism?
The belief that right and wrong depend on cultural or personal perspectives.
A person who sees happiness as the goal of life, especially through physical and mental pleasure.
What is a Hedonist?
A view that all our actions are the result of past causes and not true choices.
A view that all our actions are the result of past causes and not true choices.
What are personal ethics based on?
Consequences, example, experience, emotions, and rules.
How is the word "good" used in ethics?
To refer to outcomes, character, or behavior.
What is one major weakness of relativism?
It cannot condemn practices like racism if a culture accepts them.
The belief that even seemingly selfless acts are ultimately motivated by self-interest.
What is psychological Egoism?
This theological view argues that God has already chosen who will be saved.
What is Predestination?
What are the two main types of ethical systems?
Teleological and deontological ethics.
Why do rules need to be flexible?
To adjust to changing needs and ideas.
Why might absolutism struggle in some cases?
It ignores situational context—like stealing for survival.
This type of pleasure can involve spiritual or mental satisfaction, not just physical.
What is spiritual/mental pleasure?
This type of determinism denies all free will and moral responsibility.
What is Hard Determinism?
What is the key issue when referring to someone as a good person?
It refers to the kind of person they are—their character.
Give an example of a law based on secular beliefs.
Traffic laws. (can be almost any law)
What does relativism promote that absolutism does not?
Cultural tolerance and acceptance of different moral views.
The Main point of Egoism
What is Pleasure?
People reject determinism because of this sense of human choice.
What is self-determination or free will?