Which Philosopher?
This philosopher thought that the most happiness for the most people was really the only guiding principal for ethics--no need to worry about sacrificing other people, as long as you're remaining disinterested by only thinking about the numbers.
Who is John Stuart Mill?
Rather than a hypothetical imperative, Kant thought we needed this in ethics.
What is a categorical imperative?
Bob is tempted by a large pile of chocolate chip cookies but has a family history of diabetes and is getting on in years. In this situation, he needs this virtue.
What is temperance?
Bob's coworker Gerald is slipping out of work early to attend a rave. Gerald is going with a friend he hasn't seen in a while whom he's trying to cheer up since the friend recently lost his job. He asks Bob to cover for him and tell their boss that he had a family emergency. It's a Friday and there's not much work left to do anyway.
In Kant's moral philosophy, should Bob lie to his boss or not?
What is, he should not?
Modern philosophy is most concerned with this.
What is certainty?
This philosopher thought your actions are good if they are universalizable, i.e., would it be good if everyone did it?
Of the two big schools of thought in the Enlightenment, Kant fell into this one.
What is rationalism?
What is courage/fortitude?
What is the common good (of the Bobbert family)?
Ancient philosophers are most concerned with this.
What is knowing reality/being?
Who are Mill and Aristotle?
Kant's "End-In-Itself" formula states the following:
What is, you must treat others as ends in themselves and not as mere means?
Bob's neighbor Tim the Grim has never once said a kind word to Bob when he sees him in the morning (they frequent the same coffee shop). One random Tuesday, Tim smiles at Bob, strikes up a conversation, and wishes him a pleasant day when they part.
According to Aristotle, would Tim be considered virtuous at this point?
Nope
In the office one day, Bob slips on a banana peel and is violently thrown forward. The bowling ball he was holding flies out of his hands toward a birdcage containing his neighbor's pet budgie. To deflect it from the budgie, Bob needs jump with superhuman speed and deflect it toward a vase that his dying mother gifted him on her deathbed. In JS Mill's understanding, should Bob let the budgie die or destroy the vase?
What is, destroy the vase?
The two major schools of thought in the Enlightenment.
What are empiricism and rationalism?
This philosophy discussed in this unit is a type of consequentialism (meaning an action is good if and only if the consequences are good).
What is Utilitarianism?
Kant thought ethics needed to be based in pure ______.
What is reason?
The four character types from Aristotle.
What are: virtuous, continent, incontinent, vicious?
Bob's coworker Gerald is slipping out of work early to attend a rave. Gerald is going with a friend he hasn't seen in a while whom he's trying to cheer up since the friend recently lost his job. He asks Bob to cover for him and tell their boss that he had a family emergency. It's a Friday and there's not much work left to do anyway.
In JS Mill's moral philosophy, should Bob lie to his boss or not?
What is, he should lie?
The language of human dignity did not really exist in the ancient world--human dignity was only discussed after the coming of this person.
Who is Jesus Christ?
(also accepted: what is Christianity)
This philosopher came up with these four causes. (list all the causes)
Who is Aristotle and what are material, formal, efficient, and final?
Unlike Mill, Kant was not a _______________.
What is a consequentialist?
This system of ethics is perhaps more vague than others--you just eventually become the sort of person who can be trusted to use their reason and figure things out. A strength: it acknowledges the complicated nature of ethics. A weakness: hard to apply to large groups.
What are virtue ethics?
Bob encounters a strict relativist on the street. Having nothing else to do, they get coffee and debate philosophy for 4 hours. Bob tells the relativist that his position is contradictory for this reason.
The relativist's position: There are no absolute moral truths--everything is relative.
It's contradictory, because his position IS an absolute truth.
A fault about rights-based ethics is that they neglect this.
What is the common good?