Ethics Prep: Lectures 1-3

Zhandos turned 18 this year. He started thinking of questions on how to do life: how to cook good food, how to pay rent and taxes, or how to make doctor appointments without his parents. That’s some real Ethical questions.

• Yes

• Not really

Answer explanation

Ethical questions are about how to live, but in the sense of morally right and wrong ways to live. The practical part we kinda learn on practice.

“Harry Styles looks bad with red hair." And this is a moral judgement.

• Yes

• No

Answer explanation

Moral judgement again has to do with moral good and bad, something independent of our preference and taste

“People starve if they don’t get enough food.” This is a descriptive statement.

• Yes

• No

Answer explanation

Because it involves no moral evaluation, moral judgement.

“Government ought to not let people starve and do everything they can to provide enough food.” This is a normative statement.

• Yes

• No

Answer explanation

Because it involves what we said just now.

Ethical inquiry means to search for the right way of life and seek it in the religious texts and scriptures; looking for universal truth.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Because we don’t seek blindly for truths to follow, we seek explanations.

Ethical inquiry leads us to building moral theory.

What rhymes with moral theory?

• bibbidi bobbidi

• floral fairy

• coral pearl

• this rhymes clearly

Answer explanation

"Moral theories (try to) explain why certain actions, states of character, and social institutions have the normative features they do."

Roughly, two philosophers with different approached said that philosophy is 1) outside us 2) deep inside us. Is that statement true?

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Scanlon and Nagel, respectively. "something external" and "something deep inside us". Later Timmons was also mentioned.

If philosophy was a penguin with two legs. The two legs would be called:

• Timia and Fibula

• Right flipper and Left flipper

• Analysis and Argument

• Right leg and left wing

Answer explanation

Analysis -

Clarifying the meaning of ...

Argument -

Issuing statement that support a ...

“Jim is my enemy. But also Jim is his own worst enemy. And enemy of my enemy is my friend. So Jim is my friend.” (“The Office” TV show).

This is an argument.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Premise, premise, premise, conclusion. Entailment.

"My friend puts (.) at the end of her texts today. People put (.) when they are angry. So, she must be angry with me."

is that a sound argument?

• yes

• no

Answer explanation

sound argument check:

- It is deductively valid. (If its premises are true, its conclusion cannot be false.)

- All its premises are true.