Ethics Final

applied ethics

• The study of the meaning and logical structure of moral beliefs.

• The study of the principles, rules, or theories that guide our actions and judgments.

• The application of moral norms to specific moral issues or cases, particularly those in a profession such as medicine or law.

• Valuable as a means to something else.

Beliefs concerning right and wrong, good and bad; they can include judgments, rules, values, principles, and theories. (Ch. 1)

• Morality

• Meta Ethics

• Applied Ethics

• Descriptive Ethics

Objectivism

• The view that an action is morally right if one’s culture approves of it.

• The view that an action is morally right if one approves of it. Implications: that individuals are morally infallible and that genuine moral disagreement between individuals is nearly impossible.

• A supporting statement in an argument.

• The theory that moral truths exist and that they do so independently of what individuals or societies think of them.

A supporting statement in an argument.

• argument

• Conclusion

• Premise

• Indicator words

A deductive argument that does not offer logically conclusive support for the conclusion.

• Deductive Argument

• Invalid Argument

• Valid Argument

• Inductive argument

A statement affirming that an action is right or wrong or that a person (or one’s motive or character) is good or bad.

• Nonmoral Statement

• Moral Statement

• I don't Know

• Equivoccation

Paying attention only to evidence that confirms our beliefs while ignoring opposing evidence.

• Faulty analogy

• Confirmation bias

• Appeal to the person

• Cogent argument

Utilitarianism

• A theory asserting that the morally right action is the one that produces the most favorable balance of good over evil, everyone considered.

• An imperative that we should follow regardless of our particular wants and needs; also, the principle that defines Kant’s theory.

• A theory asserting that the rightness of an action does not depend on its consequences.

• Kant

act-utilitarianism

• A utilitarian theory asserting that the morally right action is the one covered by a rule that, if generally followed, would produce the most favorable balance of good over evil, everyone considered.

• Kant

• A theory asserting that what makes an action right is its consequences.

• A utilitarian theory asserting that the morally right action is the one that directly produces the most favorable balance of good over evil, everyone considered.

Greatest Happiness Principle

• Bentham

• Mills

• Kant

• Foley