Term
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Definition
1. You shall have no other Gods before me
2. You shall not make for yourself a graven image
3. You shall not the the name of the Lord your God in vain
4. Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy
5. Honor your father and your mother
6. You shall not kill
7. You shall not commit adultery
8. You shall not steal
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house, wife, male servant, female servant, ox, donkey, or anything else |
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Term
| 10c: A moral theory based on the ten commandments |
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Definition
| an action is morally right iff it can be performed without violating any of The Ten Commandments--morality requires obeying the Ten Commandments and nothing more |
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Term
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Definition
| ones where the premises are supposed to guarantee the truth of the conclusion--can be represented using numbered sentences |
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Term
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Definition
| both valid and factually correct |
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Definition
| ones where the premises are supposed to render the conclusion very likely--can illustrate using a diagram |
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Term
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Definition
| a strong inductive argument |
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Term
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Definition
| iff it is such that the truth of the premises would guarantee the truth of the conclusion. If all the premises were true then the conclusion would have to be true |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
1. If P, then Q
2. P
3. Therefore, Q |
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Term
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Definition
1. If P, then Q
2. Not Q
3. Therefore, not P |
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Term
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Definition
1. Either P or Q
2. Not P
3. Therefore, Q |
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Term
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Definition
1. If P, then Q
2. If Q, then R
3. Therefore, if P, then R |
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Term
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Definition
| An action is morally right iff in performing the action, the agent treats all others as he or she would have them treat him or her--morally requires treating others as you would have them treat you, and nothing more |
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Term
| The Divine Command theory |
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Definition
| An action is morally right iff it does not violate any one of God's commands |
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Term
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Definition
| An action is morally right in virtue of the fact that it doesn't violate God's commands. Morally right acts are morally right because-and merely because-they are the acts that God commands. Before God commanded them, they were neither right nor wrong. |
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Term
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Definition
| If an act is right, it will have been commanded by God. If an act is commanded by God, it will be right. But being commanded by God isn't what makes right acts right. Rather they are right, because they meet some independent standard. God uses this standard to identify the right acts, and then he commands us to perform those. |
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Term
| omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent |
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Definition
| all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving |
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Term
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Definition
| Saying that God exists doesn't really explain why were here: for we can also ask why God exists, and no one has ever given a good answer to that |
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Term
| Cosmological ("first cause") argument |
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Definition
| maybe no one created the universe: maybe it is eternal |
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Term
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Definition
| Just because we have an idea of God doesn't mean that He exists: we have ideas of unicorns too |
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Term
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Definition
| There are scientific explanations for the amount of natural order that we find in the world |
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Term
| According to Aquinas, humans have... |
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Definition
1. An instinct for survival
2. A desire for sexual relations with members of the opposite sex
3. A natural curiosity about the world and about God
4. A desire to live in society with others |
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Term
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Definition
An action is morally right iff it preserves and
promotes life, procreation, knowledge, and sociability
better than any alternative action available to the agent.
1. Life
2. Procreation
3. Knowledge
4. Sociability |
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Term
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Definition
| Just because something is the case, doesn't mean that it ought to be. Just because humans have a capacity for procreation, that doesn't mean we all ought to have the maximum number of children we can financially support! |
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Term
| James Rachels: Cultural Relativism as six theses |
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Definition
1. Different societies have different moral codes.
2. The moral code of a society determines what is right
within that society.
3. There is no objective standard that can be used to
judge one society’s code as better than another’s.
4. The moral code of our own society is merely one
among many.
5. There is no “universal truth” in ethics.
6. It is mere arrogance for us to try to judge the conduct
of other peoples; we should adopt an attitude of
tolerance toward the practices of other cultures. |
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Term
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Definition
a collection of people living in close
proximity one to another, who share many beliefs and
values, political and economic institutions, and many
social customs. Sometimes, the members of a society
will share a language, a cuisine, and/or a style of
dress. |
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Term
| The moral code of a society |
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Definition
beliefs about what behavior is morally acceptable and/or morally forbidden that are widely shared within a society; what
the vast majority of people believe about morality. |
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Term
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Definition
a group of people concentrated in small towns in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. They all speak Pennsylvania Dutch, belong to the Mennonite faith, live simply, eat the same German American cuisine, and dress plainly. Their moral code is based
on their religious tradition. |
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Term
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Definition
| An action is morally right iff it is permitted by the moral code of the society in which it is performed |
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Term
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Definition
| occurs when a group of people go from having false beliefs about what is morally right and wrong to having true beliefs about what is morally right and wrong |
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Term
| Simples Subjectivism (SS) |
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Definition
“x is morally right” just means “I approve of x”
“x is good” just means “I approve of x”
“x ought to be done” just means “I approve of x
“x is morally wrong” just means “I disapprove of x”
“x is bad” just means “I disapprove of x”
“x ought not to be done” just means “I disapprove of x” ----a theory about what moral words mean |
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Term
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Definition
| the view that moral judgments lack cognitive meaning, but retain expressive meaning. Moral statements do not attempt to describe the world, so they cannot even be true or false; rather, they express the speaker’s emotions. |
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Term
| Objection 1 against Theological Voluntarism |
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Definition
| This conception of morality conflicts with out common-sense moral judgement |
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Term
| Objection 2 against Theological Voluntarism |
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Definition
| This conception of morality makes all God's commands arbitrary; for if moral rightness depends on his will alone, he cannot be basing his commands on any kind of standard |
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Term
| objection 3 against Theological Voluntarism |
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Definition
| This conception of morality provides the wrong reasons for the moral statuses of acts |
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Term
| objection 4 against theological voluntarism |
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Definition
| This conception of morality implies that, without God, nothing would be right or wrong |
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Term
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Definition
1. If DC is true, then either theological voluntarism is true, or else DC is merely a criterion of right action, and God commands acts that are right by some independent
standard. (p --> (q v r))
2. It’s not the case that theological voluntarism is true. (~q)
3. Therefore, if DC is true, then DC is merely a criterion of right action, and God commands acts that are right by some
independent standard. (p --> r)
4. If DC is merely a criterion of right action, then religion is irrelevant to ethics: we can look for the standard that God himself uses and apply it directly. (r --> s)
5. Therefore, if DC is true, then religion is irrelevant to ethics: we can look for the standard that God himself uses and
apply it directly. (p --> s) |
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Term
| Problem of evil argument for God's non-existence |
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Definition
1. If God exists, then he is the all-powerful, all-knowing,
and all-loving creator of our world. (“Omnipotent,
omniscient, and omnibenevolent.”)
2. If God is an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving
creator, then he would not create a world where tsunamis terrorize and destroy thousands of people.
3. But our world is one where tsunamis do terrorize and destroy thousands of people.
4. Therefore, our world was not created by an all-powerful,
all-knowing, all-loving creator.
5. If our world was not created by an all-powerful, all-
knowing, all-loving creator, then God does not exist.
6. Therefore, God does not exist. |
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Term
| 1st argument against the case of cultural relativism |
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Definition
The case of Fauzlya-- “In 1996, a 17-year-old girl named Fauziya … fled her native country of Togo, a small west African nation, to escape what people call ‘excision’
[surgical removal of the clitoris and labia minora to deny women sexual pleasure]. Fauziya … was the youngest of five daughters in a devoutly Muslim family. Her father, who owned a successful trucking business, was opposed to excision, and he was able to defy the tradition because of his wealth. His first four daughters were married without being mutilated. But when Fauziya was 16, he suddenly died. Fauziya then came under the authority of her aunt, who arranged a marriage for her and prepared to have her excised. Fauziya was terrified, and her mother and oldest sister helped her to escape …” (p. 27)
1. If CR is true, then it is morally permissible for the doctor in Togo to mutilate Fauziya against her will.
2. But it is not morally permissible for him to do this.
3. Therefore, it is not the case that CR is true (i.e., CR is false). |
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Term
| 2nd argument against cultural relativism |
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Definition
• It is 1840. Bob has just moved to Alabama from New
Hampshire, where he has bought a hotel. Bob notices that
some of the white people in Alabama own slaves. They
work the slaves hard, and sometimes even beat them. The
white slave owners also sometimes have sex with their
female slaves, and then fail to provide for the children.
• From talking to people, Bob learns that all this is completely accepted by the people of Alabama. Sadly, the moral code of Alabama society permits owning slaves and treating them
quite cruelly. Bob is quite worried and concerned by this.
Even after knowing all about the moral code of Alabama
society, he asks himself, “I wonder if it is really morally okay for people to behave like this?”
1. If CR is true, then Bob can find out everything
relevant to the answer of his question by finding out what the moral code of Alabama society says about slavery.
2. Bob cannot find out everything relevant to the answer of his question in this way.
3. Therefore, CR is false. |
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Term
| 3rd argument against cultural relativism |
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Definition
* Moral progress occurs when a group of people go from
having false beliefs about what is morally right and wrong to
having true beliefs about what is morally right and wrong
(and acting in accordance with these improved beliefs).
* Most Americans would acknowledge that our country has
made moral progress over the last 150 years. When blacks
gained the right to vote in 1870, when women gained the
right to vote in 1919, when segregation was dismantled from
1954-1968, it counted as moral progress!
* But if CR is true, when the moral code changes on some
such issue, people do not go from having false beliefs to
having true beliefs. Before the change in the moral code, their
old beliefs were true. Afterwards, their new beliefs are also
true!
1. If CR is true, then it never counts as moral progress when the moral code of a society changes.
2. But sometimes, when the moral code of a society changes, there has been moral progress.
3. Therefore, CR is false. |
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Term
| the relation between CR and tolerance |
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Definition
According to CR, the local culture’s moral code determines
the moral status of an action. So when it comes to being tolerant, what CR implies is this: if the moral code says “Be tolerant!”, then one should be tolerant; if the moral code says “Kill all the infidels!”, then one should be intolerant. |
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Term
| argument against SS based on falibility |
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Definition
“[C]onsider Falwell, who says that homosexuality is
immoral. [If Simple Subjectivism is true, then] if he is
speaking sincerely – if he really does disapprove of it –
then what he says is true. So long as he is honestly
representing his own feelings, his judgments will always be
correct. But this contradicts the plain fact that none of us is infallible. Therefore, Simple Subjectivism cannot be
correct.” (pp. 38-9)
1. If SS is true, then so long as a person sincerely represents their feelings, no moral opinion that they express can ever be false.
2. But sometimes, people are mistaken in their moral opinions.
3. Therefore, SS is false. |
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Term
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Definition
| normative study of human conduct |
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Term
| descriptive study of human conduct |
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Definition
| studies the way things are or were; aim to describe the world (history, sociology) |
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Term
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Definition
| describes how things ought to be; it aims to guide human action conduct (ethics) |
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Term
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Definition
| the attempt to achieve a systematic understanding of the nature or morality and what it requires from us (how we ought to live and why) |
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Term
| fundamental project of moral philosophy |
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Definition
| To discover, properly formulate, and defend a criterion or moral rightness for act-tokens (a single, concrete action with a single agent and unique time of performance). |
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Term
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Definition
| A situation x is a necessary condition for situation y =df. In order for y to occur or obtain, x must also occur or obtain. (y only if x; if not x, then not y) In order to get into the pool at the Los Altos YMCA, you must be wearing a swimsuit. |
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Term
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Definition
| A situation x is a sufficient condition for a situation y =df. If x occurs or obtains, then y must also occur or obtain. (if x, then y). If you’re in Long Beach, you must be in Los Angeles County. |
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Term
| necessary and sufficient conditions |
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Definition
| A situation x is necessary and sufficient for a situation y =df. if x occurs or obtains, then y must also occur or obtain; and if y occurs or obtains, then x must also occur or obtain. (x if and only if [iff] y) A geometrical figure is a circle iff it is a two-dimensional, closed planar figure with all points equidistant from a given point. |
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Term
| What is a criterion for the application of a concept? How does it relate to necessary and sufficient conditions? |
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Definition
| A criterion is one form of definition. Instead of providing a synonym for a term, a criterion states necessary and sufficient conditions for the application of the term. In effect, a criterion of morally right action would explain what all and only morally right acts have in common. |
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Term
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Definition
| a series of considerations that are supposed to support a conclusion |
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