Ethics final study guide PDF

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Important Readings ● Jeremy Bentham, Principles of Morals and Legislation ● J.S. Mill, Utilitarianism ○ Discusses misconceptions of utilitarianism ○ Defines utilitarianism ● Bernard Williams, Utilitarianism For and Against ○ Consequentialism ○ Claims against utilitarianism ● Kant, Free Will ○ Criticism of Kant - Kant claimed that virtue results from practical reason. virtuous conduct has nothing to do with a rational life and may even be opposed to it ○ ● Thomas Hill, Kantianism ● James Rachels, On Moral Absolutism ● William Shaw, Relativism in Ethics ● Brad Hooker, Rule-Utilitarianism and Euthanasia ● David Vellman, Against the Right to Die ● J.S. Mill, On Liberty ● Robert Goodin, Saving Smokers From Themselves ● J.S. Mill, Freedom of Thought and Discussion ● Susan Brison, The Price WE Pay, Pornography and Harm ● James Rachels, Punishment and Desert ● Peter Singer, Faine, Affluence, and Morality

● What is utilitarianism and kantianism and virtue ethics are

● Know the central claims of moral relativism and one or to rejoinders, why those central claims might be right, why they might be wrong ● Don’t need to know smart ● Bernards primary claims against utilitarianism ○ Jim and george examples, how he talks about personal integrity and what it has to do with utilitarianism ● Kant ○ Categorical imperative, free will, moral agencies, moral autonomies ○ Critical perspectives: major critical perspectives against Kant ● Need to know what virtue ethics is about ○ Distinction between classical virtue ethics (original aristotelian traditional approach and the contemporary form) ■ Contemporary form of virtue ethics is that which tries to mimic the criteria of kantianism and utilitarianism by saying not only virtue ethics is about a good moral character, how we learned from a virtuous person, we can judge the value of any particular act, or make a moral judgment of any abstract action by asking what a virtuous person would do. Virtue ethics is supposed to be about character but you can see why many contemporaries need to come back and say that they can better virtue ethics. ■ Moral relativism- what is it about ● Not only what it is asserting, but what its possible truth would mean for the other theories we read. What would it mean for kantianism, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics. ● Two kinds of critical challenges when it comes to moral relativism, one is empirical and the other is theoretical ○ Empirical- evidence that there may be generalizations that we can make across communities that would lessen the bite of moral relativism, might even say that it is wrong. Everything is up to interpretation ○ Theoretical- if you don’t have any foundation, then you can’t make critical perspectives known or at least not persuasively when it comes to those outside of your community. Another theoretical challenge is that moral relativism says that there is no absolute right and wrong. So how can moral relativists persuade us to accept their theory because there is no criteria according to which he or she could be persuasive. ● Kantianism and utilitarianism are about judging actions ● Euthanasia- David Vellman ○ David Vellman’s argument that more choice is not better, more choices are not better choices, that we can offer so many choices and particular kinds of choices

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than we’d degrade human existence. ■ Is he being paternalistic after all? Know some central arguments for the moral standing of animals ○ Animals have rights ○ If they have rights, where do those rights come from? ○ What would it mean to say that animals have less value than humans? ■ Is that a justifiable claim? ○ What are the implications? ■ Vegetarianism, veganism, animal experimentation J.S. Mill on Liberty ○ Anti-paternalism principles ○ Robert Goodin- the claims he makes about how we know somebody’s real preferences. How can we say he is not paternalistic in the traditional sense but rather tracking what people would want anyway? J.S. Mill and free speech ○ Basic arguments like it leads to greater knowledge in the end and difference of opinion is important. Scripting speech is a way of restricting human rights Know susan Brison’s argument about pornography Is hate speech the same as free speech? If not what is different about it and how do we go about justifying it? Punishment- James Rachels ○ What the claims are to types of punishment Peter Singer ○ Arguing for the moral obligation for wealthier nations and individuals to give up a great deal of their wealth for the sake of those starving in different parts of the world. Sort of overstates it....