QUIZ 1 lecture notes PDF

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Dr. Brecher...

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QUIZ 1 A. Morality: values shared by large groups  Values are something that is individually important to the person - Rain is good B. Ethics: the scientific study of morality  Normative: a type of morality we would like to see come into being – what we are looking to achieve  Professional: values associated with a particular professional group  Applied: morality studied by philosophers and scientists – taking a moral theory and applying it to a situation  Meta: data taken from multiple studies on ethical issues, compared and reported – try to find patterns or trends that are common to all of them C. Duties  Imperfect duties: a duty that’s not clearly defined (we want police to be honest, but there may be situations where it’s more right that they’re not; telling family members their child has died)  Superogatories: nice to do, but not required to do – the good Samaritan (not required to start assisting at an accident scene, but if you have some training, it will be good)  Categorical imperative: universal law; if you violate it, you are always wrong (lying is always wrong and will unravel the universal fabric if done) D. Two classes of moral differences  Absolutism: - Ethical formalism (Kant: devout Catholic, but left religion out of his explanation): we are all apart of the world together, so there must be natural laws for humanity, just like there are natural laws for physics, light, space, etc. – you have to punish criminals, JUSTLY, no matter how it may upset public morale; it’s your duty – the only truly good thing is a good will, and what is good conforms to a categorical imperative o Forfeiture: if I violate or laws/agreement, I can’t later claim foul if you want to persecute me – if I lie to you, I can’t later complain if you lie to me – treat others how you want to be treated  Civil disobedience: you don’t have a right to fight the IRS if you don’t pay your taxes o Deontology: morality is a duty – duty to fulfill the justice of the universal laws (god’s laws/balance the scales) - Natural Law: if someone can isolate a certain behavior and will it to become natural law, you have identified a categorical imperative (rape and murder) - Categorical imperative: something that is always wrong – sexual assault

o sSocial Contract: everyone in a community should abide by rules established for each other - criminals disregard the importance/consequences of the contract - Religion  Relativism: we should respect the differences of other people’s moral beliefs, because there can be more than one right or wrong answer - Teleological: focuses on consequences and judging whether or not they are really needed from situation to situation - Utilitarianism (Jeremy Benthem: people are ruled by pleasure and pain AND John Stuart Hill: who is to determine what which benefits are better for everyone?): the greater good for the greater number of people – deterrence: decrease the likelihood that criminals will act by increasing punishments – it doesn’t necessarily have to be the right guy, as long as the public moral is restored o Hedonistic Calculus: created by Jeremy Bentham – duration, frequency, impact used to determine what is the right decision for the greater good – also used to determine the right amount of threatened pain to be used to deter crime o Cesare Beccaria o Act o Rule - Virtue Ethics: what would Jesus, the Dali Lama, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln do? o Associated with Aristotle: virtue is a GOLDEN MEAN; excess in either extreme is not valuable to you, find the balance - Egoism: what is best for me? It may be justified with one of the other philosophies, but really you did it because it was best for you – even service for others is motivated by what you will get out of it (that warm fuzzy feeling) E. Ethic of Care/feminist theory: when you decide what the right thing is to do, you will follow your heart and your feelings; the loving/caring thing to do; what you know is right in your heart  Jean Jacques Rousseau: morals come from natural human compassion, rather than rationalization  Kohlberg: morality is an instinct, yet it progresses as we grow older in distinct phases  Gilligan: women have a different understanding of morality than men do – focused on relationships involved in moral decisions F. Situational Ethics (RELATIVIST theory): an attempt to blend/bring together relativism and absolutism theories  Is there a universal law that would apply to this situation? o Look to Kant’s teachings first and follow a universal law if there is one. If there isn’t one, you can look to another theory– would following this law create more harm than good, or not? If it would, you can modify that law; there may be an exception

G. Cultural Relativism: you can’t judge another group by your standards, they have evolved differently than we have and we can’t condemn them for having different practices H. Justice and Law: if the procedure was followed and everyone involved was treated fairly, equally, and impartially, the decision is just  John Rawls’ Veil of Ignorance: a law maker should be ignorant (to where the people of society are in the system) in order to be fair – an attempt to eliminate bias – should we increase patrols late at night in order to catch DUI offenders (around college campuses, essentially “targeting” certain areas or people) o The veil of ignorance says that normal community members would understand why the law needs to be implemented in order to preserve the greater good, whether they are involved in the crime or not – people living in all different areas or communities would be okay with this policy, it’s fair for everyone  Distributive: how should the goods and resources of society be distributed? Aristotle - Utilitarian: distribute it in such a way that benefits the most people - Marxist: we shouldn’t worry about profits, we should all share it willingly, so no one has to suffer – those who have the most should share with those who have less and trust that when they have more, they will later share with you - Egalitarian: everyone is entitled to an equal share - Libertarian: I work harder, contribute, and risk more, therefore I deserve more – government should stay our of it  Corrective justice (Due Process): ensuring that our rights are protected when dealing with the law - Substantive: the law itself, is it fair? Is the punishment itself fair? - Procedural: is the process for dealing with a defendant fair? Is the 6th amendment followed?...