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Ethics: the study of right and wrong (Metaethics (Example Questions (Do…
Ethics: the study of right and wrong
Metaethics
Example Questions
Do moral principles exist?
Are moral principles universal or
relative to a particular situation or culture?
Is moral sense natural or cultural? Relative or
universal? Subjective or objective?
What is the significance of calling something
“right” or “wrong”?
Is moral behaviour found only in human beings?
What are the foundations for moral judgments?
Positions
Normative ethics
Example questions
Is ethics more about self-interest or about the
interests of others
Are some virtues more important than others?
Doing the “right thing” and doing the “best thing”
What is a duty?
Are consequences relevant for ethics?
What is a good person?
Positions
Plato
Human is the ideal state in a smaller form
Three parts of the soul
relate to the just divisions in the society
Justice and happiness are related
The idea of OBJECTIVE values
Aristotle
Virtue ethics
Eudaimonia
Golden mean
Virtues and vices
Practical reason
Why are some people bad: akrasia, the lack of self-control
According to Aristotle a human being is:
a talking, rational animal
political, social animal
Egoism and altruism
Hume
Some virtues and vices are natural, others, including justice, are artificial
Moral distinctions
are not derived from reason, but from moral sentiments
: feelings of approval (esteem, praise) and disapproval (blame) felt by spectators who contemplate a character trait or action.
He claims that the sentiments of moral approval and disapproval
are caused by some of the operations of sympathy
, which is not a feeling but rather
a psychological mechanism
that enables one person to receive by communication the sentiments of another (more or less what we would call empathy today).
Kant
Deontological view
Mill and Bentham
Utilitarianism
Nietzsche
Applied ethics
Areas
Biomedical ethics
Example questions
Cloning
Genetic engineering
Stem cell research
Euthanasia
Abortion
Environmental ethics
Example questions
Rights and interests of future generations
Anthropocentrism
Animal rights
Food production
Animal testing
Species extinction
Deep ecology
Distribution of wealth
Example questions
Poverty
Inequality
Ethical responsibilities
to humanity,
Taxation
Charity