Ethics
Ethics Oral Exam Outline
Introduction
Philosophy- is to reason about the ultimate questions of life such as Is there a God? What is our purpose? How are we ought to live?
In philosophy we ask questions and seek answers. In finding answers we must have logical reasoning which means we go from premises to a conclusion. EX: One of the two children took the last cookie. Sam doesn’t like cookies and didn’t eat it. Therefore Jack took the last cookie.
Argument- set of statements consisting of premises and a conclusion.
When we have an argument we should make sure that the argument is valid or the conclusion follows logically the premise.
Moral Philosophy or ethics is to reason about the ultimate questions of morality.
Morality- intentions, decisions, values a person has whether they’re bad or not.
Metaethics- is the study of nature and methodology of moral judgments. Types: Cultural Relativism, Subjectivism, and Supernaturalism.
Normative ethics studies principles about how we ought to live. Ex: What is right or wrong? What makes someone a good person?
Two Types of Normative Ethics: Normative ethical theory and Applied ethics
Normative ethical theory focuses on general moral principles such as we ought to always do whats good for everyone.
Applied ethics focuses on specific moral issues such as abortion or lying
Why study ethics? :
1) It can keep us thinking about the ultimate questions of life
2) Studying different kinds of approaches to morality can help us build our own moral choices
3) It can sharpen our general thinking
Human needs
A human being is an embodied intelligent freedom
A body is organized matter
Organized means structured and matter means has mass and occupies space
Freedom- is the capacity to will or love
Love is the act of union, treating another as one’s own self
A person is one who has the need and capacity for intelligent freedom, that is knowing and loving
Personality- the expression of ones intelligent freedom
Introduction
Philosophy- is to reason about the ultimate questions of life such as Is there a God? What is our purpose? How are we ought to live?
In philosophy we ask questions and seek answers. In finding answers we must have logical reasoning which means we go from premises to a conclusion. EX: One of the two children took the last cookie. Sam doesn’t like cookies and didn’t eat it. Therefore Jack took the last cookie.
Argument- set of statements consisting of premises and a conclusion.
When we have an argument we should make sure that the argument is valid or the conclusion follows logically the premise.
Moral Philosophy or ethics is to reason about the ultimate questions of morality.
Morality- intentions, decisions, values a person has whether they’re bad or not.
Metaethics- is the study of nature and methodology of moral judgments. Types: Cultural Relativism, Subjectivism, and Supernaturalism.
Normative ethics studies principles about how we ought to live. Ex: What is right or wrong? What makes someone a good person?
Two Types of Normative Ethics: Normative ethical theory and Applied ethics
Normative ethical theory focuses on general moral principles such as we ought to always do whats good for everyone.
Applied ethics focuses on specific moral issues such as abortion or lying
Why study ethics? :
1) It can keep us thinking about the ultimate questions of life
2) Studying different kinds of approaches to morality can help us build our own moral choices
3) It can sharpen our general thinking
Human needs
A human being is an embodied intelligent freedom
A body is organized matter
Organized means structured and matter means has mass and occupies space
Freedom- is the capacity to will or love
Love is the act of union, treating another as one’s own self
A person is one who has the need and capacity for intelligent freedom, that is knowing and loving
Personality- the expression of ones intelligent freedom