Abortion
The intentional termination of a pregnancy.
Animal Rights Arguments
According to Aristotle, there is a natural hierarchy of living beings.
Aquinas believes that if a being cannot direct its own actions then others must do so; these sorts of beings are merely instruments. Instruments exist for the sake of people that use t
Why Animals have Direct Moral Status
If a being is sentient then it has direct moral status.
(Most) animals are sentient
Therefore (most) animals have direct moral status.
"Sentience" refers to the capacity to experience episodes of positively or negatively valenced awareness. Examples of po
The Argument From Marginal Cases
If we are justified in denying direct moral status to animals then we are justified in denying direct moral status to the marginal cases.
We are not justified in denying direct moral status to the marginal cases.
Therefore we are not justified denying dir
Singer and the Principle of Equal Consideration of Interests
Singer attacks the views of those who wish to give the interests of animals less weight than the interests of human beings.
He argues that if we attempt to extend such unequal consideration to the interests of animals, we will be forced to give unequal co
Abortion and the Right to Privacy
Regardless of the reason, the courts have found that the right of privacy includes a woman being able to terminate her pregnancy, with a few exceptions, without the interference of the government.
If the woman is in a stage of pregnancy before a fetus is
Supreme Court Case Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade (1973) represented a controversial Supreme Court case that highlighted women's rights as well as the constitutional issue of the right to privacy. In 1969, Norma McCorvey (who adopted the pseudonym 'Roe') became pregnant and moved to Dallas, T
Bioethics
Ethics applied to scientific advances in biology and medicine
Radical Individualism
In which the patient has complete and absolute control over their bodies. This idea led to ideas like informed consent, which requires doctors to discuss treatments with their patients and get the patient's permission
Informed consent
Requires doctors to discuss treatments with their patients and get the patient's permission. But, it can also limit the ability of doctors to do their jobs.
Reciprocity
A mutual relationship between doctors and patients to develop the best treatment options. This relationship encourages a cooperative attitude while letting the patient maintain control over their fate and letting the doctors do their job.
Paternalism
The belief that the doctor knows what is in the patient's best interest.
This is essentially a parent-child relationship, where the doctor can make decisions regardless of patient concerns.
Non-maleficence
The restraint from doing harm
Six cardinal values of ethics.
Autonomy is the respect of a person's individual rational sense of self. Beneficence is focusing an action on the well-being of others. Justice implies fair treatment. Non-maleficence is the restraint from doing harm. Dignity is a respect of a person's se
Stem Cell Ethics
When does a human embryo develop rights? Is a human embryo, only 3-5 days after fertilization, really a child that shouldn't be used for research? When does life actually begin?
Duty
Moral Obligation to Act.
Actual duties are not optional.
Prima Facie Duties
W.D. Ross and Prima Facie Duties
A way to organise duties to avoid conflicting duties.
Prima Facie means 'At First Glance'. Moral actions that are required unless trumped by a greater obligation.
He organised them into;
Fidelity duties - keeping promises
Reparation - making up for wrongd
Thomas Hobbes on The Descriptive Law
St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas recognized a distinction between human law and divine law. Natural law, according to them, is God's law made known to man through his reason.
Hobbes agreed with these two men in some respects, including that natural la
Imperatives
'Shoulds'
Hypothetical Imperatives
A statement about what a person would need to do to achieve a desired aim.
Kant on Consequences
Kant's approach was focused more on the motivation behind a person's actions rather than on consequences.
Utilitarian Ethics: Epicurus; Letter to Menoecus
An early form of utilitarianism.
Epicurus defined pleasure as the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul. He was an early hedonist, a person who focuses their life on maximizing pleasure.
Epicurus was interested in more than short term sel
Ethics of Reproductive Cloning
Good:
Couple that has fertility problems
Couples that know they have a high risk of passing on a genetic disease
Couple has lost a child due to accident or sudden illness. Cloning this child could replace that lost family member for them.
Bad:
'playing Go
Playing God
Someone supposedly taking on the role of God for other purposes, also referred to as apotheosis. Alleged acts of playing God may include, for example, deciding who is to live or die in a situation where not everyone can be saved.
Ethics of Therapeutic Cloning
Use of Embryos.
These specialized repair cells have been used to treat many diseases and disorders, but because the embryo does not survive after the cells have been extracted, many see this as taking away a human life. Cord blood stem cells are often con
Abortion and Personhood
Humans develop their personhood gradually, their individuality impacted by experiences in the womb, and with the outside world after born. It's more a question of moral value. If human life only has moral value because we create it, then abortions are a m
Utilitarian Ethics: Bentham
'Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do...'
Everyone's pain and everyone's pleasure are of equal importance.
An Introduction to the Principles and M
Moral Calculus
Bentham's idea that one can 'calculate' the morality of an action in terms of its utility.
Utilitarian Ethics: Mill
On Liberty
Hedonist
A person who focuses their life on maximizing pleasure. pleasure is the primary or most important intrinsic good.
Deontology
Study of Duties
In Greek, 'ology' refers to the 'study of,' while 'deon' refers to 'duty.'
Categorical Imperative
A statement about what a person needs to do because it is a rational moral obligation.
Kant says it's not because that will necessarily bring about a certain aim. It's related instead to what is morally rational for a person to do, something that can be a
Different theories of when a foetus becomes human.
The 'Catechism of the Catholic Church' states that the embryo must be treated as a person from conception and so do many others who oppose abortion...
the moment of fertilisation is an entirely logical point to choose as the beginning of human life
it's o
Greater Good
In order for something to happen in the name of Greater Good, it is often considered to be imperative, that something rather unpleasant and often quite lethal will happen as a stepping stone.
Bioethics on Animal Testing
There are many complex issues here but at its most basic, the ethical debate comes down to two opinions.
First is that scientists and researchers have a moral responsibility to respect life in all living things.
The other side is that researchers have a m
Morality of Human Testing
In ethical terms, nearly all healthcare professionals agree that human life is the end-all-be-all, that sacred line that you just never cross.
However, experimenting on humans is necessary. Say you want to use a new medicine, a new surgical procedure, or
Resource Allocation
Deciding when and how to divide resources amongst patients.
Most people agree that resources should be fairly distributed, but sometimes that means giving more to those in need.
Dying With Dignity
A movement that focuses on giving terminally ill patients options for when and how to die.
Suicide vs Assisted Death
Many people prefer the term assisted death to the term assisted suicide because they feel that the word 'suicide' has connotations that do not reflect the reality of a situation. They argue that suicide is when someone who is not terminally ill kills them
Euthanasia Arguments
On one hand, people who believe that euthanasia should be illegal point out that it's a slippery slope from euthanasia to murder. For example, if Lou helps Trina die, how can the police know for sure that she wanted to die and not that he just wanted to k
Where is Euthanasia Legal?
Albania - 1999
Netherlands
Belgium
Luxembourg
Columbia 2010
However, the reality is much more complicated, with passive euthanasia and assisted suicide being legal (or at least tacitly permitted) in several European countries.
Legality of Forms of Euthanasia
Most forms of voluntary, passive and some instance of non voluntary, passive euthanasia are legal.
Euthanasia vs Assisted Suicide
In assisted suicide the patient is in complete control of the process that leads to death because he/she is the person who performs the act of suicide. The other person simply helps (for example, providing the means for carrying out the action).
Four Categories of Euthanasia
...
Death Midwife
Non-medical, holistic companions who guide and support the dying in order to facilitate a gentle and tranquil death.
Doctrine of Double Effect
It can be permissible to cause harm if the harm is a side effect of an action whose main intent was meant to bring about good. This side effect is also called a 'double effect.' Great.
Actions have consequences, but as it turns out, we may only be respons
Catholic Church and the Doctrine of Double Effect
In the modern moral world, the doctrine of double effect is still used by the Catholic Church, provided that an action meets four very specific criteria:
The action must be morally good.
You must not desire the negative consequence, and if you can produce
Criticism of Doctrine of Double Effect
Those who oppose it claim that actions are rarely without multiple intentions, and it would be impractical to try and assign them some sort of order.
Critics also argue that there is too fine a line between an action that is foreseen but unintended and an
Personhood Argument against Abortion
The belief that an embryo is legally and morally considered a person, so abortion is paramount to infanticide.
Natural Capacities Argument
States that the embryo has a right to personhood because it has the genetic capacity for self-awareness.
Autonomy
The respect of a person's individual rational sense of self.
Beneficence
Focusing an action on the well-being of others
Sanctity of life
The belief that human life must always be held as sacred.
Dignity
A respect of a person's self-worth
The Deprivation Argument
It is morally wrong to deprive the embryo of its future.
Bodily Rights Argument
The rights of the embryo are trumped by the rights of the mother. This means that even if the embryo is a person, the health and free will of the mother are of greater significance.
Legal Pragmatics Argument
This one is a matter of public policy rather than morality and claims that abortion should be legal because there is no difference in abortion rates before and after legalization. This theory points out that the only substantial change to accompany the le
Right to die
An emerging philosophical question is if people have the right to live then surely, they have the right to die.
Living Wills
A living will defines the end of life treatment a person desires. It includes specific instructions, ranging from trying everything to orders to only use CPR or even a request for first responders and medical professionals to not attempt resuscitation. Th
Dame Cicely Saunders
Founder of the Modern Hospice Movement
Is Health Care a Right?
People who argue that health care is a right hold that failing to help someone who is sick is morally wrong. They also claim that attitudes towards the behavior of doctors and the expectation that emergency rooms should not turn people away suggests that
Importance of Truth Telling, Confidentiality & Informed Consent in Medicine
The moral duty to be honest with patients about conditions, medications, procedures, and risks, and this can often be unpleasant, but it is generally necessary.
Could this not conflict with the duty to not do harm? (Mental Upset)
As recently as the 1960s,
Confidentiality
The obligation of a physician to keep a patient's health information private.
there are a few exceptions. If the patient reveals information that could put others at risk, doctors may share it. For example, say someone with a mental disorder admits that t
Informed Consent
The obligation of physicians to fully discuss treatment options with patients and get their permission to proceed. This stems from the medical ethical principle that patients should ultimately have control over their own bodies.
Hospice
A facility that cares for individuals in the last days of their lives, especially those who attend to the comfort of the individual during his or her last days. Typically terminally ill.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Encouraged a more holistic approach to treating dying patients by meeting their psychological needs as well as physical ones.
Palliative Care
A kind of care for people who have serious illnesses. It is different from care to cure your illness, called curative treatment. Palliative care focuses on improving your quality of life-not just in your body, but also in your mind and spirit. Sometimes p
Mercy Death
A less painful death directly caused by a caregiver instead of a perceived more painful demise.
Euthanasia made without the knowledge of the patient or by someone outside of the medical profession.
Two Types of Euthanasia
Active - when someone takes an action to end a person's life to alleviate their suffering.
Passive - withholding treatment to hasten death
Euthanasia
The painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. The practice is illegal in most countries.
Also known as assisted suicide.
from the Greek, meaning 'Good' or 'Easy Death'
Slippery Slope or Domino Effect
Asks for a prohibition or curtailment on something based on a cascading series of undesired results
Judith Jarvis Thomson: A Defense of Abortion
he comes to the conclusion that it is not always the case that the fetus' right to life is stronger than the mother's right to bodily integrity.
Main Argument: The right to life is not an absolute right. Therefore in some cases abortion is morally permiss
Physician Assisted Suicide
When a patient asks a health care provider to assist with suicide.
When a doctor gives a person the means to commit suicide, but the patient is in complete control of the process that leads to death.
Environmental Ethics
The philosophical discipline that considers the moral and ethical relationship of human beings to the environment.
What obligations do we have to the non-human world?
Human Values in Environmental Ethics
Human Values
The things that are important to individuals that they then use to evaluate actions or events. Unique to individuals.
Some Environmental Ethics Debates
Water and air pollution, the depletion of natural resources, loss of biodiversity, destruction of ecosystems, and global climate change.
Anthropocentric Ethical View
Those that place significantly higher value on human interests at the expense of non-human things.
A person with this viewpoint would be more likely to see nature and its resources as things available for man to use. Their exploitation would therefore be
Ecocentric ethical view
Those that see the intrinsic value of non-human things regardless of their usefulness to man.
A person with an ecocentric viewpoint would be more likely to see elements of nature such as trees, animals, and plants as having value in-and-of themselves simp
Environmental Legislation
The collection of laws and regulations pertaining to air quality, water quality, the wilderness, endangered wildlife and other environmental factors.
The goal of this legislation is to regulate the interaction between man and the natural world to reduce t
Environmentalism
A movement toward protecting the natural environment against hazards and pollutants,
National Environmental Policy Act (or NEPA) of 1969
The U.S. environmental law that established a nation-wide policy promoting the protection of the environment.
One of the ways this is accomplished is through the use of an environmental impact statement (or EIS), which is a document required for any actio
Energy Consumption around the World
The term used to describe the consumption of the sources of energy that generate power.
Generally, we see that a person living in a developed country, which has a highly developed economy, will consume more energy than a person living in a developing coun
Deforestation
The cutting down of trees from an area with no intention of establishing a future stand of trees.
Sometimes used synonymously with the term clearcutting.
Tropical forests
Forests that span both sides of the Equator.
Logging
One of the causes of deforestation in any type of forest is logging, which is used to harvest the natural resources of the forest.
Forests are often cleared because those in charge of the woodland want to use the area for a different purpose, such as agri
Arne Naess Principles of Deep Ecology
1. The well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman life on Earth have value in themselves (synonyms: inherent worth, intrinsic value, inherent value). These values are independent of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes.
2. Richnes
Poverty
Poverty is the term used to describe when a person is unable to meet their basic needs due mainly to economic constraints.
Poverty and Extreme Poverty
Internationally, the poverty line is considered living on around $2 a day. Although this definition might seem shocking due to the low amount of money, it gets worse. There are people who are considered to live in extreme poverty and who survive on less t
Indications of Poverty
Although the amount of money a person lives on each day is a major indicator of poverty, there are also many other characteristics of a nation in poverty, including high birth rates, high death rates, high infant mortality rate and age structure.
Age stru
Basic Needs
Clean water, adequate food, shelter, health, and education. When a person does not have these basic needs due to economic constraints, they are considered to be living in poverty.
Carrying Capacity
The maximum population size of a species that an ecosystem can support indefinitely, taking into consideration the scarcity of resources.
Global Sustainability
The act of meeting the needs of the present human population without compromising the ecosystem services and natural resources needed for future generations to meet their needs.
Double Standard and Ethical Issues
The double standard is an arbitrary use of different rules for the same situation.
The decision to give more rights or freedoms to one group over another is arbitrary and therefore unethical.
Holding different people to different standards raises some ver
Mill and Spock
Spock tells his superior officer, Captain Kirk, that 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.'
Anti-institutionalism
A by-product of both of those beliefs that rails against the social institution (against 'The Man,' if you will) - churches, governments, etc. - that don't abide by those naturalistic principles.
Mill's Utility Quote
'Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the privation of pleasure.'
For Mill, the key to emphasize is that society is nothing but a collection of individuals.
'Men, however, in a state of society, are still men; their actions and passions are obedient to the laws of individual human nature. Men are not, when brought together, converted into another kind of substance with different properties.'
Mill thinks that
Mill on Society's Biggest Problem
An important thing to keep in mind here is that no one has the right to force another to act 'correctly,' except in cases of avoiding harm.
Mill actually calls this society's biggest problem, noting that it can be tyrannical and describing it as 'the feel
Individualism and Mill
Freedom of choice, or strict individualism, is, after all, the most important part of Mill's philosophy.
Seek your own happiness and do not prevent others from doing so.
United Nations
The international peacekeeping organization.
Was formed with the goal of preventing massive war or genocide ever again.
Drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that defined the basic rights guaranteed to every person.
Right to security from harm
Article 5 of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
''No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.''
It's not just physical harm that you have the right to be free of; it's also harm to your psy
Peace
A freedom from violence, although it can also be used to describe healthy conflict resolution on social, personal, and psychological scales.
Goal of War
The goal of war between signatory states was not the destruction of life but the settling of a political disagreement.
Machiavelli
'One of the fastest ways to cause a population to hate a foreign power was to cause civilians harm.'
It is in our interest to protect the civilians of oppositions in war, to prevent as much as possible feelings of resentment among them.
By granting basic
War Criminals
Individuals who broke the laws of war, namely through cruelty towards civilians or excess violence towards combatants.
Germany and Japan, war criminals were tried as part of the Nuremburg and Tokyo War Trials.
Problem of Conflicting Views of War
Some countries view War as great struggles between right and wrong and thus do not uphold those criteria for 'diplomacy by another means.
Similarly some do not sign contracts, and this means that they are effectively 'playing by other rules', and cannot b
Geneva Conventions
Guidance on how to treat medics, prisoners of war and chaplains, as well as advisories to leave civilians alone.
Moral Questions on Economic Equality & Inequality
Economic inequality - access to differing amounts of financial resources determines where one falls in the inequality spectrum.
American capitalist system encourages economic inequality through the fallacy of the 'American Dream'.
'Earning' inequality is
Relative Poverty
A standard which is defined in terms of the society in which an individual lives and which therefore differs between countries and over time.
Poverty Vs Affluence
Poverty - not having the economic resources to ensure a basic standard of well-being.
Affluence - having a surplus of resources to ensure a comfortable standard of life.
St Thomas Aquinas on our Duty of Stewardship
Stewardship is a complete lifestyle, a life of total accountability and responsibility acknowledging God as Creator and Owner of all. Stewards as disciples of Jesus Christ see themselves as caretakers of all God's gifts. Gratitude for these gifts is expre
Sanctity of Life
A principle of implied protection regarding aspects of sentient life which are said to be holy, sacred, or otherwise of such value that they are not to be violated.
Suicide
The willful, intentional, and voluntary taking of one's own life.
Conservative View
- Suicide is immoral.
Aquinas argued that God is the only one with the authority to end life. Also, suicide goes against the laws of nature. It also breaks social obligati
Capital Punishment
If you do something bad enough, you can be punished by losing your life.
Mentioned in the Code of Hammurabi, the oldest code of laws in existence, and is described in detail throughout the Bible.
Roman and Crucifixion.
Medieval Europeans and Draw and Quar
Killing in Defense of the Innocence
In 2012, a Texas father killed a man who he caught in the actual act of raping his very young daughter. After reviewing evidence, Texas courts chose not to press charges. Their reasoning, as reported by The New York Times, centered on the belief that the
Deterrence
Deterrence is the use of threat to discourage people from taking a certain action.
Applied in two different ways. In criminal justice, deterrence is the use of punishment to discourage crime.
The other form of deterrence is the national policy in which ex
Plato and Aristotle on Justice
Plato, justice is a condition of the soul, a virtue. Justice serves the purpose of promoting harmony and structure in the individual and, by extension, the community.
Aristotle wanted a society where everyone gets what they deserve. He believed that virtu
Ethics of Justice vs Ethics of Care
Ethics of Justice is focused on the decisions people make when coming up with rational solutions to abstract moral problems. Universal moral laws that can be applied across the board.
Ethics of Care is focused on how to respond to the needs of others in c
Divine Command Theory
God as the Source of Moral Laws
It proposes that an action's status as morally good is equivalent to whether it is commanded by God.
Arbitrary
Based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.
Why to avoid Directly Interceding? (A hand out)
Harlem in New York City- increase services and provide a hand up, not a hand out.
The most successful attempts to combat global poverty are similar to local anti-poverty programs in that they feature ways to develop the local economy.
Why to Relieve Poverty
Avoiding poverty, avoids crime?
A famine may wipe out the next harvest, leading many to fear for the food supply.
Crucial investments in infrastructure that may have helped prevent the famine have been ignored due to lack of funding.
Conditions of Just War Theory
The Jus Ad Bellum
Having just cause, being a last resort, being declared by a proper authority, possessing right intention, having a reasonable chance of success, and the end being proportional to the means used.
The Principles Of Jus In Bello
legitimate
The Jus Ad Bellum
Having just cause, being a last resort, being declared by a proper authority, possessing right intention, having a reasonable chance of success, and the end being proportional to the means used.
Not wholly intrinsic or consequentialist.
Jus post bellum
Three possibilities emerge: either the army has been defeated, has been victorious, or it has agreed to a ceasefire.
The principle of discrimination should be employed to avoid imposing punishment on innocents or non-combatants; the rights or traditions o
The Principles Of Jus In Bello
Legitimate targets in war, whilst the principle of proportionality, the principle of responsibility (which demands an examination of where responsibility lies in war)
Criticisms of Just War Theory
How would the normative ethicist theories we have studied respond to this?
The Just War Tradition
A set of mutually agreed rules of combat.
Clausewitz on War
'Diplomacy by other means'
Proportionate Response
The force used should be proportional to the wrong that is attempted to be made right.
Level the Playing Field in War
Using unconventional means that often go against the rules of war in order to take away some of the advantages of the opposite force.
Unconventional Weapons
An unconventional weapon is 'any weapon that is not immediately thought of as a weapon', or a weapon that is chemical, biological, or nuclear in nature.
For many, unconventional weapons are a deterrent or a way to level the playing field when faced with b
Authorization of a competent authority
Often enough to convince people of the just status of a war.
Is Punishment, Justice?
Retributive justice punishes law-breakers because they deserve to be punished for breaking the law.
We are capable of making choices and thus should be held accountable.
Revenge? What Good is it?
Utilitarian justice seeks to create the greatest benefit to
Six Aims of Punishment
Punishment: something done to a person because they have broken a law
Protection: keeping the public from being harmed, threatened or injured by criminals
Retribution: an aim of punishment - to get your own back: 'an eye for an eye'
Deterrence: an aim of
Last Resort
All other peaceful or less violent means to resolve conflict have been exhausted.
Historical Justification for Wars in the Past
The Civil War was about slavery and states' rights.
Forays into Korea and Vietnam were to counter communism, among other issues.
Just War Thoery
The attempt to distinguish between justifiable and unjustifiable uses of organized armed forces.
First put forward by St Thomas Aquinas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcBovmGZSPU
Conscientious Objectors
Someone who disagrees with the entire principle of war.
This includes carrying guns, using guns, fighting, or war of any kind.
Usually, conscientious objectors are influenced by unwavering religious teachings and religious beliefs.
Pacifism
The social and political dedication to use peaceful methods to resolve conflicts.
Pacifism does not mean inaction.
Absolute Pacifism
Oppose all warfare, violence, and killing, without exception of any sort. Even in self-defence
Real Life Euthanasia Debates
Euthanasia row over decision to end life support for French quadraplegic Vincent Lambert
Pacifism Quotes
Jesus taught that the right response to aggression is love, not hate.
"Do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."
Matthew 5:39
"Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute
Pioneers of Civil Disobedience
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr - Civil Rights protests of the 1960s
Mahatma Gandhi - the Indian independence movement
Famous Pacifists
Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948) - Indian nationalist and politician. Gandhi advocated ahimsa - non-violent protest for Indian self-determination and independence.
Bertrand Russell. (1872 - 1970) British pacifist who campaigned against conscription. He was se
Selective Pacifists
Someone who will decide whether a war is morally justified or not.
For example, they may refuse to fight for their country if they feel that their country is engaging in an unjust war.
Selective pacifists may particularly oppose war using weapons of mass-
Conditional Pacifism
Someone who generally opposes war, but may accept there are times when it is necessary, for example, when you're country is invaded and you are defending your family and country.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Created by the United Nations in 1948 to firmly define the ideas of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Declaration contains 30 articles that are considered to be the basic rights that cannot be denied to any human being in the world. Although this
Republic
A state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.
Right to Political Participation
Here in the USA, we interpret that to mean that everyone has the right to have a voice in the government. That's been our policy for quite some time. That's also why we're a democratic republic, so that any person can participate in American politics. But
Right to Liberty
Freedom of choice and to expect certain freedoms. Yes, you have a right to expect your rights.
Article 1: ''All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.''
Article 2: ''Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in thi
Mill and Feminism
Mill's 1869 text The Subjection of Women advocated for thorough gender equality, a radical notion in the nineteenth century and, unfortunately, to some of our contemporaries today.
Mill on Humanity
Humanity, says Mill, is not
'a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living t
'One very simple principle'
Harm Principle
The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any mem
Stewardship vd Dominion
God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth"
(Gen.
Naturalism
A philosophy that denies that there is really anything outside our empirical world that can be known or really is even worth knowing.
Against objective good and against institutionalism.
Moral Issues in Sexuality
There are many differing opinions surrounding the morality of sex. Many hold to the traditional view that only sex between a married man and woman is moral. Many do not.
The 13th century philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas is one of history's most famous defen
Ecocentric vs Anthropological Ethical Views
E
The idea of inherent worth states that all living things have intrinsic value, and we are morally obligated to respect that value.
Our moral duty to nature is based in its inherent worth, not in the specific benefit to us as a species.
It's all one big
Shallow Ecology vs Deep Ecology
Shallow Ecology
We should protect Earth because we can use it.
Deep Ecology
We should protect earth because it has intrinsic value and worth in itself. Tree is not good because it is useful to us, but because it is intrinsically valuable in itself.
A rive
Consequences of Deforestation
a loss of biodiversity
increases greenhouse gas emissions
disrupts the water cycle
increases soil erosion
decreases the natural beauty of an area
Clearcutting
The cutting down of most trees with the intention of replanting or establishing a future stand of trees.
Netherlands rules on Euthanasia
The patient must be in full control of their mental faculties when they request euthanasia. A second doctor also judges each case before the procedure is undertaken. After the death of the patient, a committee consisting of a doctor, a medical ethics expe
Vegetative State
A patient with a prolonged state of unconsciousness and lack of response to external stimuli
Brain Death
The irreversible loss of brain function, which is a way to officially determine that a person has died.
Is it more humane to keep someone alive, knowing that they will likely never be consciously aware again, or is it better to let them pass away?
What makes assisted suicide argued to be more just than 'mercy killing'?
The ideas of medical supervision and the voluntary consent of the patient are the two most important components of presenting this as ethical.
When it's okay to end a life and to what extent life should be prolonged.
Most people support the use of technology to keep someone alive who is in a vegetative state, a prolonged state of unconsciousness and lack of response to external stimuli. However, the line is often drawn at brain death, irreversible loss of brain functi
Voluntary, Non-Voluntary and Involuntary Euthanasia
Voluntary euthanasia occurs at the request of the person who dies.
Non-voluntary euthanasia occurs when the person is unconscious or otherwise unable (for example, a very young baby or a person of extremely low intelligence) to make a meaningful choice be
Indirect Euthanasia
This means providing treatment (usually to reduce pain) that has the side effect of speeding the patient's death.
Since the primary intention is not to kill, this is seen by some people (but not all) as morally acceptable.
A justification along these line