Applied ethics
The use of moral norms and concepts to resolve practical moral issues.
Bioethics
Applied ethics focused on health care, medical science, and medical technology.
Cultural Relativism
The view that right actions are those sanctioned by one's culture.
Deductive Argument
An argument intended to give logically conclusive support to its conclusion.
Descriptive Ethics
The study of morality using the methodology of science.
Divine Command Theory
The view that right actions are those sanctioned by God and wrong actions are those forbidden by God.
Ethical Relativism
The view that moral standards are not objective but are relative to what individuals or cultures believe.
Ethics
The study of morality using the tools and methods of philosophy.
Inductive Argument
An argument intended to give probable support to its conclusion.
Meta ethics
The study of the meaning and justification of basic moral beliefs.
Moral Absolutism
The belief that objective moral principles allow no exceptions or must be applied the same way in all cases and cultures.
Moral Argument
An argument whose conclusion is a moral statement.
Moral Objectivism
The view that there are moral norms or principles that are valid and true for everyone.
Morality
Beliefs regarding morally right and wrong actions and morally good and bad persons or character.
Normative Ethics
The search for, and justification of, moral standards, or norms.
Paternalism
The overriding of a person's actions or decision-making for his own good.
Subjective Relativism
The view that right actions are those sanctioned by a person.
What is the difference between ethics and descriptive ethics?
Both are studies of morality, but ethics uses philosophy and descriptive ethics uses science. Ethics asks, "How ought we to live?" and descriptive ethics asks, "How do we in fact live"?
What are the three branches of ethics?
Normative ethics, metaethics, and applied ethics.
What is the difference between normative ethics and metaethics?
Normative ethics asks whether an action is right or a person is good, while metaethics asks what it means for an action to be right or for a person to be good.
What are the four moral principles?
Autonomy, Beneficience, Utility, and Justice
What is autonomy?
Autonomy is a person's rational capacity for governance or self-determination.
What is beneficence?
We should do good to others and avoid doing harm.
What is nonmaleficence?
This asks us to not intentionally or unintentionally harm someone.
What is active beneficence?
This is actively promoting the well-being of other and prenting or removing harm to them.
What is utility?
We should produce the most favorable balance of good over bad.
What moral theory is utility a defining precept of?
Utilitarianism.
What does utility play a major role in?
The creation and evaluation of the health policies of institutions and society.
What is justice?
Refers to people getting their fair share or what is their due.
What is retributive justice?
It is the fair meting out of punishment for wrongdoing.
What is distributive justice?
It is the fair distribution of society's advantages and disadvantages.
Libertarian theories say what?
They emphasize personal freedoms and t he right to pursue one's own social and economic well-being in a free market and without interference from others.
Egalitarian theories claim what?
They claim that just distribution is equal distribution - everyone should get a fair share.
Divine Command Theory was rejected by what theirstic thinkers?
Thomas Aquinas, Gottfried Leibeniz, and Immanual Kant.
In Plato's Euthyphro, Socrates asks what regarding the divine commant theory?
Are actions morally right because God commands them or does God command them because they're morally right?
What are example of moral norms?
Normative dominance, universality, impartiality, and reasonableness
What is the straw man fallacy?
The misrepresentagion of a person's views so they can be more easily attacked or dismissed.
What is the appeal to the person fallacy?
It is the rejecting of a statement on the grounds that it comes from a particular person. not because of the statement, or claim itself is false or dubious.
What is the appeal to ignorance fallacy?
It tries to prove soething by appealing to what we don't know. The appeal to ignorance is arguing either that a claim is true because it has not been proven false, or that a claim is false because it has not been proven true.
What is the begging the question fallacy?
It is trying to prove a conclusion by using that very same conclusion as support.
What is the slippery slope fallacy?
Arguing errounously that a particular action should not be taken bcause it will inevitable lead to other actions resulting in some dire outcome.