Details Title: Exam 4 Description: Question 1 Total Flash Cards: 12 Created: 04/29/2009 21:51:52		New Users: To study from this flashcard set, or to create your own your own study flash cards, REGISTER HERE. Existing Users: CLICK HERE. Additional Philosophy Flashcards
Cards in this set: Term ethics Definition subfield of phil, studies issues related to right conduct/human flourishing/good life for human beings Term meta-ethics Definition foundation of morality Term ethical subjectivism (anti-realism) Definition belief that all ethical thought and, in particular, judgments about human conduct, are shaped by and in many ways limited to perception.  That is to say, the ethical statements humans assert are arbitrary because they do not express immutable truths grasped by the refined power of the intellect.  Instead, ethical statements express the feelings, beliefs, preferences, and attitudes of the person(s) or group(s) making those statements; begins with personal experiences of the world and ends as human beings generalize these experiences to the world so that a person or group can render definitive judgments about the world Term ethical objectivism (realism) Definition Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of consciousness; that individual persons are in contact with this reality through sensory perception; that human beings can gain objective knowledge from perception through the process of concept formation and inductive and deductive logic; that the proper moralpurpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or rational self-interest Term the shape of things Definition Term simple ethical subjectivism Definition moral judgements are true if they are the accurate expressions of emotion/subjective truths... if morals were objective, there wouldn't be widespread moral disagreement... they're a matter of personal choice Term A.J. Ayer's emotivism Definition impossible to find criterion for determining validity of ethical judgements... feelings determine "truth," but our feelings do not always match up to what is actually the case Term Divine Command Theory Definition God's will/commandments/authoritative religious text is the basis of all true moral judgements...moral laws do not make sense without a law giver Term Divine command theory (2) Definition if a being is all-powerful, they can create moral law without contradiction Term Divine command theory criticism  Definition all moral actions apart from God's commandments are morally neutral... morality is random Term Divine command theory criticisms/The Euthyphro problem Definition if a thing is good because God says it is good, goodness seems to be a matter of arbitrary will of god. if God says its is good because it is already good, God is not the basis of morality Term Truths of reason Definition Objective ethically significant truths...a claim that is obviously true (the denial leads to self-defeat), whose truth applies universally, and one that does not seem to be a matter of empirical verification   ex) equals should be treated equally