Term
| What makes something right to do, according to consequentialists? |
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Definition
| The right action is what has the best result for the user ("what gets us the goods"). |
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Term
| What is utility? How did Bentham and Mill say we should measure it? What did mill think was missing from Bentham's way of measurement? |
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Definition
The good = utility
Relation between the goods and rightness:greatest utility for greatest number(or “maximization”)
Mill:
the problem with Bentham is that he
doesn’t recognize qualitative differences in pleasures
...Korsgaard: autonomy unnecessary |
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Term
| What is the Trolley problem (lol Ola) and why is it supposed to be a problem for consequentialists? |
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Definition
Five workers are on a trolley track,
and they cannot hear the approaching trolley,
which will kill them if they remain on the track.
One worker is on a side track. You are unable
to warn anyone, but you are standing near a
switch that will divert the trolley to the side
track... Do you flip the switch?
Consequentialism can produce unjust actions... i.e pushing the fat man is wrong, but it saves 5 people so it is okaY ( in the eyes of a consequentialist)
They strictly look at the outcome and dont care about the procedure before it |
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Term
| What is consequentialism? |
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Definition
| the doctrine that the morality of an action is to be judged solely by its consequences. |
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Term
| What is the difference between equal treatment and equal consideration? What does Singer endorse for animals? |
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Definition
equal consideration: one should both include all affected interests when calculating the rightness of an action and weigh those interests equally.
Equal treatment: all humans are equal in fundamental worth or social status... any other boundary is “unacceptably
arbitrary”- Singer |
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Term
| What is speciesism? How is it compared to sexism and racism? |
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Definition
| Speciesism is assigning different values, rights, or special consideration to individuals solely on the basis of their species. It is compared to racism and sexism because it described as a form of unjust "discrimination" |
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Term
| What is the problem of marginal cases for specieists? |
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Definition
| Marginal cases fall outside the generalized norm, making it a problem to assign value to. |
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Term
| What makes an action the right thing to do? (according to Kant) |
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Definition
| Kant feels that we should do what is right, not just what produces a good outcome. For example, we should NEVER murder |
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Term
| What is the difference between conforming to moral law and acting out of respect for the law? |
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Definition
Conforming to moral law: following what you believe is right out of the goodness for some purpose
Respect for the law: following some standard because it is the rule, regardless if you think it is right or wrong |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| Why should we follow the categorical imperative? |
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Definition
| If moral laws carry “absolute necessity” (absolutely must be followed), then their authority cannot depend on contingent facts about anyone |
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Term
| Different formulations of the categorical imperative? |
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Definition
-Formula of Universal Law
-Formula of Universal Law of Nature |
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Term
direct duty vs. indirect duty (Kant)
Which duty do we owe to animals? |
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Definition
Direct duty: a duty you have towards another because they are an end, not a mere means
indirect duty : a duty you have towards another because, in fulfilling it, you fulfill a different, direct duty
we only have direct duties towards
humanity, not non-human animals
-Duties to animals are indirect |
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Term
| What is nozick's moral spillover objection? what about the directedness of a wrong? |
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Definition
Directedness of the wrong of cruelty
Nozick: why believe there is moral
“spillover”?...Distinction between empirical psychological question, and the question of whether there “should” be spillover |
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Term
what is theory of mind?
What capacities require it, according to Kant? |
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Definition
| is the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, and intentions that are different from one's own |
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Term
| Does Korsegaard think that we only have rights to protect our autonomy?...If not, what does she think rights are for? |
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Definition
Korsgaard: Rights protecting autonomy
indirectly protect our welfare. |
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Term
| Do animal rights require that we moralize (police) nature? (example, try to prevent animals from eating each other) |
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Definition
| No... we shouldnt protext animals from each other, their way of life, but rather from ourselves.... from humans harming them. That's why we have cruelty laws! |
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Term
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Definition
| Virtue Ethics is a classification within Normative Ethics that attempts to discover and classify what might be deemed of moral character, and to apply the moral character as a base for one's choices and actions |
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