Ethics Test 3

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Contractarianism

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: Hobbes says that such is a contract, an implicit agreement to give up certain things in order to better to secure one’s own self-interest. Thus, individuals will agree to certain societal rules that would be in everyone’s best interest

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1. What were the Nuremberg trials?

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trials of Nazi war criminals held in Nuremberg, Germany, from 1945 to 1949. There were thirteen trials in all. In the first trial, Nazi leaders were found guilty of violating international law by starting an aggressive war.

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2. What was the idea behind “crimes against humanity “in the Nuremberg trials?

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The idea was that a law more basic than civil laws exists—a moral law—and these doctors and others should have known what this basic moral law required.

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3. what were the two tenants of natural law theory?

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???

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4. What are human rights according to natural law theory?

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human rights are those things that we can validly claim because they are essential for functioning well as human beings.

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5. What is the difference between natural law and scientific “laws of nature”?

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natural law- this term is used in discussions of natural law theory
“laws of nature” - are the generalizations of natural science.

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6. what is a descriptive law? a prescripted law?

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descriptive- The laws of natural science are descriptive laws. They tell us how scientists believe nature behaves.

prescripted- Moral laws, on the other hand, are prescriptive laws. They tell us how we ought to behave.

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7. Who is Antigone? how does she give evidence of the natural law?

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-an ancient Greek tragedy by Sophocles, the protagonist Antigone
-because she believes that she must follow a higher law that requires her to do
this.

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8. When and where was aristotle born?

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Aristotle was born in 384 B.C. in Stagira in northern Greece.

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9. Where did Aristotle go to school?

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he went to study at Plato’s Academy in Athens.

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10. what was the school Aristotle founded?

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Lyceum

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11. What is the name of the book in which Aristotle basic moral theory is found?

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The basic notions of his moral theory can be found in his Nicomachean Ethics, named for his son Nicomachus.

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16. what is, for Aquinas, the primary precept of the natural law? The secondary precept?

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a. Because we tend by nature to grow and mature, we ought to preserve our being and our health by avoiding undue risks and doing what will make us healthy.
also use our 5 senses & Reproduce
b. we ought to treat ourselves and others as beings capable of understanding and free choice. Those things that help us pursue the truth, such as education and freedom of public expression, are good.

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17. what are some critiques of natural law theory?

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One problem that natural law theory must address concerns our ability to read nature.
various philosophers have read nature differently
another questions is: Can the way things are by nature provide the basis for knowing how they ought to be?

we know they should have a desired goal according to aristotle, but how do we know if its “good”

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18. what is the jus Gentium?

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Early Roman jurists believed that it is a common element existed in the codes of various peoples

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19. who is Grotius?

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the jurist Grotius held that the moral law was determined by right reason.

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20. why can natural right theories be considered variations of natural law theory?

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because of their reliance on human nature and human reason to ground a basic moral law that is common to all peoples.

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21. name some well known documents that are written from the perspective of natural right theory

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declaration of independance, United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, Geneva Convention principles

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1. What are the two main questions Kant believed philosophy should address?

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“What can I know?” and
“What ought I do?”

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2. Kant claims that the morality of an act does NOT come from the consequences. What is the first reason he gives got this? what is the second?

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1. According to Kant, because I intended and tried to do what I thought was right, I ought not to be blamed for things having turned out badly.(The idea is that we generally ought not to be blamed or praised for what is not in our control.)
2. The belief that people ought not to be used, but ought to be regarded as having the highest intrinsic value, is central to Kant’s ethics, as is the importance of a motive to do what is right.

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3. When is an act morally good?

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Kant believed that an act has specifi cally moral worth only if it is done with a right intention or motive. He referred to this as having a “good will.”

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4. When an act is done from good will?

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Kant writes that only such a will is good unconditionally. Everything else needs a good will to make it good.

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5. Even if you are doing the right thing, what must you also have to make the act morally good?

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You also need to have the right intentions to do what is right. [ such things as intelligence,
wit, and control of emotions]

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6. What is a hypothetical imperative?

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hypothetical imperative: They (“oughts”) are contingent or dependent on what I happen to want or the desires I happen to have, such as to please others, to harm someone, to gain power, or to be punctual.

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6.b. What is a categorical imperative?

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the statement of his basic moral principle by which we determine what we ought and ought not to do simply the categorical imperative.

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7. What is an imperative?

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simply aform of statement that tells us to do something, for example, “Stand up straight,” and “Close the door,”

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8. What is a maxim?

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Kant means a description of the action or policy that I will put to the test.

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9. What is the first form of the caqtegorial imperative?

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-which simply requires that we only do what we can accept or will that everyone do.

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10. What is the second form of categorical imperative?

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Always treat humanity, whether in your own person or that of another, never simply as a means but always at the same time as an end.

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11. What is the third form of categorical imperative?

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Kant relies on his views about nature as a system of everything that we experience because it is organized according to laws. Thus, he says that we ought always to ask whether some action we are contemplating could become a universal law of nature.

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12. What is the fourth form of categorical imperative?

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we are all alike as persons and together form a community of persons. He calls the community of rational persons a “ kingdom of ends”—that is, a kingdom in which all persons are authors as well as subjects of the moral law.

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13. What are the different kinds of imperatives?
???

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categorical and imperative

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14. What does it mean to do an act from mixed motives?

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We are more certain that the motive is pure, however, when we do what is right even when it is not in our best interest (when it costs us dearly) and when we do not feel like doing the right thing.

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15. What does it mean to do an act "out of duty"? What does it mean to do an act "according to duty"?

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[Duty- is whatever is the right thing to do.]
to act out of a concern and respect for the moral law.
“according to duty” - to do what is right