Exploring Ethics Chapters 1,2,5-7 Cheat Sheet by lsanchez

1. Good of the mind
2. Keep alive specul­ative interest
3. Breaks us of "­dog­mat­ism­"

Normative ethics:

Thinking about what is right, good, or obligatory

Descri­ptive ethics:

Describe or explain moral phenomena

Meta-e­thics:

Thinking about the meaning or use of good, bad, or obligatory

1. Decision must be made by facts & reason and not emotions
2. Do not base your decision by appealing to what others think.

a. They may be wrong

b.We must think for ourselves

3. Never do what is morally wrong

a. Ask "Is this right or wrong"? instead of selfish questions like "what will people think"?

1. We should never harm anyone
2. If one chooses to live in said state, then they are agreeing to obey its laws
3.One's society or "­sta­te" is basically one's parent and teacher and you're supposed to obey your parent's and teacher's

1. Harm no one (including self

a. escaping would harm the state because it violates and disregards laws

2. Keep promises (agree­ments, contracts)

a. by choosing to live in said state you are agreeing to abide by their laws

3. Obey one's parents and teachers (laws, state)

a. one's society is basically your parent­/te­acher and you're supposed to obey your parents

1. It would be shameful for Socrates to leave his sons without a father
2.People would think Socrate's friends valued him less than the money it would take to arrange his escape
3.It would be unjust for Socrates to cooperate with his enemies' unjust plans to destroy him

1. A personal preference different from someone else's does not deny what the other person say

a. I like dogs and I don't like dogs (one statement does not make the other one wrong)

2. A difference in moral judgments will deny what the other person is saying

a. All wars are unjust and some wars are unjust (both statements cannot be true)

1. Simply thinking it does not make it so

a. moral judgments must be based on more than belief

b. two people might think they are both correct but they both can't be correct

2. Using opinion polls or a consensus

a. this merely will show what MOST people think (and moral judgments must be based on more than belief)

3. Appeal to a higher power (God)

a. We do not know if God exists

b. We are not sure what God thinks about moral questions (misin­ter­preting the bible)

c. many new moral questions cannot be answered by the Bible because of progre­ssions in technology (life-­sus­taining tech)

d. there is not an indepe­ndent way of testing the truth or reason­abl­eness of God's moral judgments

1. Different societies have different moral codes

2. There is no objective standard to judge one societal code better than another

3. The moral code of our own society has no special status; just one among many

4.There is no "­uni­versal truth" in ethics (no moral truths that apply to all people of all time)

5. The moral code of a society determines what is right within only that society

6. It is arrogant for us to judge other people and we should instead be tolerant of their conduct

1. Why "­murder is immoral because it destroys what God create­d" is wrong

a. God also created germs and viruses, should these also not be elimin­ated?

b. God arranged for us to live but also die. By killing are we assisting the work of God?

c. God provided us with the mental and physical potential to commit murder. Does God wish us to fulfill this potential?

2. Are actions right because God says they are or are they right because "­right is right"

a. one should act morally not because you are told but because you ought to which means that actions are not "­rig­ht" because God commands them but because "­right is right"

1. Warns us about the danger of assuming that ALL our prefer­ences are based on some absolute rational standard.

a. women covering breasts is not object­ionably right or wrong but merely  a cultural preference

2. To keep an open mind and be tolerant of other cultures practices`

1. What is the Cultural Differ­ences Argument

a. different cultures have different moral codes

b. therefore, there is no objective "­tru­th" in morality: morality is only a matter of opinion and opinions vary from culture to culture

2. Why is the Cultural Differ­ences Argument incorrect

a. the argument concerns what people believe and just because you believe something does not make it true: some cultures believe the earth is flat and others round, cultural relativism says they are both correct but that can't be true

1. Cannot criticize the customers of other societies

a. a society that practices slavery and is anti-S­emitic cannot be judged wrong by us

2. We could decide whether actions are right or wrong just by consulting the standards of our society

a. cannot criticize or change our own societies code

3. Moral progress is called into doubt

a. changes to women's rights and  discri­min­ation would not be called progress because progress requires changing a current way with a better way: which means judging our current society's moral code with that of another society's or time

1. Protective of infants

a. group would eventually die out if infants aren't raised due to no non-re­ple­nis­hment of people

2. Honesty

a. if every one lies how can a society ever commun­icate

b. complex societies must favor truthf­ulness to thrive

3. There are some moral rules that all societies will have in common because they are necessary for society to exist