FINALS

• Thomas Aquinas


  • An intellectual and religious revolutionary, living at a time of great philosophical, theological and scientific development
  • An Italian Dominican friar and priest, an influential philosopher and theologian
  • A prominent proponent of natural theology and the father of a school of thought (encompassing both theology and philosophy) known as Thomism
• Aquinas argued that God is the source of the light of natural reason and the light of faith
• Aquinas wrote an incredible amount - one of the miracles accredited to him was the amount he wrote!
• Summa Theologica


  Aquinas's most famous work, running to some three and half thousand pages and containing many fascinating and profound insights, such as proofs for God's existence. The book remained a fundamental basis for Catholic thinking right up to the 1960s
• Divine Command Theory (DCT)


  The view that what is right and wrong is determined by what God commands and forbids
• Euthyphro dilemma

  A powerful and influential challenge to Divine Command Theory, which runs as follows: Either God commands something is right because it is, or it is right because God commands it
• Eternal Law


  Aquinas's term for God's rational purpose and plan for all things, which has always and will always exist
• Natural Law


  Aquinas's view that if we all act according to reason, we will agree to some overarching general rules (primary precepts) that are absolute and binding on all rational agents
• Primary precepts of Natural Law

  • Protect and preserve human life
  • Reproduce and educate one's offspring
  • Know and worship God
  • Live in a society
• Secondary Precepts


  Rules imposed by governments, groups, clubs, societies etc. that are not generated by our reason but may or may not be consistent with Natural Law
• Divine Law


  Laws discovered through divine revelation, such as the Ten Commandments, which guide individuals beyond the world to "eternal happiness"
• Utilitarianism


  An ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on outcomes, aiming to produce the greatest good for the greatest number
• Hedonistic Utilitarianism


  A form of Utilitarianism that sees pleasure and happiness as the ultimate ends of moral decisions
• The origins of Utilitarianism are often traced back to the Epicureanism of the followers of the Greek philosopher Epicurus, and it can be argued that David Hume and Edmund Burke were proto-Utilitarians
• Jeremy Bentham


  The English philosopher generally credited with establishing Utilitarianism as a specific school of thought, who found pain and pleasure to be the only intrinsic values and derived the rule of utility
• John Stuart Mill


  Bentham's foremost proponent, who named the Utilitarian movement and refined Bentham's original principles in his famous 1861 work "Utilitarianism"
• Premises of Utilitarianism


  • Actions are considered right only if the outcome maximizes good over bad
  • Happiness is the only good outcome possible
  • If an action does not maximize happiness, it may be the incorrect choice even if morally considered
• Advantages of Utilitarianism


  • It is a universal concept that all can understand
  • You don't need to practice a religion to benefit from it
  • It follows democratic principles
  • It uses an objective process to decide right and wrong
  • It is very easy to use
  • It works with our natural intuition
  • It bases everything on the concept of happiness
• Disadvantages of Utilitarianism


  • Society does not solely focus on happiness when making choices
  • The ends never really justify the means when considering happiness
  • Outcomes are unpredictable when dealing with the future
  • Happiness is subjective
  • It forces you to rely on everyone else following the same moral code
  • It doesn't focus on the act itself to form judgments
  • You cannot measure happiness in tangible ways
  • It would allow the majority to always dictate outcomes
• Impartiality


  A democratic ethical principle that official judgements and reports should be based on objective and relevant criteria, without bias or prejudice, and not take sides
• Impartiality


  • Involves treating everyone as an equal rather than necessarily treating them in exactly the same way
  • Individuals may be objectively judged to require different treatment
• Deontological ethics


  Ethical theories that place special emphasis on the relationship between duty and the morality of human actions
• Deontological ethics


  • An action is considered morally good because of some characteristic of the action itself, not because the product of the action is good
  • Holds that at least some acts are morally obligatory regardless of their consequences for human welfare
• Deontological ethics expressions


  • Duty for duty's sake
  • Virtue is its own reward
  • Let justice be done though the heavens fall
• Utilitarianism


  • An ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on outcomes
  • A form of consequentialism
  • Holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number
• Utilitarianism


  • It is the only moral framework that can be used to justify military force or war
• Sentience


  • Whether or not something can feel pleasure and pain
  • If it can, it has at least one interest–to avoid pain–which may imply an ethical duty to these subjects
• Rationalism


  A belief or theory that opinions and actions should be based on reason and knowledge rather than on religious belief or emotional response
• Common approaches to describe utilitarianism


  • Quantitative approach
  • Reductionist approach
• Quantitative approach


  Concerned with aggregate utility maximization (i.e., maximizing the overall happiness of everyone) and uses a hedonic calculus to determine the rightness or wrongness of actions
• Bentham: 'It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong'
• Reductionism


  An approach that is used in many disciplines, including psychology, that is centered on the belief that we can best explain something by breaking it down into its individual parts
• Factors that influence ethics and morality in modern society

  • Religious teachings and doctrines
  • Cultural norms and values
  • Philosophical theories
• Thomas Aquinas


  Associated with virtue ethics
• Virtue ethics according to Thomas Aquinas

  • Emotions are an original and integral part of virtue ethics
  • Emotions are an inherent part of our moral reasoning and being
  • Emotions should be an inherent part of any moral deliberation
• Thomas Aquinas is well known for his synthesis of Christian theology with Aristotelian philosophy
• Virtue ethics


  Moral goodness is primarily determined by intentions behind actions
• Telos


  What we might call a purpose, goal, end, or true final function of an object
• Criteria for recognizing the highest good of man according to Aristotle

  • The highest good of a person must be final
  • The ultimate telos of a person must be self-sufficient
• Eternal Law


  God's rational purpose and plan for all things