Particularism and virtue ethics I. Universalism and Particularism We've considered before some basic questions that we would expect a moral theory to answer i)Which acts are right and which are wrong? Which acts ought we to perform(understanding the\ought\as a moral
November 21, 2001 Ethical Egoism Here are three questions (of course there are others)we might want an ethical theory to answer for us: i)Which acts are right and which are wrong? Which acts ought we to perform(understandir the\ought\ as moral \ought\)? ii)What makes a particular action right or wrong? What is it about the action that determines its moral status? ii)How do we know what is right and wrong? Remember that according to relativism, whether an action is right or wrong
Utilitarianism Last time we considered three questions one might ask an ethical theory to answer i)Which acts are right and which are wrong? Which acts ought we to perform(understanding the\ought as a moral ii)What makes a particular action right or wrong? What is it about the action that determines its moral status? 111) How do we know what is right and wrong? There are a variety of strategies for answering(iii). One might hold e. g. that moral truths are revealed by god and
Moral Relativism The problem of moral relativism begins with the fact of moral diversity: different cultures have different moral codes. Of course,it' s not just between different national cultures that moral opinions differ the same can happen between different subcultures of the same national culture. What does this show? Consider: Moral diversity: Different cultures have different moral codes/values. Does it even follow that: Moral conflict: Different cultures have conflicting moral codes/values
1. Whatever happens is determined by prior events. (Determinism) 2. I act freely iff I am able to act otherwise. (Avoidability Analysis of Freedom) 3. If my action is determined, am unable to act otherwise. 4. So, I never act freely. I. Consider(1): Determinism:
24.00: Problems of Philosophy Prof. Sally Haslanger October 31, 2001 Freewill: Hard Determinism 1. What is our investment in freewill? Not just a sentimental attachment: At the root of how we organize our own lives(deliberation matters). At the root of how we interact with others(presupposed by praise and blame, punishment)
ral questions that might arise concerning personal identity. When we ask\Who am I? we might be being we are, what our possiblities are, under what conditions\I\would continue to exist. We'll begin our discussionon n wonder what\makes us tick\, what we ultimately value, what matters to us. We might also be asking what sort personal identity with the latter set of questions Consider a parallel set of questions (Id) Under what conditions are baseball-events events in the same game? E. g, under what conditions are a