Philosophical Ethics Study Guide
Philosophical Ethics: Part A
1. Name and briefly describe the four main aspects of the AU decision-making process.
i. Scope → Includes all those affected by the act, either directly or indirectly ii. Duration → Considers the length of time of each effect iii. Intensity → Considers the force or strength of each resulting experience iv. Probability → Considers how likely each effect might be, given that we don’t know ahead of time which of the many possible effects will actually occur.
2. Define what act utilitarianism is (your definition should also include a brief description of what utility means vs. disutility).
i. Act Unitarianism → States that the morally right act in any given situation is the act that would produce the greatest overall utility in its consequences to that person. ii. Utility → Desirable consequences which are said to have positive utility iii. Disutility → Undesirable consequences, often associated with pain and suffering, are said to have negative utility
3. What is the moral saints problem? Which moral theory does it object to?
i. Moral Saints Problem → Since utilitarianism requires us to do whatever produces the greatest overall utility, we can never settle for anything less than that. ii. Moral Confirmation → The Moral Saints Problem objects moral confirmation by placing demands upon us that extend beyond what even the best of us normally take to be our moral duty.
4. Consider person A, who acts to help person B, who is in need. Would Kant say that A’s helping B is wrong because A gets good feelings from helping B? Briefly explain your reply.
i. Kant believed that if any action is not done with the motive of duty, then it is without moral value. Kant believed that every action should have pure intention behind it or else it was meaningless. Kant did not think that the final result was the most important aspect of an action, but how the person felt while carrying out the action was the time at which
1. Name and briefly describe the four main aspects of the AU decision-making process.
i. Scope → Includes all those affected by the act, either directly or indirectly ii. Duration → Considers the length of time of each effect iii. Intensity → Considers the force or strength of each resulting experience iv. Probability → Considers how likely each effect might be, given that we don’t know ahead of time which of the many possible effects will actually occur.
2. Define what act utilitarianism is (your definition should also include a brief description of what utility means vs. disutility).
i. Act Unitarianism → States that the morally right act in any given situation is the act that would produce the greatest overall utility in its consequences to that person. ii. Utility → Desirable consequences which are said to have positive utility iii. Disutility → Undesirable consequences, often associated with pain and suffering, are said to have negative utility
3. What is the moral saints problem? Which moral theory does it object to?
i. Moral Saints Problem → Since utilitarianism requires us to do whatever produces the greatest overall utility, we can never settle for anything less than that. ii. Moral Confirmation → The Moral Saints Problem objects moral confirmation by placing demands upon us that extend beyond what even the best of us normally take to be our moral duty.
4. Consider person A, who acts to help person B, who is in need. Would Kant say that A’s helping B is wrong because A gets good feelings from helping B? Briefly explain your reply.
i. Kant believed that if any action is not done with the motive of duty, then it is without moral value. Kant believed that every action should have pure intention behind it or else it was meaningless. Kant did not think that the final result was the most important aspect of an action, but how the person felt while carrying out the action was the time at which