PHIL 434 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Immanuel Kant, Deontological Ethics, Consequentialism
Document Summary
Argument: a set of claims advanced in order to convince someone of a particular cplaim or view. An argument must include a conclusion and one or more premise. The premises must support the conclusion and follow each other accordingly ex. Either one of the premises may be wrong. Morality: a set of rules or standards of correct behaviour in social setting (right and wrong) Ethics: study of moral rules (ethics = morality) Moral theories: system or principle that claims to account for a large number or particular judgements or observations. They tell us how moral decisions should be made in general. Conseqeuntialism: make decisions based soley upon the consequences. Utilitarianism: we ought to do whatever will maximize total benefit, taking everyone into consideration: the right action in any situation is the one that produces the greatest balance of benefit over harm, everybody counts equally. There are different interpretations to what benefit could mean happiness, pleasure, actual welfare, helping people etc.
