PP110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Ethical Egoism, Act Utilitarianism, Noble Eightfold Path
Document Summary
Moral theory: is an explanation of what makes an action right or what makes a person or thing good. Theories of obligation: the rightness or wrongness of an action. Consequentialist moral theory: what makes an action right is the consequent. The rightness of the action depends on how much happiness it produces. You can torture someone because it potentially could have a positive outcome. Nonconsequentialist moral theory: the rightness of an action does not entirely depend on the its consequences. It depends on the nature of the action its self. Ethical egoism: the morally right action is the one that produces the most favourable balance of good over evil in oneself. Right action is the one that advances ones own best interest its prescriptive: not about what they actually believe but what they should believe: this is called normative but professor will use prescriptive. Libertarians are the political wing that believes in ethical egoism.
