Ethical theories and their application

Two versions of utilitarianism differing in their decision procedure: act utilitarianism evaluates individual actions' c

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Ethical theories and their application

Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) founded utilitarianism, formulating it as a precise calculus. His Hedonic Calculus attempted

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Ethical theories and their application

Jeremy Bentham's quantitative method for evaluating pleasure and pain, proposing seven criteria: intensity, duration, ce

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Ethical theories and their application

John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) refined Bentham's utilitarianism, introducing qualitative distinctions between pleasures. M

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Ethical theories and their application

John Stuart Mill's argument for utilitarianism presented in Chapter IV of Utilitarianism, attempting to derive the princ

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Ethical theories and their application

Philosopher Peter Singer (1946–) developed preference utilitarianism, defining utility as preference satisfaction rather

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Ethical theories and their application

Peter Singer's version of utilitarianism emphasizing the satisfaction of preferences rather than just pleasure. Moral ri

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Ethical theories and their application

A form of utilitarianism evaluating the morality of acts not by their individual consequences but by whether following t

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Ethical theories and their application

An ethical theory stating that actions are morally right insofar as they maximize overall utility (happiness, pleasure,

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Ethical theories and their application

Joseph Fletcher's practical decision-making framework: (1) pragmatism (consequences, not intentions, determine morality)

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Ethical theories and their application

Joseph Fletcher's foundational principles of situation ethics: (1) Only love is intrinsically good; (2) decisions should

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Ethical theories and their application

Two extremes that situation ethics attempts to transcend: legalism rigidly applies absolute rules regardless of circumst

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Ethical theories and their application

Joseph Fletcher's ethical theory that moral rules are not absolute; the right action depends on the situation. The only

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Ethical theories and their application

Joseph Fletcher articulated situation ethics' six principles: (1) only love is intrinsically good; (2) love is the rulin

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Ethical theories and their application

Fletcher identified four operational principles guiding situation ethics: pragmatism (consequences matter ethically), re

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Ethical theories and their application

Fletcher distinguished three ethical approaches: legalism (rigid adherence to rules, ignoring circumstances), antinomian

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Ethical theories and their application

Bishop John Robinson's Honest to God (1963) popularized situation ethics and radical theology, arguing for a morality gr

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Ethical theories and their application

Major criticisms of situation ethics include: William Barclay's charge of antinomianism; concerns about ethical relativi

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Ethical theories and their application

Aquinas's natural law theory grounds ethics in human nature understood teleologically. Reason apprehends human nature's

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Ethical theories and their application

A principle in Natural Moral Law and Catholic moral theology stating that an action with both good and bad effects may b

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Ethical theories and their application

John Finnis identifies seven basic human goods that structure natural law reasoning: life (health, bodily integrity), kn

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Ethical theories and their application

Natural law ethics distinguishes between interior acts (will, intention, desire) and exterior acts (observable behavior)

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Ethical theories and their application

Natural law theory distinguishes between genuine goods (those truly perfecting human nature) and apparent goods (those s

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Ethical theories and their application

An ethical theory, developed by Aquinas, asserting that morality derives from universal, divinely ordained human nature.

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Ethical theories and their application

In Aquinas's Natural Moral Law, primary precepts are self-evident principles of practical reason discoverable through re

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Ethical theories and their application

Proportionalism, developed by Bernard Hoose and others, refines natural law by arguing that acts are moral if the goods

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Ethical theories and their application

Kant's supreme moral principle—an unconditional command binding all rational agents. Unlike hypothetical imperatives ('i

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Ethical theories and their application

Kant distinguishes hypothetical imperatives (if you desire X, do Y) from categorical imperatives (do Y, period). Hypothe

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Ethical theories and their application

Prussian philosopher whose critical philosophy revolutionized epistemology and ethics. Kant argued that knowledge requir

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Ethical theories and their application

Immanuel Kant's foundational ethical concepts: a good will—the commitment to act from duty and respect for moral law—is

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Ethical theories and their application

Kant's vision of a 'kingdom of ends' where all rational beings are treated as ends in themselves and none as mere means,

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Ethical theories and their application

Kant argues that moral agency rationally requires three postulates: (1) freedom/autonomy; (2) immortality of the soul; (

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Ethical theories and their application

Immanuel Kant's deontological ethical theory asserting that morality derives from duties determined by reason, not conse

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Ethical theories and their application

The ethical principle that moral judgments must be universalizable: if an action is morally required for one person, it'

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Ethical theories and their application

A.J. Ayer's logical positivism applies to ethics: since moral statements cannot be empirically verified, they are neithe

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Ethical theories and their application

The meta-ethical position that moral statements express emotions or attitudes rather than factual claims. 'Murder is wro

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Ethical theories and their application

R.M. Hare developed prescriptivism: moral statements are prescriptions or imperatives rather than factual assertions. 'Y

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Ethical theories and their application

The meta-ethical position that moral properties are non-natural, objective, and knowable through intuition or rational i

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Ethical theories and their application

The philosophical study of morality's nature: What does 'good' mean? Do moral facts exist objectively? Are moral judgmen

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Ethical theories and their application

Philosopher G.E. Moore argued that 'good' is a simple, indefinable, non-natural property. Good cannot be reduced to natu

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Ethical theories and their application

The meta-ethical position that moral properties are natural properties reducible to physical or psychological facts. Goo

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Ethical theories and their application

G.E. Moore's critique of defining moral properties in natural terms. The open question argument: even if 'good' is defin

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Ethical theories and their application

The meta-ethical position that moral statements are imperatives or prescriptions rather than descriptive propositions. '

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Ethical theories and their application

Moral philosopher H.A. Pritchard argued that moral knowledge is obtained through intuition—direct rational insight into

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Ethical theories and their application

W.D. Ross developed a pluralist deontological ethics based on prima facie duties—duties that are binding unless overridd

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Ethical theories and their application

W.D. Ross identifies multiple irreducible moral duties: fidelity, reparation, gratitude, justice, beneficence, non-malef

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Ethical theories and their application

Charles Stevenson developed emotivism, treating moral statements as expressions of attitude plus imperative intent. 'Ste

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Ethical theories and their application

Charles Stevenson's sophisticated emotivism distinguishing descriptive meaning from emotive meaning. Moral words have mi

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Ethical theories and their application

Thomas Aquinas's understanding of conscience grounded in synderesis, the intellect's direct knowledge of fundamental goo

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Ethical theories and their application

Joseph Butler's argument that conscience is the supreme moral authority: conscience judges all actions. When conscience

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Ethical theories and their application

The position that free will and causal determinism are compatible. Free will doesn't require the ability to do otherwise

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Ethical theories and their application

The philosophical problem of reconciling human freedom with causal determinism. If all events (including human actions)

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Ethical theories and their application

Erich Fromm's psychological distinction between authoritarian conscience (internalized social authority, fear-based) and

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Ethical theories and their application

The position that determinism is true (all events are causally determined) and free will is impossible; therefore, human

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Ethical theories and their application

The position that humans possess libertarian free will—the ability to act contrary to prior causes and determined outcom

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Ethical theories and their application

John Henry Newman's theory that conscience involves the illative sense—a faculty for reaching moral conclusions through

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Ethical theories and their application

Corporations have moral obligations beyond legal compliance and profit-maximization to stakeholders and society: environ

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Ethical theories and their application

Ethical challenges from global business: labor exploitation in developing countries, environmental degradation, profit e

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Ethical theories and their application

Corporations have obligations to all stakeholders (employees, suppliers, customers, communities, environment, shareholde

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Ethical theories and their application

Joseph Butler (1692–1752), Bishop of Durham, developed an influential account of conscience. He argued conscience is the

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Ethical theories and their application

The capacity to recognize and follow moral principles; the internal voice guiding moral judgment. Theological and philos

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Ethical theories and their application

Euthanasia involves distinctions crucial to ethical debate: (1) voluntary/non-voluntary/involuntary; (2) active/passive;

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Ethical theories and their application

Sigmund Freud analyzed conscience psychologically as the superego—internalized parental and social authority. Conscience

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Ethical theories and their application

Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801–1890) developed an influential theological account of conscience. Conscience is the voi

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Ethical theories and their application

Two competing frameworks for euthanasia: sanctity of life (life has intrinsic value; ending life is inherently wrong) ve

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