Lecture 1 - Morality: Who Decides? Flashcards Preview

PHIL 1105 - Biomedical Ethics > Lecture 1 - Morality: Who Decides? > Flashcards

Flashcards in Lecture 1 - Morality: Who Decides? Deck (18)
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1
Q

Cultural relativism

A

Whatever a culture things is right is right for that culture.

2
Q

Moral decisions are always ___, so we must be prepared to ___ and ___.

A

Moral decisions are always fallible, so we must be prepared to consider new evidence and the possibility that we could be wrong.

3
Q

Is the evidence moderately against CR, strongly against CR, moderately for CR, or strongly for CR?

A

Strongly against.

4
Q

There is no reason to believe that moral reasoning is ___.

A

Arbitrary.

5
Q

Arguments for cultural relativism

A

Lots of disagreements between cultures and no rational way to solve them.
Promotes tolerance, respect for others, open-mindedness.
No one gets to decide for others what is right/wrong.

6
Q

Are moral disagreements more often due to disagreements about values or disagreements about non-moral facts?

A

Non-moral facts.

7
Q

Moral decisions are based on the ___ of ___.

A

Weight of evidence.

8
Q

Arguments against cultural relativism

A

Disagreement does not mean there is no right/wrong answer.
There is a great deal of agreement on value.
Tolerance and respect for others are values, so CR can’t promote them. They’re promoting a universal value when they do so.
What reason does a CR-ist have to be tolerant, respectful and open- minded?

9
Q

It could be said that cultural relativists are really ___ in disguise.

A

Moral liberals.

10
Q

Is morality a rational sphere of inquiry?

A

Yes

11
Q

Moral values

A

Reflected in states of affairs that are referred to using moral terms such as duty, justice, rights, virtue, rightness, and wrongness.

12
Q

A ___ moral realism seems justified.

A

Provisional moral realism.

13
Q

Distinction between ___ and ___ ___ is crucial to understanding moral reasoning.

A

Moral and non-moral facts.

14
Q

What is the schema for thinking about moral beliefs and moral disagreements?

A

Moral values + Non-moral facts = Moral Judgements (beliefs, claims, assertions)

15
Q

Does CR have anything valuable to say?

A

Yes. There is often more than one right way to answer a moral problem. Culture has a profound influence on how we view things.

16
Q

Non-moral fact

A

States of affairs that can be described without reference to moral ideas such as duty, justice, rights, virtures, rightness, and wrongness.

17
Q

Philosophers generally agree that morality is ___ but disagree about whether there are ______.

A

Philosophers generally agree that morality is rational, but disagree about whether there are objective moral facts or values.

18
Q

Solving problems is about look for ___ that goes beyond what is merely ___.

A

Solving problems is about look for evidence that goes beyond what is merely personal taste.