CAS PH 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Ethical Subjectivism, Normative Ethics, Moral Equivalence
4 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
Kinds of ethical theorizing: metaethics: about how to think about ethical standards. Why be moral: normative ethics: about a standard for evaluating actions or persons as right or good. Normative = involving a standard of or measurement for evaluation. Ex of questions: do the ends always justify the means: applied ethics: involves applying normative ethics. Ex: friend confides in you that they are suicidal. Objectivity: standards are objective if they apply to everyone, even if people are in different times or places. Ex: 2 + 3 = 17 is false for everyone. Jupiter has a greater mass than mercury is true for everyone. Ethical objectivism: the view that some moral standards are objectively correct and that some moral claims are objectively true, contrasts ethical relativism. Individual relativism: an act is morally acceptable because i approve of it or because my commitments allow it. An action is wrong just because i disapprove of it or my commitments forbid it.
