1. Kristin Lowe
November 23, 2011
Senior Seminar
Period 6
Ethics Notes
Page 367-377
Moral Reasoning: some people are skeptical about the possibility of moral
knowledge claims that moral values and judgments are simply a matter of
“taste”.
-puts statements like “abortion is acceptable/unacceptable” on the same
level as saying “I do/I do not like spinach”.
- value-judgments: values are more seriously taken than tastes and people
should justify them and support them with reasons.
Moral principle fact value judgment
Moral Relativism: our values are determined by the society we grow up
in, and there are no universal values.
- Diversity Argument:
- Lack of foundations:
Cultural Imperialism: one culture imposing its values on other cultures.
Self-Interest Theory: states that human beings are always selfish.
-the definitional argument- often we find ourselves doing things we
don’t want to do but according to self-entry this is not true.
-the hidden benefits argument- there is plenty of evidence to suggest
that to be selfish is part of our biological inheritance.
Page 385-388
Utilitarianism: simple theory of ethics, which says that there is one and
only one supreme moral principle- we should seek the greatest good for
the greatest amount of people.
