This study guide is not meant to be exhaustive 1 Social Contract Theory SCT a Key components i No external authority e g God objective moral facts etc required ii Self interest as the foundation justification iii Morality as the contract is an answer to our desire avoid having to live in the state of nature iv Enforcement the sovereign government is critical to the theory v Not an actual contract though still binding b Advantages i Easy to understand which moral rules and why ii Clear why morality is binding iii Makes sense of the exceptions to the rules iv Doesn t require extraordinary behaviors sacrifices in the name of morality v Makes sense of civil disobedience c Difficulties i No actual contract to reference an historical fiction 1 Not a legitimate criticism since not part of the actual theory ii The scope of the theory is too limited 1 No duties to those outside the contract i e individuals who are not rational 2 Big problem The Idea of a Social Contract a State of Nature i What 4 things guarantee the state of nature b Escaping the state of nature i Social contract c How does the Prisoner s Dilemma give us a motivation for social contract theory d Advantages of Social Contract Theory i What are the moral rules How are they justified ii Why is it reasonable for us to follow those rules iii Under which circumstances can we break the rules e Arguments against i Social Contract theory is a historical fiction ii Duties to nonhuman animals and duties to mentally rationally impaired humans f An act is morally right IFF 2 Kantianism a The Categorical Imperative version 1 i What is the CI1 1 How does it work a Duty to not lie ii How is the CI related to reason iii Are consequences important iv Are reasons for acting important v What are the steps to figuring out duties 1 What does it mean to fail in the strictest to will an impossible world sense 2 What does it mean to fail in the less strict sense but fail nonetheless i e couldn t rationally will such a possible world 3 What does it mean if a maxim passes the CI vi What are perfect duties vii What are imperfect duties 1 In a conflict between perfect and imperfect duties which one wins viii What is the Conflict of Rules objection ix An act is morally right IFF b The Categorical Imperative version 2 i What is the CI2 c How does it work d Is CI2 similar to CI1 In what way e What does CI2 have to do with dignity f What is an example of treating a person as a means only g What is an example of treating a person as an end h How do the duties that come out of CI2 compare with the duties from CI1 2 The Utilitarian Approach a Greatest general good b What does Utilitarianism say about religion c What does Utilitarianism say about abstract moral rules 2 d The Utilitarian s position on euthanasia e The Utilitarian s position on non human animals f The trolley transplant examples 3 The Debate Over Utilitarianism a Act Utilitarianism i An act is morally right IFF 1 Consequentialism 2 Hedonism 3 Impartiality ii Objections 1 Too great a demand on us a Marginal utility b Duty vs supererogatory c Disrupts our personal relationships 2 Inviolables like rights and justice 3 Calculus difficult iii The Utilitarian response b Rule Utilitarianism i An act is morally right IFF ii Middleman principle of utility is a guide to choosing rules not individual acts iii Are rules always followed i e are they absolute 1 If yes how is this utilitarianism 2 If no how does this get around the objections to act utilitarianism 3 The Ethics of Virtue a Right Action vs Virtue Ethics i Right act ii Virtuous person b Virtue i What is a virtue ii Is a virtue a character trait What does this mean iii Mean between extremes 1 Courage 2 Honesty iv Acting for the right reasons at the right time in the right way etc v Flourishing 3 c Advantages of virtue ethics i Moral motivation ii Partiality iii Responsiveness to real world d Problems of virtue ethics i Courageous Nazi ii Incompleteness 4