FSU PHI 2630 - Seven Essential Moral Theories (8 pages)

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PHI 2630 1st Edition Lecture 2 3 Outline of Last Lecture I Different Argument Structures and Fallacies Outline of Current Lecture I Normative Ethical Theories the branch of ethics concerned with giving a general account of what is right and what is wrong II Consequentialism a Utilitarianism b Perfectionist Consequentialism c Rule Consequentialism III Natural Law a Theory of Intrinsic Value b The Doctrine of Double Effect IV Kantian Moral Theory a Humanity Formulation b Universal Law Formulation V Rights Based Moral Theory VI Virtue Ethics VII Ethics of Prima Facie Duty a Ross s Theory of Intrinsic Value and Prima Facie Duties VIII Social Contract Theory a John Rawls s Theory Current Lecture I II Normative Ethics a Normative theories complete this bi conditional i An action is right wrong if and only if b Relativism i Morality is not absolute but rather exists in relation to culture society or historical content ii Descriptive 1 Bases claims off people s beliefs about morality iii Prescriptive 1 Prescribes how people ought to act Consequentialism These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute a Consequences of actions are all that matter in determining the rightness and wrongness of actions b Right actions are right if the overall intrinsic value of their consequences outweigh the overall intrinsic value of the consequences of alternative actions an agent might perform instead An action is right if and only if iff and because its consequences would be at least as good as the consequences of any alternative action that the agent might instead perform c No act is inherently wrong wrong in and of itself even murder There could always be situations where murder might bring about the best consequences available d Important Points i Value based consequentialism characterizes or defines a right action in terms of intrinsic value ii Alternative actions an agent is