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PHL 292: STUDY GUIDE
The Project of Value Theory
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The attempt to discover, properly formulate, and defend a criterion for the intrinsic values of individual human lives, situations, consequences, etc.
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The Project of Value Theory:
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The fundamental project of value is the attempt to discover, properly formulate, and defend a criterion for the intrinsic values of individual human lives, situations, consequences, etc.
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Intrinsic Goodness
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A thing is intrinsically good to the extent that it is good "in itself"; to the extent that it is good in virtue of what it is, rather than merely in virtue of what it produces or leads to; to the extent that it is good as an end, and not merely as a means to something else.
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What is an example of something that is intrinsically good?
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Pleasure |
Intrinsic Badness
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A thing is intrinsically bad to the extent that it is bad "in itself"; to the extent that it is bad in virtue of what it is, rather merely in virtue of what it produces or leads to; to the extent it is bad as an end, and not merely as a means to do something.
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What is something that is intrinsically bad?
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pain |
Intrinsically Bad
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A thing is _______ to the extent that it is bad “in itself”; to the extent that it is bad in virtue of what it is, rather than merely in virtue of what it produces or leads to; to the extent that it is bad as an end, and not merely as a means to something else
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Extrinsic goodness?
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x is extrinsically good =df x is good because it leads to other goods; x has a kind of goodness that it would not continue to have if it did not lead to further goods.
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What is an example of something that is extrinsically good?
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money |
Extrinsically Good
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x is ________ =df x is good because it leads to other goods; x has a kind of goodness that it would not continue to have if it did not lead to further goods.
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Intrinsic Value?
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the value of a thing is the result of subtracting the total amount of INTRINSIC badness it CONTAINS (not that it leads to!) from the total amount of INTRINSIC goodness it contains.
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Intrinsic Value
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The (net) _________ of a thing is the result of subtracting the total amount of intrinsic badness it contains from the total amount of intrinsic goodness it contains.
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Intrinsic Value
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is the result of subtracting the total amount of intrinsic badness it contains from the total amount of intrinsic goodness it contains.
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Theories of Value?
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A theory of value is designed to systematize and explain our judgements concerning good and evil, and contains three pieces of information:
i. a clause explaining which things are the “atoms” of value—which are the most basic things
that are intrinsically valuable.
ii. a clause explaining how to determine the value of one of these atoms—provides a way of
determining how valuable an atom is.
iii. a clause explaining how the atoms of value combine to form larger, more complex valuable
things such as lives, states of affairs, “worlds,” etc.
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Moral Person
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x is a person, x has a serious moral right to life
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Fetus |
a) x is a human organism during any stage of prenatal development
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Act Token Involving Abortion
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a) - x is a procedure or technical process performed with the intention of terminating a pregnancy or halting the development of a fetus.
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X has a right to y
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if X has a desire for y, then it is morally impermissible (other things being equal) for others to deprive x of y
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Fundamental Kind (kind K)
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a) a thing’s being an instance of kind K explains what it is in the most basic and fundamental way.
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Essential Kind (kind K)
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things that are essential kinds cannot fail to be of that kind; any possible situation in which the thing exists is a situation in which it is of kind K; any situation in which the thing is not of kind K is a situation in which does not exist at all
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Aristotelian Essentialism about personhood. What is the most serious problem for this conception of personhood?
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if S is a person, then S is a person in every possible situation in which S exists at all. If the embryo was to divide into two than it would go against it because it states you can only be one thing.
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The “FLO” principle
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if an act token, a, deprives the victim of a of a valuable future, then a is morally impermissible
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FLO principle
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Killing is wrong because it imposes the misfortune of an early death on the victim.
An early death is a misfortunle because it deprives the victim of a valuable future.
The deprivation of a valuable future is a misfortune because it deprives the victim of all of the experiences, projects, enjoyments, etc, that she would have otherwise.
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Interests |
x has interests if x has the capacity for the enjoyment of pleasure and the suffering of pain.
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Argument |
An ________ is a series of sentences in which some of them (the premises) are supposed to provide evidence in favor of the last (conclusion.
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Argument |
A series of sentences in which some of them (the premises) are supposed to provide evidence in favor of the last.
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Validity |
An argument is _____ if the arguments conclusion cannot be false if the argument's premises are true.
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valid |
Argument,A, is valid when A's conclusion cannot be false if A's premises are true .
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Soundness
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An argument is ______ if the argument is (1) valid AND (2) all of the arguments premises are true.
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sound |
A is sound when A is valid, and all of A's premises are true.
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Forms of Validity
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Modus Tollens
& Modus Ponens, not the only two forms
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Modus Tollens (MT)
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1.If P then Q
2. Not-Q
3. Therefore not P
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Modus Ponens (MP)
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1. If P then Q
2. P
3. Therefore Q
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Project of Normative Ethical Theory
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The fundamental ________ is the attempt to discover, properly formulate, and defend a criterion of moral rightness for act tokens.
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Act Type
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An _____ is a repeatable kind of action; something that can be performed by different people at different times and places.
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Act Token
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An ____ is a non-repeatable concrete individual action; something that is performed at one time, in one place, by a particular person.
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Agent |
The ______ of the action is the person who performs the action.
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agent |
person who performs the action
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Morally Right
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An act token is ________, permissible, OK, allowed, possible to do, "all right", or acceptable from the point of view of morality.
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morally right
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permissible, okay, allowed, possible to do, "all right", or acceptable from the point of view of morality.
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Morally Wrong
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An act token is _______, it would not be morally right to perform.
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morally wrong
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An act token is morally wrong when it would not be morally right to perform.
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Morally Obligatory
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An act token is ______ if there is no alternative to the act token that is morally right.
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Criterion |
The _____ of a morally right action is a non-trivial, interesting statement of this form: "An act token is morally right if an only if…" It is designed to systematize and explain our judgments about which act tokens are morally right.
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criterion
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C is a nontrivial, interesting statement of this form: An act token is morally right if and only if ....: C is designed to systematize and explain our judgments about which act tokens are morally right.
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Cultural Relativism (Criterion)
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An act is morally right if and only if it is permitted by the moral code of the society of its agent at the time of its performance.
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Divine Command Theory (Criterion)
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An act token is morally right if and only if it is permitted by God's commands (broadly or narrowly construed).
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Act Utilitarianism (Criterion)
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An act token is morally right if and only if it maximizes hedonic utility
Insight on Utilitarianism:
1. Rightness of an action depends on the value of it's consequences
2.The value of the consequences depends of the amounts of please and pain it contains
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Society
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______ (x) is a collection of people, living in proximity to each other, sharing a language, religion, cuisine, and culture.
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Moral Codes
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The ______ of a society at a time is the system of moral rules that is accepted among the members of that society at that given time.
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moral code
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system of moral rules that is accepted among the members of society.
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Cultural Differences Argument
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1. Different societies have different moral codes
2. If different societies have different moral codes, then cultural relativism must be true
3. Therefore cultural relativism is true
TT: criterion, CR, society, moral code, morally wrong, act tokens, agents,
-Argues in favor of cultural relativism,
-Valid: Modus Ponens form
-Not Sound: 2nd premise could be false by critic's dilemma
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Moral Critic
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A ______ is a person who believes that some part of his own's society's moral code is incorrect; believing that acts declared to be wrong by that code are in fact right, or that acts declared by that code to be right are in fact wrong
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moral critic
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person who believes that some part of his own society's moral code is incorrect.
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The Critic's Dilemma
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1. If cultural relativism is true, then every moral critic is mistaken
2. It's not the case that every moral critic is mistaken
3. Therefore, it's not the case that cultural relativism is true
-Argues against cultural relativism
-Valid: Modus Tollens form
-Proves the 2nd premise in the cultural difference argument wrong
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Plato's argument
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1. If divine command is the correct moral theory, then morality is arbitrary
2. It's not the case that morality is arbitrary
3. Therefore, its not the case that divine command is the correct moral theory
-Argues against DC theory in The Euthyphro
-Valid: Modus Tollens form
-Sound: Because it is valid, & all of it's premises are true (morality is not arbitrary)
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5 Assumptions about Pleasure & Pain
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1. Pleasure and Pain are feelings, or sensations
2. Both P & P come in "episodes"- events that consists in someone's feeling pleasure/pain at some time.
3. Every episode of pleasure or pain has duration- a measure of how long it lasts
4. Every episode of please of pain has intensity-measure of how "strongly pleasant" the feeling is
5. The amount of pleasure or pain in an episode is determined by multiplying intensity by duration to yield "herons" (for pleasure) or "dolors" (for pain)
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Hedonic Utility
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The ______ of an act token results from subtracting the total number of dolors of pain in the consequence from the total number of herons of pleasure in the consequence of the act.
HU= (# Hedons - # Dolors)
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hedonic utility
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the result of subtracting the total number of dolors of pain in the consequence of a from the total number of hedons of pleasure in the consequence of a.
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Maximization
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________ of hedonic utility is if no alternative to the act token has a higher hedonic utility than that act token has.
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maximize |
no alternative to a has a higher HU than a has.
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maxim |
M is a general principle identifying S's reason for performing a.
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Maxim |
Someone acts from ____ in performing action; ____ is a general principle in identifying someone's reason for performing an action; it explains what circumstance that person takes themselves to be in, what they are trying to accomplish in performing that action, and why
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PEE Procedure
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Present- State the argument/clear/whole thing/general
Explain- First define all technical terms used in the argument & ones you make use of. Second Defend EACH premise of the argument: give a justification, explain why the author of the argument believes the line & what he would say in the defense of the line.
Evaluate- 1) Valid? 2) Form? 3.) Sound? 4) Pick a line (PAL) to object, PAL for which one/why its unsound.
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Modus Ponens
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If P then Q, P, Therefore Q.
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Modus Tollens
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If P then Q, Not Q, therefore not P.
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universalizable
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it is possible for S to consistently will that every agent acts on M in all applicable situations.
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CR- criteria
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An act token is morally right if and only if it is permitted by the moral code of the society of its agent at the time of its performance.
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DC |
An act token is morally right if and only if it is permitted by God's commands.
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AU |
An act token is morally right if and only if A maximizes hedonic utility.
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KCI |
an act token, a is morally right iff in performing a, the agent of a acts from a universalizable maxim.
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KCI |
Kant's Categorical Imperative: an act token is morally right if an only if in performing the action, the agent of the action acts from a universalizable maxim (The formulation of Universal Law)
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Universaliz-ability
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someones maxim is ________ =df it is possible for someone to consistently will that every agent acts on maxims in all applicable situations
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Imperatives
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____ a sentence that tells someone what to do
Hypothetical Imp: imperative that applies to someone only on the condition that particular someone has some specific goal or purpose in mind-conditional
Categorical Imp: an imperative that applies to someone unconditionally, no matter what purposes or goals that someone may have
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Moral Duties
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_____ are categorical imperatives. According to Kant, all moral duties are categorical, not hypothetical imperatives. That is they apply no matter what our desires or goals are
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Lying Argument against KCI
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1.If KCI is true, then every act token involving lying is morally wrong
2. It is not the case that every act token involving lying is morally wrong
3. Therefore KCI is not true
Valid: form MT
Sound: yes
No PAL
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The Fundamental Project of Value Theory
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The ___________ is the attempt to discover, properly formulate, and defend a criterion for the intrinsic values of individual human lives, situations, consequences, et cetera.
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Fundamental project of value theory
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The fundamental project of value theory is the attempt to discover, properly formulate, and defend a criterion for the intrinsic values of individual human lives, situations, consequences, et cetera.
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Extrinsically Bad
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x is _________ =df x is bad because it leads to other bad things; x has a kind of badness that it would not continue to have if it did not lead to further bad things.
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Extrinsic Badness
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x is extrinsically bad =df x is bad because it leads to other bad things; x has a kind of badness that it would not continue to have if it did not lead to further bad things.
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Consumerism |
1. The acquisition & possession of consumer goods is intrinsically good. The loss of consumer goods is intrinsically bad. 2. The intrinsic value for a person, S, of acquisition of some consumer good or goods is = to the $ value of the goods acquired. Intrinsic disvalue for person-S, of the loss of some consumer good or goods is = to $ value of consumer goods lost 3. The intrinsic value of the life, state of affairs, world, etc. is = to the sum of the intrinsic values & disvalues of all the acquisitions & losses of consumer goods in that life, state of affairs, or world.
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Consumerism
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Acquisition & possession of consumer goods is intrinsically good. The loss of consumer goods is intrinsically bad.The intrinsic value for a person S of the acquisition of some consumer good[s] is = to the $ value of the goods acquired. Intrinsic disvalue for a person of the loss of some consumer good is = to -($ value of consumer goods lost) Intrinsi value of the life, state of affairs, world, etc. is = the sum of the intrinsic values & disvalues of all acquisitions & losses of consumer goods in that life, state of affairs, or world.
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Argument Against Consumerism Based on the Case of Lester
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1. If Consumerism is true, then Lester’s life is outstandingly good. 2. It’s not the case that Lester’s life is outstandingly good.
3. Therefore, Consumerism is not true.
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Simple Sensory Hedonism
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1. Every episode of pleasure is intrinsically good; every episode of pain is intrinsically bad.
2. The intrinsic value of an episode of pleasure is equal to the number of hedons of pleasure it contains; the intrinsic value of an episode of pain is equal to the # of dolors of pain it contains times negative 1.
3. The intrinsic value of a life, world, consequence, state of affairs, or situation is equal to the sum of the intrinsic values of all the episodes of pleasure and pain it contains.
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Argument for Simple Sensory Hedonism based on Psychological Hedonism
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1. Psychological hedonism is true.
2. If psychological hedonism is true, then SSH is true.
3. Therefore, SSH is true.
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Psychological Hedonism
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Every person is ultimately motivated only by the sel��sh desire for plea- sure and fear of pain.
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Psychological Hedonism
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Every person is ultimately motivated only by the selfish desire for pleasure and fear for pain.
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Socrates’s Oyster Argument (Plato, Philebus) [A against Hedonism]
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1. If SSH is true, then the life of the contented oyster is outstandingly good.
2. It’s not the case that the life of the contented oyster is outstandingly good.
3. Therefore, it’s not the case that SSH is true.
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Moore’s Bestiality Objection [A against Hedonism]
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1. If SSH is true, then Porky’s life is outstandingly good.
2. It’s not the case that Porky’s life is outstandingly good.
3. Therefore, it’s not the case that SSH is true.
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Theories of Values
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designed to systematize and explain our judgments concerning good and evil, and contains three pieces of info: 1. a clause explaining which things are the "atoms"- basic things of intrinsic value. 2. a clause explaining how to determine the value of one of these atoms. 3. a clause explaining how the atoms of value combine to form larger, more complex valuable things, such as lives, states of affairs, "worlds", etc.
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Simply Sensory Hedonism
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1. Every episode of please is intrinsically good; every episode of pain is intrinsically bad.
2. The intrinsic value of an episode of pleasure is equal to the number of hedons of pleasure it contains; intrinsic value of pain is equal to the number of dolors of pain in contains x1.
3. The intrinsic value of a life, world, state of affairs, etc, is equal to the sum of intrinsic value of all episodes of pleasure and pain it contains.
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Simply Sensory Hedonism
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1. Every episode of pleasure is intrinsically good; every episode of pain is intrinsically bad
2. The intrinsic value of an episode of pleasure is equal to the # of hedons of pleasure it contains; the intrinsic value of an episode of pain is equal to the number of dolors of pain it contains times negative 1.
3. The intrinsic value of a life, world, consequence, state of affairs, or situation is equal to the sum of the intrinsic values of all the episodes of pleasure and pain it contains
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Higher Pleasure
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pleasures of intellect, of aesthics, and of morality; involve "higher faculties.
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Higher Pleasures
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Pleasures of the intellect, of aesthetics, and of morality; involve “higher faculties.”
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Lower Pleasure
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pleasure of the body, including pleasures associated with reproduction, eating and drinking, excretion, lolling about on the beach, etc.; involve "lower faculties."
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Quality Rating
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between 0 and 1, Q(e), with more purely mental pleasures getting higher number than more purely physical pleasures.
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Quality Ratings
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The quality rating of e (episode) between 0 - 1,
-Q(e), with more purely mental pleasures getting higher numbers than more purely physical pleasures.
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Mills Qualified Hedonism
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1. Every episode of pleasure is intrinsically good; every episode of pain is intrinsically bad.
2. The intrinsic value of an episode of pleasure is equal to the number of qualified hedons of pleasure it contains; the intrinsic value of an episode of pain is equal to the number of dolors of pain it contains times -1.
3. The intrinsic value of a life, world, state of affairs, or situation is equal to the sum of the intrinsic value of all the episodes of pleasure and pain it contains.
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Satisfaction
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S's desire for p is satisfied at the same time, t, = S desires that p be the case at t, and p is the case at t.
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Satisfaction
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S’s desire for p is satis��ed at a time, t, =df S desires that p be the case at t, and p is the case at t.
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Frustration |
S desires that p be the case at t, but not-p is the case at t.
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Frustration |
S’s desire for p is frustrated at t =df S desires that p be the case at t, but not-p is the case at t.
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Actual Defense Satisfactionism
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1. Every case of desire satisfaction is intrinsically good; every case of desire frustration is intrinsically bad.
2. The intrinsic value of a satisfaction is equal to the intensity of the desire satisfied; the intrinsic value of a frustration is equal to the intensity of the desire frustrated times -1.
3. The intrinsic value of a complex thing is equal to the sum of the intrinsic values of all the desire satisfactions and frustrations that occur.
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Net Intrinsic Value
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The (net) intrinsic value of a thing is the result of subtracting the total amount of intrinsic badness it contains from the total amount of intrinsic goodness it contains.
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Argument for SSH based on Psychological Hedonism
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1. Psychological hedonism is true.
2. If psychological hedonism is true, then SSH is true.
3. Therefore, SSH is true.
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Moore’s Bestiality Objection arguing against Hedonism
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1. If SSH is true, then Porky’s life is outstandingly good.
2. It’s not the case that Porky’s life is outstandingly good.
3. Therefore, it’s not the case that SSH is true.
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Qualified Hedons
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The number of quali��ed hedons in an episode, e, of pleasure:
QH = I(e) × D(e) × Q(e).
I=intensity
D=Duration
Q=Quality Rating
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Objection to MQH based on the life of Stoicus
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1. If MQH is true, then the life of Stoicus is intrinsically worthless for him.
2. It’s not the case that the life of Stoicus is intrinsically worthless for him.
3. Therefore, it’s not the case that MQH is true.
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Actual Desire Satisfac-tionism (ADS)
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1. Every case of desire satisfaction is intrinsically good;every case of desire frustration, intrinsically bad.
2. The intrinsic value of a satisfaction is = to the intensity of the desire satis��ed; the IV of a frustration is = to the intensity of the desire frustrated X - 1.
3. The intrinsic value of a complex thing such as a life, world, situation, state of affairs, or consequence is = to the sum of the intrinsic values of all the desire satisfactions & frustrations that occur in that life, world, situation, state of affairs, or consequence.
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An Objection to ADS based on the Case of Max the Masochist (Defective Desires)
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1. If ADS is true, then Max the Masochist lived an outstanding life.
2. It’s not the case that Max the Masochist lived an outstanding life.
3. Therefore, it’s not the case that ADS is true.
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Cognitive Psycho-therapy
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S, undergoes cognitive psychotherapy, =df S is confronted with relevant information, by repeatedly representing it, in an ideally vivid way, at an appropriate time, without in��uence of prestige or evaluative language, external rewards or punishments, or use of arti��cially induced feeling-states or hypnotism.
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Rational Desire
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S, has a rational desire for p =df S’s desire for p would survive or be created by cognitive psychotherapy.
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Irrational Desire
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S has an irrational desire for p =df S’s desire for p would not survive or be created by cognitive psychotherapy.
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Rational Desire Satisfaction (RDS)
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1. Every case of rational desire satisfaction is intrinsically good; every case of rational desire frustration is intrinsically bad.
2. The intrinsic value of a satisfaction is = to the intensity of the desire satis��ed; the intrinsic value of a frustration is = to intensity of the desire frustrated X-1
3. The intrinsic value of a life, situation, consequence, state of affairs, or world is equal to the sum of the intrinsic values of all the rational desire satisfactions and frustrations that occur in that life.
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A Basic Pro-Life Argument
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1. If fetuses are human persons, then act tokens involving abortion are morally wrong.
2. Fetuses are human persons.
3. Therefore, act tokens involving abortions are morally wrong.
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Abortion |
procedure or technical process performed with the intention of terminating a pregnancy or halting the development of a fetus.
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Moral Personhood
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has a serious moral right to life
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Rights |
has a desire for y, then it is morally permissible for others to deprive x of y.
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Aristotelianism about human person
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fundamental and essential kind; if S is a person, then S is a person in every possible situation in which S exists at all.
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Self-Consciousness Criterion for Moral Person Hood
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x is a moral person if and only if x is self-conscious; that is, x has a concept of itself as a continuing subject of experiences and other mental states, and believes itself to be much entity.
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"Fetus is a Person"
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1. The fetus is a person.
2. Every person has a right to life.
3. So, the fetus has a right to life.
4. The fetus's right to life outweighs the mother's right to bodily autonomy.
5. If the fetus has a right to life and the fetus's right to life outweighs the mother's right to bodily autonomy, then abortion is morally wrong.
6. Therefore, abortion is morally wrong.
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FLO argument
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If act tokens involving abortion deprive the relevant fetus of a valuable future, then act tokens involving abortion are morally wrong.
Act tokens involving abortion deprive the relevant fetus of a valuable future.
Therefore, act tokens involving abortion are morally wrong.
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"Famous Violinist"
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A1: Justin unhooks himself from the famous violinist. This results in the death of the violinist.
1. A1 is morally right.
2. If A1 is morally right, then the mother's right to bodily autonomy sometimes outweighs the fetus's right to life.
3. If the mother's right to bodily autonomy sometimes outweighs the fetus's right to life, the some act tokens involving abortion are permissible.
4. Therefore, some act tokens involving abortion are permissible
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