Philos – love of

Sophie – wisdom

Metaphysics – branch of philosophy that tries to answer the question: Why?

Ontology – tries to answer the question: What?

Epistemology – theory of knowledge

Logic – theory of right thinking; argument analysis

Political philosophy – theory of the right organization of society; theories of government

Philosophical anthropology – theory of human

*Ethics – theory of right conduct, according to some standard

Determinism – everything we do is strictly determined by prior existing causal factors

Cultural relativism – moral expectations are strictly relative to particular times places and cultures and outside of those
contexts have no significance

Subjectivism – moral expectations are relative to individual subjects

What is the source of moral judgement?

Aristotle – morality derives from reason and the natural order of things

Aquinas – morality derives from the “natural law” which is from god

Hume – morality is bound up with the passions or emotions

Kant – morality is bound up with “the supreme moral law” which was discovered by and used by the reason

Mill – morality is bound up with our sense of pleasure

Aristotle

Can morality be scientific?

What is the proper moral relation between government and the individual citizens

Maternalism –

Radical individualism – used by Mill

 What is the moral individual? (p. 17)

 What is the moral society (p. 165)

Teleological – tending towards an end or a goal

Aristotle states that happiness is the final end or goal. It is not in terms a means of getting an end more distant.

Happiness is self-sufficient, but does not mean isolated; it lacks nothing

What functions makes us human beings

Nutrition + growth: these functions just happen

Perception: life of the senses

 Reason: virtuous lifestyle is a lifestyle of moderation which in term leads to happiness

Perception and nutrition are passionate lifestyle

A moral individual is he who conforms to human nature

How do we attain the virtuous society?

By nature not all of us are virtuous, but we can be rained to lead a virtuous lifestyle

Individual: reason -> passions

Society: wise -> passionate masses

Aquinas

A lot of influence from Aristotle

Eternal law – everything that exists is governed by God’s eternal law

Everything is under control subject to god’s control

*Natural law – same as eternal law, but applies to rational creatures; the basis for human law

Human law (man-made law) – laws that people make (like congress)

Natural law of thinking – morality has an objective angle

1. Preserve life
2. Fulfill natural functions
3. Uses reason, focus on the general good

Only human beings can violate natural law

There is no objective way of proving natural law (because we can’t prove that God gave us natural rights); mere
assertions

Hume

Radical empiricist

Reason and morality operate on two separate levels that don’t communicate with each other

Morality has to do with how we act in the world

Reason is passive and contemplative, reflective

Morals make judgements concerning the world -> sense experience (all knowledge derives from this)

“ “ about relations between ideas

Emotion-based theory of morality; has a very subjective outlook on this perspective

Empathy allows us to raise ourselves our own individuality because emotion-based morality is based on personal
experiences

Kant

Most important modern philosopher of law

Method is precise, universal, and objective

Reason -> supreme moral law

 Commands the will -> gives rise to action which is morally justified
o Animals are willful which give rise to action, but is not governed by reason
o Emotions can be the basis of will; reason is the same in everyone, legislating for the will

What is the supreme moral law?

Takes the form of an imperative (“ought”)

All imperatives are hypothetical or categorical

Hypothetical – an action is good for some purpose, because of its consequences: “if… then…”; the end
justifies the means; extrinsic justifications

Categorical – only when actions are formed from the will that are considered to be moral actions

Can you will that that type of action be a universal rule of behavior for everyone? Probably not
from a rational point of view

Kingdom of ends

How does it all work?

Mill

Utilitarianism

Man by nature is hedonistic – pleasure is the goal of life

Element of permanence – physical pleasures tend to be short-lived compared to mental pleasures

Safety

Cost effectiveness – physical pleasures can also be expensive

Qualitative superiority – no quantity of physical pleasure would ever outweigh the need for mental pleasure

An animal lacks mental pleasures

One criticism of his philosophy is that Mill is an elitist and can focus on mental pleasures more

Claims that this is a doctrine of selfishness, as people can pursue what they want and ignore the other

Utilitarian views come into play from the selfishness

Anti-god reference?

Religion for him is utilitarian in nature so he refutes the “anti-god” doctrine

Anti-maternalism, radical individualism

Harm principle

People are mature enough to make their own decision, without the need for government’s assistance

Government ought to stay out of morality’s business; the exact opposite from Aristotle’s doctrine

No one individual is considered morally superior by another

Conversion is ruled out; persuasion is an option when it comes to trying to change someone’s point of view
Notion of giving back to society

Selfl-regarding actions – actions that only implicate yourself

Thoughts and pursuits

Other-regarding actions – actions that have spillover effect on other people

Positive other-regarding actions exist as some actions help other people

Negative other-regarding actions adversely affect other people

Contingent harm