PHIL 160 EXAM 1 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Ethics - Answers - normative study of human conduct
Descriptive - Answers - describe the world, tell how things are and why
Examples of Descriptive Studies - Answers - -History
-Sociology
-Psychology
Normative - Answers - describes how things should be, aim to guide human action or
conduct
Moral Philosophy (Normative Ethics) - Answers - What makes an action morally right /
wrong?
Value Theory (Axiology) - Answers - What makes a situation or outcome good / bad?
Theory of Welfare / Well-being - Answers - What makes a life go well for the one who
lives it? What makes something a benefit or a harm?
Theory of Virtue / Character - Answers - What is it to be a good person? What character
traits count as virtues, and which count as vices?
Metaphysics - Answers - What do moral terms mean? What are moral properties?
Political Philosophy - Answers - -What makes society just?
-What is the basis of political authority?
-What is freedom?
-Which are the basic human rights?
Philosophy of Law - Answers - -What is law?
-What is the best way to understand the status and structure of a legal system?
-What laws does the law settle?
-What makes a law just?
Socrates - Answers - first western philosopher
Socrates' Mission - Answers - to expose the ignorance of those who thought themselves
wise, and to convince his fellow citizens that every person is responsible for his own
moral beliefs
Why was Socrates declared by the Oracle at Delphi as the wisest man in Athens? -
Answers - because he was the only one aware of his own ignorance
, Fundamental Project of Moral Philosophy - Answers - to explain what makes morally
right actions and wrong answers wrong
How was Socrates pursuing an analogy w/ geometry? - Answers - discovering a
criterion or moral rightness for act-tokens
Criterion - Answers - states necessary and sufficient conditions for the application of the
term / concept
Example of a Criterion - Answers - x is a circle IF AND ONLY IF (IFF) x is a closed, 2-D
figure with all its points equidistant from a given point
Criterion of Morally Right Action - Answers - an act-token, x, is morally right iff _______
Morally Right Action - Answers - an action is permissible, okay, or allowed from the
moral point of view
Moral Point of View - Answers - an impartial, fair, and obj. point of view which we can
reconcile conflicts of interest
Examples of Primitive Moral POV's - Answers - -In-Group Loyalty
-Purity
-Retribution
-Authority
Deontic Square of Opposition:
Morally Right - Answers - if permissible, allowed or okay from the moral POV
Deontic Square of Opposition:
Morally Wrong - Answers - impermissible, or prohibited from the moral POV
(if an act-token is not morally right, it is morally wrong)
Deontic Square of Opposition:
Morally Obligatory - Answers - it is required or mandatory from the moral POV
(agent has to perform the action)
Deontic Square of Opposition:
Supererogatory - Answers - an action is above and beyond the call of duty
(not strictly required, but it is permissible and praiseworthy)
Act-Token - Answers - single, concrete action w/ a single agent and a unique time of
performance
Ethics - Answers - normative study of human conduct
Descriptive - Answers - describe the world, tell how things are and why
Examples of Descriptive Studies - Answers - -History
-Sociology
-Psychology
Normative - Answers - describes how things should be, aim to guide human action or
conduct
Moral Philosophy (Normative Ethics) - Answers - What makes an action morally right /
wrong?
Value Theory (Axiology) - Answers - What makes a situation or outcome good / bad?
Theory of Welfare / Well-being - Answers - What makes a life go well for the one who
lives it? What makes something a benefit or a harm?
Theory of Virtue / Character - Answers - What is it to be a good person? What character
traits count as virtues, and which count as vices?
Metaphysics - Answers - What do moral terms mean? What are moral properties?
Political Philosophy - Answers - -What makes society just?
-What is the basis of political authority?
-What is freedom?
-Which are the basic human rights?
Philosophy of Law - Answers - -What is law?
-What is the best way to understand the status and structure of a legal system?
-What laws does the law settle?
-What makes a law just?
Socrates - Answers - first western philosopher
Socrates' Mission - Answers - to expose the ignorance of those who thought themselves
wise, and to convince his fellow citizens that every person is responsible for his own
moral beliefs
Why was Socrates declared by the Oracle at Delphi as the wisest man in Athens? -
Answers - because he was the only one aware of his own ignorance
, Fundamental Project of Moral Philosophy - Answers - to explain what makes morally
right actions and wrong answers wrong
How was Socrates pursuing an analogy w/ geometry? - Answers - discovering a
criterion or moral rightness for act-tokens
Criterion - Answers - states necessary and sufficient conditions for the application of the
term / concept
Example of a Criterion - Answers - x is a circle IF AND ONLY IF (IFF) x is a closed, 2-D
figure with all its points equidistant from a given point
Criterion of Morally Right Action - Answers - an act-token, x, is morally right iff _______
Morally Right Action - Answers - an action is permissible, okay, or allowed from the
moral point of view
Moral Point of View - Answers - an impartial, fair, and obj. point of view which we can
reconcile conflicts of interest
Examples of Primitive Moral POV's - Answers - -In-Group Loyalty
-Purity
-Retribution
-Authority
Deontic Square of Opposition:
Morally Right - Answers - if permissible, allowed or okay from the moral POV
Deontic Square of Opposition:
Morally Wrong - Answers - impermissible, or prohibited from the moral POV
(if an act-token is not morally right, it is morally wrong)
Deontic Square of Opposition:
Morally Obligatory - Answers - it is required or mandatory from the moral POV
(agent has to perform the action)
Deontic Square of Opposition:
Supererogatory - Answers - an action is above and beyond the call of duty
(not strictly required, but it is permissible and praiseworthy)
Act-Token - Answers - single, concrete action w/ a single agent and a unique time of
performance
