01 Questions and Methods in Ethics Free Online FlashCards

What does ethics study?

Ethics systematically studies how people ought to act, how character and actions should be judged, and how moral judgments can be justified.

What does normative ethics ask?

Normative ethics asks what standards should guide conduct and what makes actions right or wrong.

What question does applied ethics ask about a hospital's limited medicine?

In a medicine-allocation case, applied ethics asks what the hospital should do in that specific situation.

Name three broad approaches in normative ethics.

Virtue ethics, deontology, and consequentialism are broad normative approaches that assess character, duties, and outcomes in different ways.

Besides values, what can cause moral disagreement?

Disagreement may arise from different factual beliefs, background assumptions, priorities, or interpretations—not only from conflicting values.

What is moral reasoning?

Moral reasoning assesses relevant considerations to reach or revise a judgment about what should be done.

What are the parts of an argument and how do they relate?

An argument is a set of claims in which premises are offered as reasons for a conclusion.

What makes a deductive argument valid and sound?

A deductive argument is valid when its conclusion follows necessarily from its premises. It is sound when it is valid and its premises are true.

What does metaethics investigate?

Metaethics investigates the nature, meaning, and status of morality and moral claims.

What is applied ethics?

Applied ethics uses moral principles and reasoning to examine specific practices, policies, and choices.

What does normative ethics examine in a medicine-allocation case?

Normative ethics considers general standards for the decision, such as prioritizing need, equal treatment, or greatest overall benefit.

How can people who value fairness disagree about what it requires?

People who both value fairness may disagree over whether it requires equal treatment or more help for those with greater need.