2014-2-PHI110-01
Studying 2014/2 PHI110: Philosophy, Morality and Society. Week 1.
Introduction: What is Moral Philosophy?
Welcome
Lectures
Notes
- Week 1: Lecture 1: Introduction: What is Moral Philosophy? (original)
- Week 1: Lecture 1: Continued (original)
Questions
Readings
- Blackburn, Simon. "Introduction" in Being Good: A Short Introduction to Ethics, Blackburn, Simon, 2001, 1-8 (original)
Answers
- Explain in your own words what Blackburn means by the 'ethical environment'. Why would this environment be 'strangely invisible' (p. 2)?
- Blackburn's 'ethical environment' relates to conceptions about what is right or wrong; how individuals should behave and how they should not behave; and the structure and content of an individual's emotional and/or rational response to affairs or things as they are.
- Blackburn suggests that the ethical environment is 'strangely invisible' because people are often unconscious of their ideas and dispositions which frame socially constructed reality as we find it.
- What are some of the features of our current ethical environment (or climate) which Blackburn picks out (pp. 3-4)? Can you think of your own examples?
- Blackburn suggests that in the present ethical climate is an individual's greater regard for their 'rights' than for their 'good'.
- Blackburn compares contemporary ethics (as accepted within modern constitutional democracies) to Ancient Greek and Eastern thought and concludes that people these days have less regard for the private vices of the members of their society than they used to.
- Blackburn says that in contemporary thought the Victorian conception of devotion to 'duty' is lost.
- As regards my own thoughts about features of our current ethical environment I would simply point at the topics raised later in this course, which is itself an articulation and example of contemporary ethical thought, e.g.:
- Indigenous rights,
- Immigration and refugee policy,
- Foreign aid policy for wealthy nations,
- Environmental/pollution policies,
- Animal rights
- And I might add some other contemporary topics, i.e.:
- Gay marriage
- Medical marijuana
- The role of government (if any!) in assuring equality of the individuals in our society
- What does Blackburn mean by 'moralizing' (p. 3)? How is this different to seeking to understand the ethical climate?
- Blackburn thinks we might we tend to eschew thinking about morality entirely. Do you agree that people have such a tendency? If so, why do you think they do?
- After reading this text and listening to the first lecture, what are your thoughts about why reflecting on ethics is important? What difficulties are likely to be encountered in thinking about ethics?
Activities
- Self Test Quiz for Week 1: What is Moral Philosophy?
- Discussion forum for Week 1: What is Moral Philosophy?
Work
TODO
Things to do, most important on top:
- Read the Questions
- Read the Readings
- Answer the Questions
- Do the Activities
Done
Things that are done, most recent on top:
- Read the Lecture notes
- Listen to the Lectures
- Read the Welcome material including the Essay guide
- Read the Unit guide
Vocabulary
- ethos
- the disposition, character, or fundamental values peculiar to a specific person, people, culture, or movement.
- mores
- refers to norms that are more widely observed and have greater moral significance than others.
- comport
- to behave in a manner conformable to what is right, proper, or expected.
- injurious
- causing or tending to cause injury; harmful.
- austere
- severe or stern in disposition or appearance; somber and grave.
- eudaimonia
- human flourishing; happiness; welfare.
- epistemological
- pertaining to epistemology, a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge.
- metaphysical
- based on speculative or abstract reasoning; highly abstract or theoretical; abstruse.
- abstruse
- difficult to understand; recondite.
- recondite
- not easily understood; abstruse.
- redress
- to set right; remedy or rectify.