AS ethics@presdales

there are still 3 problems remaining

1. can you predict consquecnces?  is this a good way of working our morality? [some people claim that some copnsequences CAN be predicted.]
2. is “pleasure”, even “higher order pleasure” or “happiness” the correct definition of ‘good’?  [why did bentham and Mill think that is was/is?  what other definitions of 'good' might a utilitarian use?  how do you know if these definitions are accurate?
3. is it subjective?  do people find the same things pleasurable?  how do you tell which are the 'higher order pleaseures'?

look at these 3 problms in the light of your theory (ideal, negative or prefernece).  and answer these questions

1. does your (new) theory ovcercome these problems?
2. how does your theory relate to (a) euthanasia and (b) IVF fertility treatment
3. to what extent is your theory acceptbale from a Christian viewpoint?  [to what extent is it compatible with Xian ethics?]

BRING ANSWERS ON THURSDAY

BEFORE Tuesday:

1. exaplain how (a) Rule Utilitarianism (Austin, Mill)  (b) qualitative utilitarianism (Mill) and (c) preference utilitarianism (Singer)overcome the problem of Bentham’s classical utilitarianism (the hedonic calcuclus)
2. Evaluate Sidgwick‘s version of utilitarianism (does he overcome any problems associated with Bentham’s view?).
3. complete the Venn diagram to show the difference between Bentham and Mill’s versions of utilitarianism

taster philosophy day at UAE if anyone is interested

[click here]

hello ethicists!

Hannah’s (excellent) notes on cultural relativism are now on the other blog – Y12 ethics class notes – there should be a link in the menu (‘blogroll’) on the left?

it might help you with your essays

Dani is doing situational relativism, so watch this space!

ML

1. “Each nation is convinced its own customs are by far the best.” Can we say a custom is right or wrong?

2. Does reasoning transcend culture?

3. What is the problem with saying we should always be tolerant of other cultures?

4. Does morality depends only on culture or is there something more?

new Y12.s might like to look at the new ‘class notes’ blog mly12ethicsnotes.edublogs.org.  old Y12.s might like to unsubscribe to this blog and subscribe to the a2 blogs.

ML

here are the ones I have been sent – it would be fgreat to get the full stet ASAP!

[abortion]

[euthanasia]

START by writing a 7 sentence intro to your argument, using the framework below.

THEN use scholars’ views and examples to expand on each sentence.  Take the sentence as the ‘P’ and add ‘E’ and ‘E’ to make each sentence a paragraph.

(your original 7 sentences should now be the first sentence of each of 7 paragraphs)

1. This is an important question because…” (intro – define technical terms and outline your argument)
2. “Some people might think…” (the counter argument with one or two PEE paragraphs)
3. “However…” (your first reason, PEE; explain, quote or direct reference to scholar, example)
4. “In addition…” (your second reason, PEE; explain, quote or direct reference to scholar, example)
5. “Furthermore…” (your third reason, PEE; explain, quote or direct reference to scholar, example)
6. “In view of the fact that…” (explain that  #3+#4+#5 > #2 – ie the rebuttal, explain that your argument is stronger than the counter argument)
7. “Therefore, we can see that….” (conclusion – you could add complexity by adding something like “of course, if….  but on balance…”)

of course you could have two reasons in the counter argument and two reasons in your argument, if you wanted to be more balanced – or adapt slightly to fit what you want to say.  but this should give you a good starting point.

(a)  explain whether, from a Christian viewpoint, war can ever be justified  [25]

(b)   “the ethics of  war are best approached from a teleological viewpoint” discuss  [10]

deadline – May 5th

in the file provided, you need to hand in 5 part (a) essays and 5 part (b) essays, WHICH SHOULD BE COMPLETED AT YOUR TARGET GRADE.  you will need to draft and re-draft until you have these key pieces completed at the level of yuor target grade – think of this as a way to revise the syllabus – if you have all these essays done at your target grade, then the actual exam should be fairly straightforward.

fist draft hand in date = MAY 5th.  (do as much as you can by this date: detailed plans / bullet point answers are better than nothing)

[click here for the titles / instructions]

NB – yes I have added an extra part (b) – just to even it up!