Key Concepts in Moral Philosophy
Practical Rationality
Refers to the distinct human capacity to make practical judgments.
Practical Judgments
Judgments about what is good to do here and now, leading to concrete action.
Praxis
Term that refers to practical activity as opposed to theory, especially the free and conscious activity that characterizes the human being.
Man’s Ultimate End
It must be complete, self-sufficient, enduring all evil, fully satisfying the will, and within reach of all.
Good, Useful, Utility
The category used to describe the goodness of actions or things that serve a particular purpose effectively.
Delightful Good
The goodness of what is wanted by the subject because it causes positive affective resonance (pleasure, joy, etc.).
Rational or Honest Good
Actions or things sought for themselves; they are presented as objectively good and lovable.
Right Reason
That which knows no errors regarding the purposes agreed to be human.
Natural Moral Law
The natural order that can be perceived.
Synderesis (Practical Principle)
The principle that good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided; it is the firm initial conviction that evil must be avoided.
Psychological Consciousness
The set of our own self and its accompanying acts.
Judgment of Choice
That singular action which is the last step of practical reason; it must be the same reason that determines a new action.
Caution (Prudence)
Reflecting on the motives that drive action and preventing haste.
Schools of Ethical Thought
Aristotelian Eudaimonism
According to Aristotle, perfect happiness is the intellectual contemplation of truth, and a perfectly happy life involves moral virtues. To be happy, one also needs good fortune.
Hedonism
For Epicurus and his school, pleasure (understood as the absence of pain and disturbance) is the beginning and end of a happy life.
Utilitarianism
Argues that actions and things are good if they are useful, and they are useful if they generate pleasure (or happiness).
Stoicism
For the Stoics, happiness is life according to virtue, cultivating an attitude of indifference to external goods. Possessing them is preferable to lacking them, but this does not affect the happiness of the wise person.
Thomism (Moral Philosophy)
Their moral thinking focuses on identifying the good of human life as a way of life lived through the virtues. Imperfect happiness can be achieved through virtues on earth, which is a foretaste of the perfect happiness consisting in the vision of God.
Kantian Ethics
Kant proposed a formal and independent ethics based on the performance of duty, holding that we should always act solely from the idea of duty, regardless of the consequences for ourselves.
Ethics of Material Values
Represented by Max Scheler and Dietrich von Hildebrand. For them, the primary thing in humans is not the consciousness of duty, but the awareness that something is valuable. To justify that something is a duty, one must reason about the values that underpin it.
Ethics in Society and Law
Public Affairs
Public issues that affect all members of a people or society.
16th and 17th Century Ethics
Europeans developed common ethical tolerance and mutual respect to end conflict. The struggle ended, but tolerance was imperfect. They saw the need for a political system ensuring peace, freedom, and justice.
18th and 19th Century Public Ethics
European states adopted constitutional models, ending absolutism and the division into estates.
20th Century Public Ethics
Citizens exercise control over rulers by choosing representatives. All citizens are equal before the law, leading to the constitution (popular sovereignty).
Legal Justice
Seeks to promote the public or common good, with no particular individual benefit in return.
Solidarity
Resides in or is assisting those most in need. Providing private property goes beyond justice.