Philosophical Concepts and Ethical Theories Explained
Aesthetic attitude: way of looking at a work of art, or at a natural being, in order to achieve an aesthetic experience. Aesthetic experience: experience that takes place when an individual is in the presence of an aesthetic object (be it a work of art or a natural object). Aesthetic judgement: judgement used to give an aesthetic quality to an object, according to how much pleasure it gives the observer that is looking at it. Aesthetic object: object that is perceived to have aesthetic qualities. Aesthetic taste: human ability to detect the aesthetic value of a work of art or a natural object. Aesthetics: philosophical discipline that deals with beauty and the emotions beauty produces in humans. Alienation: the process by which something intimate becomes strange: the process by which someone is deprived of something essential. Art: Human activity, or product of human activity, that aims to achieve an aesthetic purpose. Beauty: aesthetic quality found in natural and man-made objects. Bravery: the virtue that makes us face danger with determination. Business ethics: moral reflection that aims to obtain some principles that can be used to regulate professional and commercial relationships. Business philosophy: philosophical discipline that deals with the business world in a philosophical manner. Business project: strategic decisions and actions that are planned in advance in order to reach a predetermined objective.
Capitalism: system of economic and social organization based on the private ownership of the means of production. Classificatory concept: concept that enables us to order a group of objects according to the presence or absence of one or more characteristics. Coaching: guiding and supporting a person, so that he or she will eventually be able to carry out specific activities. Code of ethics: document compiling a set of norms and criteria of conduct based on moral principles. Common good: the result of an agreement on what is good and beneficial for all members of a human society. Consensus: agreement reached by several people in relation to a question or problem in such a way that everybody involved accepts the outcome. Creativity: ability to produce something new using elements that exist already. Democracy: System of government in which the responsibility for the taking of action belongs to all the members of the political community. There are two fundamental types of democracy: direct and representative. Deontological ethics: ethical theory that articulates its course around the notion of duty. Deontology: discipline that studies the responsibilities related to existence. Dignity: the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect. Dystopia: Specific type of utopia in which the proposed society is not a perfect model, but instead a projection of real society into the future (to be criticized).
Ethics: philosophical discipline that studies morality. Ethics of maximums: ethical doctrine that establishes an ideal of life and a set of rules that is as complete as possible. Ethics of minimus: ethical doctrine that only provides a set of minimal conditions that rules must meet in order to be morally right. Eudaemonism: ethical doctrine that states that happiness is the supreme good that humans should aspire to. Formal ethics: ethics that are empty of content. Formal ethics never states what must be done, but instead it states how we should act. Free will: the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one’s own discretion. General will: in political philosophy, the general will is the will of the people as a whole. Hedonism: ethical doctrine that associates moral goodness and happiness with pleasure. Instrumental reason: reason that seeks to calculate the possibilities of achieving a determined objective and finding the means to achieve it. Legality: quality of everything that follows the rule of law. Legitimacy: conformity to the law or to rules. Liberal state: the estate conceived as the guarantor of individual freedoms. Liberalism: school of thought that defends freedom of thought, expression, and belief as well as economic freedoms. Life project: set of decisions made by a person that define who that person wants to be.
Master morality: according to Nietzsche, the morality characteristic of Greek aristocracy, that emphasized the value of beauty, physical strength, and bravery as moral values. Material ethics: after Kant, all theories of ethics that propose a supreme good to which we should aspire. Mimesis: imitation of nature as the main goal of art (not a servile imitation, but an imitation of the way in which nature does things). Moral intellectualism: ethical theory that states that knowledge is the basis of goodness: if you know, you will act right. If you do a wrong thing, it is because you are ignorant. Moral relativism: ethical theory that denies the existence of absolute, universal moral values. Moral subjectivism: a version of moral relativism: each subject establishes its own value. Moral universalism: ethical theory that affirms the existence of absolute moral values that are universally valid. Morals: set of traditions, norms, and customs that regulate individual and collective action. Poesis: human action that involves the production of a material or immaterial object. Political philosophy: philosophical discipline that deals with the organization of life in society. Political power: the possession of control or command over others. Political realism: philosophical doctrine that defends the separation of ethics and politics. Political regime: form of government in a given state. Political society: set of institutions created by a political power to guarantee the survival of a society, as well as to ensure the efficient functioning of the aforementioned society.
Practical reason: use of reason to guide our actions. Praxis: action that involves doing something in such a way that the said action constitutes our conduct, from a personal or social perspective. Principle of utility: an ethical principle that states that we should do what is most beneficial. Psychoanalysis: a therapeutic technique developed by Sigmund Freud based on the knowledge of the conscious and unconscious levels of the human psyche. Slave morality: according to Nietzsche, a morality characteristic of Christianity and socialism, determined by the resentment against life. Social contract: pact by which a society is formed. Socialist state: system of state organization associated with Marxism, which defends social ownership of the means of production. Sovereignty: absolute capacity to make ultimate decisions on matters regarding a particular territory. State of nature: theoretical construct of contractualist doctrines, which was characteristic of political philosophy in the early modern age. It describes what the lifestyle of human beings might have been like before societies came into existence. State: autonomous political community made up of a series of institutions that have the power to organize the social, economic, and political life of a particular society, and which has the capacity of using force to exert this power.
Stoicism: school of philosophy that insists on self-control in order to achieve happiness. Symbol: a type of sign in which the relation between the sign and the object assigned artificially by humans (is conventional). Taboo: general prohibition of something or of a particular practice, predominant during ancient times, affecting all members of a particular culture. Technique: practical know-how that requires ability. Technology: set of techniques and instruments developed using scientific knowledge. Temperament: nature of a person that predisposes him or her to act or react in a particular way. Totalitarianism: this political ideology affirms that a political party or political group should hold all of the state’s powers. Utilitarianism: the doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority. Value: the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something. Virtue: the habit of acting appropriately in a given situation. Vitalism: school of thought that considers life to be the reality in which any attempt to understand reality as a whole must be based. Welfare state: a system whereby the state undertakes to protect the health and well-being of its citizens, especially those in financial or social need.