Key Concepts in Ethics and Philosophy
Aristotelian Virtue Ethics
- Doctrine of the Mean: Virtue lies between extremes of excess and deficiency.
- Types of Virtue:
- Intellectual: Rational activity.
- Moral: Character training through habits.
- Flourishing (Eudaimonia): Achieving happiness through rational activity and virtuous habits.
Audre Lorde on the Value of Anger
- Anger: Righteous response to injustice; motivates change.
- Anger vs. Guilt:
- Anger drives action; guilt paralyzes.
- Key Idea: Anger asserts violated rights, demanding accountability.
Kantian
Read MoreJohn Stuart Mill: Knowledge, Society, and Politics
Knowledge
The generalization, as a process to convert observable facts into laws or principles, is carried out by inference (connected to understanding). There are two types of inference:
- Deductive: Passage from one concept to another (cause-effect relationships).
- Inductive: Passing from particular data to general concepts.
Inferences are specified in four methods of science:
- Matching Method: Collecting data for various observations of the phenomenon, eliminating what is not common in all of them.
- Difference
Kant’s Philosophy: Ethics, Future, and Metaphysics
Kant’s Categorical Imperative and Moral Action
What should I do? Instead of pursuing an end, Kant’s ethics focuses on the duty that dictates how we should act. Using a categorical imperative, which is universal, practical reason tells us how we should behave. A moral action is one guided by reason and good will, acting out of duty and respect for the moral law. According to Kant’s categorical imperative (an absolute and unconditional order), we should “act according to that maxim that you want
Read MoreFormal and Informal Logic: Understanding Arguments
Understanding Logic and Arguments
Logic deals with the art of reasoning and the principles of good reasoning. Logic is the science of analysis:
- Formal logic: Analyzes the structure of arguments, focusing on syntactic aspects.
- Informal logic: Examines the correct way to argue.
Formal Logic
A general debate is usually made up of sentences: premises and conclusions. All these are proposals. Logic deals with the formula; therefore, by what standards can we distinguish what is valid and what is not? Reasoning
Read MoreUnderstanding Democracy: From Ancient Greece to Modern Systems
Democracy: From Ancient Greece to Modern Systems
Democracy is a government of the people, where those who are held accountable are chosen by the people. Representatives must be from the legitimate majority. It originated in Athens, where citizens met and deliberated. However, there are a series of differences and similarities between Greek democracy and today’s democracy.
Differences Between Athenian and Modern Democracy
- Athenian communities were compact and homogenous.
- Athenians understood the state
Plato’s Dualism: Sensible vs. Intelligible Worlds
Plato’s Theory of Forms
According to Plato, Heraclitus would have argued that sensible objects are subject to constant change and various movements that make it impossible for something to be equal to itself. Parmenides believed that plurality and change were deceptive appearances of sense, and that being, the authentic fact, is ungenerated, homogenous, immutable, and imperishable. On the other hand, the Sophists advocated epistemological skepticism and relativism. Plato shows us a Socrates who seeks
Read More