WACE Philosophy Ethics ATAR key terms

A set of statements in which some, called premises, are offered as support for another, called the conclusion, which is claimed to follow from them.

A statement offered as a reason in an argument, intended to give evidence or grounds for accepting the argument's conclusion.

A property of deductive arguments whereby it is impossible for the premises to be true while the conclusion is false, purely in virtue of the argument's form.

A property of deductive arguments that are both valid and have all their premises actually true, so the conclusion must be true.

The degree to which an argument's premises make its conclusion probable rather than certain, so that true premises give good but not conclusive support.

Reasoning to the best explanation, in which one infers that a hypothesis is likely true because it explains the available evidence better than alternatives.

A recurring pattern of reasoning that appears persuasive but fails to give genuine support to its conclusion, such as begging the question or equivocation.

A specific case in which an argument's premises are true and its conclusion false, or which shows a general claim or definition to be mistaken.

Hume's point that purely descriptive statements about what is the case cannot by themselves entail prescriptive conclusions about what ought to be done.

The family of theories holding that the moral rightness of an action depends solely on the goodness of its consequences, judged impartially for all affected.

A consequentialist theory requiring the action that maximises overall welfare or happiness, treating each person's good as counting equally.

A family of theories holding that certain actions are right or wrong in themselves, regardless of consequences, because they respect duties or rational agents.

Kant's supreme moral principle, requiring that one act only on maxims that could be willed as universal law and never treat humanity merely as a means.

An approach focusing on the character traits of a good person, holding that right action is what a virtuous agent, exercising practical wisdom, would do.

Aristotle's term for human flourishing or living well, the ultimate goal of action achieved through the exercise of characteristic excellences over a complete life.

Practical wisdom: the trained ability to perceive what a situation calls for and to deliberate well about how to act, central to virtue ethics.

The meta-ethical view that moral statements can be objectively true or false, and that some moral facts exist independently of what anyone believes or feels.

The meta-ethical view that there are no mind-independent moral facts, so moral judgements express attitudes, projects, or prescriptions rather than describe objective reality.

A non-cognitivist meta-ethical theory holding that moral statements merely express the speaker's feelings or attitudes and do not assert anything true or false.

A family of thought experiments contrasting cases where one may divert a threat killing one person to save several with cases requiring direct harm to one.

The principle that an action with both good and bad foreseen effects may be permissible if the bad effect is unintended and not a means to the good.

An imagined scenario constructed to test a principle or intuition by isolating relevant features, such as a runaway trolley or an experience machine.

The branch of political philosophy concerned with how benefits and burdens should be shared among members of a society according to principles of fairness.

Rawls's device for choosing principles of justice from behind a screen that hides one's talents, social position, and conception of the good.

Rawls's claim that social and economic inequalities are just only if they benefit the least advantaged members of society as much as possible.

The idea that political authority derives from an actual or hypothetical agreement among people to form a governed community and accept its rules.

A hypothetical condition of human life before or without political government, used by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau to explain the need for authority.

The justified right of a state or institution to exercise power and be obeyed, as distinct from merely having the power to coerce.

Freedom from interference by others or from dominating power, understood by different theorists as absence of constraint or as non-domination.

An argument inferring God's existence from the existence of the universe, contending that the series of dependent things requires a first or necessary cause.

An argument for God's existence from apparent purpose, order, or fine-tuning in the universe, inferring an intelligent designer as the best explanation.

The challenge that the existence of suffering appears incompatible with an all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good God, requiring theodicy or defence.

An attempt to reconcile belief in a good, omnipotent God with the reality of evil by showing that evil serves some justifying purpose.

The response to the problem of evil holding that significant freedom, which God grants and which makes genuine love and goodness possible, requires the possibility of moral evil.

The view that free will and moral responsibility are compatible with determinism, because freedom means acting from one's own desires without external constraint.

The thesis that every event, including every human choice, is causally necessitated by prior events and laws of nature.

The incompatibilist view that genuine free will requires the ability to have done otherwise, and therefore that determinism must be false.

The property a belief has when it is appropriately supported by evidence or reliable processes, making it reasonable to hold rather than merely true.

Traditionally justified true belief, though Gettier cases suggest that justification and truth alone may not suffice for knowing.

The philosophical position that knowledge of some or all domains is impossible or that we should suspend judgement because our grounds are inadequate.