BY Abitur Ethics (eA) common mistakes
BY Abitur Ethics (eA) · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Equates a valid argument with onehaving true premises.
Logical form and factual truth aretreated as the same property.
What to do instead
Test the inference separately, then examine thepremises before claiming soundness.
Uses a philosopher's name instead of reconstructing the argument.
Recall of an authority replaces the premise-to-conclusion reasoning the question asks for.
What to do instead
State the claim, define its concepts and show why theoffered reasons are meantto support it.
Treats a social-contract model as a literal historical meeting.
A justificatory thought experiment is mistaken for a record of how every state actuallybegan.
What to do instead
Explain the theory's assumptions, problem and criterion of legitimacy before assessing its limits.
Calls any rise in total wealth Rawlsian justice.
An aggregate gain is confused with principles concerning liberties, opportunity and theleastadvantaged.
What to do instead
Specify whose prospects improve and what other conditions the theory requires.
Reduces virtue ethics to the arithmetic midpoint of any twochoices.
The mean relative to circumstances and practical wisdom is mistaken for an automatic numerical rule.
What to do instead
Explain the virtue, the context and the judgment needed, not an invented formula.
Derives a moral obligation from a fact without a normative bridge.
A description of what happens is treated as sufficient reason for what oughtto happen.
What to do instead
Make the relevant value premise visible and examine whether it is justified.
Assumes an accurate fragment can not mislead.
Literal quotation is separated from the context needed for a truthful overall impression.
What to do instead
Check what was omitted, what inference the presentation encourages and whether that inference is supported.
Treats a school ethics scenario as a universal clinical or legal instruction.
Analytical assumptions are expanded beyond thefacts and framework supplied.
What to do instead
Distinguish ethical reasoning from actual professional/legal requirements and state thelimits of the hypothetical case.