DSST Ethics in America key terms

The view that moral right and wrong depend on the norms of a particular society or culture, so no universal standard exists for judging practices across cultures.

The position that some moral principles apply to all people everywhere regardless of culture, religion, or custom, allowing cross-cultural moral criticism.

Any theory holding that moral judgments are true only relative to a person, group, or framework rather than absolutely, denying objective moral facts.

The claim that at least some moral statements are true or false independently of what anyone believes or feels, providing a standard beyond opinion.

The view that certain actions are always wrong (or always right) regardless of circumstances or consequences, leaving no room for exceptions.

The metaethical view that moral statements merely report a speaker's personal approval or disapproval rather than describing any independent fact about the world.

A noncognitivist theory, associated with A. J. Ayer, holding that moral utterances express feelings or attitudes and are neither true nor false.

R. M. Hare's theory that moral language is primarily action-guiding, so calling something good commends or prescribes it universally rather than describing a fact.

A consequentialist theory judging actions right when they produce the greatest overall balance of good over harm for everyone affected, not just the agent.

The family of theories holding that the moral status of an act depends solely on its outcomes, so intentions and rules matter only through their results.

A duty-based approach holding that some acts are right or wrong in themselves, independent of consequences, and that moral rules bind us absolutely or prima facie.

Kant's supreme moral principle: act only on maxims you could will as universal law, and treat humanity always as an end, never merely as a means.

A command conditional on a desired end (if you want X, do Y), which Kant distinguished from moral requirements that bind regardless of what anyone wants.

The test of asking whether the principle behind an action could consistently be adopted by everyone, a hallmark of Kantian ethics and of prescriptivist moral reasoning.

The maxim that one should treat others as one wishes to be treated, a widely shared reciprocity principle found in many religious and secular traditions.

An approach, rooted in Aristotle, that focuses on the character traits of a good person rather than on rules or consequences when evaluating conduct.

Aristotle's term for human flourishing or living well, the ultimate goal achieved through exercising virtue and reason over a complete life.

Aristotle's idea that moral virtue lies between two vices of excess and deficiency, a midpoint adjusted to the particular situation and person.

Practical wisdom, the virtue of judging what a situation calls for, which guides the application of general virtues to concrete circumstances.

The view, associated with Aquinas, that objective moral standards are built into human nature and discoverable by reason, independent of any ruler's decree.

The metaethical claim that an action is morally right because God commands it, raising the Euthyphro question of whether goodness depends on God's will.

Plato's dilemma: is something loved by the gods because it is holy, or holy because it is loved? It tests whether morality is arbitrary or independent of divine will.

The view that moral and political obligations arise from an implicit agreement among people to accept limits in exchange for security and mutual benefit.

A thought experiment describing life without government or shared rules, used by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau to explain why people consent to authority.

Rawls's device for choosing fair principles: decide behind a barrier that hides your talents, status, and identity, so you cannot rig rules to favor yourself.

John Rawls's theory that just institutions secure equal basic liberties and arrange inequalities to benefit the least advantaged members of society.

Rawls's rule that social and economic inequalities are justified only if they work to the greatest benefit of the worst-off group in society.

The branch of justice concerned with how benefits, burdens, and resources should be shared among members of a community, and on what grounds.

The theory that punishment should match the wrongdoing, giving offenders what they deserve rather than aiming primarily at deterrence or rehabilitation.

The state's infliction of death as a penalty for crime, debated through retributive, deterrent, and human-dignity arguments about whether it is ever justified.

The capacity and right of persons to govern themselves and make informed choices, grounding requirements of consent and limits on paternalistic interference.

Interfering with someone's choices for their own good, justified only in narrow cases such as protecting those who cannot decide for themselves.

Voluntary agreement to a procedure or research study given after a person understands the relevant facts, risks, and alternatives and is free to refuse.

The principle that human life has intrinsic value and must not be directly and intentionally destroyed, often invoked in debates over euthanasia and abortion.

Intentionally ending a person's life to relieve suffering, distinguished as voluntary, nonvoluntary, or involuntary and as active or passive.

The principle that an action with a good intended effect and a foreseen bad side effect may be permissible when the bad effect is not the means or aim.

The method of resolving moral problems by comparing hard cases to settled paradigm cases and reasoning by analogy rather than from abstract theory.

Joseph Fletcher's approach holding that the only absolute is love, and that particular circumstances, not fixed rules, should determine what love requires.

The phenomenon that factors beyond a person's control affect how much praise or blame they deserve, a problem for theories tying blame strictly to choice.

The condition of being answerable for one's actions, typically requiring that the person acted knowingly and freely rather than under compulsion or ignorance.