Philosophy the Power of Ideas - Assignment Example

Compare and evaluate Peter Abelard notion of moral intent with that of Heloise. According to Abelard, an act is considered immoral when a person intentionally commits an immoral act. Heloise, also agreed that an act was immoral when the intent was immoral. However, Abelard further stated that an thinking or doing an immoral act without thinking would not be an immoral act. An immoral act is a combined form of action, intent and consciousness while Heloise classified an act as immoral just based on the thought behind the action. 2. Explain and evaluate the view of Aristotles Virtue ethics. According to Aristotle, an ethical act can be determined by evaluating the kind of character that one would developed as a result of a particular act. For example, when a person has to choose between going to war or staying at home during a war, he has to choose what kind of character he would develop when choosing either of these acts. He could either become brave or be called a coward. While most moral philosophers would ask what I would have done, Aristotle claims that one should ask what kind of character I want to develop. 3. Explain and evaluate St. Augustines notion of evil. St. Augustine stated that God is pure goodness. Everything good and real comes from God. According to Augustine, evil does not exist on its own and that there are two kinds of evil. Natural evil is the absence of reality and since God is all that is real, natural evil is the absence of God. Moral evil is turning away from God and his teaching. 4. Explain and evaluate Platos view on ethics, specifically the structure of the soul and of the state. Plato advocated that the highest morality is achieving the highest well-being of humans. An individual should have the required virtues to achieve this morality. These include intelligence, courage and other such qualities. The state should also function as a soul. It should have the unity of the soul by ensuring unity from the different individuals in the state. For this, he propagated the developed on three classes: the craftsmen, the soldiers and the governing. Each class has its own function and it should work for the well-being of the state through its designated virtues. When the different classes serve their functions properly, the state is in a state of well-being which ensures morality within the entire state. 5. Explain and evaluate Jeremy Bethams utilitarianism. According to Jeremy Betham, an act could only be considered moral if it was useful. In order to evaluate whether an act is useful or not, the consequences resulting from the action should be analyzed. If the resulting consequence leads to happiness, then the act can be classified as moral. The aim should be to achieve the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Betham denied the fact that morality should be based on following natural rights. He chose happiness over natural rights. 6. Explain and evaluate John Stuart Mills utilitarianism. John Stuart Mill was inspired by Bethams theory of utilitarianism and stated that morality is achieving general happiness. General happiness is achieved by providing the greatest amount of personal liberty to the highest number of people so that they could achieve their happiness. By personal liberty, Mill was referring to the freedom of speech, action, thought and opinion. Mill took Bethams utilitarianism further by adding the intellectual component. He said that the happiness of intelligent beings were more important that the happiness of less intelligent beings; meaning that the happiness of humans was more important than that of animals. 7. Explain and evaluate David Humes ethical view known as sentimentalism. David Hume claimed that right and wrong in a situation can be judged based on the consequential emotions. Hume believed that man was essentially good and if left to their own natural affections and passions, man would commit acts that are ethically right. He relied on emotions to construct the logical course of action. 8. Explain and evaluate Kants ethical theory, including the notion of the categorical imperative. Kant based his ethical theory on logic as the main guide for determining what is right and what is wrong. Kant claimed that the categorical imperative guides a moral truth. It is an unconditional moral rule or command. This rule should be universal and absolute. This means that it remains applicable for every human being and if all human beings cannot logically follow this rule, then it is not morally right. Kant further stated that an end can be justified by the means. It is not necessary that the final outcome be morally right but if the means were justified on the basis of the categorical imperative, then the end is also justified. 9. Explain and evaluate Nietzsches master and slave moralities. Nietzsche classified moralities into two types: master and slave moralities. Master morality is the morality of the people in power such as nobles while the slave morality is the morality of the common people. Master morality values pride, bravery, strength etc. and considers weak, timid, coward as bad. The master morality considers morality on the basis of whether the action has good consequences for his own self. The slave morality, on the other hand, distinguishes acts as good or evil. An evil act is one committed by those in power and slave morality often has a pessimistic outlook towards life. Morality is defined on the usefulness of an act. 10. Compare, explain and evaluate the view of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke regarding the state of nature and natural rights. Hobbes stressed that man is a social animal and this compels him to live within a society. Man cannot exist without a society. A society is mainly peaceful even though it becomes unsecure at times but the natural state is peace. Locke argued the opposite by claiming that man is not a social animal and society only exists because of power in the state. Because man is not social, therefore when forced to live in a state, conflict and tensions are normal. Hobbes, on natural rights, said that man knows the difference between right and wrong. Locke again had the opposite view and said that natural rights were not objective and therefore a clear distinction can never be made against right and wrong. 11. Explain and evaluate Jean-Jacques Rousseaus notion of natural man and civil man. Rousseau states that man naturally has a love for his self. Along with this a natural man has compassion which compels him to become part of a society. It is through his own free will that man developed the first social contract which led to the origin of the civil man. The civil man has voluntarily made himself bound to the rules of the society and he has the right to overturn this rules in collective will with the rest of the society. 12. Compare and contrast the Lockes labor theory of property with the Marxs labor theory of value. Lockes labor theory of property states that man has the right to property but he does not have the right to equal property. Some people would always have no property than others. Marx labor theory of value states that property is shared right of every individual and it belongs to the community. 13. Explain and evaluate John Rawls notion of the veil of ignorance and the original position John Rawl uses the original position and the veil of ignorance to define a moral truth. Rawl asserts that a moral choice can only be made from an original position. An original position is one where the judge is behind the veil of ignorance. The veil of ignorance is presents so as to make the judge impartial by robbing him of knowledge regarding the ethnicity, social status, race, gender. etc of the concerned parties. 14. Explain and evaluate Robert Nozicks notion of the night-watchman state within the context of his entitlement concept of social justice. Nozick stated that only a minimal state is justified. This consists of a state that only protects the citizens from force and fraud. Such a state is known as the night-watchman state. This view is based on the entitlement concept of social justice that says a person has a right over property that he earned or acquired without force and fraud. 15. Explain and evaluate Martha Nussbauns capabilities approach to social justice. Marthau Nussbauns capabilities approach to social justice propagates desirable outcomes over just procedures. The aim of social justice should be to provide capabilities to the people. These include dignity, freedom, health, safety etc. . Work Cited Barnett, Dan, Philosophy: The Power of Ideas, 6th Edition, Mc Graw Hill, 2008, Print. Read More