Reminder….WW4 due on Friday

PHIL 2525Lec 24

Final Words...

artwork by Jenn Worden

Mark Twain…

• Education is the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty.

Final Exam1:30 PM April 16th

Written Work 40Attendance 10Participation 10Midterm 10Final Exam 30

By way of review...

Exam advice…

Review chapters 7 through 13. (Few direct questions about the first six chapters, although that knowledge might help you answer some questions more effectively.)

Review lectures 13 to 24. (Lectures, PowerPoints, films and supplementary readings)

Exam advice…

Reread the chapters and annotate your book Review the PowerPoints Re-write your notes Make yourself a cheatsheet (can’t use,

though)

Get a good night’s sleep

By way of review: Moral theories

• Moral Skepticism (Protagoras)• Moral Absolutism (Plato and religion)• Virtue Theory (Aristotle)• Divine Command (St. Augustine)• Natural Law (St. Thomas)• Social Contract (Hobbes and Locke)• Utilitarianism (Bentham and Mill)• Deontology (Kant)• Ethical Egoism (Ayn Rand)• Ethics of Care (Gilligan responding to Kohlberg)• Virtue Theory (Elizabeth Anscombe)

Moral Theories: We should be good because…

• it will make living together easier (Hobbes and Locke)

• it will increase general well-being (Bentham and Mill)

• it’s the right thing (Kant)

• it makes us better people (Virtue Theory)

• it supports our human relationships (Ethics of Care)

Moral Theories: Lingering questions...

Whose rights matter most?

Which rights trump others?

What about the lesser of two evils?

Do the ends justify the means?

Is impartiality strictly necessary?

Review the readings...

The ones we took up in class are the mostimportant....• The Singer solution to world poverty• Garrett Hardin’s lifeboat analogy• Omelas• Tuskegee• Sherrice Iverson• The experience machine• Etc.

Review the PowerPoints...

But remember...They don’t outline the lecture...They illustrate what is illustratable...

• Note the quotations...• Note the approximate timeframe...• Note the publications...

Taking the big piece…SOCIAL MECHANISM

When people alwaystry to takethe very smallestpiece of cakehow can it alsoalways bethat that's the onethat's left for me?

- Piet Hein

Protagoras: Moral Skeptic

• We are alone here and we are our own responsibility

Damon HorowitzA Moral Operating System

The Battleground?

ClonesDesigner babiesSpare parts babiesDeaf babies for deaf

parents

Natural Selection

• Carl Sagan

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RLU4-kySow&feature=related

Unnatural Selection?

• Who decides the future of the human race?

Deaf child? A moral choice?

Ethics and embryology – should deaf parents be allowed to

choose a deaf child?• So, riddle me this: a deaf couple want a second child,

and because of the woman’s age they’ll probably need to use in-vitro fertilisation techniques. No problem so far … until you find that the parents want to be able to select for a deaf child, and the UK government’s recent embryology bill will not allow them to do so.

• This is a textbook ethical dilemma, but it’s the sort of thing that advances in reproductive technology and genetic engineering are going to make more commonplace.

Jean-Paul Sartre Freedom and morality…

We are condemned to be free.

There is not a single one of our acts which does not at the same time create an image of man as we think he ought to be. To choose to be this or that is to affirm at the same time the value of what we choose.

Sartre’s most famous quotation:

“Existence precedes essence”

You had to swear that you did these things…

• I gave bread to the hungry• I gave water to the thirsty• I gave clothing to the naked

Is there moral progress?

James Rachels (1941-2003)

Saying goodbye...

A few things I know…

• You will not be done with philosophy until philosophy is done with you…

• Expect philosophy to bite you on the ankle for years to come…

• Remember that philosophy hides in plain sight everywhere.

But you have to pay attention…

Attendance question

• Tell this baby…

• what you gleaned from this class…

• give him a leg up in 20 years…

• Thanks for listening…

• Hope you enjoyed...

• See you on the 16th...

• oh...and thanks for all the fish...