ETHICS MIDTERM Flashcards

the tendency to act even if the act will have no result; false idea that improvement will occur

ex: firing coaches

an action performed by a human who DID NOT have freedom AKA No moral responsibility (ex: sleepwalking actions, toddler shooting someone)

Most virtuous people do everything along the middle ground. Not too virtuous or too little. -the mean between extremes

virtue makes the person and the person's work good

What kind of person do I want to be?

Assumes people usually make rational decision based off of cost-benefit calculations, people act based off of punishment and regard. Later funds cognitive dissonance theory

AKA -- what will give one the best personal outcome

Idea that people are less likely to be good samaritan or jump to action while in group settings

ex:
- Deletha Ward (bridge)
- Coin/Pencil Experiment

Dr. Eberhardt mentions that humans have a natural tendency to make categorizations. Categorizations are used in memory and processing information. when it comes o people, there are inferior and superior people

Expressing anger or behaving aggressively to get rid of anger (research says this doesn't really work; people often feel worse afterwards)

recognizing contradiction to our thoughts and actions

discomfort when our beliefs, attitudes or behaviors conflict

we are changed by what we do

external effect (tiffany: change the world around us)

internal effect (justin lee to liz: changes us)

smoking despite knowing that it causes cancer

Thought 1: smoking is cancer causing
Thought 2: I am addicted and love the nicotine

Result: Person smokes and uses self-justification
Reasoning: People act out in hopes of solving the cognitive dissonance.

When one's memory fills in false information to help connect the voids from memory fragmentations.

Correlation : something that occurs in tandem with another but isn't typically the reason for the other occurrence. Simply a coincidence.

Cause: actual reasoning behind something

ex 1: Malaria
ex 2: autism cause

when people selectively seek out information that bolsters their own previously accepted view.

Example: Policy proposal acceptance based on party lines.

conscience is the level of choice

3 Levels of Conscience:
1. synderesis (capacity, typically not noticed/seen)
2. practical reasoning (process)
3. Decision

conscience doesn't make things right/wrong

- conscience sets personal standards as moral right/wrong

be responsible in a moral sense for the actions performed, must have knowledge about what they are doing and freedom.

ex: hitman

A picks up a gun and kills person B (innocent)
-To be responsible in a moral sense for the action they perform, persons must also have _________:
*motive
*mental illness or disability
*knowledge about gun
*heat of moment (crimes of passion)
*element of compulsion (them being threatened to shoot)
*age

when you think one way, but experience another

ex 1: Lee's experience at concert
- sees guy but with Liz

if i learn something wrong, even if I know its wrong, its hard to get it out of your head and correct it.

process of changing habits, or moral actions

a change in character

- very difficult to do esp when faced with stress

a story that one uses to keep others from suspecting the truth.

ex: Justin Lee's cover to maintain his "heterosexuality"

a. In elevators, actors would drop stuff and see who would help them/offer to pick it up
b. Found that 40% of the time if it was just 2 people that the one would help
c. Decreased to 15% when a larger group was present

Experiment shows how hard it is to correct misinformation once someone has acquired, processed, and accepted it.

People thought factory started and people thought it was arson. It wasn't arson and they were told this but people still remembered that being the cause

definition: The state of being limited or having limitations. Basic aspect of what it means to be human.

General Finitude:
- All people born in certain places and time. Culture of one own's
- All humans have a set of experiences that shape perception of reality, can be positive or negative

Particular Finitude:
- UNCONTROLLABLE finitude, such as mental illness & trauma
- Doesn't last a lifetime, not everyone experiences this

example of action bias

- no actual proven affect to benefit team

The ability of a person to make a decision

- knowledge is necessary for moral responsibility

wrong action for which I had enough knowledge and freedom for moral responsibility, opposite of actus hominus

- a two year old does not yet have formal sin

People revise their memory to make them appear more more successful than they actually were.

Example: the study skill students who convinced themselves the study program was beneficial even though it truly wasn't

goal of Christian moral life

Feeling guilty (conscience) isn't the same as being guilty (example: sociopaths)

"fixed", automatic behaviors

causes them to act differently in occasions of mass chaos (theory by Vendantam)

- Peoples decisions aren't always a product of conscious, deliberate choice
- Ancestral to go back to group survival mentality.

action performed by a human who had enough knowledge and freedom for moral responsibility

Abnormally high body temperature

- Fatal Distraction essay by Weingarten

people tend to believe information to be correct after repeated exposure, even if it is false

something sounds more plausible if you've heard it before

attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner

model definition: assumes that public misperceptions are due to a lack of knowledge and that the solution is more information. (model=wrong)

- Idea that too much information actually is worse. There is a happy medium amount of information for someone to believe something to be true.

ignorance that cannot be overcome with reasonable effort

ex: knowledge or lack there of about a religion (takes a lot of effort to "understand" a religion, not an easy effort)

justification for violence, alternative for violence, consequences, ability to carry out violence

- gift of fear

historical example of people confusing correlation and cause

Issue: People believed that bad air quality was the reason behind Malaria

- However, there was just a correlation to bad smells, hot temps, and additional water. Water environment in hot temps created perfect recipe for mosquito infestations which actually carried Malaria around

Causation: mosquito carrying mosquitos.

refers to Aristotle and his idea that qualities (moral virtues) are most appropriate when they occur at the "mean"

Our memory only stores fragments that we put together to make a large, full context memory/story.

- Remember stuff that aligns with the original "picture/story" simply memories that fill the gaps. Memories are remembered to fit into the large picture of ones life.

Tavris and Aronson on Memory

Tavris and Aronson idea that humans often construct their memories to justify their actions and make themselves look the best.

ex: grad student

Had participants deliver levels of shock that were life threatening (⅔ did so)

Why did they do this?:
i. Listen to authority figure
ii. "The experiment requires that you continue"

- Experiment was a demonstration of long-term results of self-justification

long-term results of self-justification & pyramid of choice

- once people started with the small decision to use minimal voltage there decisions culminated

- shows how ordinary people can do immoral and harmful things through chain acts

Objective morality - focus is on the rightness or wrongness of the action itself
Subjective significance - what the action says about the person who performs it

Ex: Discussions of moral responsibility
Think toddler shooting someone action vs subjective significance. (actus hominis)

One is responsible for an action as long as it happened. No other reasoning is assessed.

Ancient Greek

1. Oedipus Model (ancient greek)
- one is responsible for action NO MATTER the circumstances

2. Continuum Model (Common Model)
- morality is a spectrum
- must have knowledge of background information

the tendency to recall faces of one's own race more accurately than faces of other races

ex: Dr. Eberhart as a child in Ohio

Action vs Intent

ex: Toddler Shoots Someone (actus hominis...child did'nt have freedom to know/take moral responsibility)

Physical Responsibility= yes

Moral Responsibility = no
- the toddler didn't know any better

a level of conscience

conscience as process

1. Culture and family play a large impact in response to moral problems
2. "Morally gifted" ; age and maturity play large role in moral evaluation

A: Cognitive dissonance can be used positively or negatively.

Negative Example: If I self-justify and harm someone else (the bully example) to get rid of dissonance

Positive Example: dissonance creates a wake up call that I need to change

humans are finite.

helps us to distinguish the mean from the 2 extremes

wisdom, caution, or restraint

appropriateness

Idea that two people whose ideas were originally very close may grow farther apart as they make subsequent choices that reinforce the original choice.

Example: Cheating vs. non-cheating students

- Two students may not remember their original position after they have made the choices that led them to/not to cheat

pyramid of choice

refers to growth in the image and likeness of God (moral development)

becoming holy through God's grace

Catholic Term

Same meaning, two words from different religions

refers to growth (or failure to grow) in the image and likeness of God (moral development). CAN ONLY BE DONE with God's help because of human finitude.

Theosis: Orthodox term

Sanctification: Catholic Term

depends on which Christian sect you ask

Christian Yes: Catholics
Christian No:

sociopaths... have a good way of putting on a show that they/everything is perfectly normal

its not the personal action but the thoughts behind the action we question

a cycle of sin, violence, and injustice on a large scale that is caused by individual sins culmination overtime

person that does not have a conscience or ability to develop

unwillingness to let go

- giving up - losing everything you have done to get there

idea that I've already invested so much in something (time, money, effort), that I can't walk away without losing my investment.

- influences over conscience affects practical behavior

a level of conscience

conscience as capacity

1. The capacity to understand there's a difference between right or wrong.
2. Understanding that right or wrong exists, answer is capable of understanding

faith, hope, love

founder of theological virtues

refers to growth (or failure to grow) in the image and likeness of God (moral development). CAN ONLY BE DONE with God's help because of human finitude.

Orthodox Term

the ideas, beliefs, and attitudes about what is important that help guide the way you live

Ignorance that is purposely created.
- things we dont want to know
can be overcome by ordinary diligence.

virtues= positive

- make the person and the persons work good - aristole

vices = negative

attitudes, affections, and habits

- standing up video

Point was that people are prone to copy/follow the behaviors of others without information or reasoning.

In Waiting Room Experiment, whenever a sound chimed, group within waiting room would stand up. New member to room ended up following their action of standing up without solid reasoning for why they were doing it

The people that learned the behavior then became the "leader/teacher"

People don't want to feel left out or misplaced

a. Stamp Man = sociopath that devoted life to stealing stamps from post office. ALWAYS caught. stops behaviors with age because learns that they don't like jail

b. Skip (Skip's Mother, sister, and wife)
Skip = sociopath, no conscience. Brilliant individual with twisted mind. Manipulates others, tortured animals, thought about parents death calculations.
Skip's Mother: pretended that Skip was normal, didn't want to accept truth; "do you really need to do that to her life (on marrying Juliette) WHAT WOULD THIS BE CALLED?
Sister: Skip exploded frog in front of her
Wife, Juliette: to be "attractive and respectful on his arm"

c. Skip's Secretary: Skip broke her arm in anger

d. Student from Columbine: sociopath bomber, very good at manipulation. NOT socially awkward.

A. Tiffany Alexander: Bystander on bridge during beating of Deletha

B. Deletha Word: beaten on bridge by Martell. jumped to death. No group action to help her

C. Martell Welch: Beat Deletha, tried and found guilty

D. Will DeRiso: escaped world trade center. Followed friend, went against group. Had urge to go back to floor because that was where the group was.

writing about self

- wrote about childhood Christian experience as homosexual man

a. Brian: friend of Lee that comes out as bisexual

b. Liz: long-time friend of Lee's b4 they started dating
- realized Justin was gay, gave him book.
- went to theater together

c. Justin's father: conversation with father about "crush" on blonde Suzanne

d. the speaker at the Ex-Gay Conference: claimed that gayness was a result of overbearing mom and distant father.
- Justin DID NOT agree, didn't take easy answer.

A. Mike and Jackie Fedder: Couple that owned travel agency together. Met Tommy via mutual acquaintance. Tommy wanted travel job but was overly persistant.

B. Tommy: over-persistant man looking for a job from Fedder's. Wouldn't take no for answer. Eventually got the idea when Fedder's ignored him. Asked Mike for a letter of recommendation.

leaving kids in cars

a. Lyn Balfour:
- went to court in support of Miles
- offers to carry baby of Harrison's who lost their adopted child
- Lyn's son Bryce died @ fertility clinic parking lot
- husband in army

b. Miles Harrison:
- forgot to drop child off at daycare before work...in car for 9 hours
- criminally charged

a. Dr. Eberhardt's story in junior high:

b. the police officer who was following himself:
- Police officer had an incident where he believed someone looked suspicious so he started tailing them into large glass building
- He turned around to confront the person and saw the reflection of himself through the mirrored wall.
- Office was tailing and profiling itself, a black male.
- shows impact of implicit bias as a social sin

c. Dr. Eberhardt's son on the plane:
- son says black guy on plane looks like his dad but probably has a gun
- "I hope this guy doesn't rob the plane"
- Illustrates that social sin is embedded into society as to where no one can truly escape the bounds. If someone at such a young age can feel it, it shows the depth to which Social Sin reaches. systemic racism

- wrote the memory chapter about how mind isn't concrete as many tend to believe.

a. Mrs. Keech: woman that made followers believe that the end of the world was coming. Didn't happen "their faith stopped it". Followers had greater belief and trust in her because realization otherwise is hard to accept
NOTE: behaviorism doesn't explain the followers irrational behavior

b. Leon Festinger: developed idea of Cognitive Dissonance

- psychologist that wrote information about Mrs. Keech group who thought the world was going to end.

Festinger explained this all-too-human need to justify past actions as driven by something he termed "cognitive dissonance"

c. Ben Franklin and the book: idea that if you do a favor for an "enemy" they end up liking you more.
- Franklin borrowed a book from a political opponent and they became good friends.

d. Nick and his Mercedes:

impulsively bought new car and show off to his friends convincing himself that the car is more safe than his friends to make his purchase feel validated

e. Thurber's "The Wonderful O": Recalled vivid memory where father read her a book
- later in adulthood, found out that book was published after father's death
- CONFABULATION

f. *professor's memory of his decision to attend
graduate school out of state:* example of justifying memory change

g. Holly Ramona: believe inaccurate information despite not having any mental deficiency (pyramid of choice); power of persuasion & justification, imagination inflation, memory open to suggestion from therapist

h. Bruno Grosjean: convinced he was a holocaust survivor
- pyramid of choice

Pyramid of Choice

convinced by therapist that father sexually abused her

- wasn't true
- father sued therapist and won
- holly REMAINED convinced she had been sexually abused

Why: by believing abuse occurred it helped her make sense as to why she was suffering (Eating Disorder and depression)

- one good deed --> more likely to do another

if you ask someone to do a favor for you, their opinion of you may actually improve

ex: Tommy manipulating and asking Mike for letter of rec

Follower of Jesus who helped spread Christianity throughout the Roman world.

1. Came up with the idea of ... 3 theological virtues
- faith, hope, and love

2. Paul's Letters (New Testament) had the first mention of conscience in bible

conscience: noun; refers to the "right and wrong" distinguisher

Conscious: adjective; people can be aware, cognizant or unaware (as in asleep)

1. synderesis
2. practical reasoning
3. judgement/decision

conscience doesnt make things right or wrong

- sets personal standards moral right/wrong

Greek philosopher.

- idea of what a virtue is, the middle ground

Virtues:
1. make "the person and the person's work, good"
- virtuous person has developed a habit that has improved themselves
2. virtue is the middle ground between the two extremes

Gave the 3 Theological Virtues, introduced the idea (hope, faith, and love taken from Paul)

- Theological virtues are gifts from God.

can NEVER be in excess

Becker's criteria for deciding whether a person who makes a threat actually poses one
- Most people who make threats don't mean it.

J ustification
A lternatives
C onsequences
A bilty

understanding of what it means to be a human being

* All major Christian sects agree is that human being are created in the image and likeness of God*

NO

If you reach adulthood and you are capable of moral agency, you will develop a character. Some people spend a lot of time thinking about it; others don't. But either way, the person will develop specific moral habits and values.