Bellwork 112607

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Bellwork 11/26/07

• Give a situation where an ethical proposition
  (ex Stealing is Wrong) can be both true and
  false at different times or conditions.

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Todays Objective

• I will be able to identify the basic concepts
  involved in ethical relativism

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Quick Quiz

• See what you remember
• Take out a piece of paper
• Tear it in half, give other half to a classmate
• Write down
• The Date (11/26/07)
• The Class Period
• YOUR INITIALS ONLY
• Number it 1 - 5

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Question 1

• Which is the following statement
• The North Pole is a cold place
• a. Quantitative
• b. Qualitative

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Question 2

• Which is the following statement
• The temperature outside right now is 54 degrees
  Fahrenheit.
• a. Quantitative
• b. Qualitative

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Question 3

• For a proposition to have Cognitive Meaning, it
  needs to be something that can be
• a. proven true
• b. proven false
• c. both
• d. verified

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Question 4

• If a proposition has ___________________, then it
  has meaning.
• a. Emotion
• b. Relation to your life
• c. Cognitive Meaning
• d. Importance

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Question 5

• Emotivism is the philosophy that says
• a. All ethics are separate from emotions
• b. Ethical decisions are simply expressions of
  emotions
• c. Emo music is the downfall of society
• d. Emotions sometimes influence our ethical
  decisions and expressions

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Group Activity

• Break into groups of 4-5
• Choose a Lead Person to maintain order
• Choose a Scribe to write everything down and
  report later
• You will see statements on the screen
• Everybody should have a chance to respond to them
• The scribe will write down as much as they can
• The lead person will give everyone a chance to
  talk

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• What is your response to this statement
• Murder is Wrong

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• What is your response to this statement
• Murder is sometimes OK

12

• What is your response to this statement
• Killing another person is sometimes OK

13

• What is your response to this statement
• There is no difference between Capital
  Punishment and Abortion

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Bellwork 11/28/07

• Answer the following questions
• For a proposition to have Cognitive Meaning, it
  needs to be something that can be
  __________________.
• Emotivism is the philosophy that says that
  ethical decisions are _____________.
• Are these quantitative or qualitative?
• It is currently 810 am.
• It is early in the day.

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Todays Objective

• I will be able to identify the basic concepts
  involved in ethical relativism

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What to consider

• Is this proposition true? False?
• What supports your viewpoint?
• Can this statement be universal?

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• What is your response to this statement
• Murder is Wrong

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• What is your response to this statement
• Murder is sometimes OK

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• What is your response to this statement
• Killing another person is sometimes OK

20

• What is your response to this statement
• There is no difference between Capital
  Punishment and Abortion

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What to consider

• Is this proposition true? False?
• What supports your viewpoint?
• Can this statement be universal?

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• What is your response to this statement
• Stealing is Wrong

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• What is your response to this statement
• Taking somebodys stuff is always wrong

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• What is your response to this statement
• Stealing is sometimes OK

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• What is your response to this statement
• Robin Hood stole things and hence what he did
  is wrong

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What to consider

• Is this proposition true? False?
• What supports your viewpoint?
• Can this statement be universal?

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Bellwork 11/29/07

• Think of a ethical choice that may be different
  from culture to culture or era to era.

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Todays Objective

• I will be able to identify the basic concepts
  involved in ethical relativism

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Questions to Consider

• What is the purpose of ethics?

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One suggestion

• Originally came from needs/survival
• (Wrong to steal from one of our own,
• but ok to steam from other tribes)
• Maintained to help keep order
• (Still wrong to steal from one of our own)
• Perpetuated to keep power/position/status
• (Wrong to steal from anyone)

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Questions to Consider

• So
• What is the purpose of ethics?

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Questions to Consider

• What is the difference between personal ethics
  and public ethics?
• Is there a difference?

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Questions to Consider

• Where do personal ethics come from?

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Bellwork 11/30/07

• Give an example of when your personal and public
  ethics might come into conflict with each other.

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Todays Objective

• I will be able to identify the basic concepts
  involved in ethical relativism

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New Terms

• Ethical Relativism
• Ethical Absolutism
• Cultural Relativism
• Hard Determinism
• Soft Determinism

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Ethical Relativism

• Remember Protagoras?
• Man is the measure of all things
• The philosophy that suggests that there are no
  absolute, universal or objective ethical truths.
• Instead the individual (person, community, etc.)
  is the source of ethics.
• Hence all ethics are subjective.

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Ethical Absolutism

• The opposite of Ethical Relativism
• The philosophy that suggests that ethical truths
  are independent of individual opinions, etc.
• These ethics come from a reality that we all
  share in common.
• Hence all ethics are objective.

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Bellwork 12/3/07

• Briefly describe the difference between Ethical
  Relativism and Ethical Absolutism
• Which are you more likely to be
• An Ethical Relativist or and Ethical Absolutist

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Todays Objective

• I will be able to analyze the concepts of Ethical
  Relativism and Determinism

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Important Point

• Ethical Relativism
• All ethical truth is related to you own personal
  perception
• All ethical propositions come from the individual
  (person, community, etc.)
• All ethics are completely subjective

• Ethical Absolutism
• All ethical truth is the same for everyone
• All ethical propositions come from a reality that
  is common to everyone
• All ethics are objective

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Cultural Relativism

• A form of Ethical Relativism that specifically
  states that ones ethics comes from ones culture
• Anthropology
• Behaviorist B.F. Skinner
• Each culture has its own set of goods, and what
  is good in one culture may not be good in
  another.

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Determinism

• The philosophy that says all things are
  determined by their causes
• There is no free will, only the illusion of it

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Hard Determinism

• You are determined by your external environment
• You are a product of your environment
• Genetics
• Upbringing
• Culture
• Schooling
• Etc.

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Soft Determinism

• Your choices are determined by your character
• Actually not the same thing as free will
• Your personal dispositions, attitudes, biases,
  etc. lead to the decisions you make and the
  actions you take
• Hence, you really dont have free-will to make
  choice
• You are constantly influenced sub-consciously

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Group Activity

• I will place you in groups of 4-5
• You will choose an ethical topic
• (Capital punishment, euthanasia, animal testing,
  , etc.)
• You will analyze both the Ethical Relativist side
  and the Ethical Absolutist side
• You will also look at how both Hard and Soft
  Determinism can be included in the arguments
• You will turn in your notes from your group

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Closure

• SNOWBALL FIGHT!!!