Blog 4

These terms that I am defining would be used in my final paper.

I.) Moral- of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior.(Webster)


II.) Benevolence- 1. The disposition to do good; good will; charitableness; love of mankind, accompanied with a desire to promote their happiness. "The wakeful benevolence of the gospel." Chalmers. 2. An act of kindness; good done; charity given. 3. A species of compulsory contribution or tax, which has sometimes been illegally exacted by arbitrary kings of England, and falsely represented as a gratuity(self knowledge)

III.) Ethics-also called moral philosophy involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior. Ethics is then broken down into three general categories: met ethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics.(Fieser)

IV.) Religion-is a set of beliefs and practices, often centered upon specific supernatural and moral claims about reality, the cosmos, and human nature, and often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction(Wikipedia)

V.) Utilitarians hold that one principle sums up all of our moral duties. The ultimate moral principle is that we should always do whatever will produce the greatest possible benefit for everyone who will be affected by our action. The “principle of utility” is a combination of three ideas:
1. 1)We should be guided by the consequences of our actions-we should do whatever
can be reasonably expected to have the best outcome.
2)We should give the greatest possible weight to the benefits and harms that
would be caused.
3)The principle of utility assumes that each individual’s welfare is equally
as important as anyone else’s. (Rachels)


Work Citied

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moral
http://www.selfknowledge.com/9171.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion
Fieser, James. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ethics, 2006 http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/ethics.htm
Rachels, James, Problems from Philosophy. Pg. 179-180. 1st Ed. New York: McGraw- Hill, 2005.