INTRO TO ETHICS 2

[@evaliebermann-bragard3066]

Dr. Alvaro’s lecture on ethics really got me thinking about the way different philosophies approach morality. I was especially drawn to Kant’s idea that some things, like human dignity, have intrinsic worth and aren’t just about exchange or “price.” His perspective on respecting people as ends in themselves felt refreshing, emphasizing the importance of treating individuals with genuine respect. Aristotle’s concept of eudaimonia also stood out to me, focusing on the idea of flourishing through virtues that make us better people. This feels very personal and introspective, especially compared to utilitarianism, which seems more like an ethical guide focused on maximizing hapiness for everyone. Dr. Alvaro did a great job explaining how these different approaches offer unique ways to look at what it means to live morally, balancing our individual growth with the impact we have on society. Eva Bragards

[@TIFFANYTHOMAS-es6zs]

Dr. Alvaro’s lecture got me thinking about how different philosophies approach morality. I really liked Kant’s idea of respecting people as ends in themselves-seeing their worth beyond any “price” or exchange value. Aristotle’s take on flourishing through virtue felt more personal, like a guide to becoming a better person, while utilitarianism seems more focused on maximizing happiness for everyone. Each view adds a unique layer to what it means to live ethically, balancing our personal growth with the impact we have on others.

[@MissCurlyMane]

Kant's philosophy resonated with me. I agree that morality should appeal to universality. The example of the golden rule is an excellent example of how "Treat others how you would like to be treated" in the case of a masochist doesn't necessarily always apply, and thus cannot be used universally. This is why I agree with Kant's approach which does entail some degree of treating others how we would like to be treated, but goes on further to entail other requirements, such that considers our impact; and ensures that how we would like to be treated would be beneficial not only to ourselves, but, on a larger scale, all of humanity. Zenia McLeod

[@BRIANCAMACHO-c3d]

While covering different viewpoints from some of the major philosophers throughout history, Aristotle's view on virtue and happiness was the most interesting part for me because of how he believed that everything we do is in pursuit of producing something good. According to him, there must be something supremely good that we aspire for. Health and knowledge are intrinsically valuable because we want to be healthy and smart for their own sake. In Machiavellian ethics, the value of something is determined by how well it performs its function. For humans, Aristotle emphasized the importance of virtue and balance/temperance. Also, Bentham's theory stated that pleasure is the only motivator for humans, breaking down quantifiable pleasures into 6 forms or factors of decision making. On the other hand, Kant believed that humans have intrinsic value above any price and actions could be wrong without negative consequences. He also talked about hypothetical and categorical imperatives. The golden mean is different for each individual, and there are also religious morality, care ethics, natural ethics, intuitionism, and contract theory. -Brian Camacho

[@jessiecarrera5668]

I really enjoyed learning about Kant and his philosophy. In his perspective, Kant distinguishes between things that have a "price" and those that possess "dignity." Objects with a price can be exchanged for something equivalent, while those with dignity are invaluable and beyond any such exchange. Kant asserts that human beings possess intrinsic worth and dignity due to their rational nature, a quality that sets them apart from everything else. He emphasizes that people have desires and goals, which are unique because only humans have the capacity for rational thought, making choices, and determining their objectives guided by reason. This intrinsic worth and rationality make individuals valuable "above all price" in Kant's philosophy.

[@AKSHITAPINAPATY]

Your explanation of Aristotle's philosophy of morality and happiness, as well as Utilitarianism, is quite accurate. Aristotle's concept of eudaimonia, often translated as "happiness" or "flourishing," is indeed central to his ethical philosophy. He believed that the ultimate goal of human life is to achieve eudaimonia, and this can be accomplished through the cultivation of moral virtues. According to Aristotle, these moral virtues include qualities like courage, honesty, generosity, and many others. Virtuous behavior, he argued, leads to a state of flourishing and happiness.Utilitarianism, on the other hand, is a moral theory that emphasizes the importance of maximizing happiness or pleasure, not just in terms of quantity but also quality. It was popularized by philosophers like Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. The basic idea is that the right action is the one that produces the greatest amount of overall happiness or pleasure and minimizes pain or unhappiness. This theory takes a consequentialist approach, meaning it judges actions by their outcomes.One of the key principles of Utilitarianism is the consideration of the consequences of one's actions on all individuals affected by them. This includes not only the person performing the action but also all others impacted by it. The aim is to maximize the collective well-being and minimize suffering. Utilitarianism often involves calculating and comparing the potential outcomes of different actions to determine which one leads to the greatest overall happiness.Both Aristotle's eudaimonia and Utilitarianism offer different perspectives on how to lead a morally good and happy life. While Aristotle focuses on individual character development and virtues, Utilitarianism takes a broader view of ethics, emphasizing the consequences of actions on society as a whole. These two approaches to ethics provide valuable insights into the complexities of moral decision-making and human well-being.-Akshita Pinapaty

[@jasonparedes9234]

The Golden Rule is a concept i learned from a very young age. I always believed in the saying "treat others how you would want to be treated". I believe this to be true as the way you treat others will affect how your perceived and then treated by others. Kant believed in the rule and added that what lacked was the idea of the many perspectives of the many cultures around the globe. Something that might be perceived as positive and good might be perceived opposite in another culture. This would then question the idea of how your intentions might not reciprocate if the intention is seen as something bad. Maybe in some cultures the intentions are different which is why we really need to understand the perspectives of the people around us. - Jason Paredes

[@ElisaBlackman]

I think it's really interesting how Aristotle and utilitarianism seem to differ in their focus. While Aristotle is all about pursuing what's inherently virtuous within us to achieve well-being, utilitarianism shifts that lens towards maximizing the good for everyone. It makes me think about how different these approaches feel in real life like, Aristotle’s idea of eudaimonia seems more introspective, centered on personal growth and finding meaning in how we live our lives, while utilitarianism feels more like an ethical calculator, trying to figure out what action would produce the most happiness for the most people. -Elisa Blackman

[@Vanessa-Castro]

Dr. Alvaro continues the lesson with virtue ethics and the comparison between function and virtue and how that relates to the function for us, as humans. Afterward he talked about utilitarianism, which is a family of ethical theories to maximize well being for individuals. We also looked into Benthams Hedonistic Calculus on what criteria is needed to measure please and pain. - Vanessa Castro

[@chelseasiguachi4843]

The take away from this video explains the Aristotles philosophy on virtue and happiness was strongly interesting believing that doing what we do in pursuit of something good for ourselves or to the world something we all aspire for. He also believes that a human life has goal and can be achieve through practice. Professor Dr. Alvaro shows Utilitarianism are thought that judge an action is right or wrong from the out come of results. - Chelsea Siguachi

[@ESTHERCHOHyewon]

In this video Dr. Alvaro explains utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a philosophical school of thought that judges whether an action is right or wrong by the results it brings. Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, also prioritized human happiness and ethical morals. The video not only elucidates the core tenets of utilitarianism but also invites viewers to contemplate the ethical significance of their actions in the pursuit of collective well-being. Aristotle's insights a truly enriching and thought-provoking experience for those seeking a deeper understanding of ethics and philosophy. - Esther Cho

[@AbdullaAlmansoub]

I enjoyed Dr. Alvaros's discussion of deontological ethics, which centers around respecting rational persons and following categorical imperatives. The provided examples by Dr. Alvaro illustrated the concepts of perfect and imperfect duties and emphasized the importance of universalizability in determining moral obligations. -Abdulla Almansoub

[@JaydahMoody]

Aristotle's philosophy of morality and happiness is based on the concept of eudaimonia, which translates to "happiness" or "flourishing." According to Aristotle, achieving eudaimonia is the ultimate goal of human life and can be attained through the practice of virtuous behavior. He believed that moral virtues such as courage, honesty, and generosity are essential for achieving eudaimonia. The video also explains Utilitarianism as a moral theory that happiness should not only be maximized in quantity but also in quality. According to Utilitarianism, the right action is the one that produces the greatest amount of overall happiness or pleasure, and the wrong action is the one that produces the greatest amount of overall unhappiness or pain. This theory emphasizes the importance of considering the consequences of one's actions on all individuals affected by them rather than just the individual performing the action. - Jaydah Moody

[@JASMINEGRAMS]

The most interesting part of this video to me was Aristotle’s view on virtue and happiness which is that “everything we do, we do because we have a goal which is to produce something good, therefore there must be something that is supremely good.” Health and knowledge is intrinsically good because you want to be healthy and you want to be smart for the sake of it. He says that humans share a lot with nature, however, there are things that only we as humans can do which is “flourish” The video went on to explain a second moral theory, Utilitarianism, which is “a family of ethical theories according to which we seek to maximize aggregate well being for all affected individuals”. The central idea is to maximize utility, and the architect of this theory was Jeremy Bentham. Bentham’s goal was to find an objective basis for moral decision making. He rejected notions of moral sense, right reason, or duty, and found pleasure to be the only objective good and pain the only evil. Where he assumed all pleasures to be equal, John Mill disagreed. Mill proposed “rule utilitarianism” where by following these rules they will lead us to the maximization of utility. Lastly, there was Kant, who was not of the opinion that the right thing to do was maximize utility and argues that if an action is wrong, it is wrong regardless of how you feel about it or the possible benefits that may follow from it. - Jasmine

[@amanda_ag6]

The video explains how Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle created the normative ethical theory, which is the virtue of ethics. Aristotle’s view of the ethical theory is that in everything we do we do it because we have a goal. A goal is to produce something good therefore there must be something that is supremely good and can be instrumentally or intrinsically good. He also believed that the final goal of humanity is happiness but happiness doesn’t give justice but flourishing does. Flourishing which is the highest goal of human existence is a function of human beings. The second moral theory is utilitarianism we ought to maximize aggregate well-being for all affected individuals. The third moral theory is deontology when determining right from wrong we need to use the universalizability principle. - Amanda G

[@michaelwalters-it9xk]

In this video, Aristotle's idea of how life should be viewed is important. Happiness, or flourishing as a better word, everything in life has a specific purpose. To find the idea of what a good human being is the end goal. To build up your character through proper nature and function by one who reasons well is the highest goal of human existence. This is Eudaimonia: The Goal of Human Existence. Another important topic is how to gain moral virtues. This could be from learning through a person who is virtuous, from observations in life, as well as recognizing when to commit a type of action. Virtue is seen as a mental framework. The second moral theory is utilitarianism. "To maximize utility" is the idea for a human to be the best human at all times for all other affected individuals. The last moral theory is deontology by Immanual Kant. The idea of respecting rational individuals which is separate from the idea of a human being. Rational people can set their own goals and mindset and guide themself in life with fair reasoning. It wasn't about maximizing utility in life and if something was wrong, it was wrong independently. - Michael Walters

[@ElijahLloydKudinoff]

Aristotle's ethics highlights the importance of developing good habits and character traits through rational deliberation and proper education. He argued that virtue is the mean between excess and deficiency, balancing one's actions and emotions, which continues to influence contemporary ethical thought, and encourages individuals to strive for moral excellence and a flourishing life. - Eli

[@ISABELLABOUTROS-x1l]

This video explains key concepts in Normative Ethics. It exaplains virtue ethics, which is a theory contemplated by philosophers like Plato and Aristotle. Virtue Ethics describes human flourishing and moral virtues as the foundation of ethical behavior. Utilitarianism aims to maximize overall well-being by quantifying pleasure and pain. Deontological ethics revolves around respecting rational beings and the universalizability principle. It distinguishes between perfect duties (always applicable) and imperfect duties (context-dependent).

[@YuliyaSerebryannaya]

In this video, Dr. Alvaro discussed utilitarianism, and the differences between Bentham's version of it, and John Stuart Mills version of it. Both sought to increase the overall happiness/pleasure in the world for the maximum number of people, but Mill said that not all pleasures are equal. Some pleasures are base, but the more important pleasures are noble. Afterwards, Dr. Alvaro discussed Immanuel Kant's Deontology. - Yuliya Serebryannaya

[@catherinegrullon8659]

Aristotle's philosophy of morality and happiness places a strong emphasis on creating something that is inherently good. Health and knowledge are inherently beneficial as, although humans and nature share many similarities, they also have distinct characteristics that make them flourish. Jeremy Bentham is credited with creating the utilitarianism family of ethical theories, which seeks to promote aggregate well-being for all impacted persons. Bentham believed that pleasure was the only objective good and pain was the sole evil, rejecting the ideas of moral sense, right reason, or responsibility. In contrast, John Mill put out "rule utilitarianism," which maximizes utility. According to Kant, the measure of a thing's worth is its ability to fulfill its intended purpose, and people are valuable beyond measure. He suggested six criteria for choosing decisions: fecundity, purity, propinquity, length, intensity, and outcome certainty. Kant held that deeds could be bad without having an adverse effect and that people had inherent worth that transcends all other considerations. In addition to categorical and hypothetical imperatives, religious morality holds that the word of God is the final authority. According to Kant, the second criterion of universal law is not met when one helps those in need. Natural ethics honors the natural world, intuitionism is the innate feeling of good and wrong, and care ethics is the study of establishing and preserving meaningful connections. -CATHERINE GRULLON

[@finleyheilers6110]

The value of something, when speaking in terms of Machiavellian ethics, comes from how well it performs its function. Good car = drives well. Good food = sustains. Eudaemonia = humans full potential/human flourishing. When it comes to humans, Aristotle argues that one needs virtue and balance/temperance. Bentham's project - Pleasure is the only true motivator. Bentham stated that there are two factors by which humans are motivated and they are pain and pleasure. Bentham believed that pleasures are calculable/pain and pleasure are quantifiable. He also believed that there 6 factors of decision making. Its intensity, duration, our certainty of the outcome, and its propinquity or remoteness, its fecundity, and its purity. Kant believed that humans have intrinsic value above any price. Kant believed that actions could be wrong without negative consequences. There are also hypothetical and categorical imperatives. Hypotheticals are conditional statements. Categorical are generally moral obligations. There is also the golden mean which can be different for every individual. There is also religious morality which argues that whatever god says is law. A maxim becomes morally permissible when you can will it into universal law your you can argue that it is logically conceivable as universal law. It is a Lying/False promise to lie and therefor is impermissible. Kant argues that we should help others in need however it fails the second test of universal law. Care ethics is building and maintaining strong relationships. Natural ethics is respecting your nature. Intuitionism is an inherent sense of right and wrong. Contract theory is abiding by rules that a rational society would choose. -Finley Heilers

[@JAYDENTOLENTINO-u4r]

Part of the video talks about Utilitarianism which is what I found most interesting. In simple terms utilitarianism is the theory of maximizing benefits for all individuals. Jeremy Bentham was the creator of this idea. He did not believe in morality in individuals due to everyone being different. He strongly believed that the only correct way to figure out right and wrong is to think that any kind of pleasure would be objectively good while any kind of pain would be objectively evil. Bentham states, “Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure.” Later in the video, John Stuart’s idea of utilitarianism is stated. He believed that the world should have rules of utilitarianism that come from experiences. It is interesting learning about the two different points of views of utilitarianism in this video. - Jayden Tolentino

[@PaolaPonce-hp2ny]

Numerous interpretations have been offered for Aristotle’s eudaimonia, with a general idea that eudaimonia reflects pursuit of virtue, excellence, and the best within us. That is, he believed eudaimonia was rational activity aimed at pursuing ‘what is worthwhile in life’. Aristotle’s ethics, he believes that happiness and wellbeing come from how we live our lives. And that’s not in pursuit of material wealth, power, or honor. Rather, eudaimonic happiness is about lives lived and actions taken in pursuit of eudaimonia. Then the video talks about utilitarianism as one of the most powerful and persuasive approaches to normative ethics . Though there are many varieties of the view discussed, utilitarianism is generally held to be the view that the morally right action is the action that produces the most good. On the utilitarian view one ought to maximize the overall good that is, consider the good of others as well as one's own good. ~ Juanita Ponce ~

[@Kinnari_Ramani]

The video explains value of a product or human nature. Everything has specific function or nature and in a specific way only that objet is expert to perform that work. If the object perform other work in which it it not specialize than it is not good. The function of human being is reason and a good human is one who reasons well.This video also include how the moral virtue are acquired and what is moral virtue. Utilitarianism is family and its main idea is to maximize utilities. and it is explained well with examples. Kinnari Ramani

[@vanditrana2342]

In Aristotle's morals and happiness system, the creation of something with inherent goodness is highly valued. Since humans and nature have many similarities as well as unique traits that enable them to grow, both health and knowledge are intrinsically beneficial. The utilitarianism family of ethical ideas, which aims to advance the overall well-being of all those affected, is attributed to Jeremy Bentham. Bentham rejected the concepts of moral sense, proper reason, or responsibility, contending that pleasure is the only objective good and pain is the only objective evil. John Mill published "rule utilitarianism," which optimizes utility, in contrast. In Kant's view, a thing's value is determined by how well it serves its intended purpose, and humans are priceless. The six criteria he proposed-fecundity, purity, propinquity, length, intensity, and outcome certainty-are meant to help people make judgments. Kant believed that persons had intrinsic worth that was greater than all other concerns and that evil activities might exist without having a negative consequence. Religious morality maintains that the Bible is the last authority in addition to categorical and hypothetical imperatives. Helping those in need does not satisfy the second condition of universal law, according to Kant. Intuitionism is the sense of right and wrong that comes from inside, natural ethics is the respect for the natural environment, and care ethics is the study of creating and keeping meaningful connections. - Vandit Rana