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Philosophical thinking. Values, Self & Knowledge: Tutorial 1. Plan. Thinking process Reading process Assessment Practice puzzle. Thinking process. Think of something that’s clearly morally wrong in your view Why is it morally wrong?. Thinking process. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Values, Self & Knowledge: Tutorial 1
Philosophicalthinking
Plan Thinking process Reading process Assessment Practice puzzle
Thinking process Think of
something that’s clearly morally wrong in your view
Why is it morally wrong?
Thinking process Think of something
that’s clearly morally wrong in your view
Why is it morally wrong?
Principle
Application of principle
Specific context
Search & examine the principles
Why should I be moral?
Only because it benefits me
I should do something only if it benefits me
General principle
Particular application of principle
Counter-examples?
Search & examine the principles
Why? Because…
Underlying Principle
Abstraction
Example
Why should I be moral?
To avoid feeling guilty
Why should I do something?
To avoid feeling bad
Why should I repeatedly shower?
To avoid feeling bad
How to start?
Abstraction
What is the cause of this infection?
1 42 3 N
Abstraction Start by considering ‘obvious’
cases Track patterns Form initial theory Consider a wide range of cases Revise theory if needed
Constructing experiments Whether gas X prevents fire. The only time virus V harms humans
is when they have high blood pressure.
Euthanasia is wrong only because it saddens the family of the euthanised person.
Testing a theory
Theory
Hypothesis/Prediction
Observation
Compare
Observation Explanation
AbstractionAre moral judgments
absolutely true?
Judgmt1
Judgmt4
Judgmt2
Judgmt3 JudgmtN
No disagreement
exists Reflection Thought experiment
What is the criterion to use in evaluating?
Thought experimentWhen he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
Thought experiment“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!
Possible responsesThen Nathan said to David, “You are the man!
“The man in the story is a fictional character!”
“The action is wrong, but only in that story!”
Thought experiments Logically possible
scenarios Constructed, then
considered to test philosophical claims
Typically imaginary, highly-artificial and ridiculously extreme
Ring of Gyges“…If you could imagine any one obtaining this power of becoming invisible, and never doing any wrong or touching what was another's, he would be thought by the lookers-on to be a most wretched idiot, although they would praise him to one another's faces, and keep up appearances with one another from a fear that they too might suffer injustice.”
Testing a philosophical view
Philosophical View
Hypothesis/Prediction
Observation/Reflection
Compare
Guidelines Have a hypothesis Eliminate
complicating variables
Make theory-free judgment
Overview of process
AbstractionDistinction
Thought experiments
Current view
Distinctions Would & should Instrumental & intrinsic
value Absolute & relative Situational, descriptive
& meta-ethical relativism
…
Reading a philosophy essay Method– Understanding reasoning– Examining principles– Considering thought
experiments– Grasping distinctions
Big picture– How all sections are linked
Suggestion:
Start by understanding the overall structure of the essay
Then proceed to examine specific parts.
(“What is the author trying to do here?”)
Additional suggestion
Try to anticipate responses– What might the
author say– Check again what the
author in fact says
Essay (10% + 40%) Check ‘Assessment’
page Check access to
eReadings Submit via Turnitin Check for plagiarism Note deadlines– Penalty for late submission: 0.5%
or 2% per 24hrs overdue
Practice puzzle
Either:
Existing unicorn = A unicorn that exists
Existing unicorns exist
Existing unicorns do not exist.
or
Existing unicorns exist.
Practice puzzle(A)If blue pens exist, then pens exist.(B)If expensive cars exist, then cars exist.(C)If blue unicorns exist, then unicorns exist.(D)If existing unicorns exist, then unicorns
exist.
(1)If existing unicorns exist, then unicorns exist.
(2)Existing unicorns exist.(3)Therefore unicorns exist.