Withholding or withdrawing life-prolonging and life-sustaiing technologies as an intentional act to enhance the well-being of the terminally ill.
Lust
Strong desire for illegitimate sexual involvement.
Brain Death
Total cessation of brain activity both in the neocortical brain and in the brain stem.
Actuality Principle
Affirms that a human organism has a right to life if and only if it has developed a minimal ability to express self-conscious, personal life.
Potentiality Principle
Affirms that a human organism possesses a right to life if it has developed or has the natural capacity for developing self-conscious, personal life.
Celibacy
State of being unmarried and sexually abstinent.
Sex
Either the reality of being male or female (gender), or the erotic attraction and/or genital activity between persons.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is portrayed as abolishing the Law and Prophets.
False
According to Scott Rae, autonomy is the force that should drive Christian ethics.
False
The section in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus contrasts his moral teachings with the received tradition is called parables.
False
Eugenics
The encouragement of reproduction among a favored population while discouraging reproduction among others.
Deontological Ethics
Any view that grounds ethical norms intrinsically, and sees ethical principles as matters of duty.
Situationism
Act-oriented view of ethics that sees ethical analysis applying to individual cases.
Morality
Dimension of life related to right conduct and virtuous character.
Metaethics
Level of ethical analysis that looks at the meaning of ethical terms and the rules of ethical justification
Virtues
Specific dispositions or qualities of excellence that together make up a person's character.
Voluntarism
The view that God's will grounds ethics; the same as divine command ethics
Justice
A trait of individuals or societies that seeks human flourishing by rendering to each person what is due him or her.
Love
The supreme virtue that seeks the highest good of others through self-giving relationships with them.
Non-conflicting Absolutism
Theory that holds that ethical absolutes actually do not conflict, and these absolutes allow no exceptions.
Which philosopher has been cited as a proponent of utilitarianism?
Singer
Which ancient philosopher is the "father of virtue ethics"?
Aristotle
3 Main Types of Moral Action
Impermissible
Permissible
Obligatory
Four Cardinal Virtues
Wisdom
Courage
Temperance
Justice
4 Levels of Moral Decision Making (Particular to More General)
Particular judgments
Rules
Principles
Basic Convictions (worldview)
What is Packer's distinction between authority and authoritarianism?
Authority- People who have power but do not abuse it.
Authoritarianism- People who have power but are corrupt and abuse their power for their own pleasure
What is the difficulty with using Bentham's pleasure calculus, acording to the text?
It is numerical; does not provide a concrete foundation.
What is the distinction between the ontological and epistemological question in ethics?
Ontological- About the actual objective grounding. "What" and "why" of ethics.
Epistemological- Concerns how we know the moral law.
What is the distinction between descriptive ethics and normative ethics?
Descriptive Ethics: The first level of ethical analysis; a statement of what people actually believe and practice that makes no claim about ethical normativeness.
Normative Ethics: Second level of ethical analysis that evaluates actions or virtues as being morally right or wrong.
What is teleological ethics?
Any views that warrants ethical norms by looking to the nonmoral values the norms; a pragmatic ethic
What is natural law theory in ethics?
Thesis that knowledge of human nature provides a foundation for establishing and understanding moral values and obligations. For Christians, God created human life for certain purposes such that identifiying these helps develop and justify a Christian ethic.
How should one go about making a difficult ethical choice, according to Donald Bloesch ("Evangelical Contextualism")?
Think about what the Bible says, compare what the Bible says to your situation and pray.
What examples does Geisler ("Graded Absolutism") give of higher and lower laws in Scripture?
Samson killing himself to obey God
Lying/hiding Moses to save him
Early Christians seem to have allowed abortion
False
The Hippocratic Oath is mostly consistent with Christian values and commitments.
True
Four Ranges of Opinion on Permissibility of Abortion (Strict to Unrestricted)
No abortion at all
Elective
Medical reasons
Rape, incest (hard cases)
The fertilized egg forms a _______.
Zygote
According to Jesus, what are the two greatest commands?
Love your neighbor as yourself
Love God
What is the Golden Rule?
Treat others as you would want to be treated.
3 Stags of Suffering mentioned in Class (in order)
Mute
Voice of lament
Voice of one's own
Psalms of lament are also known as Psalms of ___________.
Disorientation
What word comes from the Greek for "good death"?
Euthansia
Name one state where Physician-Assisted Suicide is legal.
Montana
What are Meilander's arguments that supplying food and water is not medical care?
Food and water are essential to everyone either alive or dying. They are basic needs that must be met.
What is vitalism?
View that physical life is in itself of highest value.
Explain the distinction between active and passive euthanasia.
Active: A person is actively involved in the killing of a patient, "mercy killing" released from suffering.
Passive: Not actively involved, lets the disease/illness be the true cause of death.
What evidence does Wenham use to argue that Paul had a balanced view of sexuality?
Paul talks about reasons for marriage and then again some people are blessed with the gift of singleness. They are able to focus all of their attention on fulfilling God's will. Marriage is good, but singleness can also be good.
How does Sider ("AIDS: An Evangelical Perspective") analyze the view that God specifically created AIDS in order to punish homosexuals?
No sin is greater than another. Each sin has it's own consequence. AIDS effects both homosexuals and heterosexuals. AIDS is a new virus, why would God wait so long to create a punishment for it?
Who were the sophists?
"Wisdom"
Orators
Taught the business class to speak, debate in political life
Famous for relativisim
Acceptance of payment for helping others
Truth was not objective at all
Issues to Consider with Artificial Reproductive Technology