ETHC113

Fallacies

 Slippery Slope
o Bir olayın kaçınılmaz olarak bir diğerinden gelmesi gerektiğini
iddia eden yanılgı.
 Red Herring
o Dikkatleri orijinal konudan uzaklaştırmak için alakasız konu
sunmak
 Two Wrongs Make a Right
o Bir yanlışlık işlendiği takdirde, başka bir yanlışın onu iptal
edeceği varsayımına dayanan yanılgı
 Begging the Question
o Sonucun doğru olduğunu varsayan öncüller
o A: god exists B: how do you know A: because kuran said so
 Ad Hominem
o A kişisi X iddiasında bulunur
o B kişisi A kişisine attack yapar
 Bu nedenle A’nın iddiası yanlıştır
 Appeal to Authority
o A kişisi X konusunda otoriterdir
o A kişisi X konusunda Y iddiasında bulunur
o Bu nedenle Y doğru olmalıdır
 Appeal to Belief
o Herkes X iddiasına inanıyor, So X is true
 Appeal to Emotion
o Olumlu duygular X ile alakalı, So X is true
 Appeal to Force
o İzleyiciye iddiayı kabul etmezse, başı belaya gireceğini söyler
 False Dilemma
o 2’den fazla seçenek varken 2 şeçenek arasında kalma

Thinkers

 Aristotele
o Akıl/erdem ile (reason/virtue)
 İyi insan olursak, doğru eylemler bizi takip eder
 Kesemeyen bıçak = Kötü bıçak
o Olası erdemler, etkiler, ya da üstünlükler nedir? (virtue)
o Bir eylemdeki ahlaki nitelikler ne? (Moral qualities)
  How it is possiple?
 Aquinas  tanrı seni yarattı yani harikasın, self-preservation
o With the natural law
 İyiliği arayın kötüden kaçın (seek god, shun[sakın] evil)
 Preserve your own being (kendi varlığınızı koruyun, the
desire to avoid harm)
 Preserve your own opinion
 Seek truth and live peacefully (doğruyu arayıp barış
içinde yaşa)
 Kant  din ve ahlak ayrı, stealing evrenselleştirilemezse yapma!
o Universal law (Ahlak kurallarına uymak, evrensel hukuk)
o 1- Evrenselleştirilebilir mi? (If its universal, then ok for
everyone)
 Show the contradiction.
o Am i using any rational being? (Rasyonel varlık)
 When Robin Hood steals, he steals from rich people
("Acting out of the duty to help others")
 Mill
o The principle of utility (yararcılık/faydacılık)
 Maximize happiness for majority!
o Check any harm, rights/rules? (Niyete odaklanır)
 Ahlaki olarak yapılması gerekeni yapmadıysa katil
olmasan bile suçlusun
 İyi niyet = İyi sonuç
 Kendimiz ve herkes için yararlı olan ahlak
 Herkes için belki toplum için en yaralı ve mutluluk
getirecek kavramı bul
 Kierkegaard  father of existentialism (Sartre got influenced)
o Meaning is made, not discovered  through individual choice
and faith.
 Faith is at the centre of the meaning of life  also
commitment and responsibility are important.
 Subjective reflection and personal authenticity are
important.
o Beyond Conventional Morality:
 Knight of Faith: "Knight of faith" is the ethical ideal
where personal faith is prioritized above societal norms or
consequences.
 Leap of Faith: Advocates for a "leap of faith" beyond
reason and logic, embracing faith as a necessary act for
authentic existence.
  Faith as a leap(sıçrama) beyond reason  embrace
paradoxes and uncertainties rather than seeking
logical resolution.
 Internal Struggle: Focuses on the internal struggle
between faith and doubt, good and evil, as the essence of
living ethically.
o Subjectivity and Choice:
 Individual Faith: Personal commitment to religious faith
as the cornerstone of ethical life (over external norms or
reason)
 Freedom and Angst: Emphasizes the burden of absolute
freedom and the anxiety (angst) it creates, requiring
individuals to actively create meaning and choose
authentic paths.
 Necessary to confront anxiety and despair for a true
self and meaningful life.
 Subjective Truth: Ethical truths emerge from individual
experience and belief rather than from pre-existing
universal principles.
 Meaning arises from individual interpretation and
decision-making.
 Importance of choosing and creating one's own
values and life purpose.
 Relationship with Other Thinkers:
o Engages with: Draws inspiration and critically interacts with
classical ethical theories like Deontology, Virtue Ethics, and
Subjectivism.
o Contrasts with: Distinguishes his faith-based ethics from
Aquinas's emphasis on natural law and reason, and from
Nietzsche's critique of traditional morality.
o Influences: Paves the way for existentialist philosophy and its
focus on individual subjectivity and freedom.
 Nietzsche
o Rejection of Traditional Morality
 Death of God: Absolute truths were no longer tenable in
the modern world  so he declared “god is dead” to
symbolize the decline of religious authority and the need
for individuals to create their own values.
 Critique of Master-Slave Morality: Challenges both
master morality (elitism) and slave morality (resentment)
as limiting and inauthentic.
  Transvaluation of Values: re-evaluate existing values
and create your own values by individual authenticity and
self-overcoming.
o Emphasis on Individual Will and Power
 Will to Power: The central driving force in humans is the
"will to power." It comes from
 striving for self-creation
 overcoming limitations
 expressing one's unique potential.
 Übermensch: (overman; as an ideal, not a literal
superman) someone who transcends conventional
morality, lives authentically, and embraces their unique
potential.
 Amor Fati: embracing one's fate (Amor Fati) with courage
and creativity, turning challenges into opportunities for
growth.
o Beyond Good and Evil
 Rejection of Universal Morality: Rejects the idea of a
one-size-fits-all standard of moral principles  different
individuals and contexts require various ethical
frameworks.
 Perspective and Power: Views morality as shaped by
perspectives and power dynamics, not absolute truths or
inherently good/bad.
 Responsibility and Authentic Action: Emphasizes
individual responsibility to create one's own values and
act based on true beliefs.
 Sartre
o Existential Freedom and Responsibility:
 Absolute Freedom
 Angst and Authenticity
 Responsibility for Existence
 Individuals shape their own existence and create
meaning in life through freedom and responsibility.
 His focus is on the anguish (angst) that this
freedom brings and the need for authentic action to
overcome it.
o Beyond Predetermined Morality:
 Rejection of External Systems
 Situational Ethics
 Engagement with the World
 Rejects pre-existing moral systems
 Advocating for situational ethics based on
individual choices and responsibility in specific
contexts.
 Traditional morality is limiting and inauthentic
o Approach to Existence
 Sees existence as fundamentally absurd and meaningless,
requiring individuals to actively create meaning through
their choices and actions.
 Emphasizes engagement with the world and social
responsibility as aspects of authentic living.
 Sartre rejects the idea of a universal human nature or
fixed qualities that define all humans.
 Instead, he emphasizes the individuality and
uniqueness of each person.
 We are not born with pre-determined roles or destinies
but are free to forge our own paths.

 Sartre: More focused on radical freedom and individual

responsibility, emphasizing action and engagement in a
meaningless world.
 Kierkegaard: More concerned with subjective faith and internal
struggles, prioritizing personal commitment and choice in
constructing meaning and purpose.

 Rita C. Manning
o “Ethic of Caring”
 Disposition to care: a willingness to be open to others
and give lucid attention to their needs.
 An obligation to “care for”: to express our caring
disposition in concrete actions.
 “caring burnout,” which limits our ability to care in
the future
 The objects of care include not only persons and animals,
but also values, institutions, and all entities that cannot
meet a need without help.
 “The ethic of caring…is not about achieving some
impossible perfection. It is about…moving steadily in the
direction of a more caring world.”
o The Ideal of Caring  The world should be one where caring is
both practiced and valued
 In such a world caring should be supported and
encouraged by the institutions. (reduce to need for care)
  addressing issues such as poverty and despair

o Manning acknowledges that there are limits to our ability to

care. We cannot simply ignore our own needs and well-being to
care for others.  We should balance caring for ourselves and
others to avoid "caring burnout".
o Concept of “supererogation”: actions that are good but not
obligatory.
 Donating money to charity
 Manning argues that some caring acts are also
supererogatory, which prevents guilt or resentment when
we can't care for everyone in need.
o “The Capabilities of Caring”
 our ability to care is always shaped by the context in
which we find ourselves
 Our ability to care for a sick friend may be limited if
we are also working full-time and caring for our
children.
 Responsiveness  Caring involves not only a general
disposition to care but also a willingness to respond to the
specific needs of others.
 Importance of relationships in caring  When we
have strong relationships, we feel more motivated to
care for them.
 Limits of Responsiveness  There may be times when we
cannot be as responsive as we would like.
 This may be due to our limitations or the
limitations of the situation.
o It's important to be responsive even when
we can't do everything we want to do.
 Concept of “voice”:
 Caring is being able to give voice to the needs of
others.
 “envisioning”:
 Caring involves imagining a better future for
ourselves and others.
 “sustaining”:
 Caring requires us to sustain our efforts over time.
 “embodying”:
 Caring should be reflected in our entire way of
being, in our actions, our words, and even our
thoughts.
 “engagement”:
 Caring is not something that we can do from a
distance, it requires active engagement
 “risk”:
 Caring often involves taking risks.
 “integration”:
  Caring should be integrated into everything we do
o This means behaving in a way that reflects
our values of care and making choices that
align with those values.
 “play”:
 play is not just for children; it is an essential part of
a healthy and caring life
o Playing allows us to express our creativity,
spontaneity, and imagination, all of which
are crucial for caring.
 “mystery”:
 there is an element of mystery to caring
o We can never fully know or understand the
needs of others but we should embrace the
mystery of caring and allow it to guide us in
our relationships with others.

Classical Theories of Ethics:

 Deontology:
o Kant (Categorical Imperative  actions considered with their
inherent nature, regardless of consequences)
o Aquinas
 Virtue Ethics:
o Aristotle (with moderation and practical reasoning) (focusing on
developing a good character)
 Utilitarianism:
o Mill (maximise happiness and well-being for the greatest
number of people)

 Beyond Categorization:
o Nietzsche: Nietzsche rejected traditional morality and proposed
individual creation of values based on the "will to power". He
doesn't fit into any classical theory.
o Kierkegaard: Similarly, Kierkegaard emphasized individual
faith and subjective experience in ethical decision-making,
transcending classical theories to propose a unique "knight of
faith" ideal.
Sartre: Sartre's existentialism emphasizes radical freedom and
individual responsibility for creating meaning and ethics in a
world without inherent values.
 Ethics of Faith:
 o Kierkegaard
 Ethical Subjectivism:
o Nietzsche
 Absurdist Ethics:
o Kierkegaard  sought meaning through faith and personal
responsibility.
o Nietzsche  embraced amoralism and the creation of one’s own
values.
 Subjectivity and Choice:
o Kierkegaard
o Sartre
 Both emphasized the burden of absolute freedom and the
responsibility to create meaning in a seemingly
meaningless world.

Types of Arguments

 Deductive Argument
o Premiseler doğru ise sonuçta doğru
o Tümden gelir
 Tüm P’ler doğru ise VALID
 Yanlış bir P varsa INVALID
 VALID olursa SOUNDNESS olur
 Inductive Argument
o Post experience make future predictions.
o Conclusion is probably true (kesinlik yok)
 Eski çağda yaşayanların çoğu mutluydu
 Elif eski çağda yaşamıştır
 Elif mutluydu