Glossary

1. Moral Relativism: There is no truth when it comes to morality; nothing is good or bad in itself. ( Class lecture)

2. Ethical Relativism: there are no absolute/objective moral standards that apply to all people everywhere and at all times. (Class lecture)

3. Will: that part of a person that reasons about and decides what he or she will do. (Class Lecture- Kant)

4. Freedom: ability to use reason.(Class Lecture- Kant)

5. A priori: known through pure reason, i.e. without empirical evidence.(Class Lecture- Kant)

6. A posteriori: known only through empirical evidence. (Class Lecture- Kant)

7. Consequentialist: someone who looks at the end result. For example, philosopher Rolston Mill. (Class Lecture- Mill)

8. Hedonist: a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification. ( Class Lecture)

9.Decadence: the act or process of falling into an inferior condition or state; moral degeneration or decay; unrestrained or excessive self-indulgence. ( Online Dictionary)

10. Climes: another word for climate. (Clifford’s Ethics of Belief)

11. Desecrate:  to divest of sacred or hallowed character or office;  to divert from a sacred to a profane use or purpose. (Clifford’s Ethics of Belief)

12. Mirage: something illusory, without substance or reality.(Clifford’s Ethics of Belief)

13.Impious:  lacking reverence for God, religious practices; disrespectful. (Clifford’s Ethics of Belief)

14. FGM: acronym for Female Genital Mutilation, a painful procedure that is a tradition for females in various cultures. ( Nussbaum’s Judging Other Cultures)

15. Vitiate: to impair or weaken the effectiveness of something.(Benedict’s Moral Relativism)

16.Beachcomber: a person who lives by gathering salable articles of jetsam, refuse, etc., from beaches.(Benedict’s Moral Relativism)

17. Bereavements: a state of intense grief; mourning for the loss of a loved one; desolation.(Benedict’s Moral Relativism)

18. Incontrovertible: something that is unquestionable and not open for dispute.(Benedict’s Moral Relativism)

19. Infanticide: the act of killing newborns.( Pojman’s Ethical relativism)

20. Absolutes: fixed theories/ beliefs; they have no variation; practiced. (Class Lecture)

21. Universal: pervades the practices of a norm. (Class lecture)

22. Diversity Thesis: acknowledeges that  moral rules vary from society to society. (Class Lecture- Pojman)

23. Dependency Thesis: individual acts are right or wrong depending on the society that the individual is from. (Class lecture-Pojman)

24. Moral Absolutists: believe that their truth is the truth and the only truth. (Class Lecture-Moral Absolutism)

25. Eudaimonia:  the state of ultimate happiness. ( Class lecture)

26. Intrinsic Value: something is good or value for its own sake. (Class lecture)

27. Categorical Imperative: consists of three central aspects, 1) ” universalizability”, 2) reason or rationality, and 3) the absolute value. (Class lecture-Kant)

28. Maxim: a standard or guiding principle. (Class lecture-Kant)

29. Deontological: for every right there is a corresponding duty. For example, Kant is duty focused and Mill is freedom. (Class Lecture)

30. Intrinsic Pain: it is not moral; it is needless pain. (Class Lecture- Rolston)

31. Instrumental Pain: it is worthy and of important purpose. (Class lecture-Rolston)

32. Asceticism: the excessive denial of pleasure.( Buddha- (457.2))

33.Aesthetic: of or pertaining to the study of the mind and emotions in relation to the sense of beauty. (Online Dictionary- Punzo and Goldman-(124.2))