Deck 5: Ethics and Society

Question 1

For Bentham, what are our "sovereign masters"?

A) Virtue and vice
B) Pain and pleasure
C) Reason and value
D) Good and bad

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following best describes what Bentham means by the "principle of utility"?

A) The principle that we should maximize what is good and minimize what is bad
B) The principle that one should do what is useful
C) The principle that an action is right or wrong based on its tendency to increase or diminish happiness
D) None of the above

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What do we mean when we talk about the interests of the community, according to Bentham?

A) The interests of the whole, where this is not just the aggregate of its parts
B) The sum of the interests of the several members who compose it
C) The interests of the government
D) The interests of those worst off in a particular group of individuals

Answer 3

B

Question 4

For Bentham, words like "right," "wrong," "good," and "bad" only have meaning if . . .

A) They are used to assess the usefulness of an event or action.
B) They refer to some principle.
C) They refer to the principle of utility.
D) None of the above.

Question 5

Bentham holds that most embrace the principle of utility . . .

A) Naturally.
B) After reasoning.
C) After experiencing enough pain or pleasure.
D) After realizing that others feel pain or pleasure like they do.

Question 6

Which of the following isn't a way of measuring pain or pleasure?

A) Intensity
B) Duration
C) Propinquity
D) None of the above

Question 7

What does Bentham mean by "fecundity"?

A) The chance a pain has of being followed by pleasure and a pleasure has of being followed by pain
B) The number of people a pain or pleasure will affect
C) The remoteness of a pleasure or a pain
D) The chance a pain has of being followed by pain and a pleasure has of being followed by pleasure

Question 8

What does Bentham mean by "purity"?

A) The chance a pain has of being followed by pleasure and a pleasure has of being followed by pain
B) The remoteness of a pleasure or a pain
C) The chance a pain has of being followed by pain and a pleasure has of being followed by pleasure
D) The number of people a pain or pleasure will affect

Question 9

What does Bentham mean by the "extent" of a pain or pleasure?

A) The number of people a pain or pleasure will affect
B) The remoteness of a pleasure or a pain
C) The chance a pain has of being followed by pain and a pleasure has of being followed by pleasure
D) The chance a pain has of being followed by pleasure and a pleasure has of being followed by pain

Question 10

What does Bentham mean by the term "utility"?

A) The property of an object to produce benefit, advantage, pleasure, or happiness
B) The property of an object to be useful
C) The property of an object to be harmful
D) None of the above

Question 11

Pain and pleasure determine right and wrong, for Bentham.

Question 12

According to Bentham, the principle of utility only applies to the actions of individuals.

Question 13

Bentham holds that we can talk about the interests of the community without understanding the interests of the individual

Question 14

Bentham aims to prove the principle of utility.

Question 15

Bentham doubts that pain and pleasure can be measured in determinate ways.

Question 16

Which of the following best describes Utilitarianism?

A) Actions are right or wrong based upon whether they produce happiness or unhappiness
B) Actions are right or wrong based upon their usefulness
C) Actions are right or wrong based upon our intuitions regarding them
D) None of the above

Question 17

What does Mill mean by "happiness"?

A) Human flourishing
B) Pleasure, or the absence of pain
C) The satisfaction of desires
D) All of the above

Question 18

What is Mill getting at when he writes: "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied"?

A) That it is better to be rational than non-rational
B) That human beings are capable of higher pleasures than pigs
C) That it would better to die than become a pig
D) None of the above

Question 19

How does Mill respond to the criticism that Utilitarianism is too demanding?

A) He weakens his account of Utilitarianism to be more acceptable
B) He argues this criticism mistakes rules for action with motives for action
C) He suggests that virtue ethics is just as demanding
D) He doesn't respond to such a criticism; he gives it to his fellow utilitarians

Question 20

What is the ultimate sanction of all morality, for Mill?

A) The feelings other people have toward us
B) The law
C) Our consciences and the feelings that attend them
D) God's punishment

Question 21

How do we know general happiness is desirable, according to Mill?

A) Through reason and argumentation
B) Because God is perfect, and would only have put us on Earth to be happy
C) Because each person desires her own happiness
D) None of the above

Question 22

Mill notes that for those who disinterestedly love virtue, virtue is desired . . .

A) Instead of happiness
B) As a part of their happiness
C) As a means to their happiness
D) Because they recognize its rationality

Question 23

According to Mill, happiness is . . .

A) The only thing we desire
B) One thing we desire among others
C) Not actually desirable
D) Simply the same thing as virtue

Question 24

For Mill, we _______ desire something if we think it is pleasant.

A) Sometimes
B) Only
C) Never
D) Can

Question 25

What paradox arises when we start thinking about morality, according to Mill?

A) We find the moral rules more compelling than the principle supposedly underlying them
B) All theories end up agreeing
C) We try to reason about something that cannot be reasoned about
D) None of the above

Question 26

Protagoras defended Utilitarianism against Socrates.

Question 27

Mill holds Utilitarianism has been rejected largely because it is not well understood.

Question 28

Utilitarianism is a standard for morality.

Question 29

Utilitarianism concerns an agent's own happiness only.

Question 30

For Mill, questions concerning ultimate ends can be proved by reasoning.

Question 31

What is the common criticism of Utilitarianism that Carritt rejects?

A) That Utilitarianism cannot account for promises
B) That pleasures and pains cannot be precisely measured
C) That Utilitarianism makes no room for justice
D) That pleasures and pains cannot be compared

Question 32

For Carritt, that desires, pleasures, or pains cannot be precisely measured . . .

A) Means they can't be compared
B) Doesn't mean they can't be compared
C) Means Utilitarianism cannot be right
D) Means Utilitarianism must be right

Question 33

What is meant by the term "hedonistic calculus"?

A) A process by which we determine what is important to people
B) The comparison of pains and pleasures
C) The measuring of pains and pleasures
D) None of the above

Question 34

According to Carritt, Utilitarianism . . .

A) Can be correct even if it cannot provide a precise hedonic calculus.
B) Can only be right if it can provide a precise hedonic calculus.
C) Is the correct moral theory.
D) Can account for promises.

Question 35

Which of the following isn't a criticism that Carritt lays against Utilitarianism?

A) It cannot account for promises
B) It makes no room for justice
C) It forgets about the importance of rights
D) None of the above

Question 36

According to some Utilitarians . . .

A) Everything has intrinsic value, apart from its pleasantness
B) Morality is simply about justice and rights
C) The value of things is a matter of those things' pleasantness
D) None of the above

Question 37

What common phenomenon do Utilitarians have trouble justifying, according to Carritt?

A) Promise-keeping
B) Duties
C) Love
D) Friendship

Question 38

Which of the following best describes how Utilitarians tend to account for promises?

A) If one follows up on a promise, they produce happiness in the individual they're being faithful to
B) The practice of promise-keeping produces a lot of happiness, so we need to preserve trust
C) Violating an obligation always harms someone, so we must keep our promises
D) None of the above

Question 39

Why is Carritt unconvinced by way Utilitarians commonly account for promises?

A) He argues that Utilitarians cannot account for duties
B) He argues it is impossible to measure how much happiness promise-keeping actually promotes
C) He argues it still doesn't account for keeping promises when they're private
D) All of the above

Question 40

Carritt argues that Utilitarianism has forgotten to account for . . .

A) Rights
B) Duties
C) Promises
D) Value

Question 41

Carritt argues that pleasures and pains are comparable.

Question 42

Even if pleasure and pain cannot be precisely measured, for Carritt, they can still be compared.

Question 43

Carritt holds that moral and ethical choices are always clear.

Question 44

For Carritt, we can know both our objective duty and our objective long-run interest.

Question 45

Carritt argues that all activities have an equal value.

Question 46

What is the aim of a benevolent person, according to Mozi?

A) Helping people if they need it
B) Helping the people immediately in your life, like friends and family
C) Helping others, as long as it doesn't have any bad effects for you or your family
D) Promoting what is beneficial and eliminating what is harmful

Question 47

Where do the harms in life come from, for Mozi?

A) From partiality
B) From impartiality
C) Sometimes from partiality and sometimes from impartiality
D) None of the above

Question 48

On Mozi's view, what does it mean to be impartial?

A) Helping people if they need it
B) Not treating your family any differently than a stranger
C) Doing for others as one would do for oneself
D) Giving up everything in your own life for others

Question 49

What does Mozi think about those who advocate partiality?

A) They are likely evil
B) They have an equally good view as his
C) They only condemn it in theory, but prefer it in practice
D) None of the above

Question 50

Which of the following isn't an objection to impartiality that Mozi considers?

A) That it is impossible to practice impartiality
B) That it harms filial piety
C) That it is too difficult to be impartial
D) None of the above

Question 51

Why doesn't Mozi think that it is impossible to practice impartiality?

A) Because there are past figures who practices it
B) Because if we can conceive of it, then it can be done
C) Because it is our natural state
D) Because impartiality is simply being benevolent

Question 52

Why doesn't Mozi think that impartiality harms familial piety?

A) Because familial piety isn't that important anyways
B) Because being impartial towards others' parents will make them treat your parents better
C) Because one's parents will always prefer one be impartial
D) Because partiality towards one's parents will make them reliant and so worse off

Question 53

Why doesn't Mozi think that it is too difficult to practice impartiality?

A) Because if it isn't impossible, then it can't be too difficult
B) Because groups of people have done equally difficult things at the behest of rulers
C) Because it is just a matter of putting more effort into things
D) None of the above

Question 54

According to Mozi, we would be better off as a state if . . .

A) Our leaders were less concerned with obtaining fine things, like pearls
B) Our leaders focused more on increasing the clothes, food, and houses we have
C) We simplified the things in our lives, like our clothes and houses
D) All of the above

Question 55

The things in our lives, for Mozi, should only be . . .

A) Beautiful
B) Numerous
C) Useful
D) Difficult to obtain

Question 56

The business of a benevolent person, according to Mozi, is promoting what is beneficial and eliminating what is harmful.

Question 57

Mozi argues that the real harms in life come from impartial people who don't recognize individuals as particular individuals.

Question 58

Mozi thinks that impartiality would play more of a role in our lives if we had superiors who favored impartiality.

Question 59

Mozi thinks that the best way to make a state better off is to expand it.

Question 60

Life can be improved, for Mozi, if we only make things that are useful.

Question 61

According to Singer, much of the suffering in the world . . .

A) Is out of control of humans
B) Could be reduced through human efforts
C) Could only be reduced by making sacrifices we cannot ask people to make
D) Is a result of patterns of wealth distribution due to capitalism

Question 62

Which of the following best represents Singer's position?

A) We must figure out a way to make people more charitable
B) Affluent governments should be doing more to help suffering people in other countries
C) The way people in affluent countries have reacted to situations like that in Bengal is unjustified
D) None of the above

Question 63

If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, according to Singer, then . . .

A) We should do it regardless of any other considerations.
B) If we can do it without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we should.
C) It would be good for us to do it but not wrong for us not to do it.
D) We should only do it if it means we don't have to give up our current way of life.

Question 64

For what reason is Singer's principle less uncontroversial than it might otherwise seem?

A) It takes no account of proximity
B) It doesn't distinguish cases in which there is one potential helper from those where there are many
C) All of the above
D) None of the above

Question 65

According to Singer, if I am one among many people nearby as a child drowns . . .

A) I am no less obliged to help than I am if I am the only person nearby.
B) I am less obliged to help than I am if I am the only person nearby, but I still should help.
C) It is morally permissible that I don't help, as long as I urge others to help.
D) I am not obliged to help.

Question 66

What does Singer say about the distinction between charity and duty?

A) It is okay, so long as we encourage people to donate money to charities
B) Duties need to be thought of as supererogatory
C) We need to alter the way we draw it, where traditional "charity" is seen as a duty
D) None of the above

Question 67

What does the term "supererogatory" describe?

A) An act that is bad to do but not wrong to do
B) An act that is wrong to do
C) An act that is good to do and wrong not to do
D) An act that is good to do but not wrong not to do

Question 68

Which of the following is a common argument against utilitarianism that Singer considers and rejects?

A) It follows from utilitarianism that we should be working full time to increase the amount of happiness
B) Utilitarianism threatens our integrity
C) Utilitarianism is a radical doctrine, overturning our normal moral expectations
D) None of the above

Question 69

For Singer, the best way to prevent starvation is . . .

A) Through the donation of money
B) Urging our governments to help those countries in need
C) Developing governments
D) None of the above

Question 70

How does Singer feel about the importance of philosophical discussion for issues like starvation?

A) Scientific discussion should take priority, philosophy is not as important
B) It alone is enough to solve the problem
C) It is crucial, but needs to be paired with action
D) It is theoretically important, but the real work should be done by politicians

Question 71

Singer takes our current patterns of spending to indicate that we value many superficial things more than we value the lives of people who are worse off than us.

Question 72

According to Singer, we need to alter our moral conceptual scheme due to changes in how the world is set up.

Question 73

Singer denies that proximity should affect our moral obligations.

Question 74

Singer claims that there can be no supererogatory acts.

Question 75

From the moral point of view, we must first and foremost look at the needs of our own society, according to Singer.

Question 76

For Kant, why is a good will good?

A) Because of what if effects or accomplishes
B) Because it is fit to accomplish any proposed end
C) Because of its willing, itself
D) Because of how highly esteemed it is

Question 77

Why, for Kant, can't we be sure the grocer is acting from duty when she charges an honest price?

A) Because it accords with the grocer's inclinations but not with duty
B) Because it doesn't accord with the grocer's inclinations or with duty
C) Because it accords with duty but not with the grocer's inclinations
D) Because it accords with duty and also with the grocer's inclinations

Question 78

For an action to show moral worthy, according to Kant, it must be done . . .

A) From a desire to help others
B) From duty
C) From sympathy with the plight of others
D) All of the above

Question 79

What is the difference between the "practically good" and the "pleasant" for Kant?

A) The practically good issues from sympathy for others, while the pleasant is self-interested
B) The practically good is objective and the pleasant is subjective
C) The practically good is subjective and the pleasant is objective
D) There is no such difference, for Kant

Question 80

Which of the following isn't a kind of imperative, according to Kant?

A) A practical imperative
B) A categorical imperative
C) A hypothetical imperative
D) None of the above