Deck 9: Moral Theories

Question 1

An ethical theory has explanatory power when it helps us understand all of the following EXCEPT:

A) The objective meaning of life
B) The purpose of morality
C) The objective or subjective state of morality
D) The relationship of rights to obligations
E) All of the above are part of explanatory power.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

If a moral theory produces judgments that were not in the original database of considered moral judgments on which the theory was constructed, then it meets the criterion of:

A) Explanatory power
B) Justifying power
C) Output power
D) Moral power

Answer 2

C

Question 3

According to which moral theory is the right act in any circumstance the one that produces the best overall result as determined by the theory's account of value?

A) Utilitarianism
B) Kantianism
C) Rights theory
D) Virtue theory
E) All of the above

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Well-being has been analyzed materially in terms of all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Duty
B) Happiness
C) Pleasure
D) Preference satisfaction
E) It has been analyzed in all of the above.

Question 5

John Stuart Mill's utilitarian theory is NOT:

A) Consequentialist
B) Welfarist
C) Aggregative
D) Maximizing
E) Impartial
F) It is all of the above.

Question 6

Challenges to utilitarianism include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) It is unclear on what grounds immoral preferences (e.g., torturing animals) can be criticized.
B) It is unclear on what grounds to oppose utility-maximizing actions that conflict with widely held moral sentiments.
C) It demands too much in making supererogatory actions obligatory.
D) The interests of minorities are elevated so that they override the interests of the majority.
E) All of the above are challenges utilitarianism faces.

Question 7

According to which moral theory does the moral worth of an individual's action depend exclusively on the moral acceptability of the general rule of conduct on which the person is acting?

A) Utilitarianism
B) Kantianism
C) Rights theory
D) Virtue theory
E) All of the above

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT an implication of Kant's categorical imperative?

A) One must act to treat every person as an end and never as a means only.
B) Our moral judgments should rest on reasons that apply to all other persons who are similarly situated.
C) Humans cannot morally be treated as research subjects because this treats them as means rather than only as ends.
D) I ought never to act except in such a way that I can also will that my maxim become a universal law.

Question 9

One shortcoming that Kant's ethical theory does NOT exhibit is that it:

A) Is inadequate to handle the problem of conflicting obligations
B) Fails to capture important aspects of the moral life related to intimate contexts of relationships within families and between friends
C) Fails to ascribe any value to motivations from deep care and concern
D) Fails to ascribe any dignity to the rational aspects of the moral agent

Question 10

Which moral theory highlights claiming as a mode of action that appeals to moral norms that permit persons to demand, affirm, or insist upon what is due them?

A) Utilitarianism
B) Kantianism
C) Rights theory
D) Virtue theory
E) All of the above

Question 11

In order for a rights claim to be advanced legitimately, it must be true that:

A) The claimant is aware that he or she has this particular right
B) There exists a rule-governed domain that recognizes the claim
C) The rights bearer is in a position to assert and exercise the right
D) A specific individual can be identified as having this right
E) The right is not being asserted by another on his or her behalf

Question 12

Positive rights include such things as:

A) A right to health care
B) A right to public health protective services
C) A right of privacy
D) Both A and B
E) All of the above

Question 13

Negative rights include such things as:

A) A right to health care
B) A right to public health protective services
C) A right to forgo a recommended surgical procedure
D) Both A and B
E) None of the above

Question 14

What is the relationship between utilitarianism, Kantianism, and rights theory?

A) The three theories are all opposites of each other.
B) Utilitarianism and Kantianism are theories of obligation, which are opposed to rights.
C) Utilitarianism is a theory of obligation, whereas Kantianism is a version of rights theory.
D) Rights and obligations are correlates; hence, utilitarianism, Kantianism, and rights theory bear an important resemblance.

Question 15

Which of the following is now rarely given by those who argue that rights and obligations are NOT correlates?

A) Only some rights entail obligations.
B) Moral ideals, such as charity, do not generate rights claims even though they are sometimes referred to as "obligations."
C) The dividing line between obligations and ideals is not always clear.
D) There are differences of opinion as to whether rights or obligations are more basic.

Question 16

Which of the following is NOT a shortcoming of rights theory?

A) It truncates the moral significance of motives, supererogatory actions, and virtues.
B) Rights theory needs to be buttressed by theories of obligation and virtue.
C) It fails to garner the level of respect in health care institutions that other kinds of moral categories such as obligation and virtue receive.
D) Its individualist emphasis fails to give as central a place to social ideals and communal interests.

Question 17

According to which moral theory is the question, "What would a person of superior character do in this context"?

A) Utilitarianism
B) Kantianism
C) rights theory
D) Virtue theory
E) All of the above

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT true of virtue theory?

A) It begins with the question, "What morally ought we to do?"
B) It focuses on the cultivation of particular traits of character.
C) It draws distinctions between right action, proper motive, and appropriate feelings.
D) Unlike the correlation between rights and obligations, virtues do not correspond as neatly to moral principles, rules, and ideals.

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT a potential shortcoming of virtue theory?

A) The emphasis on character and motive can undervalue actual results.
B) It lacks a clear and precise decision procedure for conflicts and dilemmas.
C) Some virtues, such as courage, seem to be compatible with the performance of morally wrong actions.
D) It is not well suited to help navigate circumstances of caregiving and the delivery of information in health care.

Question 20

Which of the following theorists were NOT advocates of the same general moral theory?

A) Bentham and Mill
B) Kant and Korsgaard
C) Rawls and Nozick
D) Dworkin and Gewirth
E) Aristotle and Hume

Question 21

In a once-popular conception of ethical theory, the task of moral theory was to locate and justify general moral norms as a system, whereas in the newer and less settled conception advocated in Principles of Biomedical Ethics, the task is to reflect critically on influential moral norms and practices.

Question 22

A simple moral theory that distills the demands of morality to a few basic norms is preferable to a theory with more norms but no additional content.

Question 23

A theory has justificatory power when it provides enough insight to help us understand morality: its purpose, its objective or subjective status, how rights are related to obligations, and the like.

Question 24

If a normative theory did no more than repeat the list of judgments thought to be sound prior to the construction of the theory, this would be an indication that it lacked explanatory power.

Question 25

A moral theory is unacceptable if its practical requirements are so demanding that they cannot be satisfied or could be satisfied by only a few extraordinary persons or communities.

Question 26

If utilitarianism were assessed for its adequacy as a moral theory, one might argue it meets the criteria of being internally coherent, simple, and comprehensive with exceptional output power, but it may lack coherence with some vital considered judgments about justice and human rights.

Question 27

Some utilitarians hold that the concept of utility refers to intrinsic goods such as happiness, health, and deep personal relationships, whereas others believe we should maximize the overall satisfaction of the preferences of individuals.

Question 28

Act utilitarianism seems to suggest that killing one person to distribute his organs to several others who will die without them not only is permissible but also is morally obligatory.

Question 29

An important moral issue that Kantian theory helps to address is whether some actions are wrong not because of their good or bad effects, but because of the inherent wrongness of the actions themselves or the rules from which the action is performed.

Question 30

Kantianism overlooks the basic obligation we have to respect the reasoned choices of others as well as their inherent capacities of reason and choice.

Question 31

Some rights may be absolute or close to absolute, but, typically, rights assert only prima facie claims and are not absolute.

Question 32

Moral theories seek to identify the morally relevant features of a situation that justify doing action X rather than action Y.

Question 33

Convergence as well as consensus about norms is common in making practical judgments about cases and framing public policies, even though theoretical differences divide the discussants.

Question 34

Because competition exists among the four types of normative theory explored in this chapter, and competing conceptions continue regarding what these theories imply for biomedical practice, not all of these theories will be able to make a contribution to our thinking about the moral life.

Question 35

Although we can expect only as much ________ and precision of language as is appropriate for the subject matter, more obscurity and vagueness exist in the literature of ethical theory and biomedical ethics than the subject matter warrants.

Question 36

An ethical theory should be internally _______. There should be neither conceptual inconsistencies nor apparently contradictory statements.

Question 37

A theory would be fully ________ if it could account for all justifiable moral norms and judgments.

Question 38

The principle of ________ asserts that we ought always to produce the maximal balance of positive value over disvalue-or the least possible disvalue-if only undesirable results can be achieved.

Question 39

Whereas some utilitarians consider the consequences of adopting certain general ________, such as truth telling, other utilitarians argue that only the good and bad consequences of an individual _______ is morally relevant.

Question 40

The moral theory of ________ is not only consequence based but also beneficence based.

Question 41

In the moral theory known as ________, true moral obligation depends on an objectively valid rule determining the individual's will; the rule provides a moral ground that justifies the action.

Question 42

According to Kant, ________ occurs when people act from passion, desire, personal ambition, or self-interest rather than purely out of duty acting in accordance with the universally valid moral principles.

Question 43

"Deontological ________" identify certain actions that are impermissible regardless of the consequences. They are essentially negative duties that specify what we cannot justifiably do to others even in the pursuit of worthy goals.

Question 44

Rights claims that are not honored constitute a ________ when this is unjustified and wrong, but only an ________ when the right has been justifiably overridden.

Question 45

A ________ right is a right to receive a particular good or service from others, whereas a ________ right is a right to be free from some intervention by others.

Question 46

A ________ is a dispositional trait of character that is socially valuable and reliably present in a person.

Question 47

According to Kant, persons have "________ of the will" if and only if they knowingly act in accordance with the universally valid moral principles that pass the requirements of the categorical imperative.

Question 48

Rights and obligations are often said to be ________, meaning that the language of rights is translatable into the language of obligations and vice versa.