Deck 7: Ethics

Question 1

Hume argued that there was no distinction between reason and sentiment.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Aristotle's conception of happiness (eudaimonia) is a possible state for anyone to achieve.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Ayn Rand was a famous advocate of ethical egoism.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Cultural relativism insists that if two moralities are fundamentally different, it is impossible for them both to be correct.

Question 5

Sartre's moral philosophy is a curious mixture of the most radical relativism and the most traditional moralizing..

Question 6

Morality can be defined as a set of fundamental rules that guides our actions.

Question 7

Two important characteristics of inner judgments are: The agent has reasons to do something, and the agent (as well as everyone else) endorses these reasons.

Question 8

Psychological egoism is the thesis that you should act in the best interest of others because it makes for a better society.

Question 9

In referencing Ayn Rand, Tara Smith argued that egoism was not about relationships to others because if one were stranded on a deserted island, egoism would be equally imperative.

Question 10

A "maxim," according to Kant, was a subjective principle of action, that is, one's intention.

Question 11

Aristotle based his view of morality on the concept of "virtue" and his idea that man is by nature a social and irrational wild animal.

Question 12

The "happiness calculus" is used by game theorists to establish the duties and responsibilities of citizens of particular governments.

Question 13

Nietzsche's attack on universal moral principles has been one of the most vigorous philosophical movements of the twentieth century.

Question 14

Categorical imperative is the name Kant gave to duty, that is, the duty to act in a way that you can will everyone else to act, too.

Question 15

Gilbert Harman defends the ethical absolutists position.

Question 16

Shame and pride are two of Aristotle's virtues.

Question 17

The whole enterprise of mothering has been historically left out of moral theory until recently, as if it were a purely biological function without a rational, philosophical component.

Question 18

Virginia Held suggests new directions for moral thinking on women's experience.

Question 19

There are valid and sound arguments against homosexuality, the logic of which has never, to date, been dismantled by philosophers.

Question 20

Altruism is identical to ethical egoism.

Question 21

Like Bentham, __________ insists that the principle of utility cannot be proved as such, for it is the ultimate end in terms of which everything else is justified.

A) Nietzsche
B) Hume
C) Mill
D) Aristotle

Question 22

For Mill, music was an example of __________.

A) a virtue
B) gross hedonism
C) an epicurean necessary pleasure
D) a pleasure

Question 23

Who does Mill think that the cultivation of noble character is necessary for?

A) The rationalist
B) The person who wants to be noble
C) The christian
D) The utilitarian

Question 24

Nietzsche's moral philosophy often considers the greek tradition of personal excellence as a source of strength and the modern conception of morality as a facade for weakness. What does Nietzsche famously name this moral contrast.

A) Christian morality and Lutheran morality
B) Greek morality and Hellenic morality
C) Master and slave morality
D) Utilitarianism and Christian ethics

Question 25

What is Nietzsche describing in the metaphor, "A tablet of virtues hangs over every people."

A) God
B) moral rules
C) ethical intention
D) utilitarianism

Question 26

In Nietzsch's book, a long quasi-biblical epic called, __________he introduces his famous idea of the Übermensch, the superman who is more than human and superior in his virtues.

A) Morality as Herd-Instinct
B) Existentialism as a Humanism
C) Thus Spoke Zarathustra
D) Twilight of the Idols

Question 27

Kant makes a famous distinction between two kinds of love: __________love, which is commanded as a duty, and __________ love, in other words, what we would call the emotion of love.

A) pathological, practical
B) faithful, passionate
C) practical, pathological
D) passionate, faithful

Question 28

"There is only one categorical imperative, and it is this: Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." From this formulation of the categorical imperative, Kant derived another, which states,

A) "Treat humanity, whether in your own person or the person of any other, never merely as a means, but also always as an end in themselves."
B) "Treat reason, as the fundamental principle of action, always as a guide."
C) "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should agree with your inclinations."
D) "Therefore the universal law of nature is, the existence of things so far as it is determined by universal law."
E) "Serve the will as the objective ground of its self-determination, and all such relative ends can be grounds only for hypothetical imperatives."

Question 29

An __________ is what we call a command in our preliminary discussion of morality. It is of the form "do this!" or "don't do this!" Some imperatives tell us to "do this!"

A) ethical code
B) imperative
C) moral law
D) hypothetical

Question 30

According to Kant, to test the moral validity of a maxim, one should first _______.

A) refute it
B) examine it genealogically
C) address its historical origins
D) universalize it

Question 31

A deontologist would argue that morality should not be based on feelings but rather __________.

A) society
B) faith
C) reason
D) pleasure

Question 32

Utilitarianism is often characterized as a kind of __________.

A) deontology
B) consequentialism
C) rational feminism
D) altruism

Question 33

A popular objection to Bentham's version of utilitarianism complained that __________.

A) utilitarian calculations could be manipulated to benefit the calculator
B) utilitarian calculations could be manipulated to benefit the many
C) utilitarians must perform calculations of utility
D) happiness is the true foundation of morality

Question 34

"The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals 'utility' or 'the greatest happiness principle' holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure."
The author of this passage is __________.

A) Kant
B) Mill
C) Hume
D) Hobbes

Question 35

"The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals 'utility' or 'the greatest happiness principle' holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure."
Because of its emphasis on pleasure, the moral theory described in this passage is certainly a form of __________.

A) egoism
B) hedonism
C) feminism
D) rational choice theory

Question 36

"The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals 'utility' or 'the greatest happiness principle' holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure."
The moral theory introduced in this passage insists that the highest good is __________.

A) maximum pleasure for the most
B) maximum pleasure for the individual
C) maximum pleasure for the few
D) happiness but not pleasure

Question 37

Mill thought that the best proof of the fact that pleasure is a human good is that __________.

A) all humans do, in fact, seek it
B) humans are often willing to sacrifice it for other moral goods
C) lower pleasures lead to pains
D) "Better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a swine satisfied!"

Question 38

Sartre argued that morality was developed __________.

A) a priori
B) in accordance with virtue
C) by the individual
D) using the principle of utility

Question 39

Which of the following is not a moral rule by which we live with other people?

A) Morality sets limits to our desires and actions.
B) Morality tells us what is permitted and what we ought to do as well as what is not permitted and what we ought not do.
C) Morality delineates guiding principles for making decisions.
D) Morality aids us in getting what we want.

Question 40

Who said that if you are ashamed, the best remedy is for you to practice benevolence?

A) Xunzi
B) Abraham Lincoln
C) Mencius
D) Ayn Rand

Question 41

Nicomachean Ethics are the moral writings of which philosopher?

A) Plato
B) Hume
C) Mill
D) Aristotle

Question 42

Hume claimed that you cannot derive a(n) __________ from a(n) __________, that is, you could not provide a valid argument about what you should do based on the facts alone.

A) argument, sentiment
B) reason for acting, emotion
C) ought, is
D) conclusion, fact

Question 43

Which of the following philosophers rejected the idea of basing morality on feelings of any kind?

A) Aristotle
B) Kant
C) Hume
D) Rousseau

Question 44

Which of the following said that the first impulses of nature were always right?

A) Aristotle
B) Kant
C) Hume
D) Rousseau

Question 45

Bentham said that "nature has placed mankind under two sovereign masters." They are __________.

A) God and Satan
B) parents and employers
C) pain and pleasure
D) love and hate

Question 46

Which of the following said "Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself" and "man makes himself"?

A) Nietzsche
B) Sartre
C) Aristotle
D) Kant

Question 47

Why shouldn't the existentialist consult feeling as a guide for action?

A) Because feelings are formed by the action one does.
B) Because feelings are not correlated with the truth.
C) Because existentialists are not supposed to have any feelings.
D) Because feelings are fickle.

Question 48

Which Harvard psychologist changed the course of ethics by arguing that women tended to think about moral issues differently than men did, thereby challenging the standard initial assumptions on which further philosophical inquiry is made?

A) Rousseau
B) John Steward Mill
C) Carol Gilligan
D) Virginia Held

Question 49

What do art and morality have in common? According to Sartre, which elements unite them?

A) Beauty and power
B) Sublimity
C) A creator
D) Creativity and invention

Question 50

__________ claims that everyone always acts to his or her own advantage and that the only reason why a person performs a morally good action is because it serves his or her own interests. In popular language, this is called selfishness.

A) ethical egoism
B) psychological egoism
C) hedonism
D) utilitarianism

Question 51

Compare Rousseau's notion of conscience with Hume's notion of sentiment. Does one theory seem to be stronger than the other, based on the differences and/or similarities between the notions of sentiment and conscience?

Question 52

Does Aristotle's model of virtue ethics depend only on social constructs, or does it also leave room for autonomy? Defend your answer.

Question 53

Consider how one might reconcile the rule-based system of Kant with the consequence-based system of utilitarianism. Can the two ethical systems complement one another?

Question 54

Think of one or more moral dilemmas that cannot be satisfactorily solved by either Kant or Mill. Does Nietzsche provide a solution?

Question 55

What are the moral dangers of suggesting, as Nietzsche and Sartre do, that individuals create their own value systems? Could a prison guard in a Nazi concentration camp describe himself as a "good person" on existentialist grounds?

Question 56

How plausible is the idea that men and women make their moral choices using different rules and criteria? Given the choice between saving your own child's life and the life of someone else's child, what would you do, and why? What would Mill do? Kant?

Question 57

Does it make any sense to ask whether some action is right or wrong apart from any relation to a comparison class? Is the predicate "is right" functionally different from "is tall," "is sour," or "is located between A and B"? Don't we ask if Sam is tall in relation to Betty, or as compared with most people? We wouldn't understand what was meant by "sour" unless we had tasted sweet, would we? "Is the post office located between Main Street and First Street?" is a relational question that cannot be answered unless we had Main Street and First Street for comparison. Moral relativism asserts that "is right" needs a comparison class, too. Do you agree? Argue both pro and con sides of the issue.

Question 58

Consider the anecdote about Abraham Lincoln. While arguing the psychological egoist position with a friend, he stopped to help some drowning piglets. His friend remarked that his action was altruistic, not egoistic, to which Lincoln countered that it was indeed selfishness because if he didn't stop to help he'd have no peace of mind the rest of the day worrying about the piglets. Is it selfishness? Consider this: Why would Lincoln have had a disturbed peace of mind if he had not helped? Perhaps it is because, as psychological altruism asserts, people naturally act for each other's sake. Perhaps Lincoln responded to his natural condition of psychological altruism by acting according to his natural condition of psychological egoism! Discuss.

Question 59

Is Kant correct in asserting that people should be praised or blamed only for what they have control over and not for what they have no control over? It seems obvious that congratulating someone on his height or punishing a mentally handicapped person for not doing algebra correctly is ridiculous. Yet, along with Aristotle, we still do this for virtues and vices, even though a person's courage, wit, wealth, and so forth, is often due to heredity and upbringing rather than personal choice. How do you know when, and in what proportion, to praise or blame?

Question 60

What did Nietzsche mean by "Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Űbermensch"? How is man a bridge rather than a goal? Does everyone have the capacity to become an Űbermensch? How does one go about it? Is the "will to power" something morally efficacious?

Question 61

Hume argued that morality was ultimately based on __________.

Question 62

The categorical imperative depends on __________.

Question 63

Utilitarianism is a refined form of __________.

Question 64

For Kant, we should always avoid treating others __________.

Question 65

Mill distinguishes between higher and lower __________ and says that humans, unlike pigs, are capable of both because we possess higher cognitive faculties.

Question 66

Hedonism is the moral theory arguing that __________.

Question 67

Bentham began with the fact that people seek pleasure and avoid pain and developed the __________ , to be applied to policy decisions as well as to personal ones.

Question 68

Another way of describing the categorical imperative is to say that it is an __________ principle, independent of any particular circumstances.

Question 69

Nietzsche is often viewed as the most extreme of the __________.

Question 70

Kant says, "Nothing can possibly be conceived in the world, or even out of it, which can be called good without qualification, except a __________.