Deck 4: Myself or Others

Question 1

Compare and contrast the concepts of psychological egoism and ethical egoism. Discuss arguments against them.

Answer 1

No Answer

Question 2

Consider the story of the heroes of September 11, 2001. Explain their behavior in terms of psychological egoism. Is this explanation adequate? If not, why?

Answer 2

No Answer

Question 3

Do you agree with Rosenstand that cynicism may account for some of the popularity of psychological egoism? Why, or why not?

Answer 3

No Answer

Question 4

In the context of the discussion on "ought implies can," explain how psychological egoists defend human selfishness.

Question 5

Give a brief account of the story of the Ring of Gyges. How does Glaucon use it to express a hypothesis of human nature?

Question 6

How would Richard Dawkins's selfish-gene theory account for a mother's decision to sacrifice her life for her child? How do you think Dawkins would explain a firefighter's decision to risk his life to save a stranger?

Question 7

What are the three points on which Thomas Hobbes agreed with Glaucon's theory of self-interest?

Question 8

How does Thomas Hobbes account for human pity? Can you raise any counterexamples to his arguments?

Question 9

Would you characterize Abraham Lincoln's opinion of his own act of saving the pigs as that of a psychological or an ethical egoist? Your answer should contain a precise definition of both theories.

Question 10

Explain the fallacy of the suppressed correlative with an example. Discuss an application of the fallacy that is not mentioned in the text.

Question 11

What do you think is the strongest argument against ethical egoism offered in the chapter? What do you think would be an ethical egoist's strongest response to that argument? Would it be successful?

Question 12

What are some of the problems associated with the life of an ethical egoist?

Question 13

Differentiate between ideal and reciprocal altruism. What are the most attractive and most problematic points associated with them?

Question 14

In Peter Singer's version of the prisoner's dilemma, what do you think is in the best interest of the two hunters: staying and fighting together to kill the cat or one fleeing, leaving his fellow hunter to be eaten while he escapes? Explain. Would your answer change if you realize that the rest of their tribes will later know what the hunter's decision had been? Explain.

Question 15

Evaluate Emmanuel Levinas's theory that another human being should always be regarded as more important than yourself. Is it a moral theory you would consider adopting? Why, or why not?

Question 16

According to Ayn Rand, when would it be morally acceptable to save a drowning person? Explain, and add your own comments.

Question 17

What does Thomas Hobbes mean by saying that there is neither justice nor injustice when humans live in a state of war of everybody against everybody? What event creates justice and injustice?

Question 18

Compare Glaucon's and Thomas Hobbes's ideas of justice.

Question 19

Thomas Hobbes believes that we are all selfish by nature. However, because right and wrong for Hobbes do not exist prior to the creation of a society, is selfishness in itself a bad thing? Why, or why not?

Question 20

Explain Mary Midgley's argument that selfishness is a mythology.

Question 21

In the Friends episode narrative, who wins the debate between Phoebe and Joey, and why? How could Phoebe have better defended the existence of selflessness?

Question 22

In the film Force Majeure, can Tomas's actions at the time the avalanche hit be called selfish or terrifyingly normal? Explain. Do you think Mat's defense of Tomas that values are in effect only if one's life is not in danger is a justifiable explanation?

Question 23

Psychological egoism claims that

A) most people will act selfishly if they think they can get away with it.
B) people always ought to act selfishly.
C) egoists have a psychological problem.
D) people always act selfishly.

Question 24

Glaucon, with his hypothesis of the two rings in the text by Plato, points to the fact that

A) any man who has two rings ought to give one of them to a needy person.
B) if an invisibility ring is given to a just man and another to an unjust man, the just man will do good deeds with it and the unjust man will do bad deeds.
C) if an invisibility ring is given to a just man and another to an unjust man, the just man will do bad deeds and the unjust man will do good deeds.
D) if an invisibility ring is given to a just man and another to an unjust man, both of these men will behave selfishly.

Question 25

Which of the following narratives does NOT belong on this list of similar themes?

A) The Lord of the Rings
B) The Invisible Man
C) Iron Man
D) Harry Potter

Question 26

According to Thomas Hobbes, the reason we feel pity toward others is because

A) we are benevolent by nature and feel sympathetic toward others.
B) we are afraid their misfortune might happen to us.
C) we are afraid they will find out that we do not care about their misfortune.
D) we are stupid; smart people do not feel pity.

Question 27

There are three major reasons given in the text for the popularity of psychological egoism. Which of the following should NOT be listed?

A) The theory appeals to our modern tendency toward cynicism.
B) The theory appeals to our honesty.
C) The theory allows us to choose when to be selfish and when to consider the feelings of others.
D) The theory serves as an excuse for not trying to do something for others.

Question 28

Which of the following best describes the fallacy of the suppressed correlative?

A) It assumes that because a person is who he or she is, his or her viewpoint must be wrong.
B) It states that you can understand yourself by suppressing your memories of your family history.
C) It is a phenomenon where something becomes meaningless if it does not have any opposite.
D) It involves attacking and disproving a theory invented for the occasion.

Question 29

Three major criticisms against psychological egoism are listed in the textbook. Which of the following should NOT be on the list?

A) Falsification is not possible, because psychological egoism does not allow for the possibility that some people are not selfish all the time.
B) The theory has problems with the language it uses, including the fallacy of the suppressed correlative.
C) The theory mistakenly assumes that doing what we want is always selfish.
D) The theory misinterprets the old saying "Ought implies can" to mean "If I ought to do something, then I will be able to do it."

Question 30

Abraham Lincoln claimed that he saved the pigs from drowning because

A) otherwise he would not had peace of mind all day.
B) they were his property, and he did not want to lose the investment.
C) he wanted to prove that he was a good and kind person.
D) he liked pigs.

Question 31

It has been argued that ethical egoism does NOT work in practice because

A) some people are not willing to be selfish.
B) if every person has the goal of looking after his or her own self-interest, then he or she will have a lot of competition, making it harder to satisfy this goal.
C) humans are by nature benevolent.
D) if you try to look after your own interests, you will be hindered by others who disapprove of your selfish behavior.

Question 32

Which of the following best describes the genetic fallacy?

A) believing in the literal truth of the story of Genesis
B) confusing the origin of something with what it becomes at a later stage
C) believing that human genes tell us anything about human behavior
D) believing that we can understand the origin of the universe

Question 33

Mary Midgley suggests that egoism is probably guilty of

A) the genetic fallacy.
B) the fallacy of the suppressed correlative.
C) the ad hominem fallacy.
D) the fallacy of composition.

Question 34

Which of the following theories is LEAST associated with David Hume's philosophy?

A) altruism
B) emotionalism
C) soft universalism
D) egoism

Question 35

Who among the following wrote, "Despite its fragility and selectivity, the capacity to care for others is the bedrock of our moral system. It is the only capacity that does not snugly fit the hedonic cage in which philosophers, psychologists, and biologists have tried to lock the human spirit"?

A) Mary Midgley
B) John Steinbeck
C) Ayn Rand
D) Frans de Waal

Question 36

The moral of Glaucon's tale of Gyges and his ring was that

A) just and unjust men act differently under different circumstances.
B) just and unjust men react similarly to temptation.
C) everyone is either good or bad.
D) unknown jewelry should not be touched.

Question 37

Who among the following advocates effective altruism, a form of charity where donations are distributed in terms of where they will do the most good?

A) Mary Midgley
B) Ayn Rand
C) Peter Singer
D) Thomas Hobbes

Question 38

Who among the following argues that the attempt at explaining human behavior as a predictable evolutionary pattern determined by survival must fail because of its inability to take human choice and preference into account?

A) John Steinbeck
B) Mary Midgley
C) David Hume
D) Richard Dawkins

Question 39

The selfish-gene theory was introduced in a book called The Selfish Gene (1976) by British evolutionary biologist _____.

A) Edward O. Wilson
B) Richard Taylor
C) Richard Dawkins
D) David Sloane Wilson

Question 40

In the Friends episode narrative, Phoebe tries to prove the existence of altruism in three ways. Which one should NOT be on the list?

A) She rakes the leaves off an elderly neighbor's doorstep.
B) She donates $200 to PBS.
C) She lets a bee sting her.
D) She gives Joey her concert tickets.

Question 41

In the film Force Majeure, as the avalanche advances upon Ebba and her family, Tomas

A) shoves Ebba and the kids out of harm's way.
B) grabs one of the kids and rushes toward the exit.
C) gets up from his chair and accidently pushes Ebba over the balcony.
D) gets up from his chair and rushes toward the exit.

Question 42

In Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand's main concern is to make people understand that

A) it is everyone's responsibility to make certain that no one goes hungry in this world.
B) they should always keep other people's interest at heart before their own.
C) it is everyone's right to protect himself or herself from being used by others who want something for nothing.
D) the Bible is always right.

Question 43

An egoist is defined as a person who has a very high self-opinion and whose language often consists of self-praise.

Question 44

Egoism and egotism basically mean the same thing.

Question 45

A psychological egoist is by definition a selfish person.

Question 46

A psychological egoist is a person who believes that all people look after themselves.

Question 47

"Ought implies can" usually means the same as "If there is a will, there is a way."

Question 48

Glaucon uses the story of the Ring of Gyges to express his moral disapproval of anyone who gains an advantage by disregarding the interests of others.

Question 49

The story of the Ring of Gyges indicates that humans will take advantage of any situation if they can get away with it.

Question 50

Psychological egoism is the theory that the only proper way to live is to be selfish. In other words, everyone is not necessarily selfish by nature, but one ought to be selfish.

Question 51

Glaucon claims that if we give away two invisibility rings, one to a just person and the other to an unjust person, the unjust person would take advantage of the ring, but the just person would not.

Question 52

Thomas Hobbes thought that all acts, even acts of pity, could be attributed to a natural tendency toward selfishness.

Question 53

Rosenstand speculates that the origin of modern cynicism is linked to the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.

Question 54

The Catholic Church has been relatively immune from recent increases in American cynicism.

Question 55

The unfalsifiability of a theory demonstrates the logical fallacy of begging the question; that is, it assumes that what it is supposed to prove is already true.

Question 56

Confucius taught his students a version of the Golden Rule: "What you do not like when done to yourself, do not do to others." This is sometimes known as the "Silver Rule."

Question 57

A theory must be theoretically falsifiable in order to be philosophically acceptable.

Question 58

If a theory cannot be falsified under any circumstances, it must be true.

Question 59

Abraham Lincoln can be seen as a psychological egoist because regardless of how unselfishly he acted, he expressed the theory that everyone acts selfishly.

Question 60

The fallacy of the suppressed correlative is used to argue that psychological egoism is wrong.

Question 61

The principle of falsification was advanced by Karl Popper.

Question 62

An ethical egoist is a person who believes that everybody is selfish.

Question 63

Ethical egoism is a consequentialist theory.

Question 64

The basic idea of the "Golden Rule" is found only in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Question 65

David Hume believed that competition is the natural human feeling that holds society together.

Question 66

The female gorilla Binti Jua was thought by many people to show that apes can display compassion because she saved a small boy.

Question 67

Richard Dawkins says that when a person displays altruistic behavior that does not promote the survival of their genes the person is just making a mistake.

Question 68

David Hume believes that all humans are selfish at heart.

Question 69

Peter Singer claims that it is to everyone's evolutionary advantage to look after their own interests and disregard the interests of others.

Question 70

The altruism theory states that the only moral duty we have is to look to the needs of other people.

Question 71

Altruism is similar to psychological egoism because it says that it is certainly both possible and right to look after one's own welfare.

Question 72

Altruism can be viewed as an antidote to ethical egoism because altruism rejects the entire premise that it is morally good to focus on one's own needs.

Question 73

Reciprocal altruism is known as Golden Rule altruism.

Question 74

Psychological altruism claims that everyone is unselfish at heart.

Question 75

Emmanuel Levinas expressed the idea that other people are always more important than yourself.

Question 76

It has been proven to the satisfaction of most scientists that chimpanzees have no trace of moral rules in their society.

Question 77

Mary Midgley suggests that instead of being fundamentally selfish, we extend our caring capacity to strangers, thus making them honorary relatives for a while.

Question 78

The "Veneer Theory" of human nature suggests that self-love is the main cause of moral judgment.

Question 79

Thomas Hobbes expressed the opinion that justice is an invention based on self-preservation.

Question 80

David Hume stated that before the creation of society, in the "state of nature," where people live in a perpetual state of war against one another, life is "nasty, brutish, and short," and no rules apply except that of self-preservation.