Deck 11: Case Studies in Virtue

Question 1

Discuss the concept of physical courage. Is it the same as the absence of fear? Why or why not?

Answer 1

No Answer

Question 2

Discuss the concept of moral courage. What are its defining characteristics?

Answer 2

No Answer

Question 3

Discuss the story of Pat Tillman who died in "friendly fire" during the war in Afghanistan. What made Tillman a courageous person? Explain.

Answer 3

No Answer

Question 4

What is the difference between suicide and self-sacrifice? Explain what each is and why one is more acceptable in our society. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Question 5

Define Hallie's concept of institutionalized cruelty. What kind of cruelty is it? Why does it happen? What is the antidote?

Question 6

Explain Major Schmäling's action of joining the Nazi party and yet pretending not to notice the Jewish refugees in the French village. What might this example say about a conflict between political and moral commitments? Is there any virtue in intellectual and moral inconsistency?

Question 7

What does Taylor try to say with his stories of malice and goodness? Explain by referring to the stories.

Question 8

What does the Huck Finn story reveal about the necessity of reason and compassion in ethical action?

Question 9

Contrast the conclusions of Lin Yutang and Jane English on the topic of parent-child relationship.

Question 10

Suppose that a father who never participated in raising his daughter comes forward after she turns 18, apologizes for his neglect, and tries to mend his relationship with her. Do you think English would have argued that the daughter has a duty to at least give him a chance at a relationship? Explain.

Question 11

What does Hallie mean by negative and positive commands? Explain. Do you agree with him that positive commands are harder to live up to than negative commands?

Question 12

Describe what Prinz means when he suggests that moral outrage can be taught independently of empathy. Do you agree? Which is a more effective way to get people concerned about moral issues such as extreme poverty in developing countries and ethnic cleansing? Explain.

Question 13

Evaluate the subject of respect for the elderly as expressed in the philosophies of Confucius, Mencius, and Lin Yutang. Are such thoughts completely alien to Western culture? Do you think modern Western culture would improve by incorporating such ideas? Why or why not?

Question 14

Contrast the metaphors of friendship and debt in relationships.

Question 15

What is the difference between reciprocity and mutuality in Jane English's theory? Explain with examples.

Question 16

Discuss the issue of dating in terms of the favor-debt situation and the friendship situation. Is there a way to resolve the problem of different expectations for dating partners in the twenty-first century?

Question 17

Why does Rosenstand argue that the challenge to soft universalism is to provide justification for why certain values are to be considered common ground?

Question 18

Explain why the debt-metaphor ceases to be inappropriate in friendships.

Question 19

Discuss the parable of the Good Samaritan on the basis of the university study mentioned in study question number 3. Do you think you would be more inclined to stop and help if you remembered this story? Why or why not?

Question 20

Discuss the quote from Schindler's List, taken from the Talmud, "Whoever saves one life saves an entire world." Compare the story of Schindler's List with Hallie's account of Le Chambon. Are there significant similarities and differences?

Question 21

Discuss the concept in Band of Brothers that states that one can only become truly courageous if one gives up hope and thinks of himself or herself as dead already. If you are a veteran with wartime or battle experience, how would you evaluate the concept? Is it valuable or flawed?

Question 22

Which of the following statements is true of the views regarding suicide?

A) Much of our attitude toward suicide is rooted in religion.
B) There is no element of selfishness in suicide.
C) The most unacceptable type of suicide occurs when terminally ill people decide to kill themselves.
D) Self-sacrifice is often labeled as suicide.

Question 23

Which of the following statements is true of heroes?

A) The meaning of a true hero varies from person to person.
B) People who sacrifice their lives for strangers are less likely to be true heroes because they do not care about their families.
C) Courage is the only criterion for deciding who a true hero is.
D) A true hero is usually the one who excels in what he has been trained to do.

Question 24

According to Philip Hallie, which of the following statements is true of institutionalized cruelty?

A) It consists exclusively of cruelty against women and children.
B) It occurs because one group is more powerful than the other.
C) It consists of intense physical cruelty with no element of psychological cruelty.
D) Its insidious effect is over when the cruelty ceases.

Question 25

Which of the following is true according to Richard Taylor?

A) Reason has no role to play in making the right moral choice.
B) Compassion is not inherent to human beings.
C) It is better to use one's head, plus feelings, than use one's heart exclusively.
D) One can only empathize with individuals, not with large unfortunate groups of people.

Question 26

What is Bennett's argument against Huck Finn?

A) It was wrong of Huck to help a slave escape because slaves were property during his day and age, and ethical relativism dictates that one must follow the rules of one's society.
B) Huck did the right thing but for the wrong reason, and he should have found good reasons for helping Jim rather than just following his instinct.
C) Huck did the wrong thing, and he should have pleaded with Jim's owner to free him.
D) Huck did the right thing, and Bennett doesn't argue against him at all.

Question 27

The Japanese classic novel Kokoro focuses on the issue of

A) infusing courage in one's life.
B) studying empathy and its effects on life.
C) taking care of one's elderly parents.
D) determining the importance of selfishness in one's life.

Question 28

In China, two children per family are permitted from January 1, 2016, because the one-child-per-family rule had resulted in

A) couples not revealing the news of the birth of their second child.
B) a shortage of women who could become sexual partners and wives for the next generation.
C) driving people away from marriage and relationships.
D) couples traveling abroad to have their second child and not returning to China.

Question 29

According to Jane English, which of the following statements is true of the obligations that one has toward his or her parents?

A) One has no obligations at all because he or she did not ask to be born.
B) One has an obligation to love his or her parents even if they have not treated him or her well.
C) One has unending obligations because he or she has been raised by his or her parents.
D) One has obligations according to his or her parents' needs and his or her ability to help as long as there is friendship.

Question 30

Confucius identifies a man of virtue as having three specific characteristics. Which of the following is NOT one of those characteristics?

A) wisdom
B) a good head for business
C) courage
D) humaneness

Question 31

Which of the following is Mencius's view of human nature?

A) There is no human nature.
B) Someone who has led an easy life can be truly virtuous.
C) Humans are born good and can learn to be good.
D) Humans are born morally neutral and can become good or evil.

Question 32

According to Mencius, what is the most important duty?

A) the duty toward one's children
B) the duty toward the state
C) the duty toward one's parents
D) the duty toward one's spouse

Question 33

In his books, Lin Yutang attempted to

A) identify the basic neurological response to altruism in humans.
B) prove that the Nazis were involved in institutionalized cruelty.
C) bridge the gap between East and West.
D) advocate the uselessness of moral principles.

Question 34

Soft universalism refers to the theory that

A) courage is the foundation of virtue.
B) there is one universal moral code.
C) deep down, we can agree on certain core values that are based on our common humanity.
D) the proper method of finding our way back to our lost goodness is to look inside ourselves.

Question 35

Which of the following statements is the most accurate description of Jesse Prinz's view of empathy?

A) Empathy is central to moral decision making and should be fostered in our attempt to become more moral citizens.
B) Empathy should be regarded with caution and not be given a central role in moral decision making.
C) We should actively suppress empathy and rid ourselves of all of its influences.
D) Empathy is not a characteristic that can be fostered or suppressed, and we need to focus on different elements of moral cognition if we are to become more moral citizens.

Question 36

Which of the following statements is true of altruism?

A) Neuroscientists have proved that altruism is slowly being replaced by selfishness in humans.
B) Altruism is the result of the sophistication of the human race.
C) People have always naturally preferred selfishness to altruism.
D) Altruism makes people feel good, just as food and sex do.

Question 37

Schindler, in Schindler's List, originally hired Jews for his factory because

A) he wished to save them from the death camps.
B) they were efficient workers.
C) he himself was a Jew.
D) he wished to increase his profits.

Question 38

Which of the following statements is true of the Schindler's List?

A) It is a list of Nazi war criminals compiled by the Jewish avenger Schindler.
B) It is a list of Jewish workers compiled by Schindler in order to save them from Nazi death camps.
C) It is a list of Jewish workers compiled by the Nazi Schindler to be sent to the death camps.
D) It is a list of Jewish workers whom Schindler wished to convert into Nazi followers.

Question 39

Which of the following virtues does the main character in True Grit illustrate?

A) courage
B) empathy
C) gratitude
D) compassion

Question 40

Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau agreed that humans are naturally compassionate toward each other.

Question 41

Mencius and Rousseau agreed that humans are good by nature, but they have been corrupted by the circumstances of life.

Question 42

Aristotle states that the brave man has no fear.

Question 43

It is more likely that courage will be more beneficially utilized if compassion is included in one's thought process.

Question 44

According to Philip Hallie, institutionalized cruelty makes the victim believe that somehow the cruelty is justified.

Question 45

According to Hallie, the best antidote against institutionalized cruelty is to show hospitality to the victim.

Question 46

Hallie believed that sympathy, even if not accompanied by compassionate action, is a redeeming quality.

Question 47

According to Hallie, following a positive moral command is harder than following a negative moral command.

Question 48

According to Richard Taylor, reason has no role to play in moral matters; all one needs is compassion.

Question 49

Taylor's three stories of atrocities show that what counts is the dreadful consequences of these acts, not the intentions behind them.

Question 50

According to neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, our brain is wired for empathy.

Question 51

In Huckleberry Finn, Huck helps the runaway slave Jim, and Jonathan Bennett thinks Huck is doing the wrong thing.

Question 52

Nobody can make a person feel gratitude, but one can encourage a person to show it.

Question 53

Confucius defines the man of virtue as someone with a good head for business.

Question 54

The Way is practiced by developing good habits and continual good thinking.

Question 55

Both Aristotle and Confucius believed that it is virtuous to exercise moderation.

Question 56

Mencius thought the proper method of finding our way back to our lost goodness is to look inside ourselves and recapture our nature.

Question 57

According to the Chinese conception of virtue, letting his parents grow old and die without his support is the gravest sin a man can commit.

Question 58

Mencius believed that nature is a complex duality of opposite forces working together, the forces of yin and yang.

Question 59

Lin Yutang predominantly criticizes the West for being indifferent toward our children and homeless people.

Question 60

Lin Yutang believes we owe a debt of gratitude to our parents for having raised us.

Question 61

Jane English uses the debt-metaphor to advocate the idea that grown children owe a debt to their parents for raising them.

Question 62

Jane English believed the main problem between grown children and parents is the common parental attitude that their children somehow are indebted to them.

Question 63

According to Fred Berger, in friendship, the debt-metaphor ceases to be appropriate, because friends should not think they owe each other anything.

Question 64

Fred Berger believes that in order to determine the amount of gratitude one ought to show, one must look at the giver's intentions.

Question 65

Jane English believes that all dating problems would be solved if both parties agree at the outset that the date is, basically, a business arrangement.

Question 66

Jane English suggests parents to say to their grown children, "If you love us, you'll do X."

Question 67

The linguist Deborah Tannen claims that the Golden Rule doesn't work when people have different visions of correct behavior.

Question 68

Virtue ethics has solved the problem of when and how to use one's reason and rational argumentation in defining moral standards.

Question 69

Rosenstand claims that just like it takes skill to be a good giver, it takes skill to be a good receiver too.

Question 70

Lin Yutang saw the greatest difference between East and West not in the area of politics or gender issues but in the way we treat our elderly-our parents in particular.

Question 71

Ethical pluralism refers to multiple ethical viewpoints coexisting on our planet and within the same culture.

Question 72

The parable of the Good Samaritan is intended to be taken as an allegory.

Question 73

The Good Samaritan is the story of a man in ancient Israel who stopped to help an accident victim and was himself mugged by thieves.

Question 74

In Schindler's List, Schindler is a Jew who narrowly escapes death in Nazi Germany and makes a list of Nazi war criminals to be tracked down and taken to justice after the war.

Question 75

According to John McCain, humans are by nature self-centered and that compassion is something humans show toward others in distress because they are afraid the same calamity might happen to them.

Question 76

Philip Hallie considered the virtue of compassion as an emotion and thought it was essential for the moral makeup of a decent human being.

Question 77

The Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that humans are naturally compassionate toward one another.

Question 78

According to Jesse Prinz, empathy is required for moral judgment.