Deck 7: The Ethics of Immigration

Question 1

The most common form of cosmopolitanism is _____ cosmopolitanism, according to which those in a position to do so have an obligation to assist those in need because of poverty and to promote basic human rights.

A) moral
B) political
C) cultural
D) economic

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Stephen Macedo approaches the ethical issue of immigration from the perspective of _____ justice.

A) feminist
B) global
C) distributive
D) international

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following is not mentioned by Macedo as a duty that societies have toward nonmembers?

A) duties of fair dealing (e.g., nonexploitation)
B) cosmopolitan egalitarian duties (e.g., ensuring that everyone has equal wealth)
C) duties of rectification and redress (e.g., redressing those who were oppressed)
D) humanitarian duties (e.g., preventing systematic violations of human rights)

Answer 3

B

Question 4

According to Macedo, we have special obligations to our fellow citizens arising from

A) our relationships to noncitizens.
B) consequentialist duties to promote the greatest good for the greatest number.
C) membership in a legitimate self-governing community.
D) nothing; we do not have special obligations to fellow citizens.

Question 5

In accordance with the theory of justice proposed by John Rawls, Stephen Macedo argues, "We must consider the justifiability of policies from the standpoint of the _____ well-off among our fellow citizens."

A) most
B) least
C) historically
D) permanently

Question 6

Macedo describes his position on immigration as politically

A) liberal
B) conservative
C) evangelical
D) neutral

Question 7

Which of the following statements would Macedo disagree with?

A) States should give special weight to their own citizens.
B) Immigration policies can have powerful economic effects.
C) Self-governance is morally irrelevant to the immigration debate.
D) There are reasons to think U.S. immigration policy has had detrimental effects on income distribution among citizens.

Question 8

Joseph Carens argues that restrictions on free migration can be justified if

A) such restrictions are decreed by a sovereign leader.
B) the restrictions are necessary to preserve a distinct culture or way of life.
C) both A and B are true
D) none of the above

Question 9

Which of the following is not, according to Carens, a concern for all liberal egalitarians?

A) the ability of people to pursue their own projects
B) equal opportunity
C) freedom of speech
D) keeping actual inequalities as small as possible

Question 10

Carens argues that, for example, liberal egalitarianism has nothing to say about the question of whether a black doctor has a moral obligation to practice in a black community. This is because the only limit that liberal egalitarianism places on individuals' moral obligations, according to Caren, is that they

A) must not conflict with the rights and duties that liberal egalitarianism itself prescribes.
B) must be in accord with utilitarian moral considerations.
C) must not conflict with reasonable standards of prudence.
D) none of the above

Question 11

During his discussion of Japan, Caren claims that to answer the question of whether limitations on freedom of entry are justified, we have to weigh the claims of those trying to get in _____ the claims of those who are already inside.

A) more heavily with
B) less heavily with
C) independently of
D) equally with

Question 12

Carens argues that a policy of exclusion does not always imply that the culture and people being protected are superior because

A) such a policy actually implies that the protected culture is inferior.
B) the exclusion may simply reflect an attachment to what is one's own (rather than a belief in superiority).
C) superiority and inferiority are inherently subjective concepts.
D) only superior cultures have freedom of movement.

Question 13

Carens accepts that it is possible for the sudden opening of one country's borders to do more harm than good from a liberal egalitarian perspective. However, he argues that

A) in practice, feasible policy options will not entail major costs to current citizens.
B) liberal egalitarianism is false, and so this possibility is irrelevant.
C) sometimes you have to do more harm than good in the short term to do more good in the long term.
D) all of the above

Question 14

Carens defends a form of

A) Kantian distributionism.
B) anticosmopolitanism.
C) libertarian cosmopolitanism.
D) egalitarian cosmopolitanism.

Question 15

Carens's main conclusion is that

A) liberal egalitarianism should almost always press for more openness toward immigrants and refugees.
B) liberal egalitarianism, contrary to appearances, entails that only closed border immigration policies are acceptable.
C) egalitarianism is founded on sentiments of envy and is therefore unjustified.
D) liberal egalitarian objections to anticosmopolitanism do not succeed.

Question 16

Christopher Heath Wellman defends the position that

A) anti-egalitarianism is compatible with liberal cosmopolitanism.
B) closing borders to all potential immigrations is an inherently racist social policy.
C) nation-states have an obligation to open their borders to the least well-off potential immigrants.
D) nation-states have a presumptive right to close their borders to all potential immigrants.

Question 17

Wellman cites a number of "unpalatable implications that follow from denying a country's right to freedom of association," including

A) the inability to explain why it would be wrong to force Canada to join NAFTA.
B) the inability to explain why it would be wrong for the United States to forcefully annex Canada
C) both A and B
D) neither A nor B

Question 18

In response to the objection that freedom of association is much more important in the marital context than the political realm, Wellman says

A) there is no freedom of association in the marital context.
B) his argument does not require that marital and political freedom of association be equally important.
C) freedom of association is equally important in both contexts.
D) none of the above

Question 19

Wellman accepts that there are other values besides the freedom of association, such as

A) egalitarian values concerning the elimination of inequalities that make people vulnerable to oppression.
B) libertarian values concerning individuals' property rights and freedom of movement.
C) both A and B
D) nothing; there are no values besides freedom of association

Question 20

Wellman argues that insisting on unlimited property rights commits one to

A) deontological theory.
B) egalitarianism.
C) consequentialism.
D) anarchy.

Question 21

In response to the worry that the freedom of association could justify immigration policies that exclude entry to members of a given race, Wellman claims that

A) such a policy would wrongly disrespect existing citizens who belong to that race.
B) this is an implication of the freedom of association that we must accept.
C) this is an unavoidable implication of all philosophical positions on immigration policy.
D) none of the above

Question 22

In his objection to "the second prong of the libertarian case for open borders," Wellman responds to the objection that he is essentially denying that we have a right to freedom of movement. Which of the following is part of his response?

A) He would say this begs the question because the immigration question is identical to the freedom-of-movement question.
B) He would present an argument showing that there is actually no right to freedom of movement.
C) He would argue that some rights are not absolute (e.g., the right to marriage doesn't allow you to marry an unwilling partner).
D) He would use deontological premises to deductively conclude that unjust public policies are morally objectionable.

Question 23

A central premise of Wellman's argument is that the state's right to freedom of association implies a right to _____ prospective members:

A) exclude
B) punish
C) advocate
D) none of the above

Question 24

Sarah Fine's "internal critique" of Wellman's argument targets his claim that

A) we have an absolute right to freedom of association (i.e., one that cannot be outweighed by anything else).
B) freedom of association implies that a legitimate state has a presumptive right to exclude anyone from its territory.
C) immigration is harmful to low-income Americans.
D) egalitarianism is a Marxist doctrine.

Question 25

Fine asks us to consider an example in which a private club "regularly arranges noisy late-night gatherings" to show that

A) private clubs can rightfully exclude outsiders.
B) the actions of groups can affect members outside that group.
C) there is no difference between an individual's and a group's freedom of association.
D) all of the above

Question 26

From the fact that emigration is often associated with significant costs, Fine concludes that

A) those who are willing (or forced) to leave a state often have substantial interests in living in another state.
B) preventing potential immigrants from settling in a different state can be detrimental to their well-being.
C) closing borders can have significant costs to potential immigrants.
D) all of the above

Question 27

Suppose Wellman argued that just as you have a right not to marry someone who would be harmed by your refusal, a state is free to exclude others even if it causes harm to them. Fine would respond by saying that

A) the liberal state cannot claim to be primarily an intimate or expressive association.
B) you do not have the right to refuse a legitimate marriage proposal.
C) there is no difference between marital relationships and the relationship between a citizen and his state.
D) refusing to marry someone cannot be a cause of harm.

Question 28

Fine argues that states are not clubs because

A) it is not possible today for would-be immigrants to get together to set up a state of their own.
B) exclusion from a golf club is unlikely to have a devastating impact on the life of a would-be member.
C) both A and B
D) neither A nor B

Question 29

Wellman's response to the "egalitarian" objection to the state's right to exclude is that states can fulfill their duties to outsiders without allowing them into their territory. Fine thinks Wellman's response is insufficient because

A) egalitarians are committed to utilitarian principles.
B) Wellman himself is an immigrant.
C) excluding people who wish to pursue interests specific to that state is still potentially harmful.
D) the concept of "exporting justice" is internally contradictory.

Question 30

Fine asks us to consider the example of a yoga group that practices in Central Park and is free to reject prospective members but isn't free to exclude others from making use of Central Park. The point of this example is to show that

A) Central Park qualifies as a state.
B) there is a difference between rules of membership and rules about settlement within a physical territory.
C) territorial rights only belong to individuals.
D) Wellman is committed to an absurd theory of group membership.

Question 31

Stephen Macedo concludes that all borders should be "open" borders.

Question 32

According to Macedo, states only have obligations towards their own citizens.

Question 33

Macedo argues that immigration policies in the United States have no economic impact.

Question 34

Macedo accepts that high levels of immigration by poor and low-skilled workers may worsen the standing of poorer American citizens.

Question 35

According to Macedo, an immigration policy is not morally acceptable unless its effect on the distribution of goods is defensible from the standpoint of the least well-off Americans.

Question 36

Joseph Carens argues that there is a presumption against free migration (i.e., free migration is unjust unless showed to be otherwise).

Question 37

Carens maintains that freedom of movement is essential for equality of opportunity.

Question 38

According to Carens, if you take seriously the freedom and equality of all individuals, then you should deny all freedom of movement across state borders.

Question 39

Carens holds that one can be a member of a society without having the formal status of a state's citizen.

Question 40

Carens accepts the possibility that opening a state's borders could lead to massive immigration that causes chaos and a breakdown in state government. He argues that his possibility shows that there is no presumption in favor of freedom of movement.

Question 41

Christopher Heath Wellman denies that those in wealthy societies have obligations to help the world's poor and oppressed.

Question 42

Wellman argues that both individuals and groups can have rights.

Question 43

Wellman argues that only cultural groups have a right to limit immigration, and this right is based
on their desire to preserve their distinctive way of life.

Question 44

In his discussion of the egalitarian case for open borders, Wellman argues that the only way to help victims of political injustice is by sheltering them in one's political territory.

Question 45

Wellman agrees that individuals have a right to freedom of movement.

Question 46

Sarah Fine argues that there is no difference between a state's right to allow people onto its territory and its right to control who becomes a citizen.

Question 47

One of Fine's critiques of Wellman is that he fails to adequately consider the potentially harmful effects of excluding would-be immigrants.

Question 48

Fine would argue that freedom of association alone cannot deliver a right to exclude would-be immigrants from entering and settling within a state.

Question 49

Fine's article demonstrates that she agrees with Wellman that a closed-border policy is defensible in most cases.

Question 50

Fine would argue that religious affiliation is either an intimate or expressive association.

Question 51

The introduction to this chapter discusses several empirical issues that arise in the context of the ethics of immigration. The impact immigration has on job competition and wages is categorized as a(n) _________ issue.

Question 52

The idea that all human beings, regardless of their political affiliation, belong to a community that should be cultivated is known as _________.

Question 53

When he discusses John Rawls's theory of distributive justice, Macedo discuses a thought experiment where we are in an "original position" behind a "veil of _________" and ask ourselves which principles of social justice we would choose if we didn't know which social position we would occupy.

Question 54

Macedo refers to the view that "we have special obligations to poorer fellow citizens, and that obligations of distributive justice in particular apply only to citizens" as the _________ view.

Question 55

Macedo asserts that the vast majority of Americans profess a belief in some _________ political principles (or principles of "the Left"), such as equality of opportunity.

Question 56

Joseph Carens asserts that all liberal egalitarians are committed to _________ opportunity.

Question 57

Carens refers to "the right to go where you want to" as freedom of _________.

Question 58

Carens denies that there is a significant moral difference between freedom of entry and freedom of _________ (i.e., the freedom to enter a state).

Question 59

Carens mentioned the possibility that a rich country might open its borders and be thrown into chaos as a result of massive immigration. He calls this the public _________ problem.

Question 60

Carens mentions the "brain _________ hypothesis," according to which migration causes the best educated and most talented individuals to leave poor countries, thus harming those countries' economic development.

Question 61

Carens discusses the objection that the basic problem in the immigration debate does not concern free movement but rather concerns the conditions that motivate individuals to leave the land where they were born and raised. He describes this as the view that the demand for free movement is essentially _________.

Question 62

Christopher Heath Wellman's conclusion about immigration policy is based on what he calls a state's right to freedom of _________.

Question 63

The freedom of association possessed by individuals, according to Wellman, corresponds to every state's right to exclude all foreigners from its _________ community.

Question 64

A(n) _________ right, as discussed by Wellman, is a right that can be outweighed by sufficiently compelling circumstances.

Question 65

Wellman states that he defends a(n) _________ right to limit immigration rather than a consequentialist account of what would maximize happiness.

Question 66

According to Wellman, your freedom of _________ allows you to leave or travel within your country.

Question 67

Sarah Fine argues that a successful defense of the state's right to prevent others from entering its land would require a justification of the state's _________ rights rather than just its right to exclude others from membership.

Question 68

Part of Fine's "harm to others" objection to Wellman involves an extrapolation from individual self-determination to _________ self-determination.

Question 69

According to Fine, a(n) _________ association (i.e., the kind of association that explains religious freedom) has as its primary purpose the expression of a point of view.

Question 70

Fine's first "internal" objection to Wellman uses the premise that "behavior that is _________ to others wrongly causes them to be worse off than they would be otherwise."