Deck 3: Evaluating Moral Arguments

Question 1

What is the implicit premise in the following moral argument? "The war did not increase the amount of happiness in the world. So, the war was morally wrong."

A) If a war is immoral, it must be considered morally wrong.
B) If a war does not increase the amount of peace in the world, it must be considered morally wrong.
C) If a war does not increase the amount of happiness in the world, it must be considered morally wrong.
D) Some wars increase the amount of happiness in the world.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

A statement asserting that a state of affairs is actual (true or false) without assigning a moral value to it is a

A) moral statement.
B) nonmoral statement.
C) valid statement.
D) strong statement.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

In an argument, the supporting statements are known as ________; the statement being supported is known as the ________.

A) inferences; conclusion
B) premises; deduction
C) premises; conclusion
D) indicator words; conclusion

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Name the form of the following argument: If the dog barks, something must be wrong. Something must be wrong. Therefore, the dog will bark.

A) denying the antecedent
B) modus tollens
C) affirming the consequent
D) hypothetical syllogism

Question 5

The phrases "because," "given that," "due to the fact that," and "for the reason that" are

A) conclusion indicators.
B) statement indicators.
C) statements.
D) premise indicators.

Question 6

Name the form of the following argument: If p, then q. If q, then r. Therefore, if p, then r.

A) hypothetical inductive
B) hypothetical syllogism
C) modus ponens
D) modus tollens

Question 7

A strong inductive argument with true premises is said to be

A) sound.
B) cogent.
C) valid.
D) invalid.

Question 8

What is a possible counterexample to the following moral principle? "Lying is always wrong."

A) Lying is morally wrong unless doing so will save a person's life.
B) Lying to cheat your friend out of money is morally wrong.
C) Lying to save yourself from embarrassment is wrong.
D) Lying is always morally wrong, even if doing so will save a person's life.

Question 9

A moral statement is a

A) statement affirming that an action is bad or that a person is bad.
B) statement asserting a valid moral argument.
C) statement asserting that a state of affairs is actual (true or false) without assigning a moral value to it.
D) statement affirming that an action is right or wrong or that a person (or one's motive or character) is good or bad.

Question 10

What is the implicit premise in the following moral argument? "Same-sex marriage is contrary to tradition. Therefore, it should never be allowed."

A) Same-sex marriage is harmful to society.
B) Same-sex marriage is unnatural and therefore should be banned.
C) Whatever causes harm to children should not be allowed.
D) Whatever is contrary to tradition should not be allowed.

Question 11

An argument in the logical sense is a

A) heated exchange of views.
B) group of statements, one of which is supposed to be supported by the rest.
C) group of statements that leads to a question.
D) group of unconnected statements.

Question 12

In the argument "(1) Premarital sex is morally permissible because (2) it makes people happy," statement 1 is the ________ and statement 2 is the ________.

A) conclusion; premise
B) premise; conclusion
C) main argument; premise
D) implied premise; stated premise

Question 13

Inductive arguments are

A) intended to supplement deductive arguments.
B) intended to be abductive.
C) supposed to offer only probable support for their conclusions.
D) supposed to give logically conclusive support to their conclusions.

Question 14

The fallacy of assigning two different meanings to the same term in an argument is known as

A) begging the question.
B) equivocation.
C) straw man.
D) appeal to ignorance.

Question 15

A valid deductive argument with true premises is said to be

A) strong.
B) sound.
C) fit.
D) cogent.

Question 16

Name the form of the following argument: If p, then q. p. Therefore, q.

A) modus tollens
B) hypothetical syllogism
C) modus ponens
D) reductio ad absurdum

Question 17

The utterance "Abortion is morally permissible" is

A) an argument.
B) a nonmoral statement.
C) a moral statement.
D) an implied statement.

Question 18

A statement is

A) an assertion about morality.
B) an assertion without a truth value.
C) an assertion that something is or is not the case.
D) a claim that cannot be verified.

Question 19

Deductive arguments are

A) supposed to offer probable support for their conclusions.
B) usually valid.
C) usually invalid.
D) supposed to give logically conclusive support to their conclusions.

Question 20

In a valid argument, if the premises are true, then the

A) argument is cogent.
B) conclusion is probably true.
C) conclusion may or may not be true.
D) conclusion absolutely has to be true.

Question 21

What is the fallacy used in the following passage? "No one can prove that a fetus is not a person from the moment of conception. So, a fetus must be accorded full moral rights as soon as it is conceived."

A) appeal to ignorance
B) appeal to the person
C) slippery slope
D) faulty analogy

Question 22

What is the fallacy used in the following passage? "If marijuana is legalized, young people will assume that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable. That will lead them to give into the temptation to smoke marijuana themselves, and smoking marijuana can ruin their lives. Therefore, marijuana should not be legalized."

A) straw man
B) slippery slope
C) appeal to the person
D) appeal to ignorance

Question 23

What is the fallacy used in the following passage? "John argues that active euthanasia is sometimes morally acceptable. But we can reject out of hand anything he has to say because he's an ultraconservative."

A) equivocation
B) begging the question
C) appeal to authority
D) appeal to the person

Question 24

What is the fallacy used in the following passage? "Liberals believe in abortion on demand, which means that killing a baby is permissible any time at all-at conception, in the second trimester, at infancy. Any of these would be appropriate times to kill a baby, says the liberal."

A) appeal to the person
B) begging the question
C) straw man
D) equivocation

Question 25

The fallacy of drawing a conclusion about an entire group of people or things based on an undersized sample of the group is known as

A) hasty generalization.
B) begging the question.
C) slippery slope.
D) faulty analogy.