Deck 12: Pandemic Ethics

Question 1

Which of the following criteria for allocating scarce resources have been rejected by most ethicists?

A) Wealth
B) Political importance
C) Moral worth
D) All of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

One nonmoral reason many Americans resisted official recommendation for containing the COVID-19 virus was

A) misinformation.
B) respect for autonomy.
C) appeal to the common good.
D) concerns about equity.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

According to the _______ view, what matters most is not individual liberty but the common good, what's best for the community as a whole.

A) libertarian
B) communitarian
C) Kantian
D) prudential

Answer 3

B

Question 4

According to the _______ view, what matters most is individual freedom and a person's right to direct their own life for themselves.

A) libertarian
B) communitarian
C) Kantian
D) prudential

Question 5

According to Ezekiel J. Emanuel et al., in the context of a pandemic, the value of _______ is most important for resource allocation.

A) maximizing benefits
B) treating people equally
C) promoting and rewarding instrumental value
D) giving priority to the worst off

Question 6

_______ are motivated to hold false beliefs despite contrary evidence.

A) Deliberate deceivers
B) Self-deceivers
C) Bullshitters
D) Communitarians

Question 7

_______ knowingly traffic in lies to score partisan points, show support for their tribe, troll the opposition, exact revenge, or make a buck.

A) Deliberate deceivers
B) Self-deceivers
C) Bullshitters
D) Communitarians

Question 8

_______ do not care whether what they say is true or false but do intend to deceive their audience about their motives.

A) Deliberate deceivers
B) Self-deceivers
C) Bullshitters
D) Communitarians

Question 9

_______ means not believing a claim unless there are legitimate reasons for doing so.

A) Lateral reading
B) Vertical reading
C) Reasonable skepticism
D) Selective listening

Question 10

Which of the following is a legitimate reason for rejecting a claim from a media source?

A) It contradicts your beliefs.
B) You do not like the source.
C) Your gut tells you not to trust the source.
D) You have read laterally and determined the source itself is heavily biased.

Question 11

Consider the following scenario: James reads a web story about a shocking side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine that he's never heard of before. He leaves the site after a quick look to see what other sources have to say about the person or organization behind the site. This best exemplifies

A) fake news.
B) vertical reading.
C) lateral reading.
D) absolute skepticism.

Question 12

Which of the following is not a part of critical reading?

A) Rejecting all claims that lack explicitly cited support of experts
B) Accepting claims that are supported independently by reliable authorities, evidence, or other claims that you know to be true
C) Rejecting claims when there is good reason for believing them false
D) Suspending judgment on claims that you are unsure of, for it is unreasonable to accept a claim without good reasons

Question 13

Reliable fact-checking organizations

A) explain their fact-checking methodology and disclose their sources.
B) disclose their funding sources.
C) might be partisan, but are an excellent source for fact-checking the opposition.
D) a and b

Question 14

Which of the following could be held morally responsible for pushing COVID-19 falsehoods?

A) Deliberate deceivers
B) Self-deceivers
C) Bullshitters
D) All of the above

Question 15

Which of the following are trustworthy fact-checking sites?

A) Snopes.com
B) Politifact.com
C) FactCheck.org
D) All of the above

Question 16

Ethicists generally agree that a first-come, first-served approach to allocating scarce resources should not be used.

Question 17

According to Ezekiel J. Emanuel et al., because maximizing benefits is paramount in a pandemic, removing a patient from a ventilator or an ICU bed to provide it to others in need is justifiable and patients should be made aware of this possibility at admission.

Question 18

It is generally accepted that disability can be effectively used as a proxy for compromised health when making decisions regarding scarce resource allocation.

Question 19

The efficacy of quarantine and self-isolation are highly disputed in the medical community.

Question 20

According to Ezekiel J. Emanuel et al., critical COVID-19 interventions such as testing, PPE, ICU beds, ventilators, therapeutics, and vaccines should go first to front-line health care workers and others who care for ill patients or keep critical infrastructure operating.

Question 21

According to Ezekiel J. Emanuel et al., a first-come, first-served allocation process should be used when patients have similar prognoses.

Question 22

COVID-19 vaccines can alter people's DNA and infect them with the virus.

Question 23

Disinformation is factually incorrect on purpose.

Question 24

Someone who believes that COVID-19 is not a threat just because it makes their favorite political leader look clueless is a self-deceiver.

Question 25

Someone who paints themselves in a flattering light to present as something they are not is a self-deceiver.

Question 26

Reasonable skepticism would lead one to reject any source that contradicts one's deeply held beliefs.

Question 27

When one reads laterally, one focuses on features of a site that might indicate how reliable it is (e.g., the site's layout, design, name).

Question 28

One benefit of reading laterally is that it helps one determine who is really behind the information they are seeing.

Question 29

Someone who is reading critically starts from a position of mistrust for all sources in the mainstream media.

Question 30

Although fact-checkers are responsible for rating the reliability of sources and truth claims, there is no way to readily identify the trustworthiness of fact-checkers.

Question 31

Explain how the principles of utility and equity often come into conflict regarding allocation of scarce resources.

Question 32

Explain the autonomy-based argument that lying is morally wrong.

Question 33

In what cases should self-deceivers be held morally responsible for their deception and for pushing the resulting falsehoods?

Question 34

What are the four steps in reading critically?

Question 35

Explain the difference between reading vertically and reading laterally and describe the benefits of reading laterally.