Deck 6: Evaluating Arguments From Principle

Question 1

Which is the best counterexample to the principle in the following Argument from Principle?
[Pay attention to the criteria for good counterexamples from Chapter 6 of Doing Practical Ethics.]
1) It's always wrong to kill an innocent human being.
2) Suicide kills an innocent human being. So, suicide is always wrong.

A) Abortion kills an innocent human being, but it's not wrong.
B) Sometimes, the person who commits suicide is not innocent.
C) Sometimes it clearly is NOT wrong to kill an innocent human being.
D) Suppose that there is a medic during a war who sees a grenade roll into her bunker. The only way to stop the grenade from killing her comrades is to jump on it herself: this will contain the blast but kill her. Perhaps it is not morally required
To jump on the grenade. But, it certainly seems morally permissible -- not wrong!
-- to do it, even if the medic is an innocent human being.

Answer 1

Suppose that there is a medic during a war who sees a grenade roll into her bunker. The only way to stop the grenade from killing her comrades is to jump on it herself: this will contain the blast but kill her. Perhaps it is not morally required
To jump on the grenade. But, it certainly seems morally permissible -- not wrong!
-- to do it, even if the medic is an innocent human being.

Question 2

Which is the best counterexample to the principle in the following Argument from Principle?
[Pay attention to the criteria for good counterexamples from Chapter 6 of Doing Practical Ethics.]
1) If someone does not have a desire to keep living, then killing them is not wrong.
2) A first-trimester fetus does not have a desire to keep living [because it doesn't have any desires at all].
So, killing a first-trimester fetus is not wrong.

A) Suppose there is a depressed teenager who, despite the misery they feel, wants to keep on living. They have a desire not to be killed, and killing them is wrong.
B) A newborn infant wants a lot of things, but it doesn't want to keep living. Wanting that takes an awareness that you're an existing individual and that your existence could end. That's way beyond the abilities of an infant. So, a human infant does not have a desire to keep living. Nevertheless, it's still wrong to kill an infant.
C) How do we know a first-trimester fetus does not want not to be killed? Do you have evidence about what's in their mind?
D) A person who seeks out assisted-suicide wants to be killed, and it's not wrong to for them to kill themselves.

Answer 2

A newborn infant wants a lot of things, but it doesn't want to keep living. Wanting that takes an awareness that you're an existing individual and that your existence could end. That's way beyond the abilities of an infant. So, a human infant does not have a desire to keep living. Nevertheless, it's still wrong to kill an infant.

Question 3

Which is the best counterexample to the principle in the following Argument from Principle?
[Pay attention to the criteria for good counterexamples from Chapter 6 of Doing Practical Ethics.]
1) There's nothing wrong with using other people's property as long as your use doesn't cause them any unhappiness.
2) Using your neighbor's wi-fi internet without their permission doesn't cause them any unhappiness.
So, it's not wrong to use your neighbor's wi-fi without their permission.

A) Suppose that an FBI agent is chasing a domestic terrorist from a white supremacist group. The terrorist has hidden a bomb in someone's car, and the FBI agent has just figured this out. The agent doesn't have time to ask the car's owner if they can use the car. So, without the owner's permission, the agent drives the car away to a bomb disposal unit. Clearly, it's not wrong for the agent to do this.
B) Imagine a person uses a computer program to take small amounts of money out of millions of people's bank accounts and funnels them into their own account. In this way, they steal lots of money, but the people stolen from don't notice and so aren't unhappy at all. Still, stealing in this way is wrong.
C) Suppose someone downloads a musical album illegally and without the artist's permission through an illegal website. Suppose the artist finds out. This would clearly make it wrong to download the album illegally.
D) It's always wrong to use other people's stuff without their permission. Everyone knows that.

Answer 3

Imagine a person uses a computer program to take small amounts of money out of millions of people's bank accounts and funnels them into their own account. In this way, they steal lots of money, but the people stolen from don't notice and so aren't unhappy at all. Still, stealing in this way is wrong.

Question 4

Which is the best counterexample to the principle in the following Argument from Principle?
[Pay attention to the criteria for good counterexamples from Chapter 6 of Doing Practical Ethics.]
1) If lots of people do something, then it's not morally wrong to do it.
2) Lots of people drive a gas-guzzling car.
So, there's nothing morally wrong with driving a gas-guzzling car.

A) Not many people give lots of money to charity, but there's nothing wrong with doing that.
B) Lots of people held other people as slaves in the pre-Civil War American South, but that was clearly morally wrong.
C) Lots of people have abortions, but that's wrong.
D) If it's Hawaiian shirt day at your work, and lots of people are wearing Hawaiian shirts, then it's clearly not wrong for you to do so, too.

Question 5

Which is the best counterexample to the principle in the following Argument from Principle?
[Pay attention to the criteria for good counterexamples from Chapter 6 of Doing Practical Ethics.]
1) If lots of people do something, then it's not morally wrong to do it.
2) Lots of people drive a gas-guzzling car.
So, there's nothing morally wrong with driving a gas-guzzling car.

A) Lots of people held other people as slaves in the pre-Civil War American South, but that was clearly morally wrong.
B) Lots of people have abortions, but that's wrong.
C) If it's Hawaiian shirt day at your work, and lots of people are wearing Hawaiian shirts, then it's clearly not wrong for you to do so, too.
D) Not many people give lots of money to charity, but there's nothing wrong with doing that.

Question 6

Which is the best counterexample to the principle in the following Argument from Principle?
[Pay attention to the criteria for good counterexamples from Chapter 6 of Doing Practical Ethics.]
1) No one deserves blame for doing something that's perfectly legal.
2) Abortion is perfectly legal.
So, no one deserves blame for having an abortion.

A) It's perfectly legal to call your sibling mean names, just for fun, until they cry. But, clearly, you're worthy of some blame if you do that.
B) Abortion is not legal in all circumstance.s
C) It's perfectly legal to use birth control, but that's wrong.
D) It's perfectly legal to ride your bike to work during the winter, and no one deserves blame for doing that.

Question 7

Which is the best counterexample to the principle in the following Argument from Principle?
[Pay attention to the criteria for good counterexamples from Chapter 6 of Doing Practical Ethics.]
1) If animals do something, then it's permissible for humans to do it.
2) Animals eat other animals.
So, it's permissible for humans to eat animals.

A) Animals don't use computers, but it's permissible for humans to do so.
B) Not all animals eat other animals. Herbivores, for instance, only eat plants.
C) Animals protect their young from threats, and it's clearly permissible for humans to do that, too.
D) Animals kill their competitors in order to order to maintain power in their group, but that's clearly not moral for humans to do.

Question 8

Which is the best counterexample to the principle in the following Argument from Principle?
[Pay attention to the criteria for good counterexamples from Chapter 6 of Doing Practical Ethics.]
1) It's always wrong for a health care practitioner to deceive a patient.
2) Prescribing a placebo is deceiving a patient. So, it's wrong for a doctor to prescribe a placebo.

A) It is possible to prescribe a placebo without deceiving a patient -- perhaps if you asked the patient before you ever did an exam if they were ok with having placebos prescribed if there are no other treatment options available.
B) Imagine an EMT who is treating a person on the scene of an accident. The EMT notices that the person is very upset, and it's making it harder to take care of them. They're losing so much blood that they'll be harder to save if they don't calm down. In fact, they're likely to die, but getting them calm is the only chance they have to save them. But, the person isn't really able to understand their situation, because they're in shock. They ask, "Am I going to be ok?" To try to calm them down, the EMT says, "Yes, you're going to be fine. Just relax and we'll get you all taken care of." This is deceiving them, but it's not wrong.
C) There are some times where it is clearly NOT wrong to deceive a patient.
D) Imagine that a doctor who is treating a patient with a complicated cancer. The patient has a history of depression but is very competent and well-informed about their medical condition. The doctor worries that telling the patient about their recent diagnostic test results will upset them and make them less likely to take care of themselves. So, the doctor lies and says the results came back great.

Question 9

Which is the best counterexample to the principle in the following Argument from Principle?
[Pay attention to the criteria for good counterexamples from Chapter 6 of Doing Practical Ethics.]
1) Physicians ought to do whatever procedure a patient has autonomously chosen.
2) Voluntarily-chosen euthanasia is an autonomously chosen procedure. So, a physician ought to do voluntarily-chosen euthanasia.

A) Some years ago in Germany, a man placed an ad in the newspaper asking for someone who would agree to be killed and eaten. Startlingly, someone agreed, and he went to visit the man and was killed and eaten. Suppose they had asked a
i. doctor to help out by doing surgery to cut up the volunteer for easier eating. Should the doctor do this? No! The doctor should not do that, even if they were both autonomously choosing it.
B) Sometimes a doctor should clearly not do what the patient has autonomously chosen.
C) Suppose a patient wants to do a procedure that has a chance of saving their life but that has some potential risks. The doctor has explained all of the risks to the patient, and the patient seems to understand them. If the patient autonomously chooses this, then the doctor should clearly do the procedure.
D) Euthanasia is not always autonomously chosen, even if it's not coerced.

Question 10

Which is the best counterexample to the principle in the following Argument from Principle?
[Pay attention to the criteria for good counterexamples from Chapter 6 of Doing Practical Ethics.]
1) It is wrong to discard or destroy a gift lovingly given to you.
2) Suicide destroys a gift (your life) lovingly given to you (by God). So, suicide is wrong.

A) There are times in this life where it is permissible to destroy a gift, no matter how lovingly it was given.
B) Imagine that your parents gave you a computer to help you do college, because they want you to succeed. The computer works great. But, one night, after you've had a fight with them about something, you throw the computer out the window, destroying it. Clearly, you should feel bad for this wrongful treatment of their gift.
C) Suppose your loving parents gave you a computer to help you do college work. But, the computer stops working and shocks you when you use it. The repair person says it's no use -- it's bound to totally shut down soon. It's clearly not wrong to discard this gift.
D) There is no God, so your life is not a gift given to you by anybody.

Question 11

Which is the best counterexample to the principle in the following Argument from Principle?
[Pay attention to the criteria for good counterexamples from Chapter 6 of Doing Practical Ethics.]
1) A person should never be punished for living according to their religious convictions.
2) A Christian pharmacist who refuses to fill a prescription for Plan B birth control (because it conflicts with their personal values) is living according to their religious convictions.
So, a Christian pharmacist who refuses to fill a prescription for Plan B birth control should not be punished.

A) An ambulance driver who refuses to drive a gay man to the hospital for emergency surgery because the driver has religious oppositions to same-sex relationships should clearly be punished. They could not reasonably expect their employer to look the other way and let them do this without repercussions.
B) A Muslim person who views it as part of their religious commitment to wear a hijab should not be punished for wearing it to work when it clearly does not interfere with their ability to do their job.
C) A pastor who officiates at a same-sex wedding should be punished by their church.
D) There is no basis in Christian scripture for opposing the use of Plan B birth control. Anyone who thinks there is is just picking to selectively interpret passages to justify what they already think.