Deck 5: Ethical Theory

Question 1

According to Kant, when moral agents reason about what they ought to do:

A) they should be moved by desire as well as by reason.
B) they should consider all the particulars of their situations.
C) their conclusions will be maxims, or personal rules of conduct.
D) they should concentrate on those facts that hold for all rational beings.
E) None of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

People who claim there is no real disagreement over moral norms explain their view by saying:

A) no universally valid moral principles exist.
B) no one has the right to judge another person.
C) the disagreement is over the facts of the case only
D) morality is a matter of personal choice.
E) None of the above

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Ruth Benedict believes that "it is morally good" is synonymous with:

A) "it produces the best results."
B) "it is habitual."
C) "it is in accord with moral law."
D) "it follows the golden rule."
E) "it is morally required."

Answer 3

B

Question 4

According to ethical skeptics

A) there can't be any right or wrong actions.
B) everyone's moral code is equally valid.
C) if there are any morally right acts, we have no way to know what they are.
D) we should only follow proven ethical principles.
E) None of the above

Question 5

Who of the following is an ethical relativist?

A) Plato
B) Kant
C) Hume
D) Benedict
E) Bentham

Question 6

Whose ethical theory places the greatest emphasis on formulating rules for guiding our actions?

A) Bentham
B) Mill
C) Kant
D) Plato
E) Jaggar

Question 7

Kant held that the proper foundation of morality could be established by:

A) consulting religious doctrine.
B) divine inspiration.
C) the use of reason alone.
D) careful observation of human society.
E) Any of the above

Question 8

Kant intended his categorical imperative to be:

A) the foundational principle of all ethics
B) a refutation of the Golden Rule.
C) one of the several elements of the Moral Law.
D) a principle of thought, but not behavior.
E) All of the above

Question 9

For Kant, the central problem of ethics is:

A) determining what one ought to do.
B) to reconcile science with the commands of God.
C) to do what is right even in the face of temptation
D) how to develop a good character.
E) to come to know oneself fully.

Question 10

A "hard case" is a moral dilemma in which:

A) one is tempted to do what one knows is wrong.
B) a moral theory gives the wrong answer.
C) a moral theory gives no answer at all.
D) a person's ordinary moral instincts are confused.
E) None of the above

Question 11

Kant wanted to reconcile his ethical views with:

A) the views of the skeptics.
B) his religious faith
C) the views of the relativists.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 12

By "rational agent," Kant means a person who:

A) always follows the commands of the categorical imperative.
B) knows how to make inferences from one set of propositions to another.
C) acts according to his desires.
D) can make judgments about the nature of the world.
E) can move himself to act by reason.

Question 13

Who might claim that "Killing is wrong" is the same sort of judgment as "Okra is revolting"?

A) Kant
B) An ethical nihilist
C) David Hume
D) An ethical realist
E) Jeremy Bentham

Question 14

The field of ethics includes the study of:

A) which character traits are good and bad.
B) how we ought to act.
C) what a good person is.
D) Both A and B
E ) All of the above

Question 15

Ethical relativism is the view that:

A) whether an act is right can never be known.
B) the rightness of an act is relative to the amount of goodness it produces.
C) no acts are really right or wrong.
D) the rightness of an act depends upon the society in which it is performed.
E) None of the above

Question 16

Kant believed that the categorical imperative was a:

A) new principle of morality.
B) principle explaining people's underlying motivations.
C) more precise statement of the Golden Rule.
D) rough guide to action, not an absolute rule.
E) None of the above

Question 17

Which of the following does the author not present as a reason for studying ethics?

A) To discover universally valid principles of conduct
B) To discover how best to promote the welfare of society
C) To find the "good life"
D) To find a way to help us make real-world ethical decisions
E) He presents all of the above as reasons for studying ethics.

Question 18

Ethical nihilism is the view that:

A) there may be morally right acts, but we have no way of telling what they are.
B) no actions are ever morally right or morally wrong.
C) the moral character of an action depends on the norms of society.
D) we have no right to judge the actions of others.
E) None of the above

Question 19

For Plato and his contemporaries, the central ethical question was which of the following?

A) How can one achieve the good life?
B) How can we overcome temptation?
C) How can religion and morality be reconciled?
D) How can we come to know our duties?
E) What rights does every person possess?

Question 20

At the heart of Kant's ethical view is the idea that:

A) what's morally right varies from culture to culture.
B) reason is the slave of the passions.
C) persons have infinite worth.
D) God is the author of moral law.
E) None of the above

Question 21

According to Bentham, ethical "hard choices":

A) can be solved by simply counting up all the pleasures and pains involved.
B) can only be resolved by giving up utilitarianism.
C) are not common enough to be important.
D) are caused by selfishness.
E) can be solved only by moral relativism.

Question 22

According to rule utilitarianism:

A) each of us must adopt a set of personal moral rules that maximize utility.
B) governments should enact laws that maximize utility, and enforce them fairly.
C) the results of our actions don't matter, only the rules of conduct we follow.
D) only the happiness of the ruling class matters.
E) None of the above

Question 23

Those who've considered the problem agree that the key to a healthy personality is:

A) being honest with oneself.
B) discovering the proper internal ordering of the self.
C) behaving autonomously.
D) to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
E) to recognize that humans have infinite worth.

Question 24

According to the author, the most impressive advantage of utilitarianism is that it:

A) shows any type of act e.g. lying) might, under the right circumstances, be morally right.
B) explains what pleasure is.
C) provides a criterion for judging legislation.
D) reduces complex moral problems to problems of investigation and addition.
E) doesn't require us to assume the existence of God.

Question 25

Which of the following was one of Plato's three parts of the soul?

A) justice
B) appetite
C) imagination
D) morality
E) None of the above

Question 26

According to Bentham, the happiness of a community:

A) is a function of the freedom permitted to its members.
B) is the sum total of the happiness of its individual members.
C) is no greater than the happiness of its least fortunate member.
D) can be judged only by its members.
E) None of the above

Question 27

The portion of a just soul which rules over the others is

A) the reason.
B) autonomy.
C) the spirited part.
D) the authority.
E) No part of the soul rules over others.

Question 28

In Kant's "kingdom of ends":

A) everyone obeys laws he gives himself.
B) everyone obeys the universal moral law.
C) everyone acts rationally.
D) everything has either a price or dignity.
E) All of the above

Question 29

Bentham holds that it's morally permissible to lie if:

A) you don't mean to hurt anyone.
B) you would want someone else in the same situation to lie to you.
C) the total happiness produced by telling the truth would be less.
D) only evil people are hurt by it.
E) Never

Question 30

One morally relevant difference between the suffering of workers on a municipal project and the suffering of the guest stars on "Torture of the Week" is the:

A) torture victims provide pleasure to viewers, while the workers do not.
B) workers are paid, but the victims are not.
C) workers participate voluntarily, but the victims do not.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 31

Who of the following was not a utilitarian?

A) Lucretius
B) Epicurus
C) David Hume
D) Jeremy Bentham
E) John Stuart Mill

Question 32

Who of the following claims it is possible to be truly happy only in a virtuous society?

A) Marcus Aurelius
B) Kant
C) Plato
D) Hume
E) None of the above

Question 33

Objects Kant would say have only conditional value include:

A) objects produced by human action.
B) things whose existence is an end in itself.
C) things produced by nature.
D) Both A and C
E) All of the above

Question 34

The point of the "Torture of the Week" example is to show that:

A) we don't really understand the Principle of Utility.
B) a society is only as morally good as the people who compose it.
C) we need to revise our common notion of "happiness."
D) Kant was correct.
E) if act utilitarianism is correct, then some obviously immoral acts are permissible.

Question 35

According to Bentham, an act is right if it:

A) produces pleasure.
B) produces more pleasure than pain.
C) maximizes the pleasure of the person acting.
D) maximizes the pleasure of everyone affected by the act.
E) None of the above

Question 36

Whose ethical theory requires us to calculate quantities of pain and pleasure?

A) Plato
B) Hume
C) Kant
D) feminist ethical theorists
E) Bentham

Question 37

The underlying principle of utilitarianism is sometimes called the:

A) kingdom of ends.
B) best of all possible worlds.
C) Golden Rule.
D) Greatest Happiness Principle.
E) rule of reason.

Question 38

Among the things Kant counts as having intrinsic worth is/are:

A) skill and diligence in work.
B) imagination and humor.
C) kindness based on principle.
D) emotion honestly felt.
E) All of the above

Question 39

According to Bentham, all pleasures are equal, except that:

A) some last longer than others.
B) intellectual pleasures are better than physical ones.
C) some are more intense than others.
D) Both A and B
E) Both A and C

Question 40

One of the most important objections to utilitarianism is that:

A) it's too simple to account for all ethical situations.
B) it sometimes requires us to perform types of acts e.g. lying) that we strongly believe are immoral.
C) not everyone wants to be happy.
D) it fails to define "happiness."
E) None of the above

Question 41

According to Julian Savulescuno human genetic enhancement is morally:

A) permissible
B) obligatory
C) wrong
D) neutral
E) incomprehensible

Question 42

So-called "hard-cases" occur only in discussions of ethical theory, and not in real life.

Question 43

The emphasis on duty and obligation in ethical theory was primarily introduced by:

A) Plato.
B) Hume.
C) Kant
D) feminist ethical theorists.
E) the utilitarians.

Question 44

Sigmund Freud agreed with Plato that:

A) a person's psychological well-being is closely connected to his or her social setting.
B) every person passes through an identity crisis.
C) the mind should be explored through systematic scientific investigation.
D) mental disharmony is closely connected with physical disharmony.
E) None of the above

Question 45

Which of the following would Aristotle consider an intellectual virtue?

A) Courage
B) Judgment
C) Liberality
D) Temperance
E) Modesty

Question 46

According to Plato, wickedness in a person:

A) occurs only in unjust societies.
B) is an inborn flaw.
C) is analogous to civil strife in a state.
D) can never be cured.
E) None of the above

Question 47

An identity crisis occurs when:

A) we attempt to specify the relation between body and mind.
B) an adult in mid-life questions his or her choice of lifestyle and career.
C) a teenager reaches a period of instability and personality formation.
D) a child grows to realize he is part of a family, and not just an individual.
E) None of the above

Question 48

In Walter Mischel's experiment, what characteristic among four year olds predicted more friends, better academic performance, and more motivation to succeed ten years later?

A) IQ
B) Sex
C) Impulse control
D) Nutritious diet
E) Parental affection

Question 49

In philosophy, ethics is the systematic study of how we ought to act.

Question 50

According to Jaggar, a condition any adequate feminist ethics must meet is to:

A) accept the moral experience of all women uncritically.
B) address both public and private ethical issues.
C) focus exclusively on issues of domination.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 51

Contemporary virtue ethicists trace their ideas back to:

A) Bentham.
B) Hume.
C) Kant.
D) Aristotle.
E) feminist ethical theorists.

Question 52

What Erikson calls "ego integrity" is much like what:

A) Bentham calls "utility."
B) Plato calls "temperance."
C) Kant calls "moral worth."
D) Plato calls "wisdom."
E) Freud calls "identity."

Question 53

Which of the following arguments against virtue ethics are not addressed in the text?

A) Virtue ethics is circular.
B) Virtue ethics fails to account for moral obligations, promises, and the like.
C) Virtue ethics lacks the principle necessary to defend against relativist attacks.
D) Virtue ethics does not answer the question, "What should I do?"
E) Virtue ethics lacks the principle necessary to defend itself against skeptical
Attacks.

Question 54

A just person, according to Plato, is one:

A) who acts autonomously.
B) who obeys the laws of the state.
C) who knows his place in society.
D) who never acts selfishly.
E) in whom each part of the soul exercises its proper function.

Question 55

Kant held that ethical truths could never be "proven."

Question 56

Jaggar believes that feminist ethics means:

A) substituting feminine values for masculine ones.
B) putting women's interests first.
C) focusing exclusively on women's issues.
D) None of the above
E) All of the above

Question 57

Michael Sandel is against human genetic enhancement because he thinks:

A) changing our nature deadens the impulse for social and political improvement.
B) genetic science is too dangerous and unpredictable to apply to young children.
C) everyone will choose to have male children and there will be too few females in the world.
D) the Bible clearly implies that it is wrong.
E) environmental enhancements are much more effective.

Question 58

Kant believed science posed an important challenge to the claim that we are free to choose our actions.

Question 59

One of Kant's main ethical projects was the definition and achievement of "the good life."

Question 60

Erikson's "ego integrity":

A) is achieved during the crises of the teenage years.
B) is an understanding reached between parent and child.
C) is a condition we should eventually grow out of.
D) may be achieved by those who have lived the cycle from childhood to maturity.
E) None of the above

Question 61

Some anthropologists have actually conducted surveys of moral norms.

Question 62

Kant's ethical concerns centered on following moral law, and gave little consideration to human dignity.

Question 63

Kant holds that saying a person has infinite worth is just another way of stating the categorical imperative.

Question 64

Plato is the philosopher most often associated with the claim that the truly happy life is a life of virtuousness.

Question 65

Kant held that we can move ourselves to act by desire rather than reason.

Question 66

If Kant is right about the nature of persons, it never makes sense to ask if we have acted rationally.

Question 67

Kant believed the categorical imperative was a new principle of morality.

Question 68

The founder of modern utilitarianism was John Stuart Mill.

Question 69

According to Kant, persons have conditional value.

Question 70

To be autonomous means to refuse to obey any law or command.

Question 71

Kant's "kingdom of ends" is a society that lives according to the categorical imperative.

Question 72

According to Kant, persons are simply subjective ends.

Question 73

Ethical skepticism is the view that we can never know with certainty the answers to moral questions.

Question 74

A categorical imperative is a command that orders us to do something unconditionally.

Question 75

Kant tells us that to act according to the moral law requires us to surrender our autonomy.

Question 76

According to the author, Immanuel Kant is the strongest opponent of ethical relativism.

Question 77

Hume believed that "reason is, and only ought to be, the slave of the passions."

Question 78

Bentham intends the Principle of Utility to apply to individuals only, and not to governments, corporations, etc.

Question 79

According to Bentham, "pleasurable" means the same as "good."

Question 80

According to Ruth Benedict, careful study of various cultures will show that there are numerous moral principles common to all of them.