Question 1

According to Harris, "the feeling that no man should be required to lay down his life for others makes many people shy away from such a scheme, even though it might be _________ to accept it on prudential grounds, and perhaps even mandatory on utilitarian grounds."

Accepted Answer

The sentence suggests that there might be practical and utilitarian reasons to accept a scheme where someone lays down their life for others, but some people still resist it because they feel that it's not right to require such a sacrifice. Therefore, the best choice is "rational," which means reasonable, logical, and based on sound judgment. The other options, such as "customary," "fanatical," or "impudent," do not fit the context as well or at all.

Question 2

According to Harris, "Many philosophers have for various reasons believed that we must not kill even if by doing so we could save life. They believe that there is a moral difference between killing and justified homicide."

Accepted Answer

Harris discusses the moral distinction between killing and letting die rather than equating killing with justified homicide. He explores the ethical implications of action versus inaction, not the justification of homicide.

Question 3

According to Harris, if two people, X and Y, have diseased organs, then "Why, they might argue, should their living or dying be left to chance when in so many other areas of human life we believe that we have an obligation to ensure the survival of the maximum number of lives possible?"

Accepted Answer

Harris argues that it is important to ensure the survival of the maximum number of lives possible, even in cases where two people have diseased organs and may argue that their living or dying should not be left to chance.

Question 4

According to Harris, "to remove the arbitrariness of permitting doctors to select their donors from among the chance passers-by outside hospitals; Y and Z put forward the following scheme: they propose that everyone be given a sort of lobotomy."

Accepted Answer

Harris is presenting an argument made by Y and Z, he is not stating his own view. The proposal put forward by Y and Z involves giving everyone a lobotomy to remove the arbitrariness of selecting donors from among chance passers-by outside hospitals.

Question 5

According to Harris, "No doubt if the scheme were ever to be implemented a suitable euphemism for 'killed' would be employed. Perhaps we would begin to talk about citizens being called upon to 'give life' to others."

Accepted Answer

The statement directly quotes Harris as saying that a euphemism for "killed" would be employed and suggests that "give life" might be a possible replacement term.

Question 6

According to Harris, "Y and Z are willing to concede one exception to the universal application of their scheme. They realize that it would be unfair to allow people who have brought their misfortune on themselves to benefit from the lottery."

Accepted Answer

This statement accurately reflects Harris's argument that Y and Z make one exception to their scheme and exclude those who have brought misfortune upon themselves from benefiting from the lottery.

Question 7

In the reading, we find this passage: "If we respect traditionalism and see every human being as unique in his own way, we might want to reject a society in which it appeared that individuals were seen merely as interchangeable units in a structure, the value of which lies in its having as many healthy units as possible."

Accepted Answer

The answer of In the reading, we find this passage:...

Question 8

Harris says, "Another plausible objection is the natural reluctance to play God with men's lives, the feeling that it is wrong to make any attempt to re-allot the life opportunities that fate has determined, that the deaths of Y and Z would be natural, whereas the death of anyone killed to save them would have been perpetrated by men."

Accepted Answer

Harris presents a possible objection that some may feel it is wrong to interfere with fate and allocate life opportunities or that it is unethical to sacrifice someone to save others.

Question 9

According to Harris, "To opt for the society which Y and Z propose would be then to adopt a society in which determinism would be mandatory."

Accepted Answer

Harris argues against the idea that accepting determinism forces us to adopt a specific type of society or moral outlook. He believes that understanding human behavior through a deterministic lens does not necessarily dictate the structure or moral fabric of society.

Question 10

According to Harris, "the feeling that no man should be required to lay down his life for others makes many people shy away from such a scheme, even though it might be fanatical to accept it on prudential grounds, and perhaps even mandatory on utilitarian grounds."

Accepted Answer

Harris did not specifically make this statement about the feeling that no man should be required to lay down his life for others in relation to shying away from a scheme, even though it might be fanatical to accept it on prudential grounds, and perhaps even mandatory on utilitarian grounds. This statement does not accurately reflect a direct quote or a specific idea attributed to him in his works on ethics and morality.

Question 11

According to Harris, "Many philosophers have for various reasons believed that we must not kill even if by doing so we could save life. They believe that there is a moral difference between killing and letting die." Explain the difference.

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to Harris, "Many philosophers have for...

Question 12

Explain what is meant by the following passage: "If we respect individuality and see every human being as unique in his own way, we might want to reject a society in which it appeared that individuals were seen merely as interchangeable units in a structure, the value of which lies in its having as many healthy units as possible."

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain what is meant by the following...

Question 13

Explain what Harris means when he says, "Another plausible objection is the natural reluctance to play God with men's lives, the feeling that it is wrong to make any attempt to re-allot the life opportunities that fate has determined, that the deaths of Y and Z would be natural, whereas the death of anyone killed to save them would have been perpetrated by men."

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain what Harris means when he says,...

Question 14

Explain what Harris means when he says, "To opt for the society which Y and Z propose would be then to adopt a society in which saintliness would be mandatory."

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain what Harris means when he says,...

Question 15

Explain what Harris means when he says, "the feeling that no man should be required to lay down his life for others makes many people shy away from such a scheme, even though it might be rational to accept it on prudential grounds, and perhaps even mandatory on utilitarian grounds."

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain what Harris means when he says,...

Question 16

According to Hanley, "Like any new ____________ technology, the cloning of entire human organisms can be put to good or bad effect, for good or bad reasons."

Accepted Answer

The sentence refers specifically to cloning entire human organisms, which is a form of reproductive technology. Therefore, the best choice is B. Experimental and cutting-edge could also be possible choices, but they are not as specific to the context of the sentence. Controversial is not as appropriate because it describes the nature of debate surrounding the technology, rather than its specific purpose.

Question 17

According to Hanley, a very common intuition concerning the putative wrongness of human cloning is "the description of cloning as 'replication' rather than 'reproduction,' with the implication that cloning is a threat to ..."

Accepted Answer

The common intuition mentioned in the question is that cloning is a threat to uniqueness, as it is seen as a mere replication rather than reproduction. This implies that the clone is not a unique individual and may have negative consequences for individual identity and autonomy. None of the other options mentioned in the question are directly related to this particular intuition about cloning.

Question 18

According to Hanley, "We certainly have no evidence that God generally disapproves of alternatives (e.g., bicycles) to his more direct gifts (e.g., legs). So such claims cannot reasonably be used to argue for..."

Accepted Answer

The article discusses the relationship between using alternatives to God's "direct gifts" and the moral implications of cloning. Hanley argues that claims about God's disapproval of using alternatives cannot be reasonably used to argue for the wrongness of cloning. Therefore, the correct answer is D.

Question 19

According to Hanley, "Another God-given candidate for the missing ingredient might be the ______. It might then be supposed that clones will be something less than fully-fledged persons. This is a very serious error, and if many are tempted to make it, we are in much more trouble than Dolly can bring us."

Accepted Answer

Hanley suggests that the missing ingredient in clones might be the soul. He warns against the idea that clones will be something less than fully-fledged persons due to the absence of a soul, as this is a serious error that could lead to significant ethical problems.

Question 20

Hanley says, "It might be supposed that human cloning presents a threat to personal identity, to individual uniqueness. But even were the genetic determinists or Lamarckians correct, and the clone were physically and psychologically identical to the donor, still the result would be a _____________________ person from the donor."

Accepted Answer

The term "numerically distinct" refers to two entities that are separate and distinguishable from each other. Even if a clone were physically and psychologically identical to the donor, they would still be a unique individual with their own experiences and environment that would shape their identity. Therefore, the clone would be numerically distinct from the donor.

Quiz 7: Plato Why Should We Be Good

According to Harris, "the feeling that no man should be required to lay down his life for others makes many people shy away from such a scheme, even though it might be _________ to accept it on prudential grounds, and perhaps even mandatory on utilitarian grounds."

According to Harris, "Many philosophers have for various reasons believed that we must not kill even if by doing so we could save life. They believe that there is a moral difference between killing and justified homicide."

According to Harris, if two people, X and Y, have diseased organs, then "Why, they might argue, should their living or dying be left to chance when in so many other areas of human life we believe that we have an obligation to ensure the survival of the maximum number of lives possible?"

According to Harris, "to remove the arbitrariness of permitting doctors to select their donors from among the chance passers-by outside hospitals; Y and Z put forward the following scheme: they propose that everyone be given a sort of lobotomy."

According to Harris, "No doubt if the scheme were ever to be implemented a suitable euphemism for 'killed' would be employed. Perhaps we would begin to talk about citizens being called upon to 'give life' to others."

According to Harris, "Y and Z are willing to concede one exception to the universal application of their scheme. They realize that it would be unfair to allow people who have brought their misfortune on themselves to benefit from the lottery."

According to Harris, "To opt for the society which Y and Z propose would be then to adopt a society in which determinism would be mandatory."

According to Harris, "the feeling that no man should be required to lay down his life for others makes many people shy away from such a scheme, even though it might be fanatical to accept it on prudential grounds, and perhaps even mandatory on utilitarian grounds."

According to Harris, "Many philosophers have for various reasons believed that we must not kill even if by doing so we could save life. They believe that there is a moral difference between killing and letting die." Explain the difference.

Explain what Harris means when he says, "To opt for the society which Y and Z propose would be then to adopt a society in which saintliness would be mandatory."

Explain what Harris means when he says, "the feeling that no man should be required to lay down his life for others makes many people shy away from such a scheme, even though it might be rational to accept it on prudential grounds, and perhaps even mandatory on utilitarian grounds."

According to Hanley, "Like any new ____________ technology, the cloning of entire human organisms can be put to good or bad effect, for good or bad reasons."

According to Hanley, a very common intuition concerning the putative wrongness of human cloning is "the description of cloning as 'replication' rather than 'reproduction,' with the implication that cloning is a threat to ..."

According to Hanley, "We certainly have no evidence that God generally disapproves of alternatives (e.g., bicycles) to his more direct gifts (e.g., legs) . So such claims cannot reasonably be used to argue for..."