Chapter 27 Test Questions & Answers Racisms

Test Bank

to accompany

Exploring Ethics, Sixth Edition

Cahn

Chapter 27

Racisms

Kwame Anthony Appiah

[NOTE: Questions marked with “*” also appear in the student self quizzes on Learning Link.]

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following is not a form of racism, according to Appiah?

a. Intrinsic racism

b. Critical race theory

c. Racialism

d. Extrinsic racism

2. Extrinsic racism is the view that the different essences of different races entail*

a. cosmetic and morally relevant differences.

b. cosmetic but no morally relevant differences.

c. intellectual or morally relevant differences.

d. intellectual but no morally relevant differences.

3. According to Appiah, which of the following, if any, will suffice to persuade the intrinsic racist not to discriminate against members of other races than her own?

a. Evidence of equal moral aptitudes between races

b. Evidence of intellectual equality between races

c. Evidence of great cultural achievements on the part of other races

d. None of the above

4. Appiah describes the inability to change one’s mind in the face of appropriate evidence, due to a personal or ideological stake in the outcome, as a*

a. rare psychological phenomenon.

b. failure of moral character.

c. cognitive incapacity.

d. All of the above

5. Extrinsic and intrinsic racism are similarly ideological in that

a. both are intimately connected with the dominant group’s real or perceived interests.

b. both involve failures of deductive rationality.

c. both involve failures of inductive rationality.

d. both involve empirical as well as moral presuppositions.

6. Appiah’s use of the term “racial prejudice” refers primarily to*

a. racial bias that is empirically misguided but morally innocuous.

b. racial bias considered as a historical phenomenon.

c. deformations of rationality in judgment.

d. defects of moral character.

7. Appiah makes the claim that prejudice, including racial prejudice,

a. undermines someone’s responsibility for their beliefs and actions.

b. threatens an agent’s autonomy.

c. makes it appropriate to treat or train, rather than reason, with the person in question.

d. All of the above

8. Appiah describes intrinsic racism as a(n)*

a. moral error.

b. cognitive incapacity.

c. empirical error.

d. brute fact about human psychology.

9. Appiah believes extrinsic racism is unjustifiable because

a. racialism is false.

b. racialism does not entail the right to racially discriminate.

c. it leads to intrinsic racism.

d. None of the above

10. Appiah suggests that the best response to open declarations of intrinsic racism is to*

a. ignore the parties in question.

b. criticize defenses made on its behalf.

c. criticize the underlying partiality.

d. suspend discussion and mobilize mass resistance.

True or False

11. Intrinsic racism is the empirical doctrine that there exist “racial essences.”

a. True

b. False

12. Appiah regards the doctrine of racialism as inherently dangerous.*

a. True

b. False

13. The suffix “-ism” indicates that racism is no mere theory, but an ideology.

a. True

b. False

14. Appiah holds that irrational partiality due to personal bias, though tragic, is a brute fact about human psychology about which little can be done.*

a. True

b. False

15. Appiah allows that it is reasonable for people to demand substantial evidence for giving up beliefs, such as racialist views, which are central to their cultures.

a. True

b. False

16. Appiah expresses doubt that racially prejudiced individuals are responsible for the ways in which their racism makes them bad people.*

a. True

b. False

17. Extrinsic racists are distinguished from intrinsic ones partly by their general openness to considering evidence against their views on race.

a. True

b. False

18. Appiah suggests that differential treatment in public life can only be justified by morally relevant differences between the parties concerned.*

a. True

b. False

19. Extrinsic racism is erroneous according to Appiah because it involves an invalid inference from racialism to the right to racially discriminate.

a. True

b. False

20. Appiah believes that racialism, if empirically true, would help to justify extrinsic, but not intrinsic, racism.*

a. True

b. False

Essay

21. What is the doctrine Appiah calls “racialism?” What is its central tenet? What does Appiah think is this view’s main problem? Explain whether and why you agree or disagree with him about this.

22. What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic racism, according to Appiah? Do you agree that they are significantly different? If so, which is more dangerous and why?

23. What does Appiah believe accounts for racial prejudice? Explain why you either agree or disagree. Speculate about the most effective means for combatting racial prejudice and provide a concrete example.