Chapter 15: Egoism, Pleasure, and Indifference

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Stoicism dominated Roman thinking about moral philosophy until ______ replaced it.

a. nichomachean ethics

b. epicurian ethics

c. christianity

d. politics

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. What is a philosophy that has been refined and developed over time from its initiation

by Zeno (3rd century BCE)?

a. Kantism

b. Stoicism

c. Virtue ethics

d. Hedonism

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. The ______ reacted to the collapse of the closed social system of the city-states by

offering advice to individuals in what for them was a crumbling world.

a. Stoics

b. Romans

c. English

d. French

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Stoicism preaches that people should be ______.

a. always pursuing pleasure.

b. seeking to live a virtuous life

c. indifferent to external events in life

d. actively attempting to convert others to the faith

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Epictetus advocated a philosophy of ______, believing that this practice would

constitute progress for the individual.

a. morality

b. ethics

c. hedonism

d. indifference

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Stoics assumed that good or evil depends on the ______.

a. virtues given at birth

b. self

c. interpretation of free will

d. presentation of the divine plan

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. A stoic is one who is indifferent to ______.

a. virtues

b. others

c. external events

d. everything which is his or her own doing

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Stoicism includes a belief in ______.

a. predestination

b. reincarnation

c. incantation

d. rejuvenation

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Stoics believe all that happens in the world is fixed according to some ______ divine

plan.

a. unworldly

b. preconceived

c. justified

d. reincarnated

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Which of the following phrases best describes the mindset of a stoic?

a. Life is predictable.

b. Everything turns out to be bad.

c. Everything happens by chance.

d. Nothing happens by chance.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. To stoics, ______ should not be considered a bad thing because it has been

predestined by God and therefore must be considered good.

a. death

b. hedonism

c. life

d. all of these

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. One of the main effects of ______ is that it places the onus for becoming good or

bad directly on the individual.

a. virtue

b. tradition

c. character

d. stoicism

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. The ______, with their tradition of public service, admired commitment to serving

the public part of the Stoic philosophy.

a. English

b. Romans

c. French

d. Chinese

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. Stoicism is ______.

a. a philosophy that advocates acceptance of life and events

b. character

c. is pessimistic in tone

d. both a philosophy that advocates acceptance of life and events and is pessimistic in

tone

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. Both stoicism and hedonism provide a means for dealing with events that are

______.

a. foreseeable

b. unforeseen

c. within our control

d. beyond our control

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. Stoics and ______ would agree that one cannot become just or courageous if one

behaves in an unjust or cowardly manner.

a. act consequentialists

b. hedonists

c. ethical moralists

d. utilitarians

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. Traditionally, hedonism has been expressed as the view that ______.

a. pain alone is intrinsically good

b. pleasure alone is intrinsically bad

c. pleasure alone is intrinsically good

d. pain alone is intrinsically bad

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. Hedonism is the philosophy that believes that ______.

a. character is the key to a happy life.

b. pleasure is the sole good.

c. people should be detached from the world.

d. serving others is the ultimate goal.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. The hedonist believes that pleasure ______.

a. is one of many goods

b. is the sole good

c. is not the highest good

d. can never be attained

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. The foremost exponent of hedonism was ______.

a. Epicurus

b. Epictetus

c. Aristotle

d. Socrates

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. Epicurus and other hedonists believed ______.

a. that excessive and harmful indulgences were to be sought.

b. public service was important.

c. excessive pursuit of pleasure can be self-defeating and bring pain.

d. advocated unlimited sensuality, orgies, etc.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. In Epicurus’s view, the proper way to live is to live ______ and at the same time not

suffer any of the undesirable effects of that living.

a. pleasantly

b. morally

c. ethically

d. justly

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. Epicurus, an early hedonist concluded that the aim of human existence should be

______.

a. unlimited pleasure seeking and indulgence

b. withdrawal from the world

c. making the world a better place

d. a healthy body and a tranquil mind

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. Epicurius stated that the "aim" of human existence was ______.

a. avoid the corruption of pleasure

b. to fear death

c. flourishment of life

d. health of the body and tranquility of the mind

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. What is attained by philosophical understanding and practical wisdom?

a. pleasure

b. character

c. tranquility

d. morality

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

26. The psychological hedonist pursues ______.

a. only pleasure and avoids pain in his life

b. moderate pleasure in his life

c. only his psychological well being

d. both pleasures and pains in his life

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

27. What type of hedonism sees the pursuit of pleasure as normative?

a. ethical

b. pleasurable

c. moral

d. psychological

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

28. In both of its forms, ______ can be criticized for attempting to provide a single

explanation for every human act.

a. honesty

b. hedonism

c. pessimism

d. morality

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

29. Epicurus’s main aim was to establish a philosophy concerned with the attainment of

______.

a. happiness

b. pleasure

c. pain

d. morality

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: A Closer Look: Epicurus

Difficulty Level: Medium

30. Epicurus felt that religion ______

a. was the ultimate source of all morals.

b. could be a helpful guide in living a moral life.

c. was a hindrance to happiness.

d. served the interests of the ruling classes.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: A Closer Look: Epicurus

Difficulty Level: Medium

31. When an egoist thinks of others ______.

a. he is motivated to do the right thing

b. he is concerned with how others view him

c. it is merely as a means to his or her own ends

d. it is for the greater good of all

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

32. What involves putting one’s own well-being above that of others?

a. Pleasure

b. Altruism

c. Pain

d. Egoism

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

33. Hinman (1998) argues that ______ does not amount to a moral theory at all.

a. hedonism

b. self-interest

c. egoism

d. altruism

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

34. Psychological egoism is a theory, which holds that ______.

a. all human behavior is motivated by self-interest.

b. truly altruistic behavior is natural and commonplace.

c. the unlimited pursuit of pleasure is good for both individuals and society.

d. virtue is learned from parents.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Psychological Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

35. The psychological egoist believes that our actions are ______.

a. always motivated by our own interests

b. usually motivated by our own interests

c. seldom motivated by our own interests

d. never motivated by our own interests

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Psychological Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

36. Proponents of ______ suspect that altruistic explanations of behavior are superficial

and without substance.

a. psychological hedonism

b. ethical hedonism

c. psychological egoism

d. ethical egoism

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Psychological Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

37. Critics point out that psychological egoism cannot be proved because ______.

a. it is not possible to interpret motives in an egotistical manner

b. it is possible to interpret all motives in an egotistical manner

c. it is not possible to interpret motives in a hedonistic manner

d. it is not possible to interpret motives at all

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Psychological Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

38. Which philosopher was a believer in psychological egoism, and tried to give a more

general account of it by listing motives and showing how each could be read as

egotistical acts or intentions?

a. John Locke

b. Thomas Hobbes

c. John Rawls

d. Immanuel Kant

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Psychological Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

39. Hobbes believed that when people demonstrated charity, they were really

emphasizing ______.

a. altruistic intentions

b. their own cynicism

c. egotistical altruism

d. their own superiority

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Psychological Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

40. When looking at ______, Hobbes concluded that the reason we feel it for others’

misfortunes is that we are reminded that the same thing might happen to us.

a. charity

b. altruism

c. pity

d. compassion

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Psychological Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

41. What claims that promoting one’s own greatest good is always to act in accordance

with reason and morality?

a. psychological hedonism

b. ethical hedonism

c. psychological egoism

d. ethical egoism

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

42. Whereas psychological egoism is a theory about how people actual behave, ethical

egoism is a theory about how ______.

a. others ought to behave

b. others think we ought to behave

c. we think others ought to behave

d. we ought to behave

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

43. If a particular act would benefit our own ______ as well as those of others, that act

will not be considered contrary to the goals of ethical egoism.

a. hedonism

b. self-interest

c. egoism

d. altruism

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

44. Ayn Rand argued that ______ is a destructive idea, devaluing the individual.

a. hedonism

b. self-interest

c. egoism

d. altruism

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

45. Which of the following is NOT a criticism of ethical egoism?

a. It is an outdated theory applicable only to ancient societies.

b. It suggests true altruism is not possible.

c. It does not assist in resolving conflicts.

d. It suggests egoists cannot have friendships.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

46. ______ would respond to issues such as world hunger by claiming that starving

people should be helped only when it is their own self-interest to do so.

a. Virtue ethics

b. Act consequentialism

c. Hypothetical consequentialism

d. Ethical egoists

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

47. The first step in an ethical egoism evaluation of an ethical dilemma is the question

______?

a. will others benefit from what will benefit me most

b. which option has the lowest risk of causing pain

c. what would a virtuous person do

d. what act/option would most benefit me

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Applying the Theory of Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

48. Which of the following is NOT part of the consideration undertaken by egoists when

facing an ethical dilemma?

a. What act would most benefit me?

b. The most ethical action is that which is best for the most.

c. Will others benefit from the action that most benefits me?

d. How will my self-interest be best promoted?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Applying the Theory of Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

49. Stoicism, egoism and hedonism today ______.

a. are widely followed by moral philosophers.

b. are inconsistent with the values of modern consumer society.

c. have little support among moral philosophers.

d. are consistent with the philosophy of Kant.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Summary

Difficulty Level: Medium

50. Stoicism shares the concern of ______ with individual character because it argues

that developing the appropriate stoic frame of mind will lead us to virtue.

a. virtue ethics

b. act consequentialism

c. hypothetical consequentialism

d. ethical egoists

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Applying the Theory of Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. Stoicism was a product of changes in ancient Greece.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Stoics believe in predestination.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Both stoics and hedonists would agree that one cannot become just or courageous if

one behaves in an unjust or cowardly manner.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Ethical egoism is consistent with Kant’s theory of duty.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge | Comprehension

Answer Location: Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. For ethical hedonists, the question of how one ought to live is answered by the idea

that the good life consists of a life of pleasure and that a person ought to act in such a

way as to acquire pleasure.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. The famous political philosopher Thomas Hobbs argued against psychological

egoism.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Psychological Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. The two main theories of Egoism are psychological and sociological.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Psychological Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. One of the main effects of stoicism is that it places the onus for becoming good or

bad directly on the individual.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Proponents of ethical egoism suspect that altruistic explanations of behavior are

superficial and without substance.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. If a particular act would benefit our own self-interest as well as the interests of

others, that act will not be considered contrary to the goals of ethical egoism.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

Short Answer

1. Of the three theories discussed in the chapter, only ______ has any significant

following in the field of moral philosophy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Egoism, Pleasure, and Indifference

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Define predestination.

and nothing happens by chance.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. The two forms of hedonism theory are ______.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. What are the two forms of egoism?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Ayn Rand was a supporter of the theory of ______.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. The first step in analysis from the perspective of Ethical Egoism is to ask what acts

would most ______.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: A Closer Look: Ethical Egoism Evaluation of Ethical Dilemmas

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Hedonism advocates the pursuit of ______ as the normative.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. An early advocate of Hedonism was the Greek philosopher ______.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: A Closer Look: Epicurus

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. An early advocate of Stoicism was the Greek philosopher ______.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. According to Stoics, our ______ are not to be taken into account, and we ought to

be indifferent to them.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Medium

Essay

1. Discuss, describe, compare and contrast the theories of Stoicism, Ethical Egoism and

Hedonism.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Stoicism | Hedonism | Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Discuss, describe, compare and contrast Ethical Hedonism and Psychological

Hedonism.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Do you agree with the assertion of psychological egoism that there are no truly

altruistic acts? Explain your position and provide an example.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Psychological Egoism | Ethical Egoism

Difficulty Level: Head

4. Explain the philosophy of Stoicism. With which parts do you agree? Specify the parts

with which you disagree. Please provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Stoicism

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Hedonism is sometimes associated with the idea of unlimited pleasure seeking and

overindulgence. Is that association valid?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Hedonism

Difficulty Level: Hard