Test Questions & Answers Ch.3 Morality And The Moral Life

Test Bank

Philosophy Here and Now, Fourth Edition

Lewis Vaughn

Chapter 3: Morality and the Moral Life

Please Note: All questions that appear with an asterisk are also featured on the Student Oxford Learning Link site.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the moral life, feelings are

A) essential and inevitable.

B) essential to impartiality.

C) an unerring guide.

D) reason based.

1. A moral theory explains

A) why an action is right or wrong.

B) why one moral event caused another.

C) where a moral agent got her values.

D) why people do what they do.

1. Moral theories that say that the rightness of actions depends solely on their consequences are

A) consequentialist.

B) virtue oriented.

C) deontological.

D) egoistic.

1. *An important moral criterion of adequacy is known as

A) simplicity.

B) fallibility.

C) fruitfulness.

D) consistency with our considered moral judgments.

1. *Critics of the divine command theory have argued that the theory implies that God's commands are

A) well supported.

B) unclear.

C) unknowable.

D) arbitrary.

1. *According to Kant, nothing can be called “good” without qualification except

A) right action.

B) a good will.

C) happiness.

D) good consequences.

1. *Kant says that when trying to decide whether an action is morally permissible, we must ask if we can consistently will that the maxim of our action should become a

A) rule for maximizing happiness.

B) contingent law.

C) universal law.

D) rule of thumb.

1. *To Kant, making a lying promise would be wrong because

A) lying to people can cause them harm.

B) lying to people harms society.

C) you could not consistently will that everyone should make lying promises.

D) most people condemn the practice.

1. According to Mill, to determine whether one pleasure is more valuable than another, we must

A) determine which one is objectively most pleasurable.

B) determine which pleasure most experienced people prefer.

C) consult philosophers of the past.

D) consult science.

1. Mill says that the ultimate end of utilitarianism is an existence as free of pain as possible and as rich as possible in

A) lower pleasures.

B) spiritual attainment.

C) social achievement.

D) enjoyments.

1. *Mill argues that the Greatest Happiness Principle is

A) one of several principles of morality.

B) the standard of morality.

C) endorsed by all the major religions.

D) embodied in the Ten Commandments.

1. *Utilitarianism says that right actions are those that produce the greatest happiness for

A) each individual.

B) one's own family.

C) all concerned.

D) those who deserve it.

1. *According to Aristotle, we always desire happiness

A) as a means to something else.

B) for the sake of pleasure.

C) for the sake of honor.

D) for its own sake.

1. Aristotle believes that moral virtues can best be acquired through

A) study.

B) physical exertion.

C) meditation.

D) practice and habit.

1. *Virtues are

A) emotions.

B) moral states.

C) faculties.

D) physical conditions.

1. *According to Held, virtue ethics emphasizes the character of individuals, but the ethics of care focuses more on

A) nurturing connectedness among people.

B) an ethic of justice.

C) Kantian values.

D) utilitarian concerns.

1. *Held says that the ethics of care

A) rejects emotion.

B) redefines emotion.

C) values emotion.

D) is neutral regarding emotions.

1. Held believes that the ethics of care calls into question the

A) feelings of individuals.

B) relationships of dependence.

C) the caring attitude.

D) abstract rules of the dominant moral theories.

1. *According to Held, care is both a

A) practice and a value.

B) theory and a rule.

C) sense of justice and a mode of deliberation.

D) moral law and a virtue.

1. Cultural relativism implies that the iconoclast would always be morally

A) confused.

B) mistaken.

C) superior.

D) perfect.

1. *For subjectivists, everyone's moral views are

A) false.

B) unwise.

C) equally plausible.

D) not equally plausible.

1. Cultural relativism and ethical subjectivism imply that nothing is intrinsically

A) normative.

B) valuable.

C) relative.

D) true.

1. Universal ethical egoism is the theory that everyone ought always to

A) serve my best interest.

B) be selfish.

C) be egotistical.

D) serve her own self-interest.

1. Psychological egoism is the doctrine that the only thing anyone is capable of desiring or pursuing ultimately is

A) entirely selfish goals.

B) his or her own self-interest.

C) the happiness of others.

D) the good of one's own culture.

1. Psychological egoism is a theory about

A) what ought to be the case.

B) moral duty.

C) what is in fact the case.

D) what we should do.

1. Critics of the divine command theory say that if the theory is true, and God thus lacks reasons for his commands, then

A) God's decisions are reasonable.

B) God's decisions are arbitrary.

C) God's commands must be obeyed.

D) morality is still on a firm footing.

1. If God has excellent reasons for laying down the moral law, then

A) God's commands are what make actions right or wrong.

B) the moral law is established by God's commands.

C) these reasons, and not God's commands, are what make actions right or wrong.

D) no actions are right or wrong.

1. Critics say that to avoid portraying God as arbitrary, we must assume that God issues commands based on

A) God's divine will.

B) no particular reasons.

C) God's omnipotence.

D) the best possible reasons.

1. *Act-utilitarianism is the view that the rightness of actions depends

A) solely on the character of the agent.

B) on both the relative good produced by individual actions and the conformity to rules.

C) solely on the relative good produced by individual actions.

D) on a good will.

1. Mill declares that it is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than

A) a pig satisfied.

B) Socrates satisfied.

C) a fool satisfied.

D) a fool dissatisfied.

1. *Principlism is a theory or approach that focuses on

A) always doing the right action for the right reason.

B) cultivating virtues.

C) weighing competing moral principles.

D) doing whatever one feels is the right action.

1. A principle is a prima facie principle if

A) it allows no exceptions.

B) it is generally accepted, but still somewhat controversial.

C) it applies in all cases, unless it conflicts with another principle.

D) it is general enough to apply to most, but not all, cases.

1. Which of the following is not a principle usually included in principlism?

A) The principle of beneficence

B) The principle of maximization

C) The principle of utility

D) The principle of nonmaleficence

1. The most serious weakness for principlism is its

A) lack of a stable procedure for determining which principle is strongest.

B) complexity, with the theory postulating multiple principles.

C) inconsistency with our moral experiences and judgments.

D) failure to explain what grounds the various principles.

1. *The utilitarian approach to a shortage of medical supplies during a pandemic would be to

A) distribute the supplies on a first-come, first-served basis.

B) distribute the supplies to those in the direst condition.

C) distribute the supplies using a lottery system.

D) distribute the supplies to those most likely to receive the most benefit.

True or False Questions

1. According to ethical egoism, you should do whatever you desire to do or whatever gives you the most immediate pleasure.

A) True

B) False

1. Kant declares that we should never in any circumstances treat people as a means.

A) True

B) False

1. *Kant believes that we should not treat persons merely as a means except when society's welfare is at stake.

A) True

B) False

1. *Kant argues that the moral law is conditional.

A) True

B) False

1. Alan Dershowitz believes that torture can never be morally justified.

A) True

B) False

1. Mill believes that the moral worth of an action depends on one's motives.

A) True

B) False

1. *Kant asserts that happiness is the sole end of human action.

A) True

B) False

1. *Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the great forebears of feminist thought.

A) True

B) False

1. Aristotle thinks that the highest good is an instrumental good (good for the sake of something else).

A) True

B) False

1. *Aristotle says that virtue is a mean lying between two vices.

A) True

B) False

1. Aristotle believes that simply studying philosophy will make one virtuous.

A) True

B) False

1. *Held favors the liberal individualist concept of a person.

A) True

B) False

1. *Held thinks that virtue ethics is a failed moral theory.

A) True

B) False

1. *Cultural relativism implies that moral progress is possible.

A) True

B) False

1. Cultural relativism eliminates the possibility of moral disagreement.

A) True

B) False

1. *By the lights of cultural relativism, cross-cultural moral disagreement is possible.

A) True

B) False

1. According to cultural relativism, some cultures' moral codes are better than others.

A) True

B) False

1. *From the fact that cultures have divergent moral beliefs on an issue, it does not logically follow that there is no objective moral truth.

A) True

B) False

1. Cultural relativism logically entails tolerance for other cultures.

A) True

B) False

1. Rule-utilitarianism is the idea that the rightness of actions depends solely on the relative good produced by individual actions.

A) True

B) False

1. Classic utilitarianism and Daoism are essentially the same.

A) True

B) False

1. Utilitarianism is the view that right actions are those that maximize the overall well-being of everyone involved.

A) True

B) False

1. Confucianism is an individualistic moral philosophy.

A) True

B) False

1. *Advocates of principlism admit that the process of weighing different moral principles is unreliable and subjective.

A) True

B) False

1. In moral deliberation, it is important to learn as much as possible about the nonmoral facts of the situation.

A) True

B) False

1. Utilitarianism, Kantianism, and principlism are all similar in that that each consist of a single moral principle.

A) True

B) False

1. An important criterion of adequacy for moral theories is consistency with our conscience.

A) True

B) False

1. A moral theory explains not why one event causes another but why an action is right or wrong or why a person or a person's character is good or bad.

A) True

B) False

Essay Questions

1. How does Kant's categorical imperative apply to the case of the lying promise? Does Kant allow any exceptions to a categorical imperative? Would you make an exception if it could save an innocent person's life (and harm no one else)? Why or why not?
2. *What is the chief difference between utilitarianism and Kant's ethics? Do you think one of these theories is clearly inferior to the other? Do they each represent part of the truth about morality? Explain.
3. What are the premises of the cultural differences argument? Assess the truth of the premises.
4. *How does cultural relativism imply infallibility, the unlikelihood of disagreement, and the impossibility of moral progress?
5. Do you think ethical egoism is a plausible moral theory? Why or why not?
6. *Do you believe utilitarianism conflicts with our considered judgments about rights? Why or why not?
7. Recall the thought experiment about Anne Frank. Imagine that in 1944 you own the house where the young Anne Frank and her family are hiding from the Nazis, and the Nazis ask you if anyone lives there. You can lie and save Anne and her family from death in a concentration camp, or you can tell the truth and doom them. What would Kant have you do in this situation? Is he right? What would you do? Why?
8. *What is the divine command theory? Do you think it's a good moral theory? Why or why not?
9. Assess the merits of ethical egoism. Is it an adequate moral theory? Why or why not?
10. *What is the empirical theory known as psychological egoism? Explain why you think it is or is not a good explanation of human behavior.
11. *Why might someone think that principlism is excessively subjective? Would you agree? Why or why not?
12. What do you believe is the morally best way to ration medical supplies in emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic? Why? Does your answer fit with any of the moral theories we have studied? Explain.