Midterm 1

Question 1

Which of the following is true of a teleological moral theory?

Answer 1

-This type of moral theory bases moral judgments on the effects or results of an action.
-These are consequentialist theories.

Question 2

Which of the following would be examples of a non-consequentist judgment about this action? (Select all that apply.)

Answer 2

-This was a bad action because you meant to harm Amber by stealing the purse.
-This was a good action because you intended to help Amber by keeping her purse from being stolen by someone else.
-This was a bad action because stealing is always wrong.

Question 3

Descriptive judgments mean to assert

Answer 3

factual matters

Question 4

Which of the following types of judgments would be normative? (Select all that apply.)

Answer 4

-practical claims
-ethical claims
-aesthetic claims

Question 5

Which of the following judgments is a normative judgment?

Answer 5

Euthanasia is morally permissible (or impermissible) in some circumstances.

Question 6

This term indicates that something should be positively regarded, but without an explicit recommendation for doing it. This term usually allows room for degrees.

Answer 6

“Morally good”

Question 7

This term indicates that some action is morally allowable and sometimes praiseworthy, but that there is no moral requirement to do that action.

Answer 7

“Morally permissible”

Question 8

This term indicates that something ought to be done and that there is no other acceptable moral choice.

Answer 8

“Moral obligation”

Question 9

For example, moral realism is a moral perspective that emphasizes

Answer 9

objective knowledge of intrinsic value

Question 10

Which of the following is best understood as claiming that ethical judgments are actually subjective feelings?

Answer 10

Emotivism

Question 11

Opponents of the sociobiology perspective might worry that _______ For example, an opponent might argue that, just because a behavior is natural and useful in the evolutionary struggle for survival, that does not mean that it is good, just, or right.

Answer 11

it commits the naturalistic fallacy

Question 12

Which of the following statements are premises or reasons given in support of this argument’s conclusion? (Select all that apply.)

Answer 12

–My swimming out to rescue this person has a good chance of saving his life.
-Every human life is valuable.
-Whatever has a good chance of saving such a life should be attempted.

Question 13

Which premise in this argument expresses a general value assumption?

Answer 13

Every human life is valuable.

Question 14

Which statement best expresses the argument’s conclusion?

Answer 14

Therefore, I ought to do so.

Question 15

Which of the following statements is a metaethical claim?

Answer 15

Goodness is relative to one’s culture.

Question 16

Which of the following statements is a normative claim?

Answer 16

Abortion is wrong.

Question 17

Descriptive claims depend on what kind of information?

Answer 17

empirical

Question 18

Which of the following statements characterizes Hume’s Law?

Answer 18

Just because we do something does not make it right.

Question 19

Philosophical ethics examines ethics from what standpoint?

Answer 19

critical or evaluative

Question 20

Teleological moral theories are also known by what term?

Answer 20

Consequentialist

Question 21

Which viewpoint illustrates that ethical judgments are always only opinions?

Answer 21

Subjectivism

Question 22

Which viewpoint is similar to moral realism, which is the idea that ethical judgments can be said to be true or false?

Answer 22

Objectivism

Question 23

What viewpoint is reflected in Leon Kass’s “yuck factor”?

Answer 23

Emotivism

Question 24

Hume and Moore reject deriving an “ought” from an “is” for what reason?

Answer 24

The naturalistic fallacy

Question 25

What do we mean when we say life has intrinsic value?

Answer 25

It is a good in itself.

Question 26

What does Richard Dawkins mean when he says that life has instrumental value?

Answer 26

Life is good for carrying genetic information.

Question 27

The naturalistic fallacy is an example of which type of faulty reasoning?

Answer 27

Circular reasoning

Question 28

The conclusion in a logical argument begins with what term?

Answer 28

Therefore

Question 29

Utilitarianism places value on what component of an act?

Answer 29

consequence

Question 30

Deontology places ethical value on what component of an act?

Answer 30

motive

Question 31

Amia Srinivasan claims that all moral philosophy is a masculinist project and should be rehabilitated by what method?

Answer 31

Critical theory

Question 32

Valuing happiness as an intrinsic good reflects what philosophical viewpoint?

Answer 32

Objectivism

Question 33

What is the opposite of relativism?

Answer 33

Objectivism

Question 34

Factual beliefs are what kind of information?

Answer 34

Empirical

Question 35

These Enlightenment thinkers held that liberty and tolerance were ____ values

Answer 35

important

Question 36

They held that history was developing in a _____ manner

Answer 36

Progressive

Question 37

They were interested in discovering _______ values and learning from other cultures.

Answer 37

Common

Question 38

The Enlightenment period is often characterized by the view that freedom is grounded in _____ .

Answer 38

Human reason

Question 39

Absolutism

Answer 39

concept that asserts certain principles or rules are universally valid, unchanging, and apply to all people, at all times, in all situations, regardless of context or circumstances.

Question 40

Relativism

Answer 40

the belief that knowledge, truth, and morality are not absolute but instead are influenced by individual perspectives, cultures, or situations. In other words, what is considered true or morally right can vary depending on factors like context, society, or personal experiences.

Question 41

Pluralism

Answer 41

It emphasizes that different perspectives or practices can coexist peacefully and that no single viewpoint or belief system should dominate or be considered the only valid one

Question 42

Tolerance

Answer 42

the acceptance and respect for differences in beliefs, practices, or opinions, even if one does not agree with them. It involves recognizing and allowing others to hold views or engage in actions that may differ from one's own, without attempting to suppress or discriminate against them.

Question 43

Like Socrates, Immanuel Kant advocated reform through:

Answer 43

Public argument about morality, religion, and politics.

Question 44

Later thinkers and activists, such as Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948), and Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968), called for civil disobedience, which is a nonviolent refusal to obey unjust laws with the intention of accepting the penalty for breaking those laws. What does this civil disobedience hope to accomplish?

Answer 44

Arousing the conscience of the whole community.

Question 45

Advocates of civil disobedience demonstrated that one need not reject existing traditions and institutions in order to scrutinize or critique them. King, in particular, saw ethical critique as a means of:

Answer 45

Helping the United States realize the full promise of its founding documents.

Question 46

However, examples of nonviolent practitioners of civil disobedience (like King and Gandhi), may show that philosophical ethics is ______ religious conviction and cosmopolitan religious freedom.

Answer 46

compatible with

Question 47

Most contemporary philosophers believe that ethics does not require a religious grounding. Rather than relying on holy books or religious revelations, philosophical ethics attempts to use ______ to determine what is good and bad, right and wrong, or better and worse.

Answer 47

reason and experience

Question 48

Recall that deontological ethical theories in general hold that some actions are inherently right or wrong, regardless of the circumstances or consequences. One form of deontological ethics is divine command theory, which holds that morally right actions are those actions that are declared by ______ to be good.

Answer 48

God

Question 49

According to the Euthyphro objection, this question results in a problem with _____ possible answers, all of which is claimed to undermine divine command theory.

Answer 49

Two

Question 50

Euthyphro Objection

Answer 50

1. If something is good because God commands it: This implies that moral goodness is arbitrary—anything could be deemed good, depending on God's command, even actions that seem intuitively immoral, like murder or cruelty. 2. If God commands something because it is good: This suggests that morality exists independently of God's will, and therefore, God is not the ultimate source of morality but is instead subject to an external standard of goodness.

Question 51

Although the Euthyphro objection is usually presented in terms of a dilemma (a choice between two options), you can also think of the Euthyphro objection as claiming that divine command theory uses ______ reasoning.

Answer 51

Circular

Question 52

Religious pluralists claim that there is _____ ideas found among the world’s various religious traditions.

Answer 52

A common core of

Question 53

A religious pluralist is likely to argue that most of the great world religions _____ something like the Golden Rule.

Answer 53

Include

Question 54

So, according to religious pluralism, to some extent every religion has

Answer 54

similar viewpoints and goals

Question 55

While different religions might be similar in many ethical respects (for example, different religions can agree that murder is morally wrong), they almost always have different metaphysical views about the nature of God or reality in general. For opponents of religious pluralism, these types of differences are ethically ______ compared to the similarities.

Answer 55

Important

Question 56

The attempt to answer the problem of evil by trying to reconcile these divine attributes is known as

Answer 56

Theodicy

Question 57

Denial of evil solution

Answer 57

attempts to show that God is not responsible for evil by denying the existence of evil

Question 58

Least of all evils solution

Answer 58

does recognize the existence of evil. This solution to the problem of evil involves the claim that the present universe, although it contains evil, is the best possible universe that God could have created

Question 59

Aesthetic totality solution

Answer 59

attempts to account for evil by elaborating on the nature of God as a creator and author of the universe. According to this view, God is the supreme author of a divinely created drama: the universe in which we live.

Question 60

Free will solution

Answer 60

recognizes the existence of evil in the world while attempting to demonstrate that God is not directly responsible for evil.

Question 61

Secular

Answer 61

Based in this world and age

Question 62

European philosophers of the Enlightenment era argued that public toleration of religious diversity is

Answer 62

Necessary

Question 63

Locke argues that:

Answer 63

spiritual authorities should operate through persuasion and conversion, while civil (governmental) authorities may operate through laws backed by coercive force.

Question 64

Locke’s argument forms the basis of the United States’ constitutional doctrine known as:

Answer 64

Separation of church and state

Question 65

Divine Command Theory

Answer 65

a moral theory that asserts that moral right and wrong are determined by God's will. According to this theory, actions are morally good or bad because they align with or violate the commands of God. In other words, an action is morally right if God commands it, and morally wrong if God forbids it.

Question 66

Objective sources

Answer 66

a philosophical system developed by Ayn Rand that asserts the existence of an objective reality that is independent of human perception or belief, and that individuals should pursue their own rational self-interest as the moral purpose of their lives.

Question 67

Conflicts of value

Answer 67

when two or more competing values, principles, or beliefs come into direct opposition, creating a situation where choosing one may require sacrificing or compromising another.