Philosophy final exam for Michelle K
Directions: Fill in the best answer on your Scantron (882-E) to each question/problem below with a pencil.
1. Consequentialism is
a. a family of ethical theories that includes utilitarianism.
b. one version of act utilitarianism.
c. inconsistent with utilitarianism.
d. none of the above.
2. Consequentialism states that an action is right if and only if
a. it maximizes the amount of overall goodness in the world.
b. it gives people what they deserve.
c. it does not harm anyone.
d. it is good for more people than any alternative action.
3. The principle of utility can be summarized as
a. do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
b. do whatever is most useful in the circumstances.
c. maximize overall well-being.
d. always pursue your own self-interest.
4. John Stuart Mill thought that the only intrinsically valuable thing is
a. desire satisfaction.
b. happiness.
c. virtue.
d. knowledge.
5. Most utilitarians believe that the morality of an action depends on
a. its expected results.
b. its actual results.
c. the goodness of one’s intentions.
d. all of the above.
6. According to utilitarianism
a. whether one’s intentions are good depends on whether one’s action is right.
b. whether one’s action is right depends on whether one’s intentions are good.
c. the morality of actions and the goodness of intentions are mutually dependent.
d. no essential connection exists between the morality of an action and the intentions behind it.
7. What does it mean to say a policy is optimific?
a. It treats everyone fairly.
b. It makes everyone better off.
c. It yields the greatest balance of benefits over drawbacks.
d. It is immoral.
8. Utilitarianism allows that we may count one person’s interests as more important than the interests of others if
a. they are related to us.
b. we care deeply about them.
c. they live closer to us.
d. none of the above.
9. Utilitarians believe in
a. a handful of absolute moral rules.
b. only one absolute moral rule: the principle of utility.
c. breaking conventional moral rules whenever it’s in one’s self-interest.
d. no moral rules whatsoever.
10. According to utilitarianism, harming a human being is
a. incomparably worse than harming a non-human animal.
b. in and of itself slightly worse than harming a non-human animal.
c. in and of itself not any better or worse than harming a non-human animal.
d. not as bad as harming a non-human animal.
11. According to utilitarian Jeremy Bentham, what is the relevant question for determining membership in the moral community?
a. Can they suffer?
b. Can they reason?
c. Can they talk?
d. Can they care?
12. What attitude do most utilitarians take toward moral rules?
a. Many moral rules are absolute and must never be broken.
b. Moral rules can be helpful but can be broken if doing so is optimific.
c. Following moral rules is harmful and ought to be shunned.
d. Utilitarians believe that the idea of a “moral rule” is incoherent.
13. Which of the following does Kant consider unconditionally good?
a. happiness
b. good will
c. knowledge
d. all of these
14. To do one’s duty, Kant argues, is to act:
a. in accordance with one’s inclination
b. to achieve a good end
c. to benefit others
d. out of respect for the moral law
15. Deontological theories of ethics judge the rightness or wrongness of an actions based on:
a. consequences
b. virtues and vices
c. duties or obligations
d. self-interest
16. According to Kant, which types of actions done by human beings have moral worth?
a. Those done from inclination.
b. Those done from gifts of nature, like character.
c. Those done from principle.
d. Those done from emotion.
17. In Kant’s theory, a maxim is
a. a piece of wisdom handed down over many generations.
b. an objectively correct moral rule.
c. a principle of action that one gives to oneself.
d. a false moral principle.
18. Kant claims that the morality of an action depends on
a. one’s intentions.
b. the results of one’s action.
c. both a and b.
d. neither a nor b.
19. According to Kant, the demands of morality are
a. categorical imperatives.
b. hypothetical imperatives.
c. created by God.
d. the products of social convention.
20. According to Kant, what is the main problem with the golden rule?
a. It makes morality depend on a person’s desires.
b. It makes morality depend solely on the consequences of one’s actions.
c. It fails to give us any guidance whatsoever.
d. It allows lying, which is never permissible.
21. Which of the following best characterizes Kant’s moral theory?
a. It is a version of utilitarianism.
b. It is a version of consequentialism, but it is not utilitarian.
c. It is neutral on the issue of whether consequentialism is true.
d. It is inconsistent with consequentialism.
22. What is a categorical imperative, according to Kant?
a. A command of reason that depends on our desires.
b. A command of reason that does not depend on our desires.
c. A principle of action that one gives to oneself.
d. A principle of action that one gives to others.
23. What is a hypothetical imperative, according to Kant?
a. A command of reason that depends on our desires.
b. A command of reason that does not depend on our desires.
c. A principle of action that one gives to oneself.
d. A principle of action that one gives to others.
24. What did Kant believe is the relationship between rationality and morality?
a. Morality and rationality are fundamentally opposed.
b. Rationality requires us to be moral.
c. Morality and rationality are completely independent.
d. Rationality might sometimes require immorality, but not often.
25. The principle of universalizability states that you should
a. act only in such a way that you would be comfortable with everyone acting.
b. act towards others as you would want them to act towards you.
c. act only according to maxims that are universalizable.
d. act only if your maxim results in good consequences.
26. According to Kant, moral requirements apply to
a. all living things.
b. all who possess autonomy and reason.
c. all who can suffer.
d. none of the above.
27. Being autonomous means
a. you are a slave to your passions.
b. you possess the ultimate responsibility for the choices you make.
c. you are not worthy of respect.
d. you are part of a government body.
28. Ross’s ethic of prima facie duties is a version of
a. ethical absolutism.
b. ethical monism.
c. ethical particularism.
d. ethical pluralism.
29. A prima facie duty is
a. a non-absolute, excellent, and permanent moral reason to do or abstain from doing something.
b. a consideration that can be overridden by other considerations.
c. not really a duty.
d. all of the above.
30. Which of the following correctly describes the relationship between absolutism and Ross’s theory?
a. Ross’s theory is a version of absolutism.
b. Ross’s theory is neutral as to whether absolutism is true.
c. Ross’s theory faces the same problems as absolutism, including contradiction and irrationality.
d. Ross’s theory avoids the main problems facing absolutism, such as contradiction and irrationality.
31. If Ross’s theory is true, then
a. it is never permissible to break any moral rule.
b. some moral rules may never permissibly be broken, but others may be.
c. any moral rule may sometimes permissibly be broken.
d. there are no moral rules.
32. Which of the following claims would Ross accept?
a. The morality of an action is always determined by its consequences.
b. There is a supreme principle of morality.
c. There are several absolute moral rules.
d. Justice is always an important moral consideration.
33. According to Ross’s theory,
a. moral rules tell us exactly how we should behave in all situations.
b. it is self-evident how we ought to behave in certain situations.
c. there is no mechanical way to determine how we ought to behave.
d. there is no truth about how we ought to behave.
34. Which of the following does Ross’s theory explain?
a. Why what is good for us is up to us.
b. Why we sometimes experience moral conflict.
c. Why there are many different kinds of good life.
d. Why some moral rules may never be broken.
35. What did Ross think is the relationship between justice and well-being?
a. Behaving justly is always more important than promoting well-being.
b. Promoting well-being is always more important than behaving justly.
c. Sometimes behaving justly is more important than promoting well-being and sometimes not.
d. The demands of justice will never conflict with promoting well-being.
36. How does Ross think we can know our prima facie duties?
a. By deducing them from other moral principles.
b. They are self-evident.
c. Through a process of circular reasoning.
d. None of the above—Ross did not think we could know our prima facie duties.
37. According to virtue ethics, the fundamental moral question is:
a. What kinds of things are intrinsically good?
b. What kind of person should I be?
c. What is the right thing to do?
d. What would benefit me most?
38. In the West, virtue ethics traces its origins back to
a. Aristotle.
b. Immanuel Kant.
c. John Stuart Mill.
d. W. D. Ross.
39. According to virtue ethics, actions are right just because
a. there are good reasons to perform them.
b. they would be performed by a virtuous person.
c. they benefit everyone and harm no one.
d. all of the above.
40. Virtue ethics is a form of
a. consequentialism.
b. ethical non-absolutism.
c. ethical pluralism.
d. none of the above.
41. According to virtue ethics, moral understanding is a species of
a. theoretical knowledge.
b. practical wisdom.
c. unreflective opinion.
d. None of the above—moral understanding is impossible.
42. According to virtue ethics, emotions
a. tend to make us violate our duties.
b. are irrelevant to morality.
c. would be entirely absent from a virtuous person.
d. play a crucial role in moral understanding.
43. According to Aristotle, the ultimate good is
a. pleasure.
b. virtue.
c. eudaimonia.
d. continence.
44. What notion should be at the heart of ethical theory, according to virtue ethics?
a. Duty
b. Intrinsic value
c. Moral character
d. Pleasure
45. What is a moral exemplar?
a. A non-absolute moral rule.
b. A person who serves as a role model.
c. A situation that illustrates the consequences of a moral principle.
d. A person to whom the moral rules do not apply.
46. How did Aristotle think that virtue could be acquired?
a. It is inborn.
b. One must have a conversion experience in which one experiences the good directly.
c. Virtue is acquired through education and training.
d. It is impossible to become virtuous.
47. How do virtuous people differ from vicious people?
a. In their behavior.
b. In their thoughts.
c. In their perceptions.
d. All of the above.
48. One common objection to virtue ethics is that
a. it is too demanding.
b. it does not give adequate guidance about what we should do.
c. it does not provide a way of determining who our role models should be.
d. all of the above.
49. Which of the following is a statement of the priority problem?
a. Virtue ethics wrongly explains what is right in terms of a virtuous person instead of moral reason.
b. A person can be virtuous without having all her priorities straight.
c. The consequences of an action sometimes have priority over one’s intentions.
d. Virtue ethics lacks a way of ranking moral principles in terms of importance.
50. Throughout most of history, Western philosophers have often
a. made false and damaging claims about women.
b. ignored female perspectives on ethical issues.
c. discounted the philosophical interest of women’s experiences.
d. all of the above.
51. Feminist ethics claims that
a. men and women should always be treated the same.
b. the experiences of women are vital to a full understanding of morality.
c. there are no innate differences between men and women.
d. all of the above.
52. Carol Gilligan’s book, In a Different Voice, noted that many women never advance beyond which of Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages f moral development?
a. The stage of seeing moral rules as potential threats.
b. The stage of viewing morality as dependent upon our social roles and relations.
c. The stage of viewing morality as a tool for maintaining social order.
d. The stage of viewing morality as requiring obedience to abstract rules of justice.
53. Which feature of the moral life is highlighted by feminist ethics?
a. The importance of vulnerability.
b. The importance of not having control over important aspects of one’s life.
c. The importance of dependence and connectedness to others.
d. All of the above.
54. Which of the following philosophers believed that women are the moral equals of men?
a. Aristotle
b. St. Thomas Aquinas
c. Kant
d. None of the above.
55. Which of the following best describes feminist ethics?
a. It is a particular ethical theory.
b. It is a family of ethical theories.
c. It is an account of what rights people have.
d. It is a psychological theory about gender difference.
56. According to feminist ethics, emotions
a. are central to moral motivation and moral understanding.
b. motivate us to act morally but do not help us to discover how we should act.
c. usually distort our views about morality in negative ways.
d. are irrelevant to morality.
57. Feminist ethicists argue that traditional moral theories have overemphasized ______ at the expense of ____.
a. competition; cooperation
b. calculation; emotion
c. impartiality; special relationships
d. all of the above
58. Which of the following is not a challenge for feminist ethics?
a. Partiality is sometimes permissible.
b. The theory threatens to restrict the scope of the moral community too greatly.
c. Justice is an important moral value.
d. Competition is sometimes valuable.
59. The moral theory that takes the mother/child relationship as a basis for ethics is known as
a. care ethics.
b. ethical pluralism.
c. the ethic of procreation.
d. maternalism.
60. What relationship plays a central role in the ethics of care?
a. Mother/child
b. Wife/husband
c. Sister/brother
d. Friendship between females
61. Contractarians have traditionally taken the view that people are for the most part
a. vicious and mean-spirited.
b. rational and self-interested.
c. kind and altruistic.
d. irrational and fickle.
62. According to contractarianism, we do best for ourselves by agreeing to
a. pursue our own self-interest.
b. agree to limit the direct pursuit of self-interest.
c. act only for the sake of others.
d. seek to maximize well-being.
63. A prisoner’s dilemma is a situation in which
a. all people benefit if all people refrain from pursuing their short-term interests.
b. all people benefit if all people pursue their short-term interests.
c. every possible course of action ends up harming everyone.
d. there is no possible action that does not break the law.
64. The founder of modern contractarianism was
a. Immanuel Kant.
b. Thomas Hobbes.
c. John Stuart Mill.
d. Aristotle.
65. Hobbes claimed that life in the state of nature would be
a. free and easy.
b. difficult but safe.
c. a war of all against all.
d. characterized by moral virtue.
66. According to contractarianism, breaking the law is justified
a. whenever it is in one’s self-interest to do so.
b. whenever a law is (grossly) unjust.
c. whenever the law is unpopular.
d. never.
67. What did Hobbes think is the only way to escape from the state of nature?
a. For each person, individually, to strive to morally improve himself.
b. For people to accept a religious faith.
c. To mutually agree on a set of rules for social cooperation that are enforced.
d. Hobbes did not think such a state could be truly escaped.
68. When is an action morally right, according to Rawlsian contractarianism?
a. When it does not break any of one’s agreements.
b. When it respects the rights and autonomy of others.
c. When it is permitted by the rules that free, equal, and rational people would agree to.
d. When it maximizes the well-being of all involved.
69. What is Rawls’s veil of ignorance?
a. A metaphorical term for the way in which humans often fail to empathize with one another.
b. A description of the tools used by governments to keep their people ignorant.
c. An imaginary device where contractors are clones of one another thereby ensuring that contractors make fair choices.
d. An objection to contractarianism.
70. According to contractarians, our fundamental moral duties are determined by
a. what we have actually consented to.
b. what we have tacitly consented to.
c. what we would consent to if we were free, rational, and seeking mutual cooperation.
d. the principle of universalizability.
71. Moral nihilists believe that
a. facts exist but moral values do not.
b. values exist but facts do not.
c. both facts and values exist.
d. neither facts nor values exist.
72. The two main types of moral nihilism are
a. expressivism and the error theory.
b. relativism and subjectivism.
c. monism and pluralism.
d. skepticism and dogmatism.
73. Both error theorists and objectivists believe that
a. moral judgments are attempts to describe the moral features of things.
b. some moral claims are true.
c. the point of moral judgments is to vent our emotions.
d. nothing is ever morally required of us.
74. What is a metaphysical theory?
a. A theory about what the world is truly like and what really exists.
b. A theory which claims that everything in the universe is physical matter.
c. A theory about the human body.
d. A theory about what we know and how we know it.
75. The status of moral rules has to do with whether they are ever true independently of human beliefs and desires about them.
a. True.
b. False.
76. The existence of intelligent psychopaths, who can understand true moral propositions and yet feel utterly unmotivated to act n accordance with such propositions, have been used to argue that motivational externalism is true.
a. True.
b. False.
77. The two main types of moral skepticism are moral nihilism and ethical relativism.
a. True.
b. False.
78. Someone is definitely a cultural relativist if he or she believes that
a. different cultures have different moral codes.
b. the moral code of a society is a fallible guide to our moral obligations.
c. the guiding ideals of a society determine what is right or wrong.
d. our culture’s basic moral code is worse than those of at least some other.
79. If cultural relativism is true, then the moral values of our culture are
a. superior to the values of other cultures.
b. inferior to the values of other cultures.
c. the exact same values that all other cultures have.
d. no better or worse than the moral values of other cultures.
80. Which of the following would the ethical objectivist accept?
a. Morality is determined by the guiding ideals of a society.
b. Morality is determined by personal opinion.
c. There are no moral truths at all.
d. None of the above.
81. Which of the following would a cultural relativist accept?
a. Morality is determined by the guiding ideals of a society.
b. Morality is determined by personal opinion.
c. There are no moral truths at all.
d. None of the above.
82. Which of the following is not a version of moral skepticism?
a. Moral nihilism
b. Ethical objectivism
c. Ethical subjectivism
d. Cultural relativism
83. According to ethical subjectivism, what is the relationship between a thing being good and someone approving of it?
a. The only reason people approve of things is because those things are good.
b. Whether something is good is independent of whether anyone approves of it.
c. Good people approve of good things, whereas bad people approve of bad things.
d. Things are good only because people approve of them.
II. SHORT/LONG ESSAY SECTION
Directions: Answer any five of the ten questions/problems below in your bluebook as concisely as you can.
1. Most act utilitarians think people are sometimes not to blame for performing actions that are very wrong, and that ometimes people should not be praised for doing the right thing. Why do they think this?
2. What is the difference between deontological and consequentialist ethical theories?
3. According to Immanuel Kant, what is a maxim, and what does it mean for a maxim to be universalizable?
4. What exactly is a prima facie duty? How does an ethic of prima facie duties differ from monistic and absolutist ethical heories?
5. What is it for a belief to be self-evident? Do you think that there are any self-evident moral truths?
6. How might a person do the right thing but still fail to be morally admirable? How does virtue ethics account for this?
7. What role did Carol Gilligan play in the development of feminist ethics?
8. What is the state of nature, and how does Hobbes think people can escape it?
9. What is metaphysically and epistemologically ‘queer’ about objective moral values, according to Mackie?
10. What is the difference between normative ethics and metaethics?