Ch 1 Critical Reasoning and Moral Theory

TRUE/FALSE

	1.	Righteous indignation is the relief we feel at someone’s deserved good or bad fortune.

ANS:	F
False. Righteous indignation is the anger we feel at someone’s undeserved good or bad fortune.

PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.4 Pg. 15

	2.	Virtue Ethics is agent-centered as opposed to act-centered, focusing more on the character of the person making the decision rather than focusing on the decision itself.

ANS:	T
True.

PTS:	1	REF:	Fig. 1.3 Pg. 15		

	3.	Consequentialism is the theory that states that the end result behind an action, not the motivation behind the action, makes the action either good or bad.

ANS:	T
True.

PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.5 Pg. 15

	4.	Under the “No Harm, No Foul” approach, even if a person adversely affects the others around him, there is no need to punish that person.

ANS:	F
False. If harm was done, there must be some form of punishment or all similar offenses will continue to go unpunished.

PTS:	1	REF:	1.2.3 Pg. 6

	5.	According to the Cultural Relativist viewpoint, the Nazi party members committing systematic extermination were acting within the framework of their culture and should not be judged by the standards of other cultures.

ANS:	T
True.

PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.3 Pg. 11

MULTIPLE CHOICE

	1.	____ is the willingness to let people do what they wish, as long as there is no overriding justification to do otherwise.
a.	Cowardice	c.	Cultural Relativism	
b.	Tolerance	d.	Recklessness	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.3 Pg. 11

	2.	____ are similar to languages in that they differ substatially in their particulars but share many common elements; all human cultures seem to include these same basic concepts.
a.	Interpretative structures	c.	Ethical structures	
b.	Moral theories	d.	Moral structures	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.3 Pg. 11

	3.	____ is the technique of argumentaiton most often used in legal reasoning and can, at times, seem to be a rhetorical technique used for twisting the truth rather than establishing it.
a.	Casuistry	c.	Euthyphro	
b.	Ad hominem	d.	Prisoner’s Perspective	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	1.5.3 Pg. 34

	4.	____ means maximizing happiness in the world.
a.	Contractivity	c.	Good Will	
b.	Utility	d.	Encapsulation	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.5 Pg. 15

	5.	____ is a moral theory that holds that X is good exclusively because God commands it.
a.	Grace Theory	c.	Almighty Arbiter Theory	
b.	Theory of Evolution	d.	Divine Command Theory	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.2 Pg. 10

	6.	The characteristics of a good person are called ____.
a.	attractions	c.	virtues	
b.	traits	d.	intellect	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.4 Pg. 13

	7.	According to ____ we should adopt a set of rules and then violate them only in the case where compelling evidence indicates that utility is increased by such a violation.
a.	Rule Utilitarianism	c.	Contractarianism	
b.	Happiness Theory	d.	“Tit-for-Tat” Theory	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.5.4 Pg. 19		

	8.	The ____ is a rule that must always be followed by all rational beings.
a.	veil of ignorance	c.	good will rule	
b.	universal law of nature	d.	categorical imperative	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.6 Pg. 21

	9.	____ is a conversation in which participants share their own opinions and develop more refined perspectives while considering all discussion parners to be well-intended and informed.
a.	Soliloquy	c.	Debate session	
b.	Deliberate critical discussion	d.	Forensic discussion	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	1.5.1 pg. 32

	10.	____ encourages people to help the least fortunate.
a.	Utilitarianism	c.	Divine Command Theory	
b.	Contractarianism	d.	Rawl’s Theory of Justice	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	Table 1.3 Pg. 39	

	11.	The theory of ____ promotes tolerance.
a.	Act Utilitarianism	c.	Divine Command	
b.	Cultural Relativism	d.	Deontological Ethics	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	Table 1.3 Pg. 38	

	12.	____ is the deductive reasoning on which Euclidean geometry is based.
a.	Plotting	c.	Pure reason	
b.	Pythagorean theorem	d.	Practical reason	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	Table 1.3 Pg. 39	

	13.	____ is a consequentialist moral theory that says that the right decision is the one that causes the most happiness.
a.	Divine Command Theory	c.	Deontological Ethical Theory	
b.	Virtue Theory	d.	Utilitarianism	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.5 Pg. 15

	14.	____ is the set of ethical standards for the followers of a particular religion.
a.	Ad hominem	c.	Degrees of tolerance	
b.	Religious ethics	d.	Deontological guidelines	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.1 Pg. 9

	15.	A ____ is a way of defining morality.
a.	scientific theory	c.	language	
b.	mathematical equation	d.	moral theory	

ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4 Pg. 8

	16.	Plato was responsible for writing ____, a dialogue from the fourth century BC that asks “is goodness loved by the gods because it is good, or is it good because it is loved by the gods?”
a.	Lorem Ipsum	c.	Euthyphro	
b.	Euthanasia	d.	unionem Europaeam	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.2 Pg. 10

	17.	Aristotle claims that there are ____ kinds of virtues, one of them being intellectual virtues.
a.	two	c.	three	
b.	four	d.	seven	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.4 Pg. 13

	18.	The process of calculating which action will lead to the greatest happiness is sometimes called the ____.
a.	utilitarian calculus	c.	behavioral trigonometry	
b.	consequentialist matrix	d.	differential calculus	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.5.1 Pg. 16		

	19.	____ requires that we are willing to make the subjective principle that determined our decision a universal requirement for all.
a.	The Principle of Caring	c.	The Universal Law of Nature	
b.	Kant’s Principle of Religion	d.	Hobbes’ Theory of Personal Benefit	

ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.6 Pg. 21

	20.	Contractarianism stems from the writings of ____.
a.	Immanuel Kant	c.	John Rawls	
b.	Thomas Hobbes	d.	Jeremy Bentham	

ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.7 Pg. 23

	21.	____ defines goodness in terms of whether or not we take care of the people around us.
a.	Ethics of Caring	c.	The Difference Principle	
b.	The Veil of Ignorance	d.	Contractarianism	

ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.9 Pg. 29

COMPLETION

	1.	The philosopher ____________________ is usually regarded as the father of utilitarianism.

ANS:	Jeremy Bentham

PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.5 Pg. 15

	2.	____________________ is regarded as the strongest proponent of utilitarianism.

ANS:	John Stuart Mill

PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.4 Pg. 15

	3.	____________________ is the concept of performing an action that maximizes happiness.

ANS:	Act Utilitarianism

PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.5 Pg. 16

	4.	____________________ is the reasoning used to resolve ethical issues.

ANS:	Practical reasoning, practical reason

PTS:	1	REF:	1.5 Pg. 31

	5.	One of the guidelines of delibarative critical discussion is to avoid ____________________ attacks, which are arguments against the person arguing rather than against the statements being made.

ANS:	ad hominem

PTS:	1	REF:	1.5.1 Pg. 32

MATCHING

Match each term with the correct statement below.
a.	Universal Law of Nature	f.	Contractarianism	
b.	Game Theory	g.	Deontological Ethical Theory	
c.	Principle of the End in Itself	h.	Divine Command Theory	
d.	Prisoner’s Dilemma	i.	Universality	
e.	Impartiality	

	1.	A decision reached should be correct for everyone that has a similar decision to make

	2.	X is good because God commands it, and for no other reason

	3.	People are rational beings who wish to promote their own self-interests, and the best way of doing so is to promote the common interests of society

	4.	A branch of mathematics in which an individual makes choices that potentially create points for himself

	5.	Focuses on rights, duties, obligations, and rules

	6.	Act only according to maxims (principles) that could be adopted as universal laws

	7.	Two people are offered a choice either to cooperate or defect

	8.	Every person is treated equally and no one is given preferential treatment

	9.	Treat humans, both yourself and others, always as ends in themselves, and never merely as a means to an end

	1.	ANS:	I	PTS:	1	REF:	26

	2.	ANS:	H	PTS:	1	REF:	10

	3.	ANS:	F	PTS:	1	REF:	23

	4.	ANS:	B	PTS:	1	REF:	24

	5.	ANS:	G	PTS:	1	REF:	20

	6.	ANS:	A	PTS:	1	REF:	10

	7.	ANS:	D	PTS:	1	REF:	13

	8.	ANS:	E	PTS:	1	REF:	18

	9.	ANS:	C	PTS:	1	REF:	27

SHORT ANSWER

	1.	What are the two principles of justice as fairness that underlie all just societies, according to Rawls?

ANS:	
1. Each person should have as extensive a set of basic freedoms as possible, as long as it does not prevent others from having the same freedoms.
2. Social and economic inequalities are justified only if:
a. Everyone has a fair chance to obtain the better position.
b. Such inequalities provide the greatest benefit to the least advantaged; this is known as the difference principle.

PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.8 Pg. 27

	2.	What are the “inherent goods,” according to Noddings, Kant, and Utilitarianists?

ANS:	
Noddings believes that caring is the only inherent good; Kant holds that a “good will” is inherently good; utilitarians consider happiness to the inherently good.

PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.9 Pg. 29

	3.	In Case 1.2, “Warning or Ticket?”, what should Officer Schmidt do in response to Dolores’ failure to stop at the stop sign, according to virtue theorists?

ANS:	
The virtues of friendliness, truthfulness, and good temper are all related to the case, but the most closely related virtue is righteous indignation. According to this way of thinking, Dolores deserves to get a ticket because she broke the law and her behavior might have endangered others. The virtuous person, while desiring to please Dolores, would most likely still give her the ticket that she deserved.

PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.4 Pg. 15

	4.	Describe Rawl’s veil of ignorance.

ANS:	
The veil of ignorance is the idea that you choose a social contract in complete ignorance of what qualities you will have once you are born; you cannot choose traits such as your intelligence, health, or family wealth.

PTS:	1	REF:	15-16

	5.	What is the difference between ethics and morality?

ANS:	
Ethics is a set of morally permissible standards of a group, whereas morality is the set of standards everyone wants everyone else to follow.

PTS:	1	REF:	1.3 pg. 6

	6.	What is the basic equation for defining morality?

ANS:	
How do I know that X is good?

Why is X good?

PTS:	1	REF:	1.4 Pg. 8

	7.	What is the main problem with defining professional ethics in terms of religious ethics?

ANS:	
We want people to be ethical regardless of their religious beliefs. Everyone should follow the standards set forth by their profession. Also, we don’t want people to have to believe that murder is bad because God says so.

PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.1 pg. 9

	8.	Describe the “ideal mean,” according to Virtue Theory.

ANS:	
The “ideal mean” the half-way point between two extremes of a human characteristic.

PTS:	1	REF:	13

	9.	Describe the main difference between deontological ethics theories and consequentialist theories.

ANS:	
Deontological ethics theories differ from consequentialist theories especially because the intention behind the action is considered more important than the end result.

PTS:	1	REF:	1.4.6 Pg. 20

	10.	Describe the importance of context when making ethical arguments.

ANS:	
Context allows one to determine what facts are relevant and what facts are not. If we learned that Dolores was African American and Officer Schmidt had previously been accused of improper treatment of African American suspects, our opinions on how the case should be handled may be affected dramatically.

PTS:	1	REF:	1.5.2 Pg. 33