Hu-432 Exam 2

Explain the difference between the Golden Rule and the Categorical Imperative.

"Golden Rule: treat others as you want them to treat you Categorical Imperative: always treat persons as ends, not merely as means Difference: The golden rule depends largely on how you would feel about what was done to you. The categorical imperative can be universalized for all rational agents or society."

List three ways by which, according to Layton, professional engineering societies have been subject to the influence of business.

1. Pay expenses for engineers 2. Pay dues for the societies 3. Provide funding for research and publications

List what Friedman takes to be the three sources of executive responsibility.

1. Shareholder interests 2. Law 3. Moral Custom

Explain the difference between Mackie's second and third stages of universalization.

2nd stage rules out differences of personal characteristics and places themselves in the others shoes to determine fairness. 3rd stage rules out differences of preference.

What is a prima facie right?

A right that can be outweighed by other considerations.

List the three respects in which similarity must be considered in universalizing a moral judgment.

Action Person Circumstance If R counts as a reason for S to do A, then R must also count as a reason for any similar person to perform a similar action under similar circumstances.

What does Kant mean when he says that only actions done from a sense of duty have moral worth?

Actions done from a sense of duty have no reward, and as such there is a conflict of reason and desire, and reason is chosen over desire which is praiseworthy

Why does utilitarianism imply negative responsibility?

An action that may create the most utility may be to prevent some action, and since negative responsibility means we are as responsible for what we fail to prevent as for what we do, utilitarianism implies negative responsibility. (Kill one person vs allowing someone to kill 20 people).

What difference between law and morality prevents ethics codes from being decisive as a means of resolving ethical issues?

Ethics must be self-directed and not other directed (guided by morals and not laws). People are supposed to act ethically and morally while laws are what is required.

Explain the difference between purity and fecundity as aspects of actions in utilitarian calculations.

Fecundity - Doing something to continue the same sensation, getting better with practice. Purity - Doing something to avoid the opposite sensation, gaining the end result, without the negative side effects. (ex. Poaching elephants and getting caught).

What generalization can we make about the moral praiseworthiness of the holy will?

Holy Will are actions motivated by reason alone and it is outside the moral circle so it is not praiseworthy

Explain the point of Kant's "lying promise" example.

If one person is allowed to make a promise that he/she doesn't intend to keep, the notion would be universally accepted and no promises would ever be taken seriously. It would destroy the sanctity of promises

Many if not most successful engineers ultimately become managers. Explain the difficulty this fact supposedly poses for the claim that engineering is a profession.

If you grow and become a manager, you will work for/answer for the company only. When you were an engineer you were an employee for the company and answer/protect the public. This is why engineering is considered a profession. Profession comes to question when you become a manager because you only now answer for the company. Also, people stay in a profession their entire life, they don't enter a profession to become another profession. Engineering is then seen as a stepping stone into management.

Feinberg (in "The Nature and Value of Rights") says that having a claim is like having a prima facie case in a legal trial. What does he mean?

In a trial, all considerations about the situation must be taken into account, as with a prima facie right. Until a judgement has been made, there is no right or obligation to you and there is no duty on the part of the defendant.

What challenge does the concept of incommensurability pose for utilitarianism?

Incommensurability-poses a problem for utilitarianism because utilitariansism states that everything can be be compared in order to determine utility. Incommensurability-is stating the fact that not everything actually can be compared.There are subjective areas and factors that cannot be compared in order to calculate what action would maximize utility

Provide one of Boatright's three criticizms of the stakeholder theory of management.

It is vague, one that keeps certain groups happy may result in tradeoffs and loss of profit.

Explain the relationship between Kant's concept of a rational agent and Rawl's device of the veil of ingnorance.

Kant states that we are all logical and the same and that we have no important differences. Rawl's veil of ignorance removes all "important" characteristics such as sex, race, age from any decision making process. Both concepts essentially state we are all equal.

Explain the difference between positive and negative rights.

Positive rights - provide the right holder with a claim against another person or the state that must provide a service, good, or treatment. It is essentially a contract. Negative rights - do not require that others provide this right, but only that nobody may infringe upon them, or prevent the right holder from having them

Bernard Williams says that pre-emptive action is the essence of utilitarianism. What does he mean? (Hint: consider the concept of negative responsibility)

Pre-emptive action is an action taken to prevent some other action. Sometimes, preventing some action is what creates the greatest overall utility. Since Utilitarianism implies negative responsibility by saying we are just as responsible for that which we prevent as that which we do not, taking pre-emptive action to prevent another action is the essence of utilitarianism.

Explain how rule utilitarianism is intended to answer objections to utilitarianism regarding justice.

Rule utilitarians maintain that the obligation to be just follows because maintaining justice has beneficial consequences for those affected.

Provide an example to demonstrate the relevance of the concept of functional specificity to your professional discipline.

Should only offer advice on your specialty and in areas for which qualified. A software engineer shouldn't give advice on machine design

broad and narrow senses of "morality"

Broad sense - source of motivation Narrow sense - Test of motives one already has

Explain the claim that a main function of rights is to act as a trump over collective goods.

The main function of rights is to trump over the collective good because these rights are based on strong moral considerations and that the right holder must be individualized. A group cannot take something away from one person. Individual rights are more important than maximizing overall utility.

Explain how Rawls's notion of the veil of ignorance functions to ensure fair decisions without eliminating selfish motives

The person forgets about characteristics like religion, race, sex, etc. but a person is selfish by nature, so a veil of ignorance won't eliminate selfish motives but will instead make sure the decision is more fair by not adding characteristics that would make that person at odds with the interests of other people. People making decisions do so based on what they feel to be morally right. They don't know what the distribution of rights and resources will be. (Ex. Slavery)

Explain Talcott Parsons's concepts of universalism and disinterestedness as elements of professional conduct.

The professional must assume emotional neutrality towards the client. The professional must provide service to whoever requests it. All clients must be seen as equals in the eye of the professional, known as universalism. Disinterestedness is not acting on self interest but more by acting on impulse to perform maximally

What is the utility monster, and what is the point of the example?

The utility monster has an unlimited capacity for pleasure and its only sense of pleasure is others pain; and what maximizes utility is to please the monster. The point is that Utilitarianism gives no guidance on how to distribute utility. Monster has more utility from each unit of happiness than everyone else. The utility monster is a situation in which the monster receives maximum utility by causing the maximum amount of pain to everyone else in the world. This demonstrates that utilitarianism is flawed because this would not be good for the whole world, but would yield the greatest utility

Are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness positive or negative rights? Explain.

These are negative rights. They do not require that others provide this right, but only that nobody may infringe upon them, or prevent the right holder from having them.

Explain the difference between Mackie's stages 1 and 2 of universilization (in other words, don't simply state them)

When forming a moral judgement, a person in stage one will put themselves as they are, in another person's shoes. When in stage two, they will change their characteristics to match the other person's before making the judgement.

Are the consequences of negligence obliquely intended? Explain.

Yes, oblique intentions are side effects of a direct intention that are known about. In the case of negligence, an agent should have been aware of the possible side effects that could happen, but does nothing about it.