Ethics Final

For the emotivist, which of these best displays the meaning of the moral utterance "Lying is wrong"?

"Lying-I hate it"

Cognitivism is the view that moral statements

Can be true or false

Suppose your culture endorses the view that all wars are wrong. It follows from cultural relativism that your culture

Cannot be mistaken about the morality of war

Cultural relativism implies that the abolition of slavery in the United States

Cannot be regarded as moral progress

The philosopher Thomas Hobbes says that people are naturally

Greedy, selfish, violent, self-destructive, and desperate

An argument in the logical sense is a

Group of statements, one of which is supposed to be supported by the rest

What does cultural relativism imply about the civil rights leader and social reformer Martin Luther King Jr., considered as part of 1950s-1960s United States culture?

He was wrong about his moral reforms

The difference between hypothetical and categorical imperatives is that

Hypothetical imperatives are conditional, whereas categorical imperatives are unconditional

Name the form of the following argument: If p, then q. If q, then r. Therefore, if p, then r.

Hypothetical syllogism

What is the implicit premise in the following moral argument? "The war did not increase the amount of happiness in the world. So, the war was morally wrong."

If a war does not increase the amount of happiness in the world it must be considered morally wrong

In arguing against the divine command theory, many critics insist that

If an action is right only because God wills it, then many heinous crimes and evil actions would be right if God willed them

Which of the following is a consequence of the principle of universalizability

If harming someone is wrong in a particular situation, then harming someone would be wrong for anyone in a relevant similar situation

Subjective relativism implies that when a person states their moral beliefs, that person is

Incapable of being in error

Joel Feinberg argues that someone who directly pursues happiness

Is unlikely to find it

John Stuart Mill says that humans by nature desire happiness and nothing but happiness; therefore happiness is the standard by which we should judge human conduct, and therefore the principle of utility is at the heart of morality. But this argument is controversial, because

It reasons from what is to what should be

What is a possible counterexample to the following moral principle? "Lying is always wrong."

Lying is morally wrong unless doing so will save a person's life

Maryam says, "Abortion is always wrong," while Fatima says, "Sometimes abortion is not wrong." Which statement best summarizes how emotivists view this kind of disagreement?

Maryam and Fatima cannot both be right, because this would produce an emotional conflict between them

Defenders of act-utilitarianism insist that the scenarios put forth by critics that seem to show utilitarianism in conflict with commonsense morality are

Misleading and implausible

Name the form of the following argument: If p, then q. p. Therefore, q.

Modus ponens

Noncognitivism is the view that

Moral judgements are not statements that can be true or false

Both objectivists and cultural relativists agree that

Moral judgements differ from culture to culture

Suppose a culture approves of beheading a young man for merely holding hands with a woman. According to cultural relativism, the beheading is

Morally justified

What is the fallacy used in the following passage? "If marijuana is legalized, young people will assume that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable. That will lead them to give into the temptation to smoke marijuana themselves, and smoking marijuana can ruin their lives. Therefore, marijuana should not be legalized."

Slippery slope

Objectivism is the view that

Some moral principles are valid for everyone

Our commonsense moral experiences suggest that

Some things are morally good and some things are morally bad

A moral statement is a

Statement affirming that an action is right or wrong or that a person (or one's motive or character) is good or bad

What is the fallacy used in the following passage? "Liberals believe in abortion on demand, which means that killing a baby is permissible any time at all—at conception, in the second trimester, at infancy. Any of these would be appropriate times to kill a baby, says the liberal."

Straw man

Believing that you can establish all your moral beliefs by consulting your feelings is an example of

Subjectivism

Deductive arguments are

Supposed to give logically conclusive support to their conclusions

Inductive arguments are

Supposed to offer only probable support for their conclusions

Not thinking too deeply or to systematically about ethical concerns

Undermines your personal freedom

One of the criticisms of social contract theory is that it's doubtful that those who are supposed to be parties to the contract have actually given

Their consent to the terms of the contract

Objectivists argue that the diversity of moral judgments across cultures does not necessarily indicate that there is disagreement about moral beliefs, but instead may indicate that

There are divergent nonmoral beliefs

Kant would say that using a person to achieve some end, such as hiring someone to paint your house, is not necessarily wrong because

There is a moral difference between treating persons as a means and treating them merely, or only, as a means

Suppose you break your promise to visit your dying grandmother on the grounds that you can create more happiness by partying with your friends. This utilitarian view of the situation seems to conflict with our commonsense

View of our obligations to other people

Emotivists can admit that the serial killer Ted Bundy killed more than 30 women, but they cannot say that these events

Were, for a fact, bad

Which of these questions belongs to metaethics?

What does it mean for an action to be right?

What is the implicit premise in the following moral argument? "Same-sex marriage is contrary

Whatever is contrary to tradition should not be allowed

Which statement is a consequence of objectivism?

Whether an action is objectively right depends on its consequences

For a cultural relativist, when two people in the same culture disagree on a moral issue, what they are really disagreeing about is

Whether their society endorses a particular view

A serious criticism of Kant's theory is that it

allows too much subjectivity in moral decision making.

The utterance "Abortion is morally permissible" is

an argument.

Subjective relativism implies that when Sofia says, "I think abortion is wrong," and Emma replies

not having a moral disagreement.

Suppose I think that I sometimes make mistakes on moral matters, and so does my culture. Acknowledging this, I say, "My moral beliefs are sometimes wrong and sometimes my culture's moral principles are wrong as well." In which view could my statement be true?

objectivism

Consider this comment from the philosopher C. D. Broad regarding Kant's means-ends principle: "If we isolate a man who is a carrier of typhoid, we are treating him merely as a cause of infection to others. But, if we refuse to isolate him, we are treating other people merely as means to his comfort and culture." This example suggests that

our duties not to use people merely as a means can conflict, and Kant provides no counsel on how to resolve such dilemmas

Applying the second formulation of the categorical imperative to the act of lying to a friend on important matters would show that the action is impermissible because

performing the action would treat the friend merely as a means to an end.

Like many moral theories, Kant's system fails to

provide an effective means for resolving major conflicts of duties.

A valid deductive argument with true premises is said to be

sound

A categorical imperative tells us

that we should do something in all situations regardless of our wants and needs.

Applying the first formulation of the categorical imperative to the act of lying to a friend would show that the action is impermissible because

the action's maxim cannot be universalized.

If, according to Jeremy Bentham, only the total quantity of happiness produced by an action matters, then the person closest to the moral ideal would be

the glutton

Which of these best describes the purpose of the book's discussion of ethics and religion?

to convince religious believers of the value of doing ethics

Commonsense morality makes a distinction between doing our duty and doing more than duty requires, what are called supererogatory actions. This distinction seems to disappear in

utilitarianism

Morality refers to beliefs about

Right and wrong, good and bad

Consider a scenario involving the possible killing of an innocent person for the good of others. Such an action could conceivably be sanctioned by

Act-utilitarianism

Name the form of the following argument: If the dog barks, something must be wrong. Something must be wrong. Therefore, the dog will bark.

Affirming the consequent

Subjective relativism is the doctrine that

An action is morally right if one approves of it

A statement is

An assertion that something is or is not the case

What is the fallacy used in the following passage? "No one can prove that a fetus is not a person from the moment of conception. So, a fetus must be accorded full moral rights as soon as it is conceived."

Appeal to ignorance

What is the fallacy used in the following passage? "John argues that active euthanasia is sometimes morally acceptable. But we can reject out of hand anything he has to say because he's an ultraconservative."

Appeal to person

Applied ethics is the

Application of moral norms to specific moral issues or cases

Which field concerns questions such as "Was this abortion permissible?" or "Was this instance of mercy killing immoral?"

Applied ethics

Why does Leibniz, the great theistic philosopher, reject the divine command theory?

Because it implied God is unworthy of worship

Which statement would the author most likely agree with, based on what he states in this chapter?

Because we live with people who have different religious views, we need standards for moral reasoning that do not depend on any particular religious views

Suppose a utilitarian judge decides to rule against a plaintiff in a lawsuit just because people in general would be happier if the plaintiff lost the case. Such a utilitarian move would conflict with

Common sense views about justice

In a valid argument, if the premises are true, then the

Conclusion absolutely has to be true

In the argument "(1) Premarital sex is morally permissible because (2) it makes people happy," statement 1 is the ________ and statement 2 is the ________.

Conclusion, premise

Cultural relativists may believe their theory promotes tolerance of other cultures. However, the author argues against this. Which statement best summarizes his argument?

Cultural relativists cannot consistently say that tolerance is objectively good

Which of the following correctly applies the principle of impartiality?

Everyone deserves the same treatment, unless there is a morally relevant reason to favor someone

Which field or topic would indicate tasks such as accurately describing the moral codes and ethical standards of colonial America

Descriptive ethics

When religious adherents claim that murder is wrong because God says that it is, they are implicitly espousing the

Divine command theory

Which of the following is the overall point of the authors discussion of doing ethics

Doing ethics is difficult but not doing it is foolish

Rule-utilitarianism has been accused of being internally inconsistent because the theory can

Easily lapse back into act-utilitarianism

John Stuart Mill says, "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied." This sentiment is an indictment of the glutton but also a pat on the back for those who

Enjoy higher pleasures

The philosopher who said that the greatest good is pleasure, and the greatest evil is pain, was

Epicurus

According to the main argument for cultural relativism, if culture X and culture Y disagree about the morality of physician-assisted suicide, this shows that

No view can be objectively correct

A statement asserting that a state of affairs is actual (true or false) without assigning a moral value to it is a

Nonmoral statement

What is a major difference between descriptive ethics and normative ethics

Normative ethics implies that some people's moral beliefs are incorrect, whereas descriptive ethics does not

Which feature of emotivism makes it different from subjective relativism?

Or in emotivism, moral judgments vary from individual to individual

Which of these illustrates the need for moral reasoning when applying religious moral code?

Or my religious moral code includes a general rule not to kill, but sometimes might be the only way to defend myself

Ethical egoism seems to conflict with

Our considered moral judgements and our moral experience

The preeminence of reason refers to the

Overriding importance of critical reasoning in ethics

The phrases "because," "given that," "due to the fact that," and "for the reason that" are

Premise indicators

In an argument, the supporting statements are known as ________; the statement being supported is known as the ________.

Premises, conclusions

What does normative ethics study?

Principles, rules, or theories that guide our actions and judgments

A true ethical egoist chooses actions that

Promote his own self-interests

According to emotivism, to offer reasons for a moral judgment is to

Provide statements that can influence someone's attitude

Suppose for someone there are only two possible actions: (1) read Aristotle, or (2) spend a weekend on a tropical isle filled with intensely pleasurable debauchery. Under these circumstances, John Stuart Mill would likely

Read Aristotle

Some utilitarians respond to the charge that act-utilitarianism conflicts with commonsense moral intuitions by

Rejecting common sense morality

Central to emotivism is the view that moral judgments are not statements that can be true or false. What does emotivism add to this view?

That moral judgements express attitudes and influence others to share those attitudes

Utilitarianism reminds us that

The consequences of our actions make a difference in our moral deliberations

The dominance of moral norms suggests that if a speed limit on a highway conflicts with a person's moral duty to rush a dying man to the hospital, then

The moral duty would take precedence over the legal duty

Utilitarianism (in all its forms) requires that in our actions we always try to maximize utility, everyone considered. This requirement has given rise to

The no-rest problem

Which statement best summarizes why, according to the author, cultural relativism is nearly impossible to use?

The theory makes it impossible to convince other people of moral claims

A strong inductive argument with true premises is said to be

cogent

The fallacy of assigning two different meanings to the same term in an argument is known as

equivocation

Kant believes that every action implies

general rule, or maxim

The fallacy of drawing a conclusion about an entire group of people or things based on an undersized sample of the group is known as

hasty generalization

Some critics of social contract theory argue that few people have ever actually consented to the terms of a social contract. Some defenders of social contract theory reply that people are much more likely to have given their

implicit consent

Because people will renege on deals they enter, Hobbes believes that what is needed for enforcing the social contract is an absolute sovereign—a fearsome, powerful person he refers to as the

leviathan