Unit 2 Quizzes and Exam

According to Hume, justice

has value solely because it is useful to society

According to J.S. Mill, in order to be qualified to distinguish between higher and lower pleasures, one must

have experienced both types of pleasures

Divine law is necessary because

all of the above (human reason is too weak and flawed to understand the mystery of God's plan)

Which of the following statements about the eternal law is correct?

all of the above (it is God's reason or providential rule over the cosmos)

Why, according to Hobbes, do human beings enter into a commonwealth?

all of the above (self-preservation, comfortable living, political stability)

According to Hobbes, government censorship is necessary

all of the above (to keep people obedient, to preserve peace and concord)

Nature is to convention as i. what is mutable is to what is immutable ii. what is immutable is to what is mutable iii. biology is to fashion iv. divine law is to natural law v. natural law is to man-made law

ii, iii, v

Each of the following is true about Hobbes' social contract theory EXCEPT:

it stipulates that one must be willing to sacrifice one's life on behalf of the commonwealth

Hobbes' statement, "In the state of nature, profit is the measure of right" signifies that

nature rewards energy and aggression

According to Hobbes' Leviathan, human life without government would be characterized by each of the following EXCEPT:

none of the above

St. Thomas Aquinas and Thomas Hobbes would agree on which of the following?

none of the above (They are opposite on most issues. Aquinas is a monk, a Christian. Soul is superior to body. Hobbes is a materialist. Pleasure is good and pain is evil)

Each of the following is a type of law discussed by St. Thomas in our reading EXCEPT:

none of the above (divine, eternal, human, and natural are types of laws discussed. If it is not these, then it is tyrannical)

Each of the following is a natural human inclination enumerated by Thomas Aquinas EXCEPT:

none of the above is an exception (self-preservation, to procreate, to live in society, and to know the truth about God)

According to Thomas Aquinas' concept of Natural Law, all of the following would be deemed immoral EXCEPT:

none of the above is an exception (suicide, homosexuality, and willful ignorance are all evil)

According to Hume, the foundation of our moral judgments lies in

our feelings and sentiments

According to Hobbes, which two needs drive human action?

personal gain and survival (Hobbes is a materialist, hedonist, and egoist)

J.S. Mill defines "utility" as:

pleasure and the absence of pain

When faced with the complaint that utilitarianism is a doctrine worthy of swine, Mill responds that pleasures differ in:

quality

Which of the following accurately describes the role that reason plays in the formation of moral judgments (according to Hume)?

reason gives us the necessary information about what is useful and agreeable

According to Hume, morality is ultimately based on

sympathy

Mill makes each of the following points in the reading EXCEPT:

the goal of utilitarian morality is for each individual to promote his or her own private interest. CHECK THIS

Each of the following is a characteristic of the state of nature EXCEPT:

there are abundant resources available for human consumption

A law whose effect is to diminish the common good would, according to St. Thomas, be

tyrannical

Hume defines virtue as

whatever mental action or quality gives a spectator a sentiment of approbation

According to J.S. Mill, most people, if given equal access to all kinds of pleasures,

will prefer those that nurture and satisfy their nobler and higher faculties

In Hobbes, "good" and "evil" refer to:

A and C (pleasure and pain; the object of love, the object of aversion)

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, man's ultimate end, salvation, can be known by man's unassisted reason, fully independent of divine revelation.

F

According to Thomas Hobbes, good and evil are not relative to the individual, but are universal and absolute.

F

Hobbes' state of nature is an Edenic paradise full of comfort, security, and material abundance.

F

J.S. Mill's Utilitarian ethical philosophy is entirely egoistic.

F

Society, Hobbes tells us, originates out of man's love for his fellow man.

F

"Drive safely: the life you save may be your own." This would be an example of:

Hobbes' Golden Rule

According to J.S. Mill, most people, given the right kind of education, upbringing, and character formation, can become happy.

T

According to J.S. Mill, only those who have experienced both the lower and the higher pleasures are capable of distinguishing the lower from the higher pleasures.

T

According to J.S. Mill, the "Greatest Happiness Principle," otherwise known as the "Principle of Utility," holds that actions are right insofar as they promote the greatest happiness (meaning "pleasure") of the greatest number of people and, likewise, actions are wrong insofar as they promote the greatest unhappiness (meaning "pain") of the greatest number of people.

T

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, all human action aims at some good (real or perceived).

T

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, law is an ordinance of reason, made by him who has care of the community, for the sake of the common good, and promulgated.

T

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, natural law is man's participation, through the exercise of his reason, in God's providential ordering of the universe.

T

According to Thomas Hobbes, appetite/desire and aversion are the irreducible causes of all acts of choice and avoidance.

T

David Hume places a greater emphasis on feelings than on reason as the foundation of our moral judgments.

T

For Hobbes, the greatest evil that can befall a human being is to suffer a violent death.

T

The social contract is the mechanism whereby human beings can achieve comfortable self-preservation.

T

Which of the following BEST captures the difference between Hobbes' Law of nature and St. Thomas Aquinas' Natural law?

The former seeks the good of the body only, whereas the latter seeks the good of both body and soul

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, good" and "evil" have nothing to do with following our natural inclinations, but are rather purely a matter of personal, subjective preference, so that what's "good" for you may not be "good" for me.

F

According to J.S. Mill, it is possible for people who have experienced both the higher and the lower pleasures to choose the lower if

A and B (they are no longer capable of enjoying the higher kind AND they no longer have the opportunity to enjoy those pleasures)

Each of the following statements is consistent with St. Thomas' natural law theory EXCEPT:

All lifestyles are perfectly natural, and hence good. (Aquinas says it is "man's participation in the eternal law." We participate in God's plan by choosing to live in accordance to the nature that he gave us (human nature))

According to David Hume, reason is better than sentiment or feeling at determining whether a given thing is good or bad.

F

According to J.S. Mill, external sanctions are far more powerful and effective than internal sanctions.

F

According to J.S. Mill, most people, if given equal access to all kinds of pleasures, will prefer those that satisfy their lower, animalistic faculties.

F

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, divine law is necessary because no human being could ever have access to the natural law without receiving the divine law first.

F

Each of the following is an essential feature of law EXCEPT:

It aims at the good of certain individuals only

If a law is not promulgated, then

It is not a legitimate law

According to David Hume, mere statements of fact have no ethical significance in and of themselves.

T

According to David Hume, the principles of morality are based entirely on our approval of what is pleasant and useful either to ourselves or others and our disapproval of what is contrary to these ends.

T

According to David Hume, whether we judge an action to be good or bad, moral or immoral, depends on whether we approve or disapprove of that action.

T

What is Hobbes' main argument in this passage? "But though the benefits of this life may be much furthered by mutual help; since yet those may be better attained to by dominion, than by the society of others, I hope no body will doubt, but that men would much more greedily be carried by nature, if all fear were removed, to obtain dominion, than to gain society."

The life of a tyrant is preferable to that of a mere citizen

Hume claims that our final verdicts on moral matters are derived from

a moral sense that is universal in our species

Human law

all of the above

According to St. Thomas' Natural Law teaching,

c. i, iv, vii (God is the author of the natural law, morality is inseparable from human nature, and philosophy (the love of wisdom) is natural and good)

For Hobbes, the greatest good and the greatest evil, respectively, for a human being are:

comfortable self-preservation and violent death