Ethics Exam 2

True

For Kant, only autonomous action can be truly morally praiseworthy.

True

A heteronomous action, as defined by Kant, is one performed by a rational being but which is motivated by desire or other inclination.

True

According to ethical egoism, pursuing one's own self-interest is morally good and tends to bring about good outcomes for everyone.

False

According to qualitative hedonism, some pleasures are better than others. Nevertheless, it is better to have many lower pleasures than only a few higher pleasures.

True

According to the egoist, many apparently altruistic acts are really done in order to gain praise or a positive public image, making themultimately of a self-interestednature.

False

Act Utilitarianism, if properly applied, will never prescribe actions that are contrary to a traditional understanding of justice.

True

Actions forbidden by the categorical imperative are those characterized by a maxim that cannot be coherently willed in a world where that maxim is adhered to universally.

False

All actions that are prescribed by the categorical imperative promote the self-interest of the agent.

False

Autonomy (as Kant understands it)and determinism are compatible.

True

Consequentialist theories of morality determine what is right and wrong by looking to the outcomes produced by an action or policy.

True

Critics of Act Utilitarianism argue that it is too demanding both because of the complex thought process it would require us to go through in order to determine the moral value of any given act and because we would never be able to relax if there were anything else we could be doing to generate more good. Rule Utilitarianism alleviates both concerns by simplifying how we think about the rightness or wrongness of individual acts and by allowing us to adopt a rule allowing leisure so long as it maximizes the good to do so.

False

Deontological theories of morality prescribe moral rules or principles by determining which sets of rules promote the greatest happiness.

False

Ethical egoism is a deontological theory.

False

Happiness is an extrinsic value.

True

Hypothetical imperatives apply to someone only on the condition that she is pursuing some other end, i.e., it tells her to do something only if she wants to achieve something else.

True

If psychological egoism is true, altruism is impossible.

False

On a utilitarian theory of morality that treats pleasure as the good which is to be maximized, causing an intense pleasure for one person will always outweigh causing a mild pleasure for many people, no matter the number of people who will experience it.

True

Rule Utilitarianism requires that we act according to a certain set of rules. Those rules are picked out by determining which rules promote the greatest good for the greatest number

False

The Egoist model of homo economicuswhich was so influential in the early development of economic theory generates accurate predictions of human behavior at both themacro-and micro-level.

False

The Principle of Utility prioritizes the pleasure or happiness of the agent. This meansthat she may choose a lesser pleasure for herself over a greater pleasure for a stranger in cases where the pleasure for the stranger isn't greater by a very large amount.

False

The prevalence of self-destructive behavior (such as smoking or unhealthy eating) is something that psychological egoism cannot explain.

False

To say that someone has a good will (in Kant's sense of that expression) is to say that she chooses her actions because they bring about more good than any alternative actions she could have done.

True

Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory.

True

Utilitarians must specify what "the good" is that the Principle of Utility tells us to maximize. Only intrinsic valuesare appropriate to play that role.

Lying cannot be justified under any circumstances. In a world where everyone lied, communication itself would break down; it wouldn't be a world where I could coherently expect to get someone to believe a falsehood on the basis of my word alone in the first place.

Which option presents a Kantian perspective?

One should not, in general, lie. Experience seems to indicate that the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people comes about when everyone behavesaccording to that old saw, "honesty is the best policy."

Which option presents a Rule Utilitarian perspective?

Given circumstances where lying will benefit many people, willcome at a minor cost for only one person, but will not cause any long-term trust issues or have other drawbacks, I should lie.

Which option presents an ActUtilitarian perspective?

Given circumstances where lying will benefit me and I can predict with a high degree of certainty that I will not be caught and so will not suffer any negative consequences, I should lie.

Which option presents an Egoist perspective?

True

With adequate attention to how one's own interests can become entangled with the interests of others, how securing one's own interests is often dependent upon others, and how one's own role in the lives of loved ones can become central to one's identity, ethical egoism can encompass and promote caring for a significant circle of othersbeyond oneself.

True

f something has value because it helps you obtain something else of value, then its value (the first thing's) is extrinsic.