PHL 444 Quizzes

Fill in the blank: Sullivan thinks that the intentional taking of human life is always ethically wrong and that we have a duty to avoid killing humans. Another way that Sullivan could express this is to say that human beings have a right to [fill in the blank with one word].

live

True or False: The Human Genome Project compares genes to a genetic profile, the sequence of which is not that of a single person a composite derived from multiple individuals.

true

True or False: The doctrine of double effect says that if a person's action has an effect that was NOT intended, the person shouldn't be considered to be responsible for that effect.

true

True or False: Non-voluntary euthanasia (or physician-assisted suicide) is the same as involuntary euthanasia (or physician-assisted suicide)

false

According to lecture which of the following might be the source of rights ? Please choose ALL that apply.

- A deity or deities - Correct! Something inherent in human beings (something about the fact of being human confers rights) - Correct! Laws created by humans or by human society - Correct! Social structures (non-political, non-legal ones)

Which of the following is/are potential critiques of Rachels' views on euthanasia? [please choose all that apply; there may be more than one answer]

- His view may allow for euthanizing people who do not want to be killed or would prefer to live in pain Correct! - Rachels may have mischaracterized the AMA's position - Correct! Life may have an inherent value, independent of whether that life includes suffering and pain. - Correct! There may not be agreement on how much weight to place on some consequences of an act of euthanasia (e.g. it may be the case that rather than assuming it's 50% possible that a family might be unhappy if a family member is euthanized, it may turn out that in fact families are always unhappy about it)

According to lecture, which of the following have made death and dying decisions more complex in the 20th and 21st centuries than they were before? [choose all that apply; there may be more than one answer]

- In some cases, technology has extended the dying process - We have more biological and medical knowledge than we did before

With which of these statements would Thomas Sullivan likely agree? [please choose any or all that apply; there may be more than one answer]

- Smothering a terminally ill patient to prevent prolonged suffering is always unethical - Stopping a painful drug treatment that does not seem to be helping to prolong a patient's life may be morally acceptable

According to the New York Times article we read, which of the following may be potential side effects of the high-dose estrogen given to attenuate growth? [choose all correct answers; there may be more than one]

- breast bud development in boy s - hypertension thrombosis

According to the Human Genome Research Institute, which of the following may contribute to the risk of disease/illness? Please choose all that apply.

- genetics - environmental exposures - heredity - diet

Which of the following are potential problems with act utilitarianism? [please choose all that apply; there may be more than one correct answer]

- it is difficult to quantify happiness - Correct! Someone who isn't good at predicting consequences may get away with actions that someone who is a good predictor cannot (the stupidity problem) - Correct Answer Happiness is hard to define - Correct! Values other than happiness/pleasure (such as dignity, freedom, beauty) may be ignored

According to the consequentialism lecture, which of the following is/are the fundamental feature/s of act utilitarianism? [choose all correct answers; there may be more than one]

- total - universal - democratic

With which of these statements would James Rachels likely agree [please choose any or all that apply; there may be more than one correct answer]

A a physician should, in certain circumstances, be able to stop administering a life-saving drug Stopping a painful drug treatment that does not seem to be helping to prolong a patient's life may be morally acceptable

True or False: Kantians identify rights to determine how to act ethically.

FALSE

True or False: At the end of her article, Dr. Zitter describes the deaths of three different "Code Death" patients. Given what happens to each after removal of life-support, all three patients were probably brain dead (by definition above) prior to removal of life-support.

False

Which of the following is a problem with Sullivan's argument? [choose the one best answer]

His use of the distinction between extraordinary vs. ordinary treatment makes it easy to introduce our personal biases into what counts as "ordinary" treatment vs. what counts as "extraordinary" treatment.

True or False: Removing a patient from life support to prevent/reduce suffering could be considered an act of active euthanasia.

true

Each of the answers below consists of a pair including a position about an issue we've read about and a right which is invoked by some people holding that position. The format of each of these pairs is Position : Relevant Right Which of the following positions and rights are paired incorrectly? [Please choose the one best answer]

Involuntary active euthanasia is ethical : right to choose/autonomous choice

Which of the following is true of Rachels' position on euthanasia? [please choose the one best answer]

Rachels' suggests that in some medical situations active euthanasia is more moral than passive euthanasia

A young basketball player collapses on the court during a big game, the result of a previously undiagnosed blood vessel defect. By the time the ambulence has rushed the player to the hospital many miles away, irreversible brain damage has occured. The player's mother says, "I know he'd never want to live like a vegetable. He's always been so active; this isn't a life for him. He'd rather be with God, I know it." In view of the significant brain damage and likely multi-organ failure, the health care team and the parent decide to stop life support. The player dies two hours later in the hospital.

PA, non-voluntary, passive

A woman suffers from severe episodic psychosis (periodically has times of "hearing and seeing things" (auditory and visual hallucinations). These episodes do not seem to be improved by medications -- she doesn't have fewer of them, nor does medication make them less severe. During one of her lucid periods (times when she's rational, not hallucinating, and able to function well), she writes a letter asking that she not be put on life support should she have a life-threatening illness. She subsequently has a myocardial infarction (heart attack) that leaves her with no brain function except for limited brain stem function) with little hope of long-term recovery because her heart has been so badly damaged. The staff and her family review her letter and decide jointly to not place her on life support.

PA, voluntary, passive euthanasia

Imagine Phoenix took a cell sample from her friend Charlie without his knowledge and sent it to a genetic testing lab to check for risk of several diseases. Charlie has, in the past, refused to consider genetic testing, despite his ongoing concerns that he may have inherited health conditions from their parents. Phoenix intends this as a kind gesture and will give Phoenix the results as soon as they're available, so that Charlie can stop worrying about his health or, if there's high risk of a given disease, can look into solutions early. Which of the following is the most likely response of a Kantian to Phoenix's action? [choose the one best answer]

Phoenix's actions are unethical, since Charlie own values and desires for the way he wants to live his life are being overridden.

True or False: Rule Utilitarianism provides a way to avoid the scapegoating problem with act utilitarianism.

true

Take this as a given: Kant thinks lying is wrong True or False, given the above: Kant might think lying is wrong because the liar is acting on the maxim that language doesn't have any fixed meaning. But we know logically that language has to have meaning, or we wouldn't be able to understand one another even if we used a shared language.

TRUE

True or False: Sickle Cell Anemia is a condition that's the result of a change (mutation) in a single gene. Correct!

TRUE

Which if the following is not a reason that someone might choose health care worker-assisted euthanasia over ending their own lives withoutassistance? Note: This question assumes that healthcare worker-assisted euthanasia includes both passive and active euthanasia [choose the one best answer]

The person may not live in a state in which health care worker-assisted euthanasia is allowed.

Which of the following points is NOT made in the Hastings Center paper? [choose only one answer]

The reasons for parental interest in GA should not be considered in what's essentially a medical decisio

True or False: Some natural rights theorists believe that rights are conferred by God (some deity or deities).

true

Imagine your friend Marley is writing a document criticizing the federal government. Marley states the belief that, not only should the government not prevent publication of the document, but that it's the federal government's duty to provide a platform to publish what he calls" important and legitimate critiques of current governmental processes." This suggests that Marley believes that the right to a free press is...[pick the one best answer]

a claim right

When Rachels talks about the pain and suffering of someone dying of throat cancer, he is making which of the following types of ethical argument? [choose the one best answer]

a consequentialist argument

True or False: Given what you learned in lecture, which would you infer is the most potentially problematic type of PAD ethically (physician-assisted death) is which of the following, because of the possibility of it being in fact murder (unjustified killing)? [choose only one answer]

active involuntary euthanasia

A carpenter is in the later stages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; sometimes known as Lou Gherig's disease). Her spouse, who works as a children's book editor, has a standing barbiturate prescription for the treatment of her hand tremor (she has a neurological condition that makes her hands tremble most of the time, which makes editing difficult). The carpenter asks her spouse to stash away enough barbiturate to be fatal. The carpenter wishes to take it when the ALS has progressed to the point of leaving her wheelchair bound; she will need help taking it at that point, so her spouse may have to hold the pills and help her drink water to wash them down. Her spouse does, and the carpenter takes the overdose, dying peacefully at home.

active, voluntary, assisted suicide

From the New York Times article on GAT: "...parents who back growth attenuation tend to believe that maximizing pleasurable experiences and minimizing unpleasant ones is the best way to serve a child with extreme disabilities." Which best describes the type of ethical approach these parents are engaged in? [choose the one best answer--some may be "okay" but pick the one that's most accurate]

consequentialist thinking

Please take this statement a given and true : ethically, murder is defined as unjustified killing of one person by another person or persons (this is how we legally distinguish murder from self-defense or justifiable homicide). Now, given the statement above, decide whether the following statement is True or False: all killing (taking of any life) is, ethically speaking, murder. [yes, this question should be familiar - a lot of people missed it last time]

false

Sullivan thinks that Rachels' distinction between intended and unintended consequences is not morally relevant and covers up the important moral distinction between good and bad consequences.

false

True or False: According to Rachels, kids like Ashley (growth attenuation is sometimes called "the Ashley treatment" after this child) should all be euthanized, given his thoughts about the child with Down syndrome.

false

True or False: According to lecture, egoism requires people to be "selfish" -- that is, self-regarding to the point of not considering other peoples' happiness in any way.

false

True or False: According to lecture, ethical relativism is not a workable way of approaching morality.

false

True or False: According to the reading [internet encyclopedia of philosophy], all human rights can be reduced to, or are exclusively identified with, legal rights.

false

True or False: According to virtue theory, a good person is one with purity of motives and thought.

false

True or False: Act utilitarians must add up all and only potential increases in happiness/pleasure/utility to determine if an action would be a good one.

false

True or False: All consequentialist theories are versions of utilitarianism

false

True or False: All deontological theories are rights-based theories.

false

True or False: All human beings are considered to be autonomous.

false

True or False: All rights theorists believe that, of living organisms, only human beings have rights.

false

True or False: Given the argument James Rachels presents regarding the patient with throat cancer, one can predict that he would argue that in all cases of terminally ill patients, voluntary active euthanasia is more ethical than voluntary passive euthanasia.

false

True or False: Giving a terminally ill patient a lethal injection to end their suffering is always voluntary euthanasia.

false

True or False: Growth Attenuation Therapy is used to help kids who might not reach a typical height (who will be "too short" as adults) to grow taller, to a more typical or acceptable height.

false

True or False: If a patient on life support is unconscious and has left no directions or requests about removing or staying on life support, removing life support thus ending the patient's life to relieve discomfort would be considered involuntary euthanasia.

false

True or False: If you are unconscious or otherwise unable to speak for yourself, the only way to make your medical wishes known is to sign or not sign an organ donation authorization.

false

True or False: If you test positive for an inherited genetic disease, it means that you will inevitably develop that disease.

false

True or False: In the Smith and Jones argument, both Smith and Jones are commiting euthanasia.

false

True or False: Most people agree that every instance of killing is, and should be called, "murder."

false

True or False: Newborn genetic testing is the same (i.e. the same person receives the test, and the test provides the same information and should be used in the same way) as Carrier genetic testing.

false

True or False: Sullivan would believe that Smith and Jones are assisting with either active or passive euthanasia (depending on which of them you're talking about), and that therefore they are both behaving unethically.

false

True or False: The results of private genetic testing have no implications for anyone other than the person who has been tested.

false

True or False: We do not discuss religious ethics in this course because professors never believe in or practice a religion.

false

a living will is the same thing as a last will and testiment

false

true or False: According to physician interviewed for the video/transcript about Sara Altschule you were provided, genetic testing results are self-explanatory and can be acted on immediately

false

True or False: According to lecture, religious beliefs and preferences do not influence people's moral decision-making, nor do they tell us anything about people's moral thinking.

false - 1) The main reason we don't use religious arguments in this class is that I want you to be able to convince other people that your ethical positions have merit, or may be an improvement over theirs, even if they don't share your religious beliefs. 2) Religion DOES tell us a lot about morality. Even if you don't believe in some particular religion, or any religion, looking at religion both in terms of what religions identify as moral behavior and what both similarities and difference in religions can help us understand about what's sometimes called "human nature."

A terminally ill patient in Oregon has run out of treatment options. He has very few weeks left to live. He requests that his physician prescribe medications that will stop his breathing and assist him in ending his life when the pain is unbearable. He also requests that his spouse be present to assure his comfort during the dying process.

physician assisted, voluntary, active euthanasia

Choose one of the following answers to fill in the blank: In the video/transcript case you were provided, Sara Altschule received her genetic test prior to having any symptoms of breast cancer (or any other disease); this would be considered [choose the correct answer for this blank] testing. Choose only the single best answer.

presymptomatic/predictive

Which of the following does Sullivan think are potential criteria for judging a treatment to be considered extraordinary? (Please choose ALL that apply; there may be more than one answer).

the treatment is burdensomely expensive the treatment provides minimal or no benefit for the patient's condition

A negative right [also known as a liberty right] corresponds to a duty to not stop the person who has the right from trying to obtain that right. For example, if Angel has a negative right to have a cookie, Pat's duty is to refrain from stopping Angel from trying to get a cookie.

true

From the NYT article on GAT: "Parents who object to curbing growth prioritize their child's pleasure and comfort but never at the cost of...concerns like bodily integrity and self-determination." (emphasis added). Which of the following most accurately represents the view of these parents? True or False: In determining how they should act, these parents place deontological values either as important as or as more important than increased pleasure

true

True or False: Generally speaking, in the Hastings Center paper, one concern mentioned about the current growth attenuation debate is that the procedure is being considered only for a small group of individuals (those with profound developmental disabilities), and that this might be discriminatory. After this problem is noted, the article gives reasons to not take this as a significant concern.

true

True or False: If a patient has requested HCW-assisted suicide, that would generally be considered voluntary euthanasia, rather than involuntary or non-voluntary euthanasia. Correct!

true

True or False: In James Rachels' article "Active and passive euthanasia, " the Smith/Jones example illustrates the point that there's no inherent ethical difference between an act of commission (something you've actively done) and an act of omission (something you haven't done) if the intended result of either the act of commission or act of omission is the same.

true

True or False: It's reasonable to think that, in Sullivan's view, surgery for the infant mentioned by Rachels (the infant has an intestinal tract defect and Down syndrome) would be considered ordinary treatment.

true

True or False: One potential criticism of the doctrine of double effect is that it might let people who are naive, illogical, or unable to understand the possibility of distant or future consequences get away with killing people in circumstances in which it seems pretty obvious that one ought to know that harm will result from their actions.

true

True or False: Removing a patient from life support machinery and medications might be an act of involuntary euthanasia.

true

True or False: The final decisions reached by the Hastings Center Working Group on GAT were considered to be a compromise between different positions rather than a unanimous decision that all applications of GAT are moral or immoral.

true

True or False: These critics of GAT are suggesting that treating the access to equipment and support for families of severely disabled persons as a liberty right is inadequate. These families, they believe, have a positive right (a claim right) to equipment and support that is being ignored.

true

In the FAQ about Genetic Testing reading, the list of benefits and drawbacks provided would be most useful in which of the following ethical analyses? Choose only one best answer.

utilitarian analyses