PHIL 102 - Final Exam Study Guide

Critics of Peter Singer's view admit that we do have an obligation to aid distant people but, they say, we also have a duty to help

those with whom we have a special relationship.

Courts have often ruled against the use of speech codes at colleges and universities because the codes were found to be

too vague to be useful and so broad that they identified obviously protected speech as banned speech.

Suppose the Iraq War, which began in 2003 when the United States and its allies attacked Iraq, started because President George W. Bush and his advisors feared that Saddam Hussein might be dangerous. And suppose at that time there was no evidence that Iraq was an immediate and imminent threat—that is, there was no evidence that Iraq had nearly completed plans to attack the United States with weapons of mass destruction. If these were the facts, most just war theorists would probably have judged the attack by the United States to be

unjustified

In 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that

using quota systems in college admissions is unconstitutional.

Suppose you are asked by the local hospital to donate one of your kidneys to save the life of a stranger. Most of us would insist that you are not obligated to give away your kidney, even for a good cause, because it's your body, you have a right to it, and you are never obligated to make such a sacrifice. This analogy has been used to cast doubt on one of the premises of Peter Singer's argument that the wealthy have a moral duty to help the needy.

True

The most frequently heard arguments about campus free speech concern whether hate speech should be regulated to prevent harm to vulnerable groups.

True

The rate of gun ownership in the United States is among the highest rates in the world.

True

The richest 1 percent of people in the world own about 50 percent of the world's wealth.

True

The view of many researchers and scholars is that races (in the biological sense) don't exist, but "racialized groups" do.

True

Those who appeal to utilitarian considerations argue that restricting immigration has adverse consequences, especially economically, because closed borders restrict trade, waste talents, and impede prosperity.

True

Those who believe that nature possesses instrumental value only are likely to believe that a forest has value only because of its economic worth.

True

Undocumented immigrants provide an enormous benefit to the Social Security system because they pay into the system but are unable to receive anything in return.

True

Moral questions surface about sexual assaults on college campuses having primarily to do with (1) whether and how justice is served after a sexual assault occurs, and (2) whether the requirement of consent is met in any kind of sexual encounter.

True

Natural law theorists would determine that hard drug use should be discouraged, because it weakens autonomy and obscures the moral law.

True

Peter Singer asserts that our moral duty applies to needy people regardless of their distance from us.

True

Research shows that sex before marriage is almost universal among Americans.

True

Scientific racism refers to a school of thought that held that (1) humanity can indeed be divided into separate and distinct races, (2) race enables us to explain the most basic differences among people, and (3) some races are superior to others.

True

Suppose the state of Ohio wanted to execute a boy who was fifteen when he murdered his parents. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, such an execution would be unconstitutional.

True

Suppose you adopt a libertarian theory of justice. The government decides to raise taxes to pay for universal health care. You will likely oppose these new taxes.

True

Christopher Heath Wellman argues that nations have a right to close their borders, a right derived from the more fundamental right to ________.

freedom of association

Many human activities are statistically out of the norm (such as skydiving and eating snails), and for that reason they are sometimes deemed unnatural. From this fact it follows that unnatural activities are

not necessarily immoral.

Those who advocate for harm reduction within the context of drug laws argue that the current policies of punishing people for drug offenses actually do more harm than good. Their recommendations would therefore focus on trying to

reduce the harm that arises from drugs and drug laws.

Suppose a friend of yours says that she's glad a murderer was recently sentenced to the gas chamber, because murderers deserve to die. Her comment implies that she accepts the ________ theory of punishment.

retributive

The claim that animals have no moral standing because they do not have the kind of strong family relationships exhibited by humans has been undermined by

science.

Suppose state A launches an unprovoked attack on state B. According to the usual interpretation of just war theory, state B has just cause for going to war against state A—namely

self-defense against attack.

A common pro-gun argument appeals not to consequences but to rights. The right to own a gun derives from the more fundamental right of

self-defense.

Kissing someone without first obtaining consent is an example of

sexual assault.

In 1965, the U.S. Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act. While immigration policy had previously been based on a quota system, the new policy favored

skilled immigrants and those who, by immigrating, could help reunite families.

To some, the fact that we value the beauty of Niagara Falls shows that we

sometimes value the artificial over the natural.

In just a few years, Hispanics will be the majority in the United States, and whites will be a minority.

False

In war the distinction between combatants and noncombatants is unambiguous and very clear to troops on the ground.

False

Lawrence Blum insists that every instance of racial conflict, insensitivity, discomfort, miscommunication, exclusion, injustice, or ignorance should be called racist.

False

Many egalitarians maintain that we are not obligated to share our resources with those less fortunate.

False

Most retentionists believe that, in a large majority of cases, wrongdoers should not be punished at all.

False

Suppose environmentalists want to prevent the disappearance of glaciers in Glacier National Park, which are melting away at an alarming rate. One report claims that slowing global warming can help prevent the melting, which would be accomplished by creating better fuel efficiency for cars and stronger energy efficiency standards for buildings and appliances. Laws passed to implement these higher standards would necessarily reflect a belief that glaciers have moral status.

False

Suppose you are an immunity theorist, and you hear that an attack by American soldiers on a group of twenty ruthless terrorists has resulted in the deaths not only of the terrorists but also of one noncombatant woman. Later it becomes known that the American soldiers knew the noncombatant was among the terrorists and launched the attack nevertheless. As an immunity theorist you would judge this action to be justified but regrettable.

False

The anthropocentrist necessarily has no regard for the environment.

False

The ecological individualist insists that we must take into consideration the interests of human beings only.

False

If you were a species nonegalitarian, you would likely believe that

an elk has greater moral status than a potato.

The unfavorable treatment of people because of their race is called

racial discrimination.

Allowing people to use drugs without being liable to criminal prosecution and punishment is referred to as legalization.

False

According to Peter Singer, the pain suffered by a human is ________ important than that experienced by a nonhuman animal.

no more

The moderate view says that sex is morally acceptable only between one man and one woman who are married to each other by legal authority.

False

The terms "rape" and "sexual assault" are synonymous with one another and can be used interchangeably.

False

Those who hold the traditional attitude toward animals believe that cruelty to animals is bad, but only because the Bible explicitly speaks against it.

False

Tom Regan argues that humans are experiencing subjects of a life; nonhuman animals (normal, fully developed mammals) are nonexperiencing subjects of a life.

False

It was the philosopher Thomas Aquinas who said, "It is no wrong for man to make use of [animals], either by killing them or in any other way whatever."

True

Mary Anne Warren says that human lives have greater intrinsic value than animal lives because human lives are worth more to their possessors.

True

Many people, including many politicians, overestimate the number of unauthorized immigrants living in the United States. In 2015, the number was about

11 million.

In a recent public opinion poll, ________ percent of respondents said they believe that it is morally acceptable for a man and woman to have sex before marriage.

66

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution explicitly states:

A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Evidence conclusively shows that the death penalty is recognized by would-be criminals as a more severe punishment than life in prison. It therefore follows that the death penalty indubitably deters murderers better than life in prison does.

False

For many people, the most straightforward way to argue for or against guns is through some form of Kantian theory: judging a gun policy by its balance of good and bad effects, everyone considered.

False

In Britain, thousands have protested for and against scientific animal testing, with each side trying to make its case in the streets and in the media. What plausible utilitarian argument could scientists and others make in favor of the testing?

Animal testing produces greater net benefits to society than not testing. The pain suffered by test animals is more than offset by the cures and treatments that the tests help develop.

Free speech is what is called an absolute right.

False

According to the Roman Catholic version of natural law theory, sexual activity inconsistent with procreation is prohibited. An example of such forbidden behavior is frequent sex between a man and a woman married to each other.

False

A natural law theorist would necessarily support all recreational drug use.

False

Which of the following would be a utilitarian reason for limiting immigration?

Immigration will disrupt the economy.

If it's wrong to cage a human being, then it's wrong to cage a nonhuman animal. Zoos that exist solely for the sake of entertaining visitors are wrong, as they keep nonhuman animals in cages against their will. This view is most likely to be held by

Tom Regan.

A man plans to kill his wife, waits for the right opportunity, and does the deed. He would therefore be guilty of first-degree murder.

True

A war launched because an attack from another state is not actual but merely feared is known as a preventive war.

True

According to Alan Goldman, sexual desire is desire for contact with another person's body and for the pleasure that such contact produces.

True

According to Carl Cohen, "No matter who the beneficiaries may be or who the victims, preference on the basis of race is morally wrong. It was wrong in the distant past and in the recent past; it is wrong now; and it will always be wrong." Cohen's position rejects strong affirmative action policies on nonconsequentialist grounds.

True

For many retentionists, the only necessary justification for the type and degree of punishment is what the criminal deserves.

True

In 2015 and 2016 in the United States alone, more than 18 billion animals, including cows, pigs, sheep, and lambs, were slaughtered for food.

True

In both zoocentrism and biocentrism, the fundamental unit of moral consideration is the individual animal or plant.

True

The central question in the morality of sex is,

What kind of sexual behavior is morally permissible and under what circumstances?

Suppose your friend is an animal rights advocate for the same reasons that Peter Singer is (utilitarian calculations). She thinks our system of meat production should be abolished, but by her own lights, her utilitarianism could sanction

a humane form of meat production.

In 1790, a U.S. law was passed stating the requirements for becoming a naturalized citizen. In order to be eligible for naturalization, each applicant had to be

a resident of the United States for two years, a person of good moral character, and a free white person.

The sociologist Tanya Maria Golash-Boza says that race is

a social construction.

The traditional attitude toward animals is that

an animal is merely a resource that humans may dispose of as they see fit; an animal has instrumental value only.

Some argue that a wealthy nation that offers substantial welfare benefits to its citizens (such as Sweden and other Scandinavian countries) cannot afford to have open borders, because doing so would

cause the welfare system to collapse.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that if a jury were to impose the death penalty without any legal guidance, the practice would constitute

cruel and unusual punishment.

Our moral common sense suggests that accidentally running over a man with our car is morally worse than doing the same to a rabbit. Tom Regan would

disagree with our common sense, due to his belief that animals have the same rights as human beings.

Almost everyone agrees that

efforts should be made to end discrimination against minorities and women.

If Peter Singer's zoocentrist view is correct, then the practice of ________ would be impermissible.

factory farming

Critics of paternalistic drug laws focus primarily on

how such laws violate individuals' liberty.

Suppose a utilitarian abolitionist argues that the death penalty is too costly to implement in a democratic society. A plausible nonconsequentialist reply is that

if the death penalty is a just punishment, then the costs involved don't matter.

Lawrence Blum says that the two key concepts in the definition of racism are

inferiorization and antipathy.

The leading contemporary advocate for just war theory, Michael Walzer, asserts that terrorism is wrong because

it is an indiscriminate attack on the innocent.

In just war theory, the justification for resorting to war has traditionally been labeled

jus ad bellum.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the government cannot forbid or punish any speech unless it is an instance of

libel, incitement to lawlessness, obscenity, harassment, serious threats, or "fighting words."

Robert Nozick and John Hospers believe that people have a right NOT to be interfered with and to do whatever they want with their own property as long as they do not violate the liberty rights of others. This line is clearly

libertarian.

Suppose you strongly believe you have no duty to help the poor and hungry of the world and that you are not obligated to share your resources with those less fortunate. Your view would be consistent with

libertarianism

An anthropocentrist sees animals, plants, and ecosystems as

means to serve the ends of human beings.

In disputes about environmental issues, often there is substantial agreement on the nonmoral facts and serious divergence on

moral principles or judgments.

Suppose you are the last human on a dead planet. Only one other living thing exists—a maple tree. You are preparing to leave the planet for good, and you are debating with yourself about whether you should kill the tree before departing. In the end, you decide it would be morally impermissible to kill the tree. Your reluctance to kill the tree shows that the tree has

moral status.

In 2017, the website security company Cloudflare discontinued its relationship with the Daily Stormer, a website run by white supremacists who spread hateful, offensive messages online. Without Cloudflare's protection, the Daily Stormer was forced to retreat to the Dark Net, where it is inaccessible to the majority of Internet users. Someone with a nonconsequentialist perspective on free speech would say that Cloudflare's decision was

morally problematic, if the rationale was solely that there was offensive content.

In 2016, ________ of respondents said they favored the legalization of marijuana.

more than half

An unmarried man and woman have frequent sex and engage in activities that most of society would label unconventional, unnatural, and deviant. Their sexual behavior results in the greatest net good for all concerned. A utilitarian would therefore say that their sexual activities are

permissible.

A common utilitarian argument in favor of capital punishment is that the death penalty

prevents the criminal from striking again.

The controversy over the ivory-billed woodpecker has pitted those who want to build a massive irrigation project against environmentalists who want to stop the project to protect the woodpecker and other species. A biocentric species egalitarian would probably insist that the

project be stopped to protect the ivory-billed woodpecker and all the other species of plants and animals.

Suppose there is strong scientific evidence showing that the execution of criminals deters serious criminal behavior better than lesser punishments such as imprisonment. This data would suggest that the deterrence argument is

strong.

Unequal treatment that arises from the way organizations, institutions, and social systems operate is referred to as

structural racism.

Many who argue against homosexuality appeal to an idea that is central to natural law theory—mainly that

the way nature is tells us how humans ought to be.

A plausible nonconsequentialist argument for pacifism is

war is always wrong because in the deliberate killing of human beings it violates a fundamental right—the right to life.

Widespread advertisement of job openings to groups not previously represented in certain privileged positions is an example of

weak affirmative action.

According to one argument, when blacks get preferential treatment in employment some white males end up losing out—even though these whites had no part in past racism and may have never discriminated against anyone. Supporters of preferential hiring practices will say that

white males benefit from a history of policies that discriminate against minorities.

Biologists report that homosexual behavior among nonhuman animals is

widespread.

Virtually everyone thinks that being cruel to animals—unnecessarily causing them pain or misery—is

wrong.