Ethics Mid Term

1. the claim that we can never be morally obligated to perform an action that we cannot possibly do.

A person who does not know how to swim is not morally obligated to jump into a pond to save a drowning boy.

1. According to emotivism, when someone says, Lying is wrong," what are they really saying?

"Lying—I hate it!"

1. A strong inductive argument with true premises is said to be

Cogent

1. What does cultural relativism imply about the civil rights leader and social reformer Martin Luther King Jr., considered in the context of the 1950s-1960s U.S. culture in which he lived?

He was wrong about his moral reforms.

1. 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.

1. How is Robert Nozick's famous thought experiment, "the experience machine," said to present a challenge to classic utilitarianism?

It suggests that happiness may be an important part of a good life, but it's not the only important part.

1. To a(n) ________, breaking promises is wrong because if everyone were to follow the rule implied by this action, then no promise anywhere could be trusted and the whole convention of promise making would be obliterated. Thus, no one would be willing to live in such a society.

Kantian

1. What is a possible counterexample to the following moral principle?

Lying is always wrong." a situation in which telling a lie is necessary for saving a life

1. A person who reasons that the morally right action is the one that produces the most favorable balance of good over evil, everyone considered, is

Utilitarian

1. Cultural relativists may believe that their theory promotes tolerance of other cultures, but this belief has been challenged. What are the grounds on which this challenge has been made?

The view that tolerance is objectively good contradicts the central principle of cultural relativism.

1. According to ethical egoism, the morally right action is the one that produces the most favorable balance of good over evil for oneself. Which of these evaluations is most appropriate?

This theory is inconsistent with our considered moral judgments because it says that it is right to harm innocent people when it benefits you.

1. What is the implicit premise in the following moral argument? "Same-sex marriage is contrary to tradition. Therefore, it should never be allowed.

Whatever is contrary to tradition should not be allowed.

1. Some philosophers have argued that the diversity in moral values across different cultures is often exaggerated because

a core set of moral values must be universal since cultures would not be able to survive without them.

1. A moral theory is supposed to be ________ on issues such as euthanasia.

a guide for moral reasoning

1. Name the form of argumentation that appears in the following passage: "If the dog barks, something must be wrong. Something must be wrong. Therefore, the dog will bark."

affirming the consequent

1. Subjective relativism is the doctrine that

an action is morally right if one approves of it

1. Which fallacy appears 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

1. Which fallacy appears 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 the person

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

applied ethics

1. 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

1. Aquinas says that judging the rightness of actions is a matter of

consulting reason and considering rational grounds for moral beliefs.

1. It's important to consider the relationship between ethics and religion in order to show that

nothing about religious forms of morality should be questioned.

1. Ethical egoism seems to conflict with

our considered moral judgments and our moral experience.

1. Applying the second version 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.

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

premise indicators

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

premises; conclusion

1. Like many moral theories, Kant's system fails to

provide an effective means for resolving major conflicts of duties.

1. In natural law theory, the emphasis on reason makes morality independent of

religion and belief in God.

1. Morality refers to beliefs about

right and wrong, good and bad.

1. The theory asserting that the morally right action is the one covered by a rule that if generally followed would produce the most favorable balance of good over evil, everyone considered, is

rule-utilitarianism

1. Which fallacy appears 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

1. Objectivism is the view that

some moral principles are valid for everyone.

1. A valid deductive argument with true premises is said to be

sound

1. Which fallacy appears 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

1. Deductive arguments are

supposed to give logically conclusive support to their conclusions.

Inductive arguments are

supposed to offer only probable support for their conclusions.

1. A categorical imperative tells us

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

1. Which of the following cognitive biases is characterized by an unawareness that one knows very little about a topic, while behaving as though one's understanding of the topic is superior to everyone else's?

the Dunning-Kruger effect

1. Applying the first version of the categorical imperative to the act of lying to a friend on important matters would show that the action is impermissible because

the action's maxim cannot be universalized.

1. What does normative ethics study?

the principles, rules, or theories that guide our actions and judgments

1. 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 no moral difference between treating people as a means and treating them merely, or only, as a means.

1. Prima facie principles are principles that apply in a situation unless exceptions are justified. Exceptions are justified when

two rules conflict and one is considered weightier than the other.

1. Kant's theory emphasizes three of morality's most important features,

universality, impartiality, and respect for persons.

1. In response to the criticism that very few people have given any form of consent to any social contract, contractarian's have contended that the social contract is hypothetical but nevertheless binding. That is, social contracts are best seen as

very useful fiction.

1. One premise of the main argument for cultural relativism is that because different cultures have different beliefs about what is right and wrong, there are no objective moral principles. Which of the following is a reason to reject that premise?

Anthropologists contend that while some diversity of moral beliefs can be observed among different cultures, there are many areas of moral agreement across cultures, such as prohibitions against murder, lying, incest, and adultery.

1. Which statement best describes the relationship between religion and morality?

Because we live with people who have different religious views or no religious views at all, we need standards for moral reasoning that do not depend on any particular religious views.

1. Which of the following is true of consequentialist theories?

Consequentialist theories consider actions to be right insofar as they produce good consequences. Consequentialist theories differ from one another insofar as they specify different kinds of consequences as being good.

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

Each of us belongs to multiple societies or social groups, but cultural relativism does not specify which society or group we should look to as a moral authority.

1. The philosopher who said that the greatest good is a pleasure and the greatest evil is pain was

Epicurus.

1. An example of moral reasoning is avoiding actions whenever you feel disgusted by them

False

What is a major difference between descriptive ethics and normative ethics?

Normative ethics implies that people's moral beliefs can be false, whereas descriptive ethics does not.

1. Cultural relativism implies that the abolition of slavery in the United State

cannot be regarded as moral progress.

1. 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

commonsense views about justice.

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

descriptive ethics

1. If Chanté maintains that killing the innocent is wrong because doing so is contrary to God's will, she probably accepts the

divine command theory

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

divine command theory

1. 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.

1. Kant's idea is that people not only have intrinsic worth but also have __________ intrinsic worth.

equal

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

equivocation

1. According to Aquinas, the first precept of natural law theory is

good is to be done and promoted, and evil is to be avoided.

1. An argument in the logical sense is a

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

1. Suppose your favored moral theory holds that moral rightness is relative to each individual. This would imply that each person is morally infallible. Considering this implication in light of our own moral experiences suggests that this theory is

implausible.

1. Some things, like happiness, pleasure, virtue, and beauty, are considered by some people to be valuable for their own sakes, simply because they are what they are, without being a means to something else. The kind of value described here is called

intrinsic value

1. Joel Feinberg argues that someone who directly pursues happiness

is unlikely to find it.

1. 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.

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

modus ponens

1. Both objectivists and cultural relativists agree that

moral judgments differ from culture to culture

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

non consequentialism.