PHIL 1020 Midterm Auburn University

How would Kant defend the death penalty for a person guilty of premeditated murderer?

He deserves treatment equal to the way that he treated his victim.

If a person believes that pleasure is the only thing of intrinsic value they are most likely a:

Hedonist

consequentialism

any theory that looks at the consequences of actions to determine their morality

According to Kant, we cannot ever treat people as a means to an end. true or false

false

In utilitiarianism, actions that benefit the most amount of people are always the morally correct. true or false

false

Under utilitarianism, it is never morally permissible to lie. true or false

false

deontology

focuses on thoughts before actions (fairness and autonomy)

rule utilitarianism

generates rules using the greatest happiness principle ex--> coming up with rules that make the world better

intrinsic values

something being valuable for what it is, not what it gets you

The Principle of Utility (also called "the Greatest Happiness Principle in class) is _______________.

A consequentialist principle. The normative principle at the center of utilitarianism. The general rule for utilitarianism.

A ethical theory that is meant to mainly give us a method of reliably guiding our decisions is:

A decision procedure

Why would Kant say it is wrong for someone to kick my dog?

Because they are not respecting me, as their owner

According to the book, why do many utilitarians believe that the morality of an action depends on the actual results rather than on the expected results?

Because we would be required to say that actions that turn out to have disastrous consequences were morally required.

The book lists the widening of the scope of the moral community as one of the virtues of Utilitarianism. How does utilitarianism do this?

By including animals

Rule Utilitarianism attempts to answer many of the objections levied against Act utilitarianism. It answers the Problem of Injustice by:

Claiming that just policies maximze well-being.

One objection to Utilitarianism is that is must be wrong because we can't precisely measure well-being. This objection fails to completely defeat Utilitarianism because:

In most cases it is completely obvious that some actions will result in worse consequences than others so we don't need a precise measurement.

Which of the following are virtues of Deontology?

It explains and justifies the practice of holding people morally praiseworthy It offers a justification for why we punish people. It can justify and explain the existence of negative rights.

To say that Utilitarianism is impartial is to say:

It is impartial to the kinds of things that people desire to make themselves happy. That it places no special importance on the happiness of the agent (the person doing the action). That it does not allow you to place special importance on the happiness of your loved ones.

What reason would a deontologist offer for the wrongness of slavery?

It violates the autonomy of the enslaved person by merely treating them as a means to an end.

As Shafer-Landau (the author) describes it, consequentialism requires that we aim for the results that are the most:

Optimific

In response to the objection that Utilitarianism must fail because we can't precisely measure well-being or pleasure, John Stuart Mill argues that:

Some pleasures are more valuable than others and so ought to be weighed more heavily.

Which of the following is a virtue that the book lists for the theory of utilitarianism?

The ability to explain Slippery Slope Arguments

Rule consequentialists can create a rule that states "You ought to take care of your family first" and argue that if most everyone followed this rule, it would result in better consequences than if we didn't have this rule. This is a response to which objection to Utilitarianism?

The Objection that Utilitarianism is too Impartial

According to Kantian Deontology, in order to test whether you are being fair and rationally consistent, the best rule to use is ...

The Principle of Universalizability

The fact that Utilitarianism must sometimes require that we let the guilty go free is an example of:

The Problem of Injustice

Act consequentialists believe all actions are morally neutral and that no actions are intrinsically wrong. This means that:

They never claim that a particular type of action is always morally wrong.

According to Kant, the only actions that have moral worth are _____________?

Those done out of moral duty

In response to the objection that we can't always (at all times) be motivated by the idea of doing good for others and so Utilitarianism is too demanding, the books states that we should remember that:

Utilitarianism is a standard of rightness and not a decision procedure.

What is the relationship between consequentialism and utilitarianism?

Utilitarianism is a type of consequentialism.

According to Utilitarianism, the only thing that is morally valuable (also called "intrinsically valuable" in the book) is:

Well-being

ethical egoism

act to further your own self interest

altruism

care and concern for other people rather than oneself

utilitarianism

consequentialist theory on well being and happiness

the greatest happiness principle

do the act that most maximizes happiness while minimizing suffering

Psychological Egoism

human action is motivated by self interest

What is wrong with the Golden Rule according to Kant?

it is too weak because it makes morality depend on the moral agent's desires

kantianism

philosophy based on the idea that beings should be respected and have rights

In Kantian deontology, you are a moral patient if and only if you are a moral agent. true or false

true

instrumental values

value is what it gets you

According to deontology, is it possible to wrong yourself?

yes