Deontology Ch. 10

In the context of Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative, what is an a priori position?

a statement that one can know to be true without reference to or prior to any experience

Very few individuals will engage in whistle-blowing by informing on coworkers or friends who are engaged in immoral activities because __________.

blind loyalty can be a powerful sentiment

Rule-utilitarians and deontologists both believe that ___________.

rules should be universal

Confucius believed that the duties prescribed by the ancient sages were universal and binding upon all people, and that these duties could be known through the use of ________.

reason

A while back, I accidentally locked the car keys in my daughter's car. I felt bad and offered to treat her to dinner and a movie because of the inconvenience I had caused her. According to Ross, which duty, if any, was I honoring?

reparation

Unlike _______, that requires punishment for past wrongdoing, reparation serves to reestablish balance between people by having the wrongdoer make some sort of restitution to the harmed party.

retribution

According to Immanuel Kant, _____ is a duty that requires punishment in proportion to wrongdoing.

retributive justice

The approach in Milgram study, which involved treating a person who is a research subject as a means only, was immoral because it _________.

violates the categorical imperative

Immanuel Kant's assumption that people are basically autonomous, private units who are free to carry out the moral law fails to take into consideration that ___________.

we are all part of a wider social network of relationships

A soldier has a duty to defend his nation's borders, serve his nation during war, and depending on the situation, even die for his nation. In the context of the duty of fidelity, we are not obligated to perform such acts because ____________.

we have not made a commitment to that profession

Identify the criteria suggested by Sissela Bok when deciding whether lying is morally justified in a particular case. (Select all that apply)

we should look for another alternative to deception. we should ask ourselves whether the lie can pass the test of publicity we should engage in personal soul-searching.

In Confucianism, _________, demands that we do what is right simply because it is our moral duty.

yi, or righteousness

Identify the means through which good will can be nurtured. (Select all that apply)

- Forming friendships - Participating in community service - Exhibiting respect for others

Match the following terms on the left panel with the descriptions on the right panel. Left: - Positive Duty - Negative Duty Right: - Restraining ourselves in using unfair means to get promoted - Helping a blind person cross the road

- Positive Duty: Helping a blind person cross the road - Negative Duty: Restraining ourselves in using unfair means to get promoted

In the context of Confucianism, identify all the moral qualities or virtues by which the five duties of universal obligation are carried out. (Select all that apply).

- Wisdom - Compassion - Courage

In the context of distributive justice, identify all the benefits in a society.

- education - highways - housing - economic opportunities - police and fire protection

Identify all the characteristics of young people with high self-esteem. (Select all that apply).

- have more friends - are better able to resist harmful peer pressure - are less sensitive to criticism or to what people think - have fewer mental health problems - are better informed - and are more apt to be assertive and get their needs met

The duty that is always morally binding regardless of the circumstances is known as an ____________ ____________.

Absolute Duty

True or false: Utilitarians maintain that punishment should not be used when the beneficial effects of it outweigh the evil of inflicting pain on a sentient being.

False

The development of proper self-esteem (the duty of self-improvement) in deontology requires that we:

Cultivate good will

The word _______ comes from the Greek word deon, meaning "duty" or "that which is obligatory."

Deontology

True or False: According to Kent, a person of good will cannot be depended on to do what is right when other motives are absent.

False

True or False: John Stuart Mill Pointed out that the categorical imperative, by its very nature, requires that we do not consider consequences into account when adopting moral rules

False

True or False: Immanuel Kant believed that the problem most people have is not in knowing what is morally right but in teaching it to others.

False He believed that the problem most people have is not in knowing what is morally right but in doing it.

In the context of duties based on past actions, our sense of ________ is evoked when we receive gifts or unearned favors and services from others.

Gratitude

Match the following terms on the left panel with the descriptions on the right panel. Left: - Hypothetical Imperative - Categorical Imperative Right: - It justifies violation of a moral duty for a more pressing situation - It does not justify violation of a moral duty in any situation

Hypothetical Imperative- It justifies violation of a moral duty for a more pressing situation Categorical Imperative- It does not justify violation of a moral duty in any situation

Identify the person who said each of the following: "So act as to treat humanity, whether in thine own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end in itself, never as a means only."

Immanuel Kant

Identify the person who said each of the following: "Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both (a) reasonably expected to be to everyone's advantage, and (b) attached to positions and offices open to all."

John Rawls

In the context of W. D. Ross's ongoing duties, the duty to give each person equal consideration is referred to as the duty of __________.

Justice

In the context of John Rawls's A Theory of Justice, the inequalities at birth and natural endowment and historical circumstances that are undeserved but create disadvantage for certain people are collectively termed as ________ ________.

Natural Lottery

In the context of W. D. Ross's future-looking duties, the duty to do no harm and to prevent harm is known as the duty of _________.

Nonmaleficence

A morally binding duty which is not absolute and can be ignored when it conflicts with a more pressing moral duty is known as a _______ ________ duty.

Prima Facie

Moral duties that may on occasion be overridden by stronger moral claims are known as __________ __________ duties.

Prima Facie Duties

According to W. D. Ross's seven prima facie duties, the duty that stems from past harms we caused others is known as the duty of _______________.

Reparation

Which of the following, according to Kant, is a characteristic of moral maxims and duties?

They are universally binding.

True or False: In expressing his disagreement with the assumption of utilitarian theory that only pleasure has intrinsic value, W. D. Ross argued that no amount of pleasure equals the smallest amount of virtue.

True

True or False: While deontologists insist that only rational beings are worthy of moral respect, utilitarians include all sentient beings in moral community.

True

To establish a social contract that is unbiased and based on impartiality, John Rawls uses a conceptual device that he terms the _______ _________ ________, under which each person is ignorant of the advantages and disadvantages that he or she will receive in this life.

Veil of Ignorance

What does John Rawls mean by the "veil of ignorance"?

When coming up with principles of justice, we should try to ignore our background.

The categorical imperative requires us to:

always treat humanity as an end in itself, never as a means only.

According to Immanuel Kant, to lie to other rational beings is to offer them ____________.

an insult regarding their ability to make decisions about their life

People who rely on the flattery of others to inflate their self-esteem are not _________.

autonomous moral agents

According to Rawls's theory of justice, primary social goods should be distributed:

based on the principle of equality because they are necessary for us to pursue our liberty rights.

The deontologists' concern with justice and abstract principles of duty has been criticized by feminist ethicists such as Carol Gilligan and Nel Noddings as a distinctively male approach that ignores ________________.

caring relationships

According to Immanuel Kant, a _____ is a moral injunction that is unconditionally binding upon everyone.

categorical imperative

According to deontologists, a prima facie duty is binding unless it:

conflicts with a more compelling moral duty.

Immanuel Kant was ______ of moral philosophies that teach a person to give a thought to himself only after he has completely fulfilled his duty towards others.

critical

The ongoing duty of justice is __________.

is recognized by just about every moral system

The ethical theory that duty is the basis of morality is called _____.

deontology

Immanuel Kant concluded that moral knowledge must be a priori because the formulation of general moral principles cannot be _________.

derived from empirical experience

Confucius maintained that lying by public officials is particularly egregious since ______.

it demonstrates a lack of sincerity or trustworthiness.

In response to complaints from students that some professors were allowing a few select students in their classes to do extra credit assignments to pull up their grades, the administration issues a memo telling professors that they cannot give extra credit assignments unless the whole class has an opportunity to earn extra credit. Which of the following duties of justice does the administration's decision typify?

distributive justice

Deontologists emphasize duty for the sake of ________ while utilitarians emphasize duty for the sake of ________.

duty; consequence

In the context of W. D. Ross's seven prima facie duties, _____ is a moral duty of loyalty that stems from a commitment made in the past.

fidelity

Roberta's husband had told her he was going out of town for a week to a business conference. Roberta misses him terribly and is looking forward to his return. You were also at the conference but left early because of other commitments. Roberta calls shortly after you return home and asks if you saw Jack at the conference. She was unable to reach him by phone and is very concerned. You know that he is not at the conference but, instead, is in Bermuda with her best friend, Joan. Do you lie and say he was at the conference, or do you tell Roberta the truth? Sissela Bok would most likely advise you to:

first ask yourself if you would want to be lied to if you were in Roberta's position.

A person of _______ always acts out of a sense of duty and a reverence for the moral law without regard for consequences or immediate inclinations.

good will

According to W. D. Ross, one of the seven prima facie duties is _____, which stems from past favors or unearned services received.

gratitude

Distributive justice requires _______, that means treating equals equally and un-equals in proportion to their individual differences.

impartiality

Sissela Bok states that lying in certain situations is the only way to keep away from danger or causing any harm, and in such situations lying must be morally _________.

justified

The Hindu and Buddhist concept of ________ involves the duty to cultivate within ourselves "peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom, and religiousness."

karma

Your widowed and ailing father needs someone to look after him. Although he can afford to hire in-home care, he would prefer to have you, his only child, do it. However, you would rather live in your university's dorms. If you live at home, you would have to commute almost an hour to college and miss out on much of campus life. You turn to Confucius for advice. He would most likely advise you to:

live at home with your father and commute to school.

According to Immanuel Kant, if there is a moral law and if it is to be morally binding, then it must be _________.

logically compelling

Marxist philosophers emphasize _______ as the key criterion in distributive justice.

need

With reason as the foundation of morality, rational beings have free will, and according to Immanuel Kant, everything else in nature operates according to _____________.

physical laws

The seven moral duties identified by W. D. Ross can come into conflict with one another in certain situations because these moral duties are __________.

prima facie

At his starting point, Immanuel Kant used the everyday experience of morality, and the tentative presumption that __________.

that our ordinary knowledge of morality is legitimate

Sissela Bok notes that the claim by liars that _____ is one of the most commonly used excuses.

the claim by the liars that they are benefiting the person they are duping.

The ongoing _______ requires that we give each person equal consideration.

the duty of justice

In the context of the categorical imperative, when deciding whether a particular rule or maxim is moral, we need only ask ourselves whether what we are proposing has _____________.

the formal character of law

Virtues like compassion may make it easier for people to do their duties. According to Immanuel Kant, however, it is ______ that motivates people to do their duties.

the good will

Punishment for a crime, according to most deontologists, is our duty because the moral order requires that ________.

the guilty should suffer in proportion to the magnitude of their crime.

If a cultural norm or law conflicts with a moral duty, then _______.

the moral duty should take precedence over the legal duty.

What, according to Confucius, is the fundamental source of moral knowledge?

the universal principle, or Tao

W. D. Ross maintained that gratitude is not merely a matter of sentiment but requires __________.

the use of our reason to know when it is morally appropriate

The first formulation of Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative states: Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. Immanuel Kant believed that we would all come up with the above categorical imperative as the foundation of morality by __________.

the use of reason

From a logical point of view, duties cannot be absolute because _________.

there are situations where they may come into conflict

In the context of distributive justice, Aristotle argued that ______ deserve the most in return.

those who have contributed most to the community

According to deontologists, autonomous moral agents:

use their reason to discern moral principles and make moral decisions.