Ethics exam #2 multiple choice questions

Which of the following is not an example Aquinas gives of a self-evident proposition?

"The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us".

According to Kant, all imperatives are expressed by the word:

"ought".

Which of the following best characterizes Pope John Paul II's argument against abortion?

A human fetus from conception is an innocent human being, and thus has the same right to life as any other person.

Which of the following statements best describes Regan's view on which approach is better for determining whether zoos are morally defensible?

A rights-based approach is better than a utilitarian approach.

Which of the following best characterizes Cohen's view about animal rights?

Animals do not have rights, but they still deserve some moral consideration.

Warren specifies five traits which are most central to the concept of personhood and then suggests which of the following about these traits?

Any being which satisfies none of these traits is certainly not a person..

A positive right of A against B would involve A's claim that:

B do or provide something to A.

Why does Curnutt think animals have desires, like the desire to live?

Because animals have beliefs, and having beliefs is sufficient for having desires.

Why can't animals be bearers of rights, according to Cohen?

Because rights are essentially human.

How does Caplan respond to the "deformation of character and spirit" objection?

He says vice is a trait of many if not all human beings, regardless of whether they are (bio)technologically enhanced..

Which of the following is NOT an objection Pence gives to the argument that SCNT is not best for the child?

If people's prejudicial attitudes do not change, then we should not allow SCNT..

Which of the following is a premise of Kass's despotism argument?

In reproductive cloning, one seeks to impose one's will on a child's future..

Warren's view can be characterized in which of the following ways?

It is a liberal view because Warren believes that a woman's right to protect her life, health, happiness, and freedom by terminating her pregnancy will always override whatever right to life a fetus may have..

Which of the following is not a requirement on the definition of "legal punishment"?

It must not necessarily be of an actual or supposed offender.

Which of the following is NOT an objection that Kass makes against cloning?

It will produce harmful biological mutations as clones produce further clones..

Which of the following is an example of a duty-based moral theory?

Kantian moral theories.

Aquinas' moral theory is a version of:

Natural law theory.

Which of the following is a limit that Robertson places on reproductive freedom?

Reproductive freedom applies only when there is the intention to raise the children one bears.

Pence compares six different cases of reproduction, from natural twinning to SCNT. What conclusion does he draw from this comparison?

SCNT is not a different kind of reproduction, since there are no morally relevant differences between it and other permissible means of reproduction..

What is the main difference between a cloned (SCNT) individual and an individual who is a product of normal sexual reproduction?

The SCNT individual has genetic material primarily from one person instead of two.

What restriction does Kant impose on the execution of criminals?

The death of a murderer should remain free of any maltreatment..

Which of the following is a likely implication of the central findings about the error rates in capital cases?

The public's faith and confidence in the courts will decline.

What does Brock say about the question of when one's life becomes all things considered unwanted and a burden?

There is no single, objectively correct answer that applies to everyone.

Bentham's moral theory is a version of:

Utilitarianism.

According to Caplan, which of the following questions must be answered in order for the "destruction of human nature" objection to have any force?

Why do facts about human nature tell us anything about how it ought to be?.

According to Gay-Williams' "argument from nature":

a. euthanasia denies our basic human character and requires that we regard ourselves or others as less than fully human b. euthanasia does violence to our natural goal of survival c. euthanasia is inherently wrong d. all of the above. *****

Which of the following is an example of a virtue?

a. honesty b. courage c. kindness d. all of the above.****

Which of the following is a basic intrinsic good, according to Aquinas' version of natural law theory?

a. human life b. human procreation c. human sociability d. all of the above. *****

Which of the following is a feature of consequentialist moral theory?

a. it is a value-based theory b. it involves the idea of alternative actions open to the agent c. it is a strongly impartialist moral theory d. all of the above****

Matheny defends his claim that sentience is sufficient for moral consideration by:

a. pointing out problems with the view that rationality, language, and intelligence are required for moral consideration b. pointing out problems with the view that membership in the species Homo sapiens is required for moral consideration d. both of the above. ****

Marquis argues that abortion is morally wrong by:

a. showing that a fetus is a person with full moral rights, including the right to life b. appealing to the fact that a fetus is biologically human and arguing that it is presumptively morally wrong to kill biologically human beings c. showing that a fetus is sentient and that it is morally wrong to harm and kill sentient creatures d. none of the above.****

Brock defends the moral permissibility of voluntary active euthanasia by appealing to:

a. the value of autonomy b. the value of well-being both A and B. ****

Audi proposed that we expand Ross's list of prima facie duties to include:

a. veracity b. enhancement and preservation of freedom c. respectfulness d. all of the above.******

According to Cohen, if I promise to give you a dollar, then:

a. you have a right to my dollar b. I am obligated to give you my dollar c. both A and B. ****

In ethics, the terms "right" and "wrong" are used primarily to evaluate the morality of:

actions.

Aristotle claims that a state of character arises from the repetition of similar:

activities.

Reiman could be described as:

an abolitionist.

John considers what Mary has done, and thinks to himself Mary did the right thing. This thought is primarily a judgment about:

an action Mary performed.

Which of the following conditions would make a slippery slope argument fallacious?

c. Both A and B are correct—either condition would make the argument fallacious.***

Kass worries that cloned individuals:

c. both of the above. *****

Locke holds that the proper remedy for the inconveniences of the state of nature is:

civil government.

Which of the following is an example of a virtue?

courage.

Which of the following is an example of a vice of character?

cowardice.

According to Sandel, eugenics and genetic enhancement can be seen to be wrong from a secular perspective, because they would produce unwelcome changes in:

d. all of the above. ****

Sandel believes that the use of genetic enhancement is inherently wrong because:

d. none of the above. *****

Kant refers to the special worth or value of persons as:

dignity.

Which of the following is the term used to refer to a stage in prenatal development which in humans begins at roughly the second week of pregnancy and lasts until roughly the eighth week?

embryonic stage.

According to Gay-Williams' "argument from practical effects":

euthanasia as a policy is a slippery slope.

Which of the following is, according to the introduction of Chapter 7, typically defined as the act or practice of killing or allowing someone to die?

euthanasia.

Thomson discusses a different version of the violinist case wherein the violinist only needs to use your kidneys for one hour to survive. Her own view about this case is that:

even though you ought to let the violinist use your kidneys for that hour, we should not conclude that he has a right to use your kidneys for that hour.

Corresponding to the theoretical aim of moral theory is the principle of:

explanatory power

According to Bentham, utility is that property of any object which tends to produce:

fascination.

Timmons claims that divine command theory does not plausibly address the theoretical aim of moral theory, but he allows that divine command theory might:

help believers decide what to do.

Which of the following is a common type of error that occurs in capital cases?

incompetent counsel for the defense.

Mary's laptop deserves moral consideration only because she owns it and cares about it. Thus, Mary's laptop has:

indirect moral standing.

Doerflinger says that, according to the American traditions on liberty, life is the most fundamental right because:

it is the necessary condition for all other worldly goods, including freedom.

According to Hursthouse's characterization of virtue ethics, an action is right if and only if:

it is what a virtuous person would do in the circumstances.

According to Bentham, a thing is said to be for the interest of an individual when:

it tends to add to the sum total of the individual's pleasure.

Rachels compares the cases of Smith and Jones to show that:

killing is not in itself morally worse than letting die.

In Rachels' thought experiment with Smith and Jones, Jones' action (i.e., his watching the child, who slipped accidentally, drown in the tub) is supposed to be an example of:

letting die.

van den Haag responds to the "miscarriages of justice" objection by claiming that:

miscarriages of justice are offset by the moral benefits and usefulness of doing justice.

By definition, if a person or thing needs to be taken into account in moral decision making (i.e., if it counts morally), then that person or thing has:

moral standing.

Locke can be thought of as accepting a:

natural law conception of morality.

If animals have no direct or indirect moral standing, then using them for human purposes is:

never wrong.

The decision to remove Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, thus allowing her to die of dehydration, is a case of:

passive euthanasia.

According to Nathanson, criminals who commit murder forfeit their right to:

privacy

Watts and Howell distinguish three types of physician-assisted suicide. If a physician only provided a terminally sick patient with a prescription for a lethal amount of a medication, Watts and Howell would consider this:

providing the means.

According to Steinbock, in forbidding the intentional termination of life, the 1973 AMA policy is:

rejecting both active and passive euthanasia.

The consequentialist approach to punishment is at odds with:

retributive theories of punishment.

Curnutt's argument is best thought of as an application of which moral theory?

rights-based theory.

In satisfying Kant's Humanity formulation of the categorical imperative, we are obligated to adopt two very general goals: the goal of promoting the (morally permissible) ends of others and the goal of:

self-perfection.

According to Marquis, abortion is:

seriously presumptively wrong.

What does SCNT stand for, as used in the discussion on cloning?

somatic cell nuclear transfer.

van den Haag thinks that we can't know whether or not a murder who receives the death penalty:

suffers more than the victim.

Watts and Howell distinguish three types of physician-assisted suicide. If a physician inserted an intravenous line into a terminally sick patient and then instructed the patient on how to release a lethal chemical into his bloodstream, Watts and Howell would consider this:

supervising or directly aiding.

To say that an action is intrinsically permissible (a feature mentioned in the doctrine of double effect) is to say that:

the action, apart from its effects, is morally permissible.

According to Aquinas, every law is ordained to:

the common good.

Regan argues that zoos are not morally defensible, on the rights view, because:

the conditions of the animals' captivity limits their freedom.

Nathanson proposes a form of retributivism that requires all of the following except:

the death penalty for the most serious crimes.

Ross' moral theory is a version of:

the ethics of prime facie duty.

Roberson defines procreative liberty as:

the freedom to decide whether or not to have and raise offspring.

Sumner claims that both extreme liberal and extreme conservative views on abortion seem to ignore:

the importance of fetal development.

Pope John Paul II claims that, even if it cannot be shown with certainty that a human embryo is a person, an "absolutely clear prohibition" on abortion can be justified by:

the mere probability that the embryo is a person.

Ross claims that the essential defect of utilitarianism is that it ignores:

the personal character of duty.

According to Matheny, in order to justify eating animals, we would have to show that:

the pleasure gained from consuming them, minus the pleasure gained from eating a vegetarian meal, is greater than the pain caused by eating them.

Which of the following is not one of the potentially negative consequences of imposing the death penalty?

the prevention of future murders.

According to Sumner's view on abortion, to know whether abortion is morally permissible we must also know about:

the stages of fetal brain development.

Reiman suggests that the refusal to execute criminals teaches:

the wrongfulness of murder.

One point of Thomson's "unconscious violinist" case is to show that:

there is something wrong with arguing directly from the claim that the fetus is a person to the conclusion that abortion is morally impermissible.

The purpose of the right to refuse treatment, according to Steinbock, is:

to protect the patient from the unwanted interference of others.

In therapeutic cloning, the goal is to:

treat disease.

Aristotle's moral theory is a version of:

virtue ethics.

Timmons claims that philosophers argue for their moral principles, and:

we can rationally evaluate their arguments.

To say that the consequentialist account of right action is a maximizing conception is to say that, according to the account:

we ought to perform that action whose consequences will have at least as much overall value as any of the alternative actions.

One of the messages Nathanson believes we can send by abolishing the death penalty is that:

we should have respect for the dignity of human beings.

An unborn vertebrate animal that has developed to the point of having the basic structure that is characteristic of its kind is known as:

a fetus.

Matheny's argument is an application of:

a form of consequentialism.

Although Curnutt argues for the claim that meat-eating is all-things-considered wrong, he admits that the following could, in rare circumstances, justify eating meat:

a human being's health.

Kant's Principle of Equality entails all of the following except:

a punishment must be equal to the crime committed.

Kant is:

a retentionist.

Warren is best described as:

a rights-based theorist.

Sandel's case against moral engineering can best be considered:

a virtue ethics approach.

Which of the following factors does Doerflinger think could lead to the destructive expansions of the right to kill the innocent?

a. Prejudice against citizens with disabilities b. The human will to power c. Expanded definitions of terminal illness d. All of the above. *****

On Warren's view, a necessary condition for the possession of full and equal moral rights is:

a. being a member of the human species b. being a member of a human group c. being an animal d. none of the above. ****

Kant's moral theory is a version of:

a. consequentialism b. virtue ethics c. utilitarianism d. none of the above. ****