Exam 8: Morality and the Good Life

"Do not impose on other people what you yourself do not desire" is

Nietzsche believed that the true beneficiaries of traditional Judeo-Christian morality were

Aristotle thought that the virtues were best practiced by individuals in isolation, not in the context of community life.

Psychological egoism is the view that all of our choices and actions, even those that seem altruistic, are selfish. Write an essay explaining and criticizing this thesis and defending the possibility of altruism. Begin your essay with a story that apparently illustrates psychological egoism-either the Abraham Lincoln story or another story of your own-and then construct an argument showing that the egoistic interpretation of this story isn't necessarily true. Then discuss how psychological egoism differs from ethical egoism, and explain why ethical egoism isn't true. You can use materials from Chapter 8 but also your own ideas.

What is morality? What gives its principles and rules authority in our lives? Write an essay in which you discuss the chief features of morality, and then use those features to compare and contrast two of the four major approaches to the justification of moral principles and rules: Kant's duty-defined morality, Bentham's or Mill's utilitarianism, Aristotle's virtue ethics, and feminist philosophers' care ethics. Which of these theoretical approaches do you favor and why?

Suppose that Mary is a committed ethical relativist who happens to disapprove of female circumcision in Africa. One implication of her viewpoint is that

For Kant, it was always wrong to

What is Stage Three in Carol Gilligan's theory of moral development?

If we all have a natural tendency to act selfishly, then we all ought to follow nature and act as selfishly as possible.

What is the utility principle?

When 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," he is implying

Consider the following case. ​You and six others have been drifting in an open lifeboat for weeks. You have no food or water left, and all efforts to catch fish or seabirds for food have failed. There is no realistic hope of rescue. Everyone will die soon unless food can be provided somehow, and everyone is getting too weak and sick even to try to get food. Since you are the weakest and sickest person in the boat, you are told that, according to the "Custom of the Sea," you will be killed and eaten so the rest may have a chance of survival. ​Now, using at least two of the four major ethical theories we have studied (Kant's duty-defined morality, Bentham's or Mill's utilitarianism, Aristotle's virtue ethics, and the feminist ethics of care), make an argument that the others in the lifeboat would be doing something morally wrong if they ate you. Use at least one of the ethical theories to argue for your position, and at least one other as a counterargument to be refuted. Alternatively, you may use at least one of the ethical theories we have studied to make an argument that eating you would be morally acceptable, even right, in the circumstances, defeating the counterarguments of another ethical theory.

Distinguish between cultural relativism and ethical relativism.

Commandments are categorical imperatives when

According to Aristotle, the key to the good life is to be found in

According to Aristotle, the best way to pursue the good life is to become successful and win the admiration of others.

Have you ever visited a different country or spent time in a different subculture within this country? Did you notice that people from different cultures or subcultures have different preconceptions about morality and other values? What was that experience like? What did you notice about the differences in values or how values were interpreted? Write an essay in which you describe this experience, and then interpret its significance in terms of the issue of relativism, both cultural and ethical. You should clarify the difference between cultural and ethical relativism and explore the senses in which cultural relativism is true. Are there any cross-cultural values that shape people's lives? Why, even if cultural relativism is true, is ethical relativism not necessarily true? What are the arguments for and against ethical relativism? Use the concepts in Chapter 8 as your starting point.

Aristotle believed that the good life involves the use of reason to gain understanding of such things as the basic laws of nature.

What does Kant mean by "autonomy"?

Aristotle believed that the virtuous person will have a sense of humor, entertain guests well, and get angry if the situation calls for it.