Question 1

Some slippery slope arguments are good arguments.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 2

Jeremy Bentham's felicific calculus is a procedure for measuring and comparing the consequences of different actions.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 3

The expected value of an action with uncertain outcomes is the value of the outcome that you most expect to happen.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 4

Having a rule that allows or forbids something can change people's behavior by changing their expectations and incentives.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 5

What is a deontological constraint?

Accepted Answer

A)  A duty to promote the best consequences for everyone, not just yourself. 
B)  A moral limit on what someone can do to promote good consequences. 
C)  A rule against using premises about duties when reasoning about the consequences of an action. 
D)  A limit on the amount of harm one can do to one person to benefit some other person. 
A)  A duty to promote the best consequences for everyone, not just yourself. 
B)  A moral limit on what someone can do to promote good consequences. 
C)  A rule against using premises about duties when reasoning about the consequences of an action. 
D)  A limit on the amount of harm one can do to one person to benefit some other person.

Question 6

A deontological constraint is a limit on how much you can be required to sacrifice to fulfill your obligations.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 7

Which of the following best explains the idea of the expected value of a risky bet?

Accepted Answer

A)  The amount of money you should expect to make from the bet. 
B)  The amount of money that you are most likely to get from the bet. 
C)  The amount of money you will probably get from the bet, minus the amount of money you paid to make the bet. 
D)  The amount of money you should expect to make, on average, if you made bets like this over and over again for a long time. 
A)  The amount of money you should expect to make from the bet. 
B)  The amount of money that you are most likely to get from the bet. 
C)  The amount of money you will probably get from the bet, minus the amount of money you paid to make the bet. 
D)  The amount of money you should expect to make, on average, if you made bets like this over and over again for a long time.

Question 8

A slippery slope fallacy is:

Accepted Answer

A)  A slippery slope argument that fails to specify what action to avoid, what bad outcome will result, and/or how the first step will lead to the bad outcome. 
B)  Another name for a slippery slope argument. 
C)  A slippery slope argument that relies on a mistaken evaluation of some state of affairs. 
D)  A slippery slope argument about a harmless action. 
A)  A slippery slope argument that fails to specify what action to avoid, what bad outcome will result, and/or how the first step will lead to the bad outcome. 
B)  Another name for a slippery slope argument. 
C)  A slippery slope argument that relies on a mistaken evaluation of some state of affairs. 
D)  A slippery slope argument about a harmless action.

Question 9

When bioethicists say that doctors may not let a patient die in the emergency room to transplant their organs into other patients, they are talking about a deontological constraint on doctors' behavior.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT identified in Chapter 4 as a major challenge in reasoning with consequences?

Accepted Answer

A)  Determining who is responsible for which consequences. 
B)  Comparing the consequences of different actions. 
C)  Measuring the value of different consequences. 
D)  Dealing with uncertainty about the consequences of an action. 
A)  Determining who is responsible for which consequences. 
B)  Comparing the consequences of different actions. 
C)  Measuring the value of different consequences. 
D)  Dealing with uncertainty about the consequences of an action.

Question 11

Which of the following arguments does NOT involve a deontological constraint?

Accepted Answer

A)  I could get a raise by applying to jobs elsewhere, although I don't intend to leave. Since this would be exploiting the people offering me the other jobs, however, it would be wrong for me to do that. 
B)  When a government with bad policies comes into power, bureaucrats who oppose those policies could do more good by continuing to work for the government, but a person of integrity would not agree to work for a government with bad policies. Therefore, bureaucrats should resign their jobs when a government with bad policies comes into power. 
C)  Giving antimalaria bed nets away for free might seem better than forcing very poor families to pay for the nets, but giving them away for free leads people to neglect them or use them for other purposes. Therefore, it is better to require that even very poor families pay for the nets. 
D)  Since Katy like princess cake more than David does, it would create more happiness overall if Katy took most of the cake. Still, it would be wrong for Katy to do that because it would be unfair. 
A)  I could get a raise by applying to jobs elsewhere, although I don't intend to leave. Since this would be exploiting the people offering me the other jobs, however, it would be wrong for me to do that. 
B)  When a government with bad policies comes into power, bureaucrats who oppose those policies could do more good by continuing to work for the government, but a person of integrity would not agree to work for a government with bad policies. Therefore, bureaucrats should resign their jobs when a government with bad policies comes into power. 
C)  Giving antimalaria bed nets away for free might seem better than forcing very poor families to pay for the nets, but giving them away for free leads people to neglect them or use them for other purposes. Therefore, it is better to require that even very poor families pay for the nets. 
D)  Since Katy like princess cake more than David does, it would create more happiness overall if Katy took most of the cake. Still, it would be wrong for Katy to do that because it would be unfair.

Question 12

The expected value of a risky bet is the amount of the money that you should expect to win or lose, on average, if you make that bet many times.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 13

In your own words, explain B. J. Strawser's DRONE STRIKES argument. Why is it easy to compare the consequences of the different kinds of actions that Strawser discusses?

Accepted Answer

B. J. Strawser's argument in his article

Question 14

Which of the following does Chapter 4 identify as a reason to think that the consequences of a rule requiring a certain action can be different from the consequences of many people performing that action?

Accepted Answer

A)  More people will perform the action when it's required by a rule. 
B)  The rule changes people's incentives and expectations. 
C)  People will experience more guilt when they break the rule. 
D)  People can be punished for breaking the rule. 
A)  More people will perform the action when it's required by a rule. 
B)  The rule changes people's incentives and expectations. 
C)  People will experience more guilt when they break the rule. 
D)  People can be punished for breaking the rule.

Question 15

A slippery slope argument is:

Accepted Answer

A)  An argument against taking risky actions, such as walking on slippery slopes. 
B)  An argument against doing some seemingly harmless action on the grounds that the action will eventually lead to bad consequences. 
C)  An argument against doing something because it will cause others to do the same thing, with bad results. 
D)  An argument against doing something because it will endanger others. 
A)  An argument against taking risky actions, such as walking on slippery slopes. 
B)  An argument against doing some seemingly harmless action on the grounds that the action will eventually lead to bad consequences. 
C)  An argument against doing something because it will cause others to do the same thing, with bad results. 
D)  An argument against doing something because it will endanger others.

Question 16

Which of the following best explains the idea of the expected value of the consequences of a risky action?

Accepted Answer

A)  The unweighted average of the value of each possible outcome, counting each outcome as equally likely. 
B)  The weighted average of the value of each possible outcome, where each value is weighted by the probability of the outcome occurring. 
C)  The value of the outcome that is most likely to occur, based on objective probabilities. 
D)  The average of the value of the outcome that you expect to occur. 
A)  The unweighted average of the value of each possible outcome, counting each outcome as equally likely. 
B)  The weighted average of the value of each possible outcome, where each value is weighted by the probability of the outcome occurring. 
C)  The value of the outcome that is most likely to occur, based on objective probabilities. 
D)  The average of the value of the outcome that you expect to occur.

Question 17

If someone offers you a lottery ticket that has a 25 percent chance of winning $100, a 50 percent chance of winning $200, and a 25 percent chance of winning $1,000, what is the expected value of that lottery ticket?

Accepted Answer

A)  $200. 
B)  $250. 
C)  $375. 
D)  $1,300. 
A)  $200. 
B)  $250. 
C)  $375. 
D)  $1,300.

Question 18

When someone says that one state of affairs is better than another, "other things being equal," what does the phrase "other things being equal" mean?

Accepted Answer

A)  That the two states of affairs do not involve different actions, although they might involve different people. 
B)  That other people might regard the two states of affairs as being equally good. 
C)  That the two states of affairs are identical in terms of descriptive facts, although one is better than the other. 
D)  That the two states of affairs are the same in terms of descriptive facts, except in the ways explicitly mentioned in describing them. 
A)  That the two states of affairs do not involve different actions, although they might involve different people. 
B)  That other people might regard the two states of affairs as being equally good. 
C)  That the two states of affairs are identical in terms of descriptive facts, although one is better than the other. 
D)  That the two states of affairs are the same in terms of descriptive facts, except in the ways explicitly mentioned in describing them.

Question 19

Suppose that your friend offers you the following bet: We flip two coins. If both coins come up heads, you pay your friend $40. Otherwise, your friend pays you $20. What is the expected value of the bet?

Accepted Answer

To calculate the expected value of the b

Question 20

Moral arguments about consequences do not always include a normative premise.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Some slippery slope arguments are good arguments.

Jeremy Bentham's felicific calculus is a procedure for measuring and comparing the consequences of different actions.

The expected value of an action with uncertain outcomes is the value of the outcome that you most expect to happen.

Having a rule that allows or forbids something can change people's behavior by changing their expectations and incentives.

What is a deontological constraint?

A deontological constraint is a limit on how much you can be required to sacrifice to fulfill your obligations.

Which of the following best explains the idea of the expected value of a risky bet?

A slippery slope fallacy is:

When bioethicists say that doctors may not let a patient die in the emergency room to transplant their organs into other patients, they are talking about a deontological constraint on doctors' behavior.

Which of the following is NOT identified in Chapter 4 as a major challenge in reasoning with consequences?

Which of the following arguments does NOT involve a deontological constraint?

The expected value of a risky bet is the amount of the money that you should expect to win or lose, on average, if you make that bet many times.

In your own words, explain B. J. Strawser's DRONE STRIKES argument. Why is it easy to compare the consequences of the different kinds of actions that Strawser discusses?

Which of the following does Chapter 4 identify as a reason to think that the consequences of a rule requiring a certain action can be different from the consequences of many people performing that action?

A slippery slope argument is:

Which of the following best explains the idea of the expected value of the consequences of a risky action?

If someone offers you a lottery ticket that has a 25 percent chance of winning $100, a 50 percent chance of winning $200, and a 25 percent chance of winning $1,000, what is the expected value of that lottery ticket?

When someone says that one state of affairs is better than another, "other things being equal," what does the phrase "other things being equal" mean?

Suppose that your friend offers you the following bet: We flip two coins. If both coins come up heads, you pay your friend $40. Otherwise, your friend pays you $20. What is the expected value of the bet?

Moral arguments about consequences do not always include a normative premise.

An Introduction to Arguments

Moral Arguments

Reasoning With Obligations

Reasoning With Virtues and Vices

Reasoning With Principles and Counterexamples

Reasoning With Analogies

Answering Moral Questions

Skepticism, Subjectivism, and Relativism

Religion and Moral Reasoning

Normative Theories, Part 1

Normative Theories, Part 2

Aristotle's Ethics: Exploring Virtue and Justice

Filters

Exam 4: Reasoning About Consequences

Some slippery slope arguments are good arguments.

Jeremy Bentham's felicific calculus is a procedure for measuring and comparing the consequences of different actions.

The expected value of an action with uncertain outcomes is the value of the outcome that you most expect to happen.

Having a rule that allows or forbids something can change people's behavior by changing their expectations and incentives.

What is a deontological constraint?

A deontological constraint is a limit on how much you can be required to sacrifice to fulfill your obligations.

Which of the following best explains the idea of the expected value of a risky bet?

A slippery slope fallacy is:

When bioethicists say that doctors may not let a patient die in the emergency room to transplant their organs into other patients, they are talking about a deontological constraint on doctors' behavior.

Which of the following is NOT identified in Chapter 4 as a major challenge in reasoning with consequences?

Which of the following arguments does NOT involve a deontological constraint?

The expected value of a risky bet is the amount of the money that you should expect to win or lose, on average, if you make that bet many times.

In your own words, explain B. J. Strawser's DRONE STRIKES argument. Why is it easy to compare the consequences of the different kinds of actions that Strawser discusses?

Which of the following does Chapter 4 identify as a reason to think that the consequences of a rule requiring a certain action can be different from the consequences of many people performing that action?

A slippery slope argument is:

Which of the following best explains the idea of the expected value of the consequences of a risky action?

If someone offers you a lottery ticket that has a 25 percent chance of winning $100, a 50 percent chance of winning $200, and a 25 percent chance of winning $1,000, what is the expected value of that lottery ticket?

When someone says that one state of affairs is better than another, "other things being equal," what does the phrase "other things being equal" mean?

Suppose that your friend offers you the following bet: We flip two coins. If both coins come up heads, you pay your friend $40. Otherwise, your friend pays you $20. What is the expected value of the bet?

Moral arguments about consequences do not always include a normative premise.

An Introduction to Arguments

Moral Arguments

Reasoning With Obligations

Reasoning With Virtues and Vices

Reasoning With Principles and Counterexamples

Reasoning With Analogies

Answering Moral Questions

Skepticism, Subjectivism, and Relativism

Religion and Moral Reasoning

Normative Theories, Part 1

Normative Theories, Part 2

Aristotle's Ethics: Exploring Virtue and Justice

Filters