Exam 7: Plato Why Should We Be Good

Hume says, "It appears evident that the ultimate ends of human actions can never, in any case, be accounted for by ________, but recommend themselves entirely to the sentiments and affections of mankind, without any dependence on the intellectual faculties."

Aristotle says, "By __________, the things in virtue of which we are said to be capable of feeling these, e.g., of becoming angry or being pained or feeling pity."

According to Marquis, "Of course, this value of a future-like-ours argument, if sound, shows only that abortion is ____________ wrong, not that it is wrong in any and all circumstances."

The two main kinds of virtues Aristotle is concerned with are intellectual and moral.

According to Harris, "Y and Z are willing to concede one exception to the universal application of their scheme. They realize that it would be unfair to allow people who have _____________________________________ to benefit from the lottery."

To show that the unjust do not truly profit, Socrates gives the example of someone who sells themselves or children into slavery for money.

According to Nietzsche, "At whatever standpoint of philosophy one may place oneself nowadays, seen from every position, the ______________ of the world in which we think we live is the surest and most certain thing our eyes can light upon."

Explain what Hume means when he says, "Truth is disputable; not taste: what exists in the nature of things is the standard of our judgment; what each man feels within himself is the standard of sentiment."

According to the received nature, or common view of justice (not Socrates's view):

Huxley says, "Let us understand, once for all, that the ethical progress of society depends, not on imitating the synchronicity, still less in running away from it, but in combating it."

According to Hanley, "Another God-given candidate for the missing ingredient might be the ______. It might then be supposed that clones will be something less than fully-fledged persons. This is a very serious error, and if many are tempted to make it, we are in much more trouble than Dolly can bring us."

In the reading, Rachels asks us to consider this case: If letting die were in itself less bad than killing, then someone who said "After all, I didn't do anything except just stand there and watch the child drown. I didn't kill him; I only let him die," should have at least some weight. Rachels says, "But it does not. Such a 'defense' can only be regarded as a grotesque perversion of moral reasoning."

By the end of the dialogue, did Socrates successfully persuade you that "to be just is always better than to be unjust?" Do you feel that Socrates adequately answered all the questions and defended against all the arguments laid out in the first half? Why or why not?

Hume says, "Twist and turn this matter as much as you will, you can never rest the morality on relation; but must have recourse to the decisions of sentiment."

According to Mill, "the happiness which forms the utilitarian standard of what is right in conduct, is not the agent's own happiness, but that of traditional customs."

According to Nietzsche, "One must subject oneself to one's own tests that one is destined for independence and command, and do so at the right time."

According to the received nature, or common view of justice (not Socrates's view), laws and what is considered "just" are arrived at ...

According to Marquis, "What primarily makes killing wrong is neither its effect on the murderer nor its effect on the victim's friends and relatives, but its effect on the ..."

Explain what Marquis means when he says, "The moral generalizations of both sides are not quite correct. The generalizations hold for the most part, for the usual cases. This suggests that they are all accidental generalizations, that the moral claims made by those on both sides of the dispute do not touch on the essence of the matter."

Explain what Hursthouse means when she says, "An honest person's reasons and choices with respect to honest and dishonest actions reflect her views about honesty and truth-but of course such views manifest themselves with respect to other actions, and to emotional reactions as well."