Exam 5: Analyzing Arg From Principle

Which is the best standard-form representation of the following Argument from Principle? Why do some people believe it is wrong to eat animals? It isn't! Non-human animals eat each other all the time!

Which is the best standard-form representation of the following Argument from Principle? There's nothing wrong with using other people's property as long as your use doesn't cause them any unhappiness. So, using your neighbor's wi-fi internet without their permission isn't wrong, because it doesn't cause them any unhappiness.

Which is the best standard-form representation of the following Argument from Principle? Suicide is always wrong, because it is always wrong to kill an innocent human being, and suicide does that.

Which is the best standard-form representation of the following Argument from Principle? In recent years, more school children have begun to identify as trans and to request accommodation of a gender identity that is not the identity they were assigned at birth. In practice, these accommodations usually amount to a request to be referred to using different pronouns, and a request to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. For example, a student who began elementary school as a boy might prefer to Express the gender of a girl, and so request to be referred to with feminine pronouns and to be allowed to use the girls' bathroom. These requests for accommodation in pronouns and bathrooms have caused controversy, especially in conservative religious communities. But all too often, the argument against respecting a child's gender identity does nothing more than appeal to a religious text or edict. Public schools cannot avoid setting rules governing the behavior of the children who attend them--that is part of their job. But public schools should never set those rules based solely on highly contested religious premises, and it appears that the only way to argue against accommodating the requests of trans kids is to appeal to highly contested religious premises. That's why public schools should accommodate children's preferences about how they express their gender identity.

Which is the best standard-form representation of the following Argument from Principle? Placebos are pills or other substances that look like medications, but are designed to have no medical effect. Sugar pills, which look like prescription pills but are actually made of a small amount of sugar, are a classic example of a placebo. Doctors have known for a long time that if they offer patients placebos and tell them the pills are effective medication, placebos often do help. When patients mistakenly believe they are taking medically effective drugs, they often see improvement in their symptoms. Some doctors believe it is morally permissible to use placebos. These doctors are wrong. Even if placebos are sometimes effective, it is always wrong for doctors to use placebos on patients, because it is always wrong for health care professionals to deceive their patients.

Which is the best standard-form representation of the following Argument from Principle? It's always wrong to do things that cause harm, however indirect, to other people. Driving a gas-guzzling car (a car that gets far lower gas mileage than the average car) harms other people by contributing to global warming. So, it's wrong to drive a gas- guzzling car.

Which is the best standard-form representation of the following Argument from Principle? Killing is only wrong when the thing killed wants not to be killed. (Bacteria, for example, have no desire to live, which is why it's perfectly fine to kill them.) First- trimester fetuses have no desires at all, so they do not have the desire not to be killed. That is why first-trimester abortion is not morally wrong.

Which is the best standard-form representation of the following Argument from Principle? After asking and receiving assurance of confidentiality, a new client, full of remorse, tells his psychologist that two months earlier he gave his 73 year-old wife sleeping pills to end her life peacefully, and then he staged a bathtub drowning that resulted in an accidental death ruling by the medical examiner. His wife, he says, suffered from advanced Alzheimer's disease and was suffering greatly as the disease progressed. What should the psychologist do here? Should she report the client? She most certainly should not. The right action in a situation is the one that could be expected to produce the most total happiness when you weigh up the effects on everyone. In this case, keeping the patient's confidentiality would produce the most happiness, so that's what the psychologist should do.

Which is the best standard-form representation of the following Argument from Principle? The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is a response to racial disparities in policing. BLM protesters hope to raise awareness about, among other things, the inordinate violence African Americans and other people of color suffer in the United States at the hands of the police. BLM uses various actions to try to achieve their goals, including organized marches and protests. Sometimes, however, they're met with counter- protesters. In some encounters, these (mostly White) counter-protesters have shouted "All lives matter!" in response to BLM's chant of "Black lives matter." The counter- protestors' aim seems to be to counter what they see as an unfair focus on one group's needs. The "All lives matter!" chant has itself become controversial, with some people claiming that it is racist for white people to shout "All lives matter!" at a BLM demonstration. Regardless of the merits of the counter-protesters' views, chanting "All lives matter" is not racist. After all, an action is racist only if it is based upon feelings of hatred for a racial group, and chanting "All lives matter" doesn't express hatred for anyone.

Supply the missing premise or conclusion to make a properly structured Argument from Principle. 1) ).. 2) Illegally downloading movies doesn't take anything physical from anyone else. Thus, illegally downloading movies is not wrong.

Supply the missing premise or conclusion to make a properly structured Argument from Principle. 1) A practice should be illegal if it encourages desperate people to do potentially harmful or degrading things 2) ).. So, prostitution should be illegal.

Supply the missing premise or conclusion to make a properly structured Argument from Principle. 1) A person's personal preferences are morally objectionable if those preferences place a disproportionate psychological burden on a sub-group of people. 2) The personal preference of some white men to date or marry Asian women places a disproportionate psychological burden on Asian and Asian-American women. Therefore, ....

Which is the best standard-form representation of the following Argument from Principle? A fetus potentially has a right to life. (If allowed to develop, it will become a child, and children definitely have a right to life.) If someone potentially has a right, then we should treat them as though they already do have that right. For this reason, we should treat fetuses as if they have the same right to life that children have.

Which is the best standard-form representation of the following Argument from Principle? There's nothing wrong with driving a gas-guzzling car just for fun-- tons of people do it.