Deck 4: Free Will and Moral Responsibility

Question 1

Neuroscientists Simone Kühn and Marcel Brass have studied how well people are able to retrospectively describe if they used deliberation to complete an action.Perhaps surprisingly,they found that,generally speaking,people did poorly in identifying instances in which they thought about an action or when they acted on reflex/impulse.Their findings provide additional weight to which of the following varieties of determinism?

A) physical
B) sociological
C) cultural
D) psychological

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Some might claim that free will is to act in accordance with our own choices.The difficulty here is that this seems to involve a slide toward a(n)

A) infinite regress.
B) psychological egoism.
C) form of cultural relativism.
D) nihilism.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Euthanasia,the practice of providing a "good death," is a controversial topic in Western culture.Some claim that to allow others to suffer at the end of life is immoral.Others claim that to kill another human is to devalue the moral sanctity of life.Both sides appear to agree on the underlying facts facing near-death patients.How might these conflicting stances impact the adoption of a natural law morality?

Answer 3

Answers will vary.A sufficient response should/might include a discussion of the fact/value distinction,that each side agrees on the facts that the differing outcomes are dependent upon other values being "put in" to the discussion,and/or the problem of understanding "natural" in applying the is/ought distinction.

Question 4

What is the difference between reason and conscience according to natural law proponents?

Question 5

In his essay "On Nature," John Stuart Mill argues that any action that we might find immoral is still "natural," because it conforms to the laws of nature (otherwise the action would not have been possible. )Briefly explain how you think this understanding of "natural" impacts the possible adoption of a morality based upon natural law.

Question 6

Some philosophers claim that if determinism is true that morality is not possible.

Question 7

Schopenhauer likened our belief in free will to the hypothetical belief that water might have about freely taking a given shape.The problem with both beliefs is the

A) internal hindrances on choice.
B) external forces acting upon us.
C) foreknowledge of what will be done.
D) absurdity of life.

Question 8

Explain the impact of the Euthyphro dilemma on the possibility of religion being the basis of morality.

Question 9

One possible way to come to terms with determinism is to accept which two possible senses of responsibility?

A) automatically and chosen
B) morally and reflexively
C) formally and accidentally
D) causally and morally

Question 10

Sociological determinism holds which of the following?

A) Understanding other societies allows us to break free of our own culture's norms.
B) We create the society in which we live,thus creating the limits on our choices.
C) We are shaped by our upbringings,which limits our ability to freely choose.
D) Our genetic makeup is controlled by the society from which our parents come.

Question 11

David Hume found that an agent had free will so long as there was no external force that prevented him or her from taking the action that he or she chose.By placing the externality as a "stop" on action rather than on choice,Hume's understanding MOST closely conforms to which of the following?

A) incompatibilism
B) social determinism
C) compatibilism
D) nihilism

Question 12

In the United States,approximately 60,000 individuals were sterilized in the twentieth century in a variety of programs intended to ensure that criminals,"the feeble minded," and others were not able to have children.This approach to "improve" the genetic pool for the population most closely matches which of the following varieties of determinism?

A) physical
B) sociological
C) teleological
D) psychological

Question 13

In Victor Hugo's Les Miserables,a police inspector (Javert)at one point must decide if it is better to follow the law or follow his belief about what is morally correct.Discuss how such conflicts between conscience and moral knowledge are impacted by belief in natural law theory.

Question 14

The author claims that we have a(n)________ belief in free will.

A) unhealthy
B) necessary
C) rational
D) intuitive

Question 15

Why is it important for Bentham that laws be structured in such a way that people are incentivized to act morally?

A) to reflect the understanding of morality of a given society
B) to be sure that laws properly punish those who break social norms
C) to ensure that laws correspond to physical desires for pleasure and avoidance of pain
D) to allow for free will to properly be chosen by agents

Question 16

Why is possession of free will NOT referred to as libertarianism in the text?

A) because libertarianism is the opposite of possession of free will
B) because that usage is not universally accepted
C) to avoid confusion with the political philosophy
D) to ensure that Australian readers will not be confused

Question 17

Our bodies are physical objects;as such,the defender of free will needs to explain how ________ in order to overcome the objections of physical determinists.

A) we understand the world around us
B) we overcome our cultural norms
C) the mind comes to think
D) the mind can overcome the laws of physics