Deck 8: Morality and the Good Life

Question 1

Nietzsche believes that creative people may fail to realize their full potential if they allow themselves to be held back by moral rules and social prohibitions.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

"Trolley problems" are thought experiments first developed by philosopher Philippa Foot, in which people must consider what kinds of harm can ethically be done to one person in order to save many others.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

To Kant, each of us figures out for ourselves what is right or wrong on the basis of our own subjective opinions.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

John Stuart Mill changed Bentham's principle of utility to allow for qualitative differences in pleasures in order to make utilitarianism more consistent with our sense of fairness and justice.

Question 5

Someone who always acts just for her own self-interest would be likely to miss out on some important benefits and lose some of the social and personal richness of human action.

Question 6

For Kant, the moral law is imposed on us as a duty by an authority outside ourselves.

Question 7

For Nietzsche, the strong person is, first and foremost, a physically strong and dominant individual.

Question 8

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

Question 9

One implication of Kant's moral philosophy is that the same moral principles apply to all people in all societies.

Question 10

Someone who is an ethical egoist must also believe in psychological egoism.

Question 11

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

Question 12

According to Kant, God does not give us laws; he can only tell us what our reason is already capable of justifying.

Question 13

According to Kant, to act with a good will, we must first consider whether our actions will benefit ourselves and others.

Question 14

In order for an action to be free of selfishness, it has to be free of the desire for the approval of others.

Question 15

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

Question 16

Duty-defined moral theories appeal to an outside authority to justify moral rules.

Question 17

Living for pleasure will not, in general, ensure that our lives will be good or satisfying.

Question 18

In considering the morality of a lie, for Jeremy Bentham the key question would not be "What would be the actual consequences of my lying in this situation?" but rather "What if everyone were to lie?"

Question 19

According to Epicurus, all pleasures are equally good.

Question 20

We use moral theories to help us justify and interpret moral principles and rules.

Question 21

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

A)pursuing asceticism.
B)pursuing pleasure itself.
C)pursuing satisfying activities.
D)pursuing freedom.

Question 22

Hedonism is the view that says the good life involves

A)living successfully.
B)getting as much pleasure out of life as you possibly can.
C)living an ascetic life.
D)living a life of freedom.

Question 23

Nietzsche's ethical relativism grows out of his conviction that

A)strong, creative people are harmed by obedience to moral rules intended to protect the weak.
B)a political revolution is needed before suffering peoples can lead the good life.
C)it is always the dominant economic power that determines what is right and wrong.
D)people in Western countries no longer believe in God.

Question 24

Aristotle thought a courageous person was one who never felt fear at all.

Question 25

One problem with Ayn Rand's ethical egoism is that it assumes that

A)one can act in one's self-interest.
B)one ought to act in one's own self-interest.
C)if an act is for the benefit of others, then it cannot be to one's own benefit as well.
D)if an act is for the benefit of others, then it can be to one's own benefit as well.

Question 26

Aristotle believes that virtuous action

A)seeks pleasure as a reward rather than success.
B)requires abstention from the pleasures of food, drink, and sex.
C)passes the "Goldilocks test": it is not too much, nor too little, but just right.
D)is action done in accordance with duty.

Question 27

After Bill helped the elderly gentleman with his bags, he wondered if he wasn't simply being selfish, since he felt good afterwards about what he did. Psychological egoism would be true of Bill's actions only if

A)Bill had the desire to help only because helping made Bill feel good.
B)Bill felt good after helping.
C)by not acting Bill's conscience would have bothered him later.
D)Bill acted out of his own desire to help.

Question 28

Utilitarianism differs from duty-based morality because it says actions are right

A)when they produce the most happiness for the greatest number of people.
B)when they arise from useful intentions.
C)when they make the actor happy.
D)when they express a virtuous character.

Question 29

Some feminist philosophers believe that care ethics can provide a needed balance to earlier, overly abstract or rigid ethical theories.

Question 30

Kant argues that the laws of God are justified

A)because they are from God, who is perfect.
B)whenever they agree with our beliefs about right and wrong.
C)by the authority of reason.
D)because, as Kierkegaard says, they transcend ethics.

Question 31

Commandments are categorical imperatives when

A)they offer conditions for acting.
B)they are without qualification, offering no reasons or conditions.
C)our consciences tell us they are categorical.
D)they are arbitrary.

Question 32

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

Question 33

Some who believe that morality originates from a morally good God still face the question of whether we should follow God's laws just because they are God's commands or

A)whether we believe the laws are good because they are God's laws.
B)whether there is a moral law at all.
C)whether we can know God exists.
D)whether we recognize that God is good because his laws are good.

Question 34

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

A)the Golden Rule.
B)Confucius's Rule of Deference.
C)Ayn Rand's principle of ethical egoism.
D)the Principle of Utility.

Question 35

You are thinking of borrowing some money and are promising to pay it back, though you know you can't keep your promise. For Kant, such an action would be

A)wrong, because it wouldn't be possible for this to be a general policy, where everyone acted similarly.
B)wrong, even though it would be possible for this to be a general policy, where everyone acted similarly.
C)wrong, because it might backfire on you in the future.
D)justifiable, so long as you were honest with yourself about what you are doing.

Question 36

According to Kant's moral theory, actions are to be judged by their

A)actual short-term consequences.
B)intentions.
C)actual long-term consequences.
D)emotional effects on you.

Question 37

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

Question 38

Some feminist philosophers argue that a care ethics, which tries to preserve good relationships among people, is a better guide to morality than abstract theorizing.

Question 39

Aristotle believes that

A)we learn virtues through trial and error, like any other skill.
B)we learn virtues by being rewarded with pleasure when we do well.
C)we learn virtues through abstract reasoning.
D)we do not learn virtues; they are inborn in us.

Question 40

The famous story of Abraham Lincoln stopping to save some piglets is an illustration of the thesis of

A)ethical egoism.
B)ethical altruism.
C)psychological egoism.
D)psychological altruism.

Question 41

One criticism of Bentham's quantitative model of the utility principle is that it could lead to results that seem deeply unjust. For example,

A)it could allow a sadistic dictator to get away with torturing his subjects, on the grounds that his pleasure is so great it outweighs their collective pain.
B)it oppresses strong, creative people with its slave morality.
C)it tells us that we always ought to act selfishly in all circumstances.
D)it requires us to put duty before pleasure.

Question 42

Kant believed that

A)an action cannot be morally right if it causes more pain than pleasure overall.
B)an action is morally right if it is in accordance with the Ten Commandments.
C)an action is morally right if it seems to me to be morally right.
D)an action can be morally right even though its consequences turn out to be bad.

Question 43

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

A)that Socrates wasn't a very happy person.
B)that Socrates should have enjoyed himself more.
C)that all pleasures are equal.
D)that some pleasures are better than others.

Question 44

People who are cultural relativists believe that

A)whatever a culture or a society holds to be right is therefore right, at least for them.
B)different people around the world (and even in the same society)hold different values and believe in different moral codes.
C)what's true for one is, in fact, false for another.
D)moral absolutism must be true.

Question 45

Distinguish between cultural relativism and ethical relativism.

Question 46

What does Kant mean by "autonomy"?

Question 47

Distinguish between psychological and ethical egoism.

Question 48

What does Kant mean by a moral principle's universalizability ?

Question 49

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

A)she must give up her pluralism.
B)she cannot disapprove of female circumcision.
C)she cannot really say female circumcision is objectively wrong.
D)she does not demonstrate moral absolutism.

Question 50

When Nietzsche said that "God is dead," he meant that

A)belief in God is no longer the center of peoples' lives.
B)atheism must be true.
C)atheism is now true, although it once was false.
D)while it's true that God exists, we have fallen away from true belief.

Question 51

List six of Aristotle's virtues.

Question 52

For Kant, it was always wrong to

A)disregard the consequences for others of our actions.
B)act without first thinking through the action.
C)use people for our own purposes or as a means to achieve our own goals.
D)tell the truth when a lie would keep everyone feeling more comfortable in the situation.

Question 53

Carol Gilligan claimed to show that women tend to think of ethics in terms of

A)right and wrong answers.
B)personal moral responsibility.
C)abstract moral principles.
D)irrational emotional perceptions.

Question 54

What is the good life, according to hedonists?

Question 55

What is the utility principle?

Question 56

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

Question 57

What is Aristotle's argument against hedonism?

Question 58

Aristotle's virtues seem to share the common thread of being

A)concerned with the sexual mores of individuals.
B)absolute duties.
C)concerned with the flourishing of a person in a community.
D)concerned with maximizing happiness for the greatest number.

Question 59

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

A)strong, noble, creative individuals.
B)weak, oppressed, suffering individuals.
C)members of the master race.
D)everyone alive.

Question 60

What is ethics?

Question 61

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?

Question 62

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.

Question 63

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.

Question 64

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.

Question 65

The dominant tradition in Western philosophy has tended to assign a privileged role to a detached version of reason, denigrating the body and emotion while overlooking how this point of view is itself patriarchal and culturally biased. Western feminist philosophers have offered broad critiques of this tradition and its patriarchal (or masculinist)assumptions. Write an essay detailing this perspective, focusing first on the feminist critique of patriarchal assumptions about sex and gender. Then look at how feminists challenge cultural assumptions about three of the following issues: nature; the body and reason; gender, moral reasoning, and emotion; science; and language.

Question 66

Develop a fictional dialogue in which two characters argue over the nature of morality. The two characters should construct arguments and offer criticisms of each other's arguments. They can agree to disagree, or find some areas of agreement. The dialogue should address psychological and ethical egoism; duty-based, consequentialist, care-based, and virtue-based theories of morality; cultural and ethical relativism; and Nietzsche's attack on morality.

Question 67

Nietzsche's "attack on morality" resonates with people who find the traditional rules and principles of morality to be too confining. Write an essay in which you first explain Nietzsche's critique of traditional ("slave")morality and his argument for a new ("master")morality. The second part of your essay should critically discuss Nietzsche's argument, especially his claim that traditional morality arises out of a kind of trick perpetuated by the weak that is an obstacle to creativity. Do you agree? Is there a way of being moral that does not involve the "slave" mentality? Can one be moral and live artistically and creatively? How might morality and creativity be interrelated?