Deck 9: Virtue Ethics

Question 1

According to virtue ethics, the fundamental moral question is

A) What kinds of things are intrinsically good?
B) What kind of person should I be?
C) What is the right thing to do?
D) What would benefit me most?

Answer 1

B

Question 2

In the West, virtue ethics traces its origins back to

A) Aristotle.
B) Immanuel Kant.
C) John Stuart Mill.
D) W.D. Ross.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

According to virtue ethics, actions are right just because

A) there are good reasons to perform them.
B) they would be performed by a virtuous person.
C) they benefit everyone and harm no one.
D) all of the above

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Virtue ethics is a form of

A) consequentialism.
B) ethical absolutism.
C) ethical pluralism.
D) none of the above

Question 5

According to virtue ethics, the simple formula for right action is

A) Act so as to maximize well-being.
B) Treat others as you want them to treat you.
C) Do what you think is best.
D) none of the above (There is no simple formula.)

Question 6

According to virtue ethics, moral understanding is a species of

A) theoretical knowledge.
B) practical wisdom.
C) unreflective opinion.
D) none of the above (Moral understanding is impossible.)

Question 7

According to virtue ethics, emotions

A) tend to make us violate our duties.
B) are irrelevant to morality.
C) would be entirely absent from a virtuous person.
D) play a crucial role in moral understanding.

Question 8

One common objection to virtue ethics is that it

A) gives contradictory guidance about what we should do.
B) does not tell us what to do when the virtues conflict.
C) does not provide a way of determining who our role models should be.
D) all of the above

Question 9

According to virtue ethics, we become more insightful in selecting moral exemplars

A) by becoming morally wiser.
B) by observing who others select as moral exemplars.
C) by growing older.
D) through trial and error.

Question 10

The contradiction problem is a threat to virtue ethics because

A) people disagree about who is virtuous and who isn't.
B) vicious people sometimes act virtuously.
C) different virtuous people might act differently in the same situation.
D) different virtues imply different duties.

Question 11

According to virtue ethics, the concept(s) of

A) duty is defined in terms of the concept of virtue.
B) virtue is defined in terms of the concept of duty.
C) duty and virtue are completely independent.
D) none of the above (There is no such thing as duty.)

Question 12

What notion should be at the heart of ethical theory, according to virtue ethics?

A) duty
B) intrinsic value
C) moral character
D) pleasure

Question 13

What is the relationship between duty and virtue, according to virtue ethics?

A) Duty is defined as what a virtuous person would do.
B) Virtue is defined as a character trait that leads us to do our duty.
C) The two concepts are independent of one another.
D) If one does one's duty, virtue is unnecessary.

Question 14

A moral exemplar is a

A) non-absolute moral rule.
B) person who serves as a moral role model.
C) situation that illustrates the consequences of a moral principle.
D) person to whom the moral rules do not apply.

Question 15

Which of the following does virtue ethics have a hard time explaining?

A) moral complexity
B) moral education
C) the role of emotions in morality
D) how we can know who our role models should be

Question 16

What does moral understanding require, according to virtue ethics?

A) the application of absolute rules to particular cases
B) calculation about the effects of one's actions
C) an exceptional amount of intelligence
D) training and experience

Question 17

How did Aristotle think that virtue could be acquired?

A) It is inborn.
B) One must have a conversion experience in which one experiences the good directly.
C) Virtue is acquired through education and training.
D) It is impossible to become virtuous.

Question 18

Virtuous people differ from vicious people in their

A) behavior.
B) thoughts.
C) perceptions.
D) all of the above

Question 19

Which of the following is a statement of the priority problem?

A) Virtue ethics wrongly defines duty in terms of virtue instead of vice versa.
B) A person can be virtuous without having all her priorities straight.
C) The consequences of an action sometimes have priority over one's intentions.
D) Virtue ethics lacks a way of ranking moral principles in terms of importance.

Question 20

The priority problem for virtue ethics claims that

A) the fact that an act is wrong explains why a moral exemplar would not do it, not the other way around.
B) the fact that a moral exemplar would not do it explains why an act is wrong, not the other way around.
C) the fact that a moral exemplar would not do it is irrelevant to whether it is wrong.
D) the fact that that an act is wrong is irrelevant to whether a moral exemplar would do it.

Question 21

How does the approach of virtue ethics differ from that of the moral theories discussed in previous chapters? In what ways is this difference important to how we assess the plausibility of virtue ethics? Do you think the virtue ethical approach is the right one? Defend your answers.

Question 22

What are virtues, and how (according to virtue ethics) do we acquire them? Do you find this story plausible? Do you think it makes sense of who the moral exemplars are, and why they are role models? Defend your answers.

Question 23

Write an essay explaining the priority problem for virtue ethics, illustrating the problem with at least one example. Does this objection succeed in refuting virtue ethics? Why or why not?

Question 24

How do cases of moral conflict pose a problem for virtue ethics? How is this problem similar to the problem that arises for the ethic of prima facie duties, and how might the virtue ethicist respond to the problem? Do you think this response succeeds? Why or why not?

Question 25

According to virtue ethics, how do we determine who to look to as moral role models? How do you determine who to look to as role models in your own life? Does your approach differ from the virtue ethicist's approach, or is it the same? If they differ, which approach do you think is better? Explain and defend your answers.

Question 26

Case Study
Ever since she was a child, Tai has loved theater and film. She longs to become an actor. She doesn't know any great actors personally, but she studiously learns about the field and develops sophisticated taste in the quality of acting performances. By the time she is an adult, Tai has a short list of actors she truly admires as artists, and she looks to them as role models. When planning how to live her life and how to pursue her career goals, she does her best to model the trajectories and traits of these role models.
Tai decides to go to college to study the dramatic arts. There, she takes a course in ancient Greek philosophy and finds virtue ethics very appealing. She decides to apply the theory to her own way of life. Before she can determine how to live, she has to determine whether she is aiming at the right target. She asks herself: Are the people I've identified as my role models truly moral exemplars?
-How can Tai determine whether the actors she admires are moral exemplars? Does virtue theory have any special tools to help her make this determination?

Question 27

Case Study
Ever since she was a child, Tai has loved theater and film. She longs to become an actor. She doesn't know any great actors personally, but she studiously learns about the field and develops sophisticated taste in the quality of acting performances. By the time she is an adult, Tai has a short list of actors she truly admires as artists, and she looks to them as role models. When planning how to live her life and how to pursue her career goals, she does her best to model the trajectories and traits of these role models.
Tai decides to go to college to study the dramatic arts. There, she takes a course in ancient Greek philosophy and finds virtue ethics very appealing. She decides to apply the theory to her own way of life. Before she can determine how to live, she has to determine whether she is aiming at the right target. She asks herself: Are the people I've identified as my role models truly moral exemplars?
-Imagine that Tai learns more about her role models and discovers they do not prioritize spending time with their families. She's not sure how important it is to spend time with one's family. Can virtue theory help her answer this question?