Deck 2: Bioethics and Moral Theories

Question 1

Kant's principle of respect for persons says that we should treat persons

A) always as a means to an end.
B) never merely as a means to an end.
C) according to the relevant consequences.
D) according to their preferences.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Underlying natural law theory is the belief that

A) nature should be altered to conform to the moral law.
B) the moral law cannot be discerned through human reason.
C) the moral law cannot be derived from nature.
D) all of nature, including humankind, is teleological.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The primary inspiration for contemporary versions of virtue ethics is

A) John Rawls.
B) Socrates.
C) Aristotle.
D) Thomas Aquinas.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The data that a moral theory is supposed to explain are

A) contemporary cultural standards.
B) our considered moral judgments.
C) our emotional reactions.
D) our moral upbringing.

Question 5

Any moral theory that is inconsistent with the facts of the moral life is

A) problematic.
B) acceptable.
C) certainly false.
D) salvageable.

Question 6

_______ theories say that the rightness of actions is determined partly or entirely by their intrinsic nature.

A) Deontological
B) Consequentialist
C) Utilitarian
D) Virtue

Question 7

Consider the following statement:
Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By "happiness" is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by "unhappiness," pain and the privation of pleasure.
This view is best described as

A) consequentialist.
B) deontological.
C) virtue ethics.
D) moral relativism.

Question 8

Which of the following violate(s) Kant's directive to always treat people as an end-in-themselves and never merely as a means?

A) Experimenting on people without their knowledge and consent
B) Lying to a patient about their medical condition
C) Forcing patients to receive treatment against their will
D) All of the above

Question 9

According to _______, right actions are not necessarily those sanctioned by single-rule theories, but rather by reference to multiple moral principles that must be weighed and balanced against each other.

A) Kantian ethics
B) virtue ethics
C) principlism
D) natural law theory

Question 10

According to _______, right actions are those that conform to moral standards discerned in nature through human reason.

A) Kantian ethics
B) virtue ethics
C) principlism
D) natural law theory

Question 11

According to _______, character is the key to the moral life, for it is from a good character that moral conduct and values naturally arise.

A) Kantian ethics
B) virtue ethics
C) principlism
D) natural law theory

Question 12

Many advocates of _______ think that the familiar principles of Western ethics-autonomy, utility, freedom, equality, and so forth-are too broad and abstract to help us make moral judgements.

A) Kantian ethics
B) feminist ethics
C) utilitarianism
D) natural law

Question 13

_______ is a method of moral reasoning that emphasizes cases and analogy rather than universal principles and theories from which moral judgments are supposed to be deduced.

A) Ethics of care
B) Feminist ethics
C) Casuistry
D) Natural law

Question 14

One serious charge against the adequacy of _______ is that it flies in the face of our considered moral judgments concerning issues of justice and rights.

A) act-utilitarianism
B) rule-utilitarianism
C) Kantian ethics
D) virtue ethics

Question 15

One serious charge against the adequacy of _______ is that it is not consistent with moral common sense-it seems implausible to argue that we have obligations that must be honored without exception.

A) act-utilitarianism
B) rule-utilitarianism
C) Kantian ethics
D) virtue ethics

Question 16

Moral theories are not relevant to our moral life.

Question 17

Feminist ethics is an approach to morality aimed at rethinking or revamping traditional ethics to eliminate aspects that devalue or ignore the moral experience of women.

Question 18

Rule-utilitarianism is the idea that the rightness of actions depends solely on the relative good produced by individual actions.

Question 19

Classic utilitarianism depends heavily on a strong sense of impartiality.

Question 20

Kant's categorical imperative is absolutist.

Question 21

Utilitarianism is the leading deontological theory.

Question 22

Utilitarianism rejects the principle of impartiality.

Question 23

Kantian ethics is best understood as deontological.

Question 24

A categorical imperative is a command to do something if we want to achieve particular aims.

Question 25

Using a librarian to find a book in the library is a violation of Kant's principle of respect for persons.

Question 26

Even if human subjects give their informed consent to participate in research, medical researchers are violating the principle of respect for persons by using human subjects as means to an end.

Question 27

The doctrine of double effect is a principle developed and used in the natural law tradition.

Question 28

According to Rawls, just principles are those that a group of normal, self-interested, rational individuals would choose behind the "veil of ignorance."

Question 29

Aristotle is the primary inspiration for contemporary versions of virtue ethics.

Question 30

The ethics of care emphasizes abstract principles, general duties, individual rights, impartial judgments, and deliberative reasoning

Question 31

What is the doctrine of double effect and how is it used to resolve conflicting moral duties?

Question 32

What is the "veil of ignorance," how does it work, and what is its role in contract theory?

Question 33

What are the four assumptions of traditional ethics that feminist ethics attempts to undermine?

Question 34

What are the three criteria of adequacy for evaluating moral theories?

Question 35

The Following Questions For Readings: "Utilitarianism," John Stuart Mill
-According to Mill, to determine whether one pleasure is more valuable than another, we must

A) determine which pleasure is objectively most pleasurable.
B) determine which pleasure most experienced people prefer.
C) consult philosophers of the past.
D) consult science.

Question 36

The Following Questions For Readings: "Utilitarianism," John Stuart Mill
-According to Mill, the ultimate end of utilitarianism is an existence as free of pain as possible and as rich as possible in

A) lower pleasures.
B) spiritual attainment.
C) social achievement.
D) enjoyments.

Question 37

The Following Questions For Readings: "Utilitarianism," John Stuart Mill
-According to Mill, the Greatest Happiness Principle is

A) one of several principles of morality.
B) the standard of morality.
C) endorsed by all the major religions.
D) embodied in the Ten Commandments.

Question 38

The Following Questions For Readings: "The Moral Law," Immanuel Kant
-According to Kant, nothing can be called good without qualification except

A) right action.
B) good consequences.
C) happiness.
D) a good will.

Question 39

The Following Questions For Readings: "The Moral Law," Immanuel Kant
-According to Kant, if an action is to have moral worth, it must be done

A) from a sense of kindness.
B) from a sense of duty.
C) according to custom.
D) with an eye to one's purpose.

Question 40

The Following Questions For Readings: "The Moral Law," Immanuel Kant
-According to Kant, when trying to decide whether an action is morally permissible, we must ask if we can consistently will that the maxim of our action should become a

A) rule for maximizing happiness.
B) contingent law.
C) universal law.
D) rule of thumb.

Question 41

The Following Questions For Readings: "Nicomachean Ethics," Aristotle
-According to Aristotle, we always desire happiness

A) as a means to something else.
B) for its own sake.
C) for the sake of honor.
D) for the sake of pleasure.

Question 42

The Following Questions For Readings: "Nicomachean Ethics," Aristotle
-According to Aristotle, the function of man is

A) to be alive.
B) activity of the senses.
C) activity of the soul in accordance with God's law.
D) activity of the soul in accordance with reason.

Question 43

The Following Questions For Readings: "Nicomachean Ethics," Aristotle
-According to Aristotle, moral virtues can best be acquired through

A) study.
B) practice and habit.
C) physical exertion.
D) great teachers.

Question 44

The Following Questions For Readings: "The Need for More than Justice," Annette C. Baier
-Baier asserts that there is little disagreement that justice is

A) a perverse perspective.
B) harmful to women.
C) an outmoded concern.
D) a social value.

Question 45

The Following Questions For Readings: "The Need for More than Justice," Annette C. Baier
-Baier says that the best moral theory must

A) downplay justice.
B) see justice as part of the problem.
C) discount female insights.
D) harmonize justice and care.

Question 46

The Following Questions For Readings: "The Need for More than Justice," Annette C. Baier
-Baier says that care is

A) mercy that is to season justice.
B) a felt concern for the good of others and for community.
C) the cold jealous virtue of disregard.
D) the root of justice.

Question 47

The Following Questions For Readings: "Moral Saints," Susan Wolf
-According to Wolf, a moral saint should not serve as a

A) divine being.
B) religious figure.
C) moral model of evil.
D) moral model to be emulated.

Question 48

The Following Questions For Readings: "Moral Saints," Susan Wolf
-Wolf says that some people might regard the absence of moral saints in their lives as a

A) curse.
B) situation to be remedied.
C) fact to be regretted.
D) blessing.

Question 49

The Following Questions For Readings: "Moral Saints," Susan Wolf
-Wolf says that the moral virtues all present in the same person, and to an extreme degree, are apt to undermine the development of

A) evil tendencies.
B) bad habits.
C) a healthy, well-rounded individual.
D) an individual with many interests.