Deck 9: Happiness and Immorality Steven M.Cahn and Jeffrie G Murphy

Question 1

Foot would deny that Fred is happy because

A) pleasure and happiness are the same thing.
B) to be happy, one must maintain a good reputation and the truth about Fred will eventually come out.
C) he lacks friends, love of freedom, and other goods fundamental to human life.
D) None of the above

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Cahn believes that defining "happiness" such that Fred does not qualify as happy

A) is an example of philosophy enriching our understanding of life.
B) is a logical contradiction.
C) proves the validity of Kierkegaard's view of human happiness.
D) accomplishes little.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Murphy argues that the view, defended by Cahn, that an immoral person like Fred can be happy

A) is in some ways correct, despite Socrates's insistence.
B) begs the question at issue.
C) was Aristotle's main contribution to the debate.
D) is mistaken because it is itself immoral.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

According to Kierkegaard, the problem with a life devoted only to temporal goods is that

A) it ultimately leads to boredom and despair.
B) it is typically characterized by self-deception.
C) it falls short of full humanity.
D) All of the above

Question 5

Murphy suggests that Fred's happiness is likely to be undermined by feelings of

A) fear.
B) guilt.
C) anger.
D) inadequacy.

Question 6

Of the following philosophers, who holds the view that happiness is impossible for the immoral person?

A) Plato
B) Foot
C) Murphy
D) All of the above

Question 7

What attitude does Murphy take toward Fred?

A) He pities him.
B) He resents his way of life.
C) He denies the possibility of someone like Fred and thus takes no attitude toward him.
D) He envies his good fortune.

Question 8

According to Murphy's summary, Plato understands happiness to depend on

A) achieving all of one's major life goals.
B) the admiration of one's peers.
C) the integration in one's personality of all the elements required for a fully human life.
D) the ability to avoid boredom and frustration by constantly generating and satisfying new desires.

Question 9

Cahn thinks few philosophers are willing to admit the possibility of the happy immoralist because

A) there is no reason for philosophy if immoral people can be truly happy.
B) they have been convinced that eudaimonia is the only true sense of happiness.
C) it is a threat to morality.
D) None of the above

Question 10

What does Cahn take to be the implicit thesis of Woody Allen's film Crimes and Misdemeanors?

A) Crime doesn't pay.
B) Immoral actions can sometimes enhance one's happiness.
C) Our misdeeds come back to haunt us in the end.
D) Conscience is nothing more than an internalized version of social mores.

Question 11

Cahn and Murphy fundamentally agree about the relationship between happiness and morality.

Question 12

Cahn does not believe Fred is unhappy so much as that we are unhappy with him.

Question 13

Murphy argues that revisionary definitions of happiness are not useless.

Question 14

Most philosophers are reluctant to grant that Fred is happy because if that were true, the world would be intolerably unjust.

Question 15

According to Socrates, a good person cannot feel pain.

Question 16

Woody Allen suggests that an unrepentant murderer will never find happiness.

Question 17

According to Cahn, although Kate and Joan did not have equally satisfying careers, because they both acted morally, they were equally happy.

Question 18

Cahn contrasts the fates of Joan, who is unwilling to sacrifice her moral integrity to accept an attractive job offer, and Kate, who chooses the opposite path. Write an essay answering the question that concludes Cahn's story: "Which of the two was wiser?" Make sure you explain how you understand happiness and how you might respond to some of the alternative views put forward in the reading.

Question 19

Suppose Cahn agreed that Fred could not sustain his good reputation and that cases like that of Kate and Joan are uncommon. Would this undermine his argument? Why or why not?

Question 20

Murphy claims to pity Fred. He asks, rhetorically, "But why would I pity him if I thought that he was truly happy?" How is this question supposed to further Murphy's argument? Does it support Murphy's position and, if so, how?