Deck 20: Moral Nihilism

Question 1

Write an essay comparing and contrasting ethical relativism and moral nihilism. Explain why someone might be attracted to each of these views. Is one of these theories preferable to the other? Defend your answer.

Answer 1

No Answer.

Question 2

What assumption do error theorists claim is at the heart of morality? Do you agree that this assumption is crucial to morality? Do you think the assumption is true?

Answer 2

No Answer.

Question 3

Why doesn't the error theory count as a moral theory? What kind of a theory is it? Why can't such theories be tested by appealing to the results of people accepting them?

Answer 3

No Answer.

Question 4

Describe the expressivist account of moral language, and explain how it differs from the views of ethical objectivists, relativists, and nihilists. What are the advantages of this account? What are the disadvantages?

Question 5

What is it for an argument to be logically valid? Why is expressivist inconsistent with the possibility of valid moral arguments? How serious of a problem do you think this is for the theory?

Question 6

Write an essay comparing and contrasting error theory and expressivism. Which account do you think is more plausible? Explain and defend your response.

Question 7

According to moral nihilism, whether an action is morally right is

A) relative to a culture.
B) relative to individual opinion.
C) objective.
D) None of the above

Question 8

Moral nihilists believe that

A) facts exist but values do not.
B) values exist but facts do not.
C) both facts and values exist.
D) neither facts nor values exist.

Question 9

The two main types of moral nihilism are

A) expressivism and the error theory.
B) relativism and subjectivism.
C) monism and pluralism.
D) skepticism and dogmatism.

Question 10

Both error theorists and objectivists believe that

A) moral judgments are attempts to describe the moral features of things.
B) some moral claims are true.
C) the point of moral judgments is to vent our emotions.
D) nothing is ever morally required of us.

Question 11

Both expressivists and objectivists believe that

A) moral judgments are attempts to describe the moral features of things.
B) some moral claims are true.
C) the point of moral judgments is to vent our emotions.
D) there is no fundamental error at the heart of our moral practice.

Question 12

Both error theorists and expressivists believe that

A) moral judgments are attempts to describe the moral features of things.
B) no moral claims are true.
C) the point of moral judgments is to vent our emotions.
D) some moral claims are true.

Question 13

Error theorists deny the existence of

A) objective values.
B) categorical reasons.
C) moral requirements.
D) All of the above

Question 14

According to the text, why is the argument from disastrous results unsound?

A) Because error theory is true
B) Because widespread acceptance of error theory wouldn't have disastrous results
C) Because the truth of a theory does not depend on the results of everyone's embracing it
D) All of the above

Question 15

What is a metaphysical theory?

A) A theory about what the world is truly like and what really exists
B) A theory which claims that everything in the universe is physical matter
C) A theory about the human body
D) A theory about what we know and how we know it

Question 16

According to expressivism, when we make moral judgments, we make an effort to

A) speak the truth.
B) report the moral features possessed by various actions, motives, or policies.
C) Both of the above
D) None of the above

Question 17

According to expressivism, sincere moral judgments are

A) always true.
B) always false.
C) sometimes true and sometimes false.
D) a kind of emotional venting.

Question 18

Which of the following is not an advantage of expressivism?

A) It neatly explains the nature of moral disagreement.
B) It captures our views about what we are intending to do when we make moral judgments.
C) It solves the problem of contradiction.
D) It supports our view that emotions are a central part of moral judgment.

Question 19

If expressivism is true, then it is impossible to

A) avoid error when one is making moral judgments.
B) avoid endorsing contradictions.
C) make a valid moral argument.
D) change one's moral judgments.

Question 20

According to expressivism, amoralists are

A) impossible.
B) widespread.
C) very rare.
D) correct.

Question 21

Expressivists cannot account for the existence of

A) moral disagreement.
B) moral knowledge.
C) moral motivation.
D) moral emotions.

Question 22

What is the relationship between ethical relativism and moral nihilism?

A) Ethical relativism is a version of moral nihilism.
B) Moral nihilism is a version of ethical relativism.
C) They are competing theories that cannot both be true.
D) They are completely independent theories that could, in principle, both be true.

Question 23

What is the relationship between expressivism and moral nihilism?

A) Expressivism is a form of moral nihilism.
B) Moral nihilism is a form of expressivism.
C) They are competing theories that cannot both be true.
D) They are completely independent theories; the truth of one doesn't require the truth of the other.

Question 24

What is the fundamental "error" that the error theory seeks to debunk?

A) The idea that our culture is superior to other cultures
B) The idea that one's own moral views are better than other people's
C) The idea that moral claims seek to describe the world
D) The idea that morality is objective and requires things of us independently of our desires

Question 25

Which of the following claims would an error theorist not accept?

A) There are no moral features in this world.
B) The main aim of moral judgments is to express emotions.
C) No moral judgments are true.
D) There is no moral knowledge.

Question 26

Which of the following claims would cultural relativists and error theorists both accept?

A) Moral judgments aim to describe the moral features of things.
B) Whether a moral judgment is correct depends on the standards of one's culture.
C) There is no moral knowledge.
D) There are no moral features in the world.

Question 27

What is a categorical reason?

A) A reason that applies to us only because acting on it will make us better off
B) A reason that applies to us only because acting on it will get us what we want
C) A reason that applies to us regardless of whether acting on it gets us what we want
D) A reason that applies to us only if we accept its authority

Question 28

What is the function of moral claims, according to expressivism?

A) To describe the moral features of things
B) To vent our feelings
C) To describe the moral codes of our society
D) All of the above

Question 29

How might an expressivist translate the claim that stealing is wrong?

A) I disapprove of stealing.
B) The act of stealing has the moral feature of being wrong.
C) Don't steal!
D) Both a and c

Question 30

Which of the following theories is inconsistent with the claim that there can be valid moral arguments?

A) Ethical objectivism
B) Ethical subjectivism
C) Ethical relativism
D) Expressivism

Question 31

Which of the following is impossible, according to expressivism?

A) A person who is motivated by her moral judgments
B) A person who is not motivated by her moral judgments
C) A moral judgment that is not based on a fundamental error
D) A moral judgment that is neither true nor false