Deck 2: Values and Ethics

Question 1

Match the correct ethical system with the value assumption:

-Value assumption: The highest value is to promote individual liberty.

A) Judeo-Christian principles
B) Utilitarianism
C) Libertarianism
D) Egalitarianism
E) Universal ethical norms

Answer 1

Libertarianism

Question 2

Match the correct ethical system with the value assumption:

-Value assumption: The highest value is that which promotes the greatest general happiness and minimizes unhappiness.

A) Judeo-Christian principles
B) Utilitarianism
C) Libertarianism
D) Egalitarianism
E) Universal ethical norms

Answer 2

Utilitarianism

Question 3

Match the correct ethical system with the value assumption:

-Value assumption: The highest value is equality, which means justice and opportunities distributed equally.

A) Judeo-Christian principles
B) Utilitarianism
C) Libertarianism
D) Egalitarianism
E) Universal ethical norms

Answer 3

Egalitarianism

Question 4

Match the correct ethical system with the value assumption:

-Value assumption: The highest ethical values are based on faith and spiritual truth, such as loving God and one's neighbor.

A) Judeo-Christian principles
B) Utilitarianism
C) Libertarianism
D) Egalitarianism
E) Universal ethical norms

Question 5

Match the correct ethical system with the value assumption:

-Value assumption: The highest ethical values are universal ethical principles, such as honesty and respect for others; these principles are considered to be self-evident and obvious to rational individuals of every culture.

A) Judeo-Christian principles
B) Utilitarianism
C) Libertarianism
D) Egalitarianism
E) Universal ethical norms

Question 6

More Matching: Tests for Ethical Decision Making. Match each example to the test which is considered in the example.

-It is 3:00 a.m. and you are driving on a city street with virtually no traffic. You come to a red light, and consider passing through the intersection, despite the red light. Then you ask yourself, "What if everyone who drove decided it was O.K. to bend the traffic rules, whenever they decided the traffic rules weren't 'applicable' at that time?"

A) higher principles test
B) new cases test
C) universal consequences test
D) role exchange test

Question 7

More Matching: Tests for Ethical Decision Making. Match each example to the test which is considered in the example.

-You realize that your neighbor stocks his or her home office with supplies from work because the matter is discussed at a neighborhood potluck. You decide not to mention anything about the ethics of this matter, so as to maintain a good relationship. Would you still make the same decision if the neighbor was obviously reselling the stolen office supplies at frequent garage sales, held across the street from your house, sales that your friends and relatives attended?

A) higher principles test
B) new cases test
C) universal consequences test
D) role exchange test

Question 8

More Matching: Tests for Ethical Decision Making. Match each example to the test which is considered in the example.

-You are at a social gathering that is important to your career. Several of your co-workers are talking negatively about your boss. The boss has been good to you and others, and you want to defend her or him but are afraid of being left out of the group. You begin to wonder if honesty is always the best policy.

A) higher principles test
B) new cases test
C) universal consequences test
D) role exchange test

Question 9

More Matching: Tests for Ethical Decision Making. Match each example to the test which is considered in the example.

-You purchase an item at your corner grocery store and are given a ten dollar bill instead of the one dollar bill you should have received in change. You are ready to pocket the cash. Then you wonder to yourself, "How would I feel if I accidentally paid an extra nine dollars and the cashier kept my money?"

A) higher principles test
B) new cases test
C) universal consequences test
D) role exchange test

Question 10

Considering the four ethical tests listed in the previous question, choose one test and apply it to the following situation: your roommate, spouse, or child asks you to tell callers he or she isn't home, when he actually is home. Describe the test you are applying to the situation and document your analysis of the application here:

Question 11

Matching: Common Rationalizations

-This rationalization is based on the false assumption that deceit, lying, promise-breaking, and other similar actions are justified if they are the same sort engaged in by those you are dealing with.

A) "If it's necessary, it is ethical."
B) "If it's legal and permissible, it's proper."
C) "I was just doing it for you."
D) "I'm just fighting fire with fire."
E) "It doesn't hurt anyone."
F) "It can't be wrong; everyone's doing it."
G) "It's O.K. if I don't gain personally."
H) "I've got it coming."
I) "I can still be objective."

Question 12

Matching: Common Rationalizations

-A student notices that the majority of his or her classmates are cheating on a test and feels justified in cheating him or herself.

A) "If it's necessary, it is ethical."
B) "If it's legal and permissible, it's proper."
C) "I was just doing it for you."
D) "I'm just fighting fire with fire."
E) "It doesn't hurt anyone."
F) "It can't be wrong; everyone's doing it."
G) "It's O.K. if I don't gain personally."
H) "I've got it coming."
I) "I can still be objective."

Question 13

Matching: Common Rationalizations

-This rationalization is based on the false assumption that one can deem an action to be so necessary that ethics are not a consideration in choosing this action.

A) "If it's necessary, it is ethical."
B) "If it's legal and permissible, it's proper."
C) "I was just doing it for you."
D) "I'm just fighting fire with fire."
E) "It doesn't hurt anyone."
F) "It can't be wrong; everyone's doing it."
G) "It's O.K. if I don't gain personally."
H) "I've got it coming."
I) "I can still be objective."

Question 14

Matching: Common Rationalizations

-This rationalization fits in the case of someone who works for a grocery store giving food to the homeless behind the owner's back.

A) "If it's necessary, it is ethical."
B) "If it's legal and permissible, it's proper."
C) "I was just doing it for you."
D) "I'm just fighting fire with fire."
E) "It doesn't hurt anyone."
F) "It can't be wrong; everyone's doing it."
G) "It's O.K. if I don't gain personally."
H) "I've got it coming."
I) "I can still be objective."

Question 15

Matching: Common Rationalizations

-This rationalization could apply to fairly well-off, middle-class families who put all their financial assets into relatives' names at the time that their college-age children enter college, so that the students can "qualify" for financial grants based on the neediness of their families.

A) "If it's necessary, it is ethical."
B) "If it's legal and permissible, it's proper."
C) "I was just doing it for you."
D) "I'm just fighting fire with fire."
E) "It doesn't hurt anyone."
F) "It can't be wrong; everyone's doing it."
G) "It's O.K. if I don't gain personally."
H) "I've got it coming."
I) "I can still be objective."

Question 16

Matching: Common Rationalizations

-This rationalization is based on a false assumption that whatever reward the individual is helping himself or herself to (without proper clearance and approval) is justified, because the individual has earned this reward for services rendered.

A) "If it's necessary, it is ethical."
B) "If it's legal and permissible, it's proper."
C) "I was just doing it for you."
D) "I'm just fighting fire with fire."
E) "It doesn't hurt anyone."
F) "It can't be wrong; everyone's doing it."
G) "It's O.K. if I don't gain personally."
H) "I've got it coming."
I) "I can still be objective."

Question 17

Matching: Common Rationalizations

-This rationalization might be used by a coach who allows the child of a major donor to new athletic fields to be the "star" of the team when in reality, the student is on a par with his or her teammates. The rationalization underestimates the subtle ways in which gratitude, friendship, and favors affect judgment.

A) "If it's necessary, it is ethical."
B) "If it's legal and permissible, it's proper."
C) "I was just doing it for you."
D) "I'm just fighting fire with fire."
E) "It doesn't hurt anyone."
F) "It can't be wrong; everyone's doing it."
G) "It's O.K. if I don't gain personally."
H) "I've got it coming."
I) "I can still be objective."

Question 18

Matching: Common Rationalizations

-This rationalization works on the assumption that if there is no clear and immediate harm to others, then the action must not be wrong.

A) "If it's necessary, it is ethical."
B) "If it's legal and permissible, it's proper."
C) "I was just doing it for you."
D) "I'm just fighting fire with fire."
E) "It doesn't hurt anyone."
F) "It can't be wrong; everyone's doing it."
G) "It's O.K. if I don't gain personally."
H) "I've got it coming."
I) "I can still be objective."

Question 19

Matching: Common Rationalizations

-A secretary is frustrated with his or her supervisor's messy desk and knows that many of the documents on the desk are outmoded and irrelevant to the work. One day, he or she cleans off the desk, throws old papers away, and puts everything in order. The supervisor is angry that his or her possessions were disturbed without his or her permission. In response, the secretary uses which rationalization?

A) "If it's necessary, it is ethical."
B) "If it's legal and permissible, it's proper."
C) "I was just doing it for you."
D) "I'm just fighting fire with fire."
E) "It doesn't hurt anyone."
F) "It can't be wrong; everyone's doing it."
G) "It's O.K. if I don't gain personally."
H) "I've got it coming."
I) "I can still be objective."

Question 20

More Matching

-Statements given to support conclusions

A) Claim
B) Reasons
C) Warrant

Question 21

More Matching

-The unstated assumptions made by the speaker or writer

A) Claim
B) Reasons
C) Warrant

Question 22

More Matching

-A statement or conclusion about an issue

A) Claim
B) Reasons
C) Warrant

Question 23

In Toulmin's Model, "warrants" are reasons that state to support conclusions.

Question 24

Assumptions are ideas we never take for granted.

Question 25

The process of choosing the most important values in an issue is known as value prioritization.

Question 26

Toulmin's model includes identifying claims, reasons, and warrants.

Question 27

Assumptions are:

A) Fallacies
B) Factual descriptions
C) Ideas that are implied in statements
D) Ideas that are convincing, but false

Question 28

Choose three of the following issues and write what the value conflicts or preferences would be between those who support the policy and those who oppose it.
1) Should tobacco be classified as an illegal drug?
2) Should colleges mail student grades to parents who are paying tuition?
3) Should the media be allowed to expose personal problems of politicians?
4) Should high school administrators be able to exclude controversial articles from the student newspaper?
5) Should birth parents be allowed to take their natural children back from adoptive parents after one year?

Question 29

Describe the difference between value assumptions and reality assumptions; use examples to support your descriptions.

Question 30

Explain value conflicts, using two examples.

Question 31

Define ideal value and real value, using examples.

Question 32

"Do not leave out or distort important information."

Question 33

"Thoroughly research any claims you make."

Question 34

"Give credit to secondary sources of information."