Deck 1: Thinking About Values

Question 1

What do you think is the origin of "evil"? Is it something present or absent in human nature, or some other source?

Answer 1

No Answer

Question 2

What conclusion would you draw from Hannah Arendt's analysis of Nazi atrocities?

Answer 2

No Answer

Question 3

If children need to develop a sense of values by the age of 7, what can we, as citizens, do to ensure that? Is it a matter for schools or homes, or is there another alternative?

Answer 3

No Answer

Question 4

List three logical fallacies. Explain why they are fallacies, and give examples of fallacious statements regarding moral problems.

Question 5

Compare and contrast valid deductive arguments and sound deductive arguments. Give examples of each.

Question 6

Discuss the moral challenges associated with being a college or university student and with being a college or university instructor.

Question 7

Explain Martha Nussbaum's claim that philosophy has not dealt with emotions because humans are not self-sufficient when they are emotional.

Question 8

"We have never lived enough. Our experience is, without fiction, too confined and too parochial. Literature extends it, making us reflect and feel about what might otherwise be too distant for feeling." Discuss this statement by Martha Nussbaum.

Question 9

In the context of "the banality of evil," discuss Stanley Milgram's obedience experiments and Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment.

Question 10

The part of the brain that plays a pivotal role in our development of a moral sense is the

A) central sulcus.
B) prefrontal cortex.
C) limbic system.
D) cerebellum.

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT one of the classic branches or fields of philosophy?

A) anthropology
B) epistemology
C) metaphysics
D) ethics

Question 12

Which of the following is a definition of the theory of moral naturalism?

A) It claims that everything is caused by our environment, or nature, and humans have no free will.
B) It claims that any moral behavior that derives from human nature should be legal.
C) It is the view that all elements of nature have some form of life in them.
D) It is the view that individuals come equipped with a moral intuition, hardwired from birth.

Question 13

Which of the following characterizes Socrates' dialectic method?

A) questions and answers
B) rational examination of values
C) dialogue between people
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 14

Which of the following logical fallacies assumes that what you are trying to prove is a fact?

A) the fallacy of begging the question
B) the ad hominem fallacy
C) the fallacy of bifurcation
D) the ad baculum fallacy

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a type of logical fallacy?

A) red herring
B) black beast
C) slippery slope
D) false dichotomy

Question 16

If you claim that "it is my way or the highway," then you are creating a(n) _____.

A) ad hominem fallacy
B) red herring fallacy
C) false dichotomy fallacy
D) ad misericordiam fallacy

Question 17

In comparison with subjects with healthy and undamaged brains, scientific studies indicate that subjects with damage to their ventromedial frontal lobes

A) are more likely to make moral decisions involving other people's lives.
B) are more likely to hesitate while making tough decisions involving other people's lives.
C) are equally likely to make tough, moral decisions involving other people's lives.
D) are unable to make decisions of any kind.

Question 18

Martha Nussbaum claims that

A) narratives cannot communicate about values.
B) Aristotle warned against paying attention to stories.
C) emotions can have cognitive value.
D) philosophical examples are superior to stories in conveying a philosophical issue.

Question 19

Which of the following is the LEAST likely conclusion to be drawn from Philip Zimbardo's work?

A) People with strong moral values are less likely to be corrupted by immoral circumstances.
B) Human nature is capable of both compassion and cruelty.
C) The Abu Ghraib prison incident of 2004 should not have surprised us.
D) Prisons can psychologically harm both prisoners and guards.

Question 20

According to Arendt, the banality of evil refers to the fact that acts of evil are

A) often performed by people who disregard a duty to their country or their leader.
B) perceived by those who commit them as something hideous or depraved.
C) often committed by perverted or sadistic people.
D) often perceived as something the victims deserved.

Question 21

Which of the following logical fallacies is described as a deflection away from the truth?

A) the ad hominem fallacy
B) the false dichotomy fallacy
C) the ad misericordiam fallacy
D) the red herring fallacy

Question 22

The phrase "50-50 nation" referred to individuals who were above and below the poverty line.

Question 23

Psychologists claim that a child must develop a sense of values by the age of seven in order to become an adult with a conscience.

Question 24

The study of a moral center in the brain claims that mapping of the moral center can reveal whether one moral answer is better than another.

Question 25

The study of ethics is an exclusively Western phenomenon.

Question 26

According to the experiments of Stanley Milgram, Philip Zimbardo, and Hannah Arendt, normal and decent people are capable of committing evil acts such as murdering innocents under extreme and unusual circumstances.

Question 27

The proverb "It takes a village to raise a child" originated in the American Indian tradition.

Question 28

The term "morality" usually refers to theories about the moral rules we follow.

Question 29

There is common agreement among ethicists that it is not possible for an atheist to have morals.

Question 30

Nonmoral value judgments never refer to something being right or wrong, or good or bad.

Question 31

Philosophers believe that reason as a tool of ethics can be a bridge builder among religious people, atheists, and agnostics.

Question 32

Martha Nussbaum specified that disgust and shame should be considered conducive to moral understanding because emotions, alongside reason, are important in shaping our moral values.

Question 33

The conclusion of an inductive argument is based on a gathering of evidence, but there is no certainty that the conclusion is true, only that it is probable.

Question 34

There are two types of "arguments" in philosophy: inductive and deductive.

Question 35

The logical fallacy of using physical threats is called the ad baculum fallacy.

Question 36

The logical fallacy of begging the question makes the assumption that what you're trying to prove is a fact.

Question 37

The logical fallacy of bifurcation makes the assumption that what you're trying to prove is a fact.

Question 38

The slippery slope argument assumes that drastic consequences will follow a certain policy.

Question 39

Recent research of the brain suggests that the "normal" brain has evolved to recognize the value of a human life emotionally.

Question 40

Moral naturalism refers to the view that we all come equipped with a moral intuition, hardwired from birth.

Question 41

Martha Nussbaum agrees with the philosophical tradition of past centuries when she says that emotions have no cognitive value.

Question 42

According to Martha Nussbaum, we understand ourselves and our emotions best through narratives.

Question 43

According to Martha Nussbaum, since narratives reflect the values of society they deprive people of their moral autonomy.

Question 44

According to Martha Nussbaum, when we experience the emotion of disgust, we establish an us-versus-them environment.

Question 45

In the film Smoke Signals, Thomas, the storyteller, undertakes a sad journey to collect his father's ashes in Wyoming.

Question 46

The film Smoke Signals lay emphasis on the importance of storytelling in human life.