Question 1

When you encounter a counterexample to an intermediate moral principle that you have previously accepted, what should you do?

Accepted Answer

The answer of When you encounter a counterexample to an...

Question 2

Some medical ethicists use the doctrine of double effect to argue that it is permissible for a doctor to administer painkillers to a terminally ill patient, even if those painkillers will hasten the patient's death, as long as the doctor's intended goal is to ease the patient's suffering.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 3

In your own words, explain Harry Brighouse and Adam Swift's intermediate moral principle about parenting. Describe a possible counterexample to that principle. How do you think Brighouse and Swift would respond to your counterexample?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In your own words, explain Harry Brighouse...

Question 4

A counterexample is:

Accepted Answer

A)  A real or hypothetical scenario about which a moral principle seems to give the wrong answer. 
B)  An intermediate moral principle that could be used to argue against another intermediate moral principle. 
C)  An objection to an argument that involves intermediate moral principles. 
D)  A thought experiment used to test an intermediate moral principle or moral theory.

Question 5

What does it mean to say that a principle has counterintuitive implications?

Accepted Answer

A)  That the principle's logical implications conflict with some moral intuition. 
B)  That the arguments for the principle rely on implied premises that are not plausible. 
C)  That the principle must be supported by counting the number of moral intuitions that agree with it. 
D)  That the principle leads to unexpected and enlightening moral conclusions.

Question 6

Philosophers can respond to counterexamples to an intermediate moral principle by insisting that the alleged counterexample is not really a counterexample, by "biting the bullet," or by revising the principle.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 7

A counterexample to an intermediate moral principle is a real or hypothetical case in which the principle entails the wrong answer.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 8

What point is Robert Nozick trying to make with his thought experiment about the person in the well who vaporizes someone with a ray gun?

Accepted Answer

A)  That it is permissible to use force against anyone who threatens you. 
B)  That it is not always wrong to use force against innocent people. 
C)  That science fiction can help us explore our moral intuitions. 
D)  That some philosophers are crazy.

Question 9

Which of the following best captures the principle of "an eye for an eye," as explained in Chapter 6?

Accepted Answer

A)  An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. 
B)  Wrongdoers should suffer a punishment that is similar to the wrong that they have inflicted on others. 
C)  When the government will not punish wrongdoers, it is permissible for citizens to take justice into their own hands. 
D)  There is an upper limit to how much suffering the government may inflict on a criminal as a penalty for a crime.

Question 10

The doctrine of double effect says that it is sometimes permissible to bring about a bad outcome as a foreseen but unintended side effect of your actions.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 11

Philosophers often use thought experiments to see whether a principle, such as an intermediate moral principle, agrees with their intuitions about what should happen in a hypothetical scenario.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 12

What point is Mencius's disciple trying to make when he asks whether Mencius would save his sister-in-law from a drowning river? How does Mencius respond to his disciple's question?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What point is Mencius's disciple trying to...

Question 13

While thinking about the principle that it is always wrong to torture people, the philosopher Henry Shue imagines a scenario in which torturing a suspect is the only way to save Paris from being destroyed by a nuclear bomb. Based on the discussion in Chapter 6, which of the following would NOT be a plausible way for Shue to respond to that alleged counterexample?

Accepted Answer

A)  Insist that, although it would lead to disaster, the police are still morally obligated to refrain from torturing the suspect. 
B)  Revise the principle to say that it is always wrong to torture people unless the would-be torturer is extremely confident that it is the only way to prevent a great catastrophe. 
C)  Argue that although torturing the suspect would violate the would-be torturer's obligation not to torture, the obligation to save Paris is more important in this particular case. 
D)  Add some detail to the scenario so that torturing the suspect would no longer guarantee that Paris would be saved.

Question 14

What is the point of Robert Nozick's thought experiment about the person who uses a ray gun to save himself while trapped in a well? What conclusion does Nozick draw from the thought experiment?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is the point of Robert Nozick's...

Question 15

Which of the following is most plausibly considered a counterexample to the principle that it is always wrong to betray your country?

Accepted Answer

A)  In 2001, the FBI agent Robert Hanssen confessed that he had betrayed his country by selling American state secrets to the Russians. He had spent fifteen years as a double agent simply for the sake of money and excitement. His actions led to the deaths of several people involved in American intelligence efforts. 
B)  During the American Revolution, thousands of colonists remained loyal to the British crown. When the war ended and Britain acknowledged the United States' independence, as many as 60,000 of these "loyalists" left the United States to settle in other parts of the British Empire. 
C)  Mohandas Gandhi was born in India in 1869, during the period of the British Empire's colonial rule there. Gandhi eventually became a prominent leader of nonviolent resistance to British rule, helping to secure India's independence from Britain in 1947. 
D)  German bureaucrat Fritz Kolbe worked in Adolf Hitler's foreign ministry during World War II. From 1943 until the end of the war, Kolbe smuggled Nazi secrets to American intelligence officers in Switzerland, providing valuable information that helped the Allies defeat Hitler. In doing so, Kolbe betrayed his country.

Question 16

The doctrine of double effect is that it is always worse to harm someone than it is to let someone be harmed.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

Which of the following is a reason to accept Don Marquis's intermediate moral principle about the wrongness of killing?

Accepted Answer

A)  It allows us to conclude whatever we want about the wrongness of killing different kinds of animals. 
B)  It entails that getting run over by a bus is bad for the person who gets run over. 
C)  It shows that abortion is not wrong before the fetus becomes viable outside the womb. 
D)  It explains why intentional killing is worse than accidental killing.

Question 18

In your own words, explain the principle of AN EYE FOR AN EYE that was discussed in Chapter 6. What (alleged) counterexamples to it does Stephen Nathanson give? Do you agree that those are genuine counterexamples to the principle? Why or why not?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In your own words, explain the principle...

Question 19

Which of the following best explains the idea of a moral intuition?

Accepted Answer

A)  Your moral intuitions are (some subset of) the moral judgments you make about particular cases without going through any conscious reasoning process. 
B)  Your moral intuitions are the moral conclusions that you are logically committed to holding based on your moral principles. 
C)  A moral intuition is an argument, based on a counterexample, that shows that a particular moral principle is right or wrong. 
D)  A moral intuition is a belief about what is right or wrong to do in a particular case.

Question 20

Which of the following best captures the idea of a moral intuition?

Accepted Answer

A)  A moral intuition is any moral judgment that you would not be willing to change based on counterexamples. 
B)  A moral intuition is any moral judgment about specific cases or hypothetical scenarios, as opposed to judgments about moral principles. 
C)  A moral intuition is a moral judgment that is widely shared within a culture, whether it is about a particular case or a moral principle. 
D)  A moral intuition is a moral judgment that you (initially) form more or less immediately when you think about an action or moral principle, without going through any conscious reasoning.

Exam 6: Reasoning With Principles and Counterexamples

When you encounter a counterexample to an intermediate moral principle that you have previously accepted, what should you do?

Some medical ethicists use the doctrine of double effect to argue that it is permissible for a doctor to administer painkillers to a terminally ill patient, even if those painkillers will hasten the patient's death, as long as the doctor's intended goal is to ease the patient's suffering.

In your own words, explain Harry Brighouse and Adam Swift's intermediate moral principle about parenting. Describe a possible counterexample to that principle. How do you think Brighouse and Swift would respond to your counterexample?

A counterexample is:

What does it mean to say that a principle has counterintuitive implications?

Philosophers can respond to counterexamples to an intermediate moral principle by insisting that the alleged counterexample is not really a counterexample, by "biting the bullet," or by revising the principle.

A counterexample to an intermediate moral principle is a real or hypothetical case in which the principle entails the wrong answer.

What point is Robert Nozick trying to make with his thought experiment about the person in the well who vaporizes someone with a ray gun?

Which of the following best captures the principle of "an eye for an eye," as explained in Chapter 6?

The doctrine of double effect says that it is sometimes permissible to bring about a bad outcome as a foreseen but unintended side effect of your actions.

Philosophers often use thought experiments to see whether a principle, such as an intermediate moral principle, agrees with their intuitions about what should happen in a hypothetical scenario.

What point is Mencius's disciple trying to make when he asks whether Mencius would save his sister-in-law from a drowning river? How does Mencius respond to his disciple's question?

What is the point of Robert Nozick's thought experiment about the person who uses a ray gun to save himself while trapped in a well? What conclusion does Nozick draw from the thought experiment?

Which of the following is most plausibly considered a counterexample to the principle that it is always wrong to betray your country?

The doctrine of double effect is that it is always worse to harm someone than it is to let someone be harmed.

Which of the following is a reason to accept Don Marquis's intermediate moral principle about the wrongness of killing?

In your own words, explain the principle of AN EYE FOR AN EYE that was discussed in Chapter 6. What (alleged) counterexamples to it does Stephen Nathanson give? Do you agree that those are genuine counterexamples to the principle? Why or why not?

Which of the following best explains the idea of a moral intuition?

Which of the following best captures the idea of a moral intuition?