Deck 2: Moral Character

Question 1

Theories of "character ethics" or "virtue ethics" claim all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Often, the most important aspect of moral life is having a reliable character and good moral sense.
B) When a culture or social group approves a character trait as moral, that trait is considered to be a moral virtue.
C) Virtues are not solely derivative from moral principles.
D) A person who does a right moral action but wishes not to have to do it is acting both nonvirtuously and incoherently.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

What matters most in the moral life, according to those who ascribe to virtue ethics?

A) Having a reliable character
B) Having a good moral sense
C) Having appropriate emotional responsiveness
D) All of the above

Answer 2

D

Question 3

According to Beauchamp and Childress, why have some philosophers questioned the place of virtues in moral theory?

A) Virtues are thought to be meaningless for moral behavior.
B) Principles are thought to override questions of character in thinking about the moral life.
C) Virtues are thought to be less central than norms and difficult to unify in a systematic theory.
D) Emphasis on virtues is thought to ignore some participants in the moral life.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

According to Charles L. Bosk, when a surgeon makes a mistake, the kind of mistake least likely to be forgiven by other professionals is:

A) Technical
B) Conscientious
C) Normative
D) Judgmental

Question 5

How has the treatment of virtues in the Code of the American Medical Association (AMA) changed from 1847 until today?

A) Virtues in health care professions have been increasingly emphasized.
B) Virtues in health care professions have been increasingly de-emphasized.
C) Physicians have been consistently told to be "upright" and "pure in character."
D) The concept of virtue has never been part of the AMA code.

Question 6

In what sort of philosophical literature did the idea of an "ethics of care" primarily originate?

A) Feminist literature
B) Ethical literature
C) Literature focused on virtue ethics
D) Bioethical literature

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT true about the ethic of care?

A) Its proponents claim that women follow an ethic of care, whereas men follow an ethic of rights and justice.
B) An ethic of care emphasizes responsiveness and connection, whereas an ethic of rights and justice emphasizes impartiality.
C) An ethic of care can arise from speaking with girls and women about their moral concerns.
D) The core notion of an ethic of care is that of caring for others.

Question 8

What are the five focal virtues that Beauchamp and Childress claim support and promote caring and caregiving?

A) Compassion, integrity, nonmalevolence, justice, and trustworthiness
B) Truthfulness, faithfulness, discernment, conscientiousness, and honor
C) Compassion, discernment, trustworthiness, integrity, and conscientiousness
D) Justice, sympathy, compassion, integrity, and benevolence

Question 9

Based on Beauchamp and Childress's Chapter 2, which of the following is NOT a way that the view of nurses and nursing has changed from past models until today?

A) Nurses are now encouraged to exhibit active rather than passive virtues.
B) Nurses are now conceived as patient advocates rather than "handmaidens" of physicians.
C) Some contemporary models now emphasize preservation of the nurse's integrity.
D) Nurses are now encouraged to know as much about a patient's medical history and diagnosis as physicians do.

Question 10

How does an ethic of care challenge traditional ethical theories?

A) It challenges an overemphasis on detached fairness.
B) It advocates for dropping any reference to principles in moral discussion.
C) It states that a focus on care, unlike a focus on rules and principles, will tell physicians exactly what they should do in any given situation.
D) All of the above

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT a difference between traditional rule-based ethics and an ethic of care?

A) Rule-based ethics tend to focus more on what is done, whereas an ethic of care focuses on how it is done.
B) Rule-based ethics provide a clear guide to moral action in any situation, whereas an ethic of care does not.
C) An ethic of care places special emphasis on mutual interdependence, whereas rule-based ethics more strongly emphasize independence.
D) Rule-based ethics want to protect people from wrongdoing by others and thus are more cautious about personal empathy; an ethic of care takes empathy to be particularly important.

Question 12

Why is an ethic of care potentially useful in health care contexts?

A) Its concerns are close to the relationships and processes of decision making found in clinical contexts.
B) It gives insight into basic commitments of caring and caretaking.
C) It liberates health professionals from narrow conceptions of role responsibilities often found in professional codes of ethics.
D) All of the above

Question 13

Which of the following is a characteristic of the virtue of compassion?

A) Compassion and empathy are the same thing.
B) Compassion is the most important virtue in a health care setting.
C) Compassion can be equally directed toward self and others.
D) Compassion includes an attitude of regard for another's welfare.

Question 14

Why would health care professionals be encouraged to cultivate detachment alongside compassion?

A) Compassion is not a particularly important virtue to uphold.
B) Detachment can be taught, but compassion cannot.
C) The "female" virtue of compassion needs to be balanced by a "male" virtue of detachment.
D) Health care professionals are at risk of being overwhelmed and burned out if they constantly engage with suffering with compassion but not detachment.

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT true of the virtue of discernment?

A) Discernment is the ability to make fitting judgments without being unduly influenced by extraneous considerations.
B) Discernment is the most important of the "focal virtues" set forth by Beauchamp and Childress.
C) Discernment is closely associated with practical wisdom in the writing of some thinkers.
D) Discernment includes understanding how principles and rules apply in a variety of circumstances.

Question 16

Which of the following is true of extraordinary moral standards?

A) They are not required or obligatory.
B) They come from a morality of aspiration in which individuals and particular communities adopt moral ideals that do not hold for everyone.
C) At this level of moral standards, agents are free to pursue the particular moral objectives they choose.
D) All of the above

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT a category of moral action as listed in Beauchamp and Childress's work?

A) Actions that are right and obligatory
B) Actions that are discouraged but not forbidden
C) Actions that are wrong and prohibited
D) Actions that are optional but morally meritorious and praiseworthy

Question 18

In Beauchamp and Childress's discussion of moral ideals, what does it mean when a person who holds moral ideals does not consider her actions to be morally optional?

A) She believes that any person anywhere would be required to act as she has.
B) She believes that she would be doing something forbidden if she did not act as she had.
C) She has a personal sense of obligation to act as she does.
D) She has been given a command to act as she does by a religious leader or religious text.

Question 19

Why is it important, according to Beauchamp and Childress, to focus on the place of moral excellence in bioethical thought?

A) Focusing only on the moral minimum dilutes the moral life and our expectations for ourselves and each other.
B) Health care professionals are expected to be morally excellent individuals.
C) It is proper to be skeptical about the importance of moral ideals in the moral life and in ethical thinking.
D) All of the above

Question 20

Which of the following is a case in which a transplant team should decline an individual's offer to donate an organ to another individual?

A) The donor is not related to the person who will receive the organ.
B) The monetary cost of the transplant and of treating any accompanying side effects for the donor or recipient is too high.
C) The donor is a close friend or spouse of the recipient and is thus too emotionally involved with the recipient.
D) The donation will involve others in directly causing the death of the donor.

Question 21

According to Beauchamp and Childress, principles are more important than virtues in the moral life.

Question 22

Virtue ethics has to do with the motivations and dispositions behind moral actions.

Question 23

Some virtues are specific to the moral life of a professional, including health care professionals.

Question 24

The five focal virtues of an ethic of care are respectfulness, nonmalevolence, benevolence, justice, and truthfulness.

Question 25

The American Medical Association has consistently upheld the importance of virtues in health care settings in its codes for physicians.

Question 26

A person who possesses moral virtues such as loyalty and kindness will never act inappropriately.

Question 27

The virtue of care is fundamental to relationships, practices, and actions in health care.

Question 28

Those who ascribe to an ethic of care claim that caregivers should not be concerned to cultivate any sort of detachment from their work and those for whom they care.

Question 29

Proponents of care ethics do not recommend a general abandonment of principles as long as principles allow room for discretionary and contextual judgment.

Question 30

There is nothing more important for health care organizations than to maintain a culture of trust.

Question 31

According to Beauchamp and Childress, one's moral actions can always be justified if one follows one's conscience.

Question 32

Policymakers should seek to accommodate health care professionals' conscientious refusals as long as they can do so without seriously compromising patients' rights and interests.

Question 33

Supererogatory moral acts are neither required nor forbidden by common-morality standards of obligation.

Question 34

Supererogatory moral acts are those which are unusually arduous, costly, or risky.

Question 35

A _________ is a dispositional trait of character that is socially valuable and reliably present in a person.

Question 36

A _________ ________ is a dispositional trait of character that is morally valuable and reliably present in a person.

Question 37

Five focal virtues for health care relationships are ____, ____, ____, ____, and ____.

Question 38

_____________ acts are morally praiseworthy acts which exceed what common morality of obligation demands.

Question 39

An ethics of _____ is a form of virtue ethics that emphasizes traits valued in intimate personal relationships.

Question 40

The ethics of care originated primarily in _____ writings.

Question 41

Beauchamp and Childress describe _______ as a "prelude to caring."

Question 42

Although not the same thing as compassion, _______ involves the reconstructing of another person's mental experience.

Question 43

_________ involves the ability to make fitting judgments and reach decisions without being unduly influenced by extraneous considerations, fears, personal attachments, and the like.

Question 44

_______ is a confident belief in and reliance on the moral character and competence of another person.

Question 45

According to Beauchamp and Childress, moral ________ in its most general sense means soundness, reliability, wholeness, and integration of moral character.

Question 46

An individual acts ___________ if he or she is motivated to do what is right because it is right, has tried with due diligence to determine what is right, intends to do what is right, and exerts appropriate effort to do so.

Question 47

A pharmacist's refusal to fill a patient's prescription on the grounds that doing so would involve him or her in moral wrongdoing would be an example of ______ ______.

Question 48

Beauchamp and Childress state that the moral _____ and the moral _____ are the most celebrated models of moral excellence.