Chapter 1 ETHICS AND THE EXAMINED LIFE MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. Not thinking too deeply or too systematically about ethical concerns a. isolates you from other
... [Show More] people. c. ensures that no moral dilemmas arise. b. undermines your personal freedom. d. helps guide you to moral truth. 2. Which of the following is the overall point of the author’s discussion of “doing ethics”? a. Doing ethics is difficult, but not doing it is foolish. b. Doing ethics requires many years of careful study. c. Most people should rely on wiser authorities to do ethics for them. d. Doing ethics is unavoidable for everyone. 3. Which field or topic would include tasks such as accurately describing the moral codes and ethical standards of colonial America? a. normative ethics c. descriptive ethics b. applied ethics d. instrumental ethics 4. What is a major difference between descriptive ethics and normative ethics? a. Normative ethics concerns moral beliefs, whereas descriptive ethics concerns moral behaviors. b. Normative ethics implies that some people’s moral beliefs are incorrect, whereas descriptive ethics does not. c. Descriptive ethics cannot be done properly before doing normative ethics. d. Descriptive ethics is not a scientific topic of study, whereas normative ethics is. 5. Morality refers to beliefs about a. praise and punishment. c. legal and moral standards. b. right and wrong, good and bad. d. typical behavior in one’s society. 6. Believing that you can establish all your moral beliefs by consulting your feelings is an example of a. subjectivism. c. reliabilism. b. objectivism. d. critical scrutiny. 7. What does normative ethics study? a. theories that explain why people behave as they do b. normative standards in different disciplines c. the meaning and logical structure of moral beliefs d. principles, rules, or theories that guide our actions and judgments 8. Which of these questions belongs to metaethics? a. What moral beliefs do cultures embody? b. What does it mean for an action to be right? c. What theories of ethics do individuals endorse? d. What is the meaning of life from a moral perspective? 9. Applied ethics is the a. application of normative ethics to metaethics. b. application of society’s rules to one’s own life. c. study of the principles and rules that everyone accepts. d. application of moral norms to specific moral issues or cases. 10. Which field concerns questions such as “Was this abortion permissible?” or “Was this instance of mercy killing immoral?” a. applied ethics c. normative ethics b. metaethics d. descriptive ethics11. The preeminence of reason refers to the a. times when our emotions overwhelm our reason. b. gap between our feelings and our reason. c. overriding importance of critical reasoning in ethics. d. guidance that conscience gives to our reason. 12. Which of the following is a consequence of the principle of universalizability? a. If harming someone is wrong in a particular situation, then harming someone would be wrong for anyone in a relevantly similar situation. b. If harming someone is wrong in a particular situation, then harming someone would be wrong in all situations. c. The moral rules implied by your behavior apply to everyone, even in dissimilar situations. d. A person’s morality is dictated by his or her culture-wide morality. 13. Which statement would the author most likely agree with, based on what he states in this chapter? a. If your moral beliefs depend on your religious views, it is important to be able to convince others of your religious views before presenting your moral beliefs. b. Because we live with people who have different religious views, we need standards for moral reasoning that do not depend on any particular religious views. c. Religious believers tend not to think about morality as much as nonbelievers do. d. Religious believers tend to have more detailed moral beliefs than nonbelievers do. 14. Which of the following correctly applies the principle of impartiality? a. A mass murderer deserves the same treatment as a heart surgeon. b. You cannot fairly punish one member of a group unless you punish all of them. c. All moral judgments must be made on a case-by-case basis, setting aside all personal biases. d. Everyone deserves the same treatment, unless there is a morally relevant reason to favor someone. 15. The dominance of moral norms suggests that if a speed limit on a highway conflicts with a person’s moral duty to rush a dying man to the hospital, then a. the moral duty would be as weighty as the legal duty. b. neither the legal duty nor the moral duty would apply. c. the moral duty would take precedence over the legal duty. d. the moral duty would sanction any method whatsoever of getting the dying man to the hospital. 16. Which of these illustrates the need for moral reasoning when applying religious moral codes? a. My religious moral code includes a general rule not to kill, but sometimes killing might be the only way to defend myself. b. My religious moral code includes a general rule not to lie, but some people lie frequently. c. My religious moral code has many rules that are not relevant to me. d. My religious moral code is difficult to follow because it is very strict and demanding. 17. When religious adherents claim that murder is wrong because God says that it is, they are implicitly espousing the a. legal theory of divine justice. c. religious demand theory. b. greatest happiness principle. d. divine command theory. 18. In arguing against the divine command theory, many critics insist that a. God has the power to will actions to be morally permissible. b. if an action is right only because God wills it, then all actions are right. c. if an action is right only because God wills it, then many evil actions would be right if God willed them. d. if an action is right only because God wills it, then many evil actions would be right for believers but wrong for nonbelievers.19. Why does Leibniz, the great theistic philosopher, reject the divine command theory? a. because it implies God is beyond our understanding b. because it implies God is unworthy of worship c. because it implies a utilitarian conception of morality d. because it implies God plays no role in morality 20. Which of these best describes the purpose of the book’s discussion of ethics and religion? a. to convince religious believers of the value of doing ethics b. to convince the reader that religious moral codes and theories are unacceptable c. to convince the reader to question everything about morality d. to convince religious believers that ethics is a replacement for religious beliefsChapter 2 SUBJECTIVISM, RELATIVISM, AND EMOTIVISM MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. Subjective relativism is the doctrine that a. an action is morally right if one approves of it. b. an action is morally right if one’s culture approves of it. c. actions are judged by objective standards. d. an action is morally right even if no one approves of it. 2. Suppose I think that I sometimes make mistakes on moral matters, and so does my culture. Acknowledging this, I say, “My moral beliefs are sometimes wrong and sometimes my culture’s moral principles are wrong as well.” On which view could my statement be true? a. emotivism c. objectivism b. cultural relativism d. subjective relativism 3. Objectivism is the view that a. moral principles are rigid rules that have no exceptions. b. there are no objective moral principles. c. some moral principles are valid for everyone. d. moral utterances are neither true nor false. 4. Subjective relativism implies that when Sofia says, “I think abortion is wrong,” and Emma replies, “I think abortion is permissible,” Sofia and Emma are a. having a moral disagreement. c. not having a moral disagreement. b. really saying the same thing. d. not entirely serious. 5. Subjective relativism implies that when a person states their moral beliefs, that person is a. incapable of making moral judgments. b. incapable of being in error. c. morally fallible. d. infallible on some moral judgments, but not others. 6. Both objectivists and cultural relativists agree that a. the truth of moral judgments depends on whether one’s culture approves of them. b. moral judgments differ from culture to culture. c. moral judgments do not differ from culture to culture. d. the truth of moral judgments does not depend on whether one’s culture approves of them. 7. Which statement is a consequence of objectivism? a. Moral rules apply in all cases, without exceptions. b. If two people have a moral disagreement, only one of them can be right. c. Everyone has the same beliefs about morality. d. Whether an action is objectively right depends on its consequences. 8. Cultural relativists may believe their theory promotes tolerance of other cultures. However, the author argues against this. Which statement best summarizes his argument? a. Cultural relativists really only value the practices of some cultures, not all cultures. b. Subjective relativists and emotivists can also promote tolerance. c. Tolerance is not really a good thing, and so cultural relativists should not support it. d. Cultural relativists cannot consistently say that tolerance is objectively good. 9. According to the main argument for cultural relativism, if culture X and culture Y disagree about the morality of physician-assisted suicide, this shows that a. right and wrong are not relative to cultures.b. physician-assisted suicide is permissible. c. either culture X or culture Y must be correct. d. no view can be objectively correct. 10. Objectivists argue that the diversity of moral judgments across cultures does not necessarily indicate that there is disagreement about moral beliefs, but instead may indicate that a. the moral beliefs do not matter. c. nonmoral beliefs do not differ. b. there are divergent nonmoral beliefs. d. disagreement is not possible. 11. Which feature of emotivism makes it different from subjective relativism? a. In emotivism, moral judgments vary from individual to individual. b. In emotivism, some of our feelings about actions are objectively justified. c. In emotivism, we are not able to have disagreements in our moral beliefs. d. In emotivism, we do not automatically have true beliefs about right and wrong. 12. Suppose a culture approves of beheading a young man for merely holding hands with a woman. According to cultural relativism, the beheading is a. neither justified nor unjustified. c. morally justified. b. morally unjustified. d. objectively justified. 13. Cultural relativism implies that the abolition of slavery in the United States a. represents moral progress. b. may or may not represent moral progress. c. cannot be explained. d. cannot be regarded as moral progress. 14. Which statement best summarizes why, according to the author, cultural relativism is nearly impossible to use? a. Each of us belongs to only one society, and so we cannot know what people in other societies believe. b. Each of us belongs to multiple societies or social groups, but cultural relativism does not specify which society or group we should use in evaluating actions. c. It is often impossible to know whether your culture approves of a given action. d. The theory makes it impossible to convince other people of moral claims. 15. Suppose your culture endorses the view that all wars are wrong. It follows from cultural relativism that your culture a. cannot be mistaken about the morality of war. b. must disagree with other cultures about the morality of war. c. is fallible about the morality of war. d. does not participate in wars. 16. What does cultural relativism imply about the civil rights leader and social reformer Martin Luther King Jr., considered as part of 1950s–1960s United States culture? a. He was a product of his culture. b. He was wrong about his moral reforms. c. He was neither right nor wrong about his moral reforms. d. He was objectively right but relativistically wrong about his moral reforms. 17. For a cultural relativist, when two people in the same culture disagree on a moral issue, what they are really disagreeing about is a. the strength of the arguments presented. b. nonmoral issues. c. objective moral truth. d. whether their society endorses a particular view. 18. Cognitivism is the view that moral statementsa. are neither true nor false. c. cannot be understood. b. can be true or false. d. express cognitive emotions. 19. Noncognitivism is the view that a. moral judgments are almost never true. b. moral judgments are statements. c. moral judgments are not statements that can be true or false. d. moral theories can be true or false. 20. For the emotivist, which of these best displays the meaning of the moral utterance “Lying is wrong”? a. “Lying—I hate it!” c. “Lying is immoral!” b. “Lying may be wrong.” d. “Lying has occurred!” 21. Maryam says, “Abortion is always wrong,” while Fatima says, “Sometimes abortion is not wrong.” Which statement best summarizes how emotivists view this kind of disagreement? a. Maryam and Fatima cannot both be right, because this would produce an emotional conflict between them. b. Maryam and Fatima are expressing different attitudes, but neither of them says something that could be true or false. c. Maryam and Fatima are really expressing the same attitude, but in different ways, and so there is not really a disagreement here. d. Maryam and Fatima are both expressing their personal beliefs about abortion, so there is no way to resolve the disagreement. 22. According to emotivism, to offer reasons for a moral judgment is to a. provide moral reasons that can influence someone’s belief in a moral claim. b. provide reasons that have a logical or cognitive connection to a moral judgment. c. provide moral facts that can influence someone’s attitude. d. provide statements that can influence someone’s attitude. 23. Central to emotivism is the view that moral judgments are not statements that can be true or false. What does emotivism add to this view? a. That moral statements, unlike moral judgments, can be true or false. b. That moral judgments express attitudes and influence others to share those attitudes. c. That moral emotions are objectively right or wrong. d. That correct moral judgments are guided by emotions. 24. Emotivists can admit that the serial killer Ted Bundy killed more than 30 women, but they cannot say that these events a. were, for a fact, bad. c. were caused by people. b. were killings. d. were violent. 25. Our commonsense moral experiences suggest that a. nothing is morally good or bad in itself. b. some things are morally good and some things are morally bad. c. our commonsense moral intuition is always correct. d. good and bad things happen for no reason.Chapter 3 EVALUATING MORAL ARGUMENTS MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. A statement is a. an assertion about morality. b. an assertion without a truth value. c. an assertion that something is or is not the case. d. a claim that cannot be verified. 2. The utterance “Abortion is morally permissible” is a. an argument. c. a moral statement. b. a nonmoral statement. d. an implied statement. 3. In the argument “(1) Premarital sex is morally permissible because (2) it makes people happy,” statement 1 is the ________ and statement 2 is the ________. a. conclusion; premise c. main argument; premise b. premise; conclusion d. implied premise; stated premise 4. An argument in the logical sense is a a. heated exchange of views. b. group of statements, one of which is supposed to be supported by the rest. c. group of statements that leads to a question. d. group of unconnected statements. 5. In an argument, the supporting statements are known as ________; the statement being supported is known as the ________. a. inferences; conclusion c. premises; conclusion b. premises; deduction d. indicator words; conclusion 6. The phrases “because,” “given that,” “due to the fact that,” and “for the reason that” are a. conclusion indicators. c. statements. b. statement indicators. d. premise indicators. 7. Deductive arguments are a. supposed to offer probable support for their conclusions. b. usually valid. c. usually invalid. d. supposed to give logically conclusive support to their conclusions. 8. A valid deductive argument with true premises is said to be a. strong. c. fit. b. sound. d. cogent. 9. Name the form of the following argument: If p, then q. p. Therefore, q. a. modus tollens c. modus ponens b. hypothetical syllogism d. reductio ad absurdum 10. Name the form of the following argument: If p, then q. If q, then r. Therefore, if p, then r. a. hypothetical inductive c. modus ponens b. hypothetical syllogism d. modus tollens 11. Name the form of the following argument: If the dog barks, something must be wrong. Something must be wrong. Therefore, the dog will bark. a. denying the antecedent c. affirming the consequentb. modus tollens d. hypothetical syllogism 12. Inductive arguments are a. intended to supplement deductive arguments. b. intended to be abductive. c. supposed to offer only probable support for their conclusions. d. supposed to give logically conclusive support to their conclusions. 13. A strong inductive argument with true premises is said to be a. sound. c. valid. b. cogent. d. invalid. 14. In a valid argument, if the premises are true, then the a. argument is cogent. c. conclusion may or may not be true. b. conclusion is probably true. d. conclusion absolutely has to be true. 15. What is the implicit premise in the following moral argument? “Same-sex marriage is contrary to tradition. Therefore, it should never be allowed.” a. Same-sex marriage is harmful to society. b. Same-sex marriage is unnatural and therefore should be banned. c. Whatever causes harm to children should not be allowed. d. Whatever is contrary to tradition should not be allowed. 16. A moral statement is a a. statement affirming that an action is bad or that a person is bad. b. statement asserting a valid moral argument. c. statement asserting that a state of affairs is actual (true or false) without assigning a moral value to it. d. statement affirming that an action is right or wrong or that a person (or one's motive or character) is good or bad. 17. A statement asserting that a state of affairs is actual (true or false) without assigning a moral value to it is a a. moral statement. c. valid statement. b. nonmoral statement. d. strong statement. 18. What is the implicit premise in the following moral argument? [Show Less]