Q&A Hero

Q: Kant would say that using a person to achieve some end, such as hiring someone to paint your house, is not necessarily wrong because a. every situation is different. b. exceptions are made for people who are not our friends. c. there is no moral difference between treating persons as a means and treating them merely, or only, as a means. d. there is a moral difference between treating persons as a means and treating them merely, or only, as a means.

Q: A 2008 study showed that teenagers who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence, and they are significantly less likely to use condoms and other forms of birth control when they do. If we assume that the goal of such pledges is to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies, what would a utilitarian determine should be done? a. These pledges should be discouraged. b. These pledges should be encouraged. c. It does not matter one way or the other whether the pledges continue. d. These pledges are unnatural.

Q: Applying the first formulation of the categorical imperative to the act of lying to a friend would show that the action is impermissible because a. the actions maxim cannot be universalized. b. performing the action would treat the friend as an end, not as a means. c. performing the action would treat the friend as a means to an end. d. the actions maxim can be universalized.

Q: The doctrine that says that morality arises from an agreement that self-interested and rational people abide by in order to secure a degree of peace, prosperity, and safety is called ________.

Q: Alan Goldman says that the conventional view of sexuality is that sexual behavior must have a morally significant goal, such as procreation. But he argues that a. sex is directed towards goals but not toward conventional goals. b. sex is not a means to some other goal. c. sex should be directed toward communicating ideas or expressing love. d. sex is a spiritual journey.

Q: According to Hobbes, when there is a breakdown in the real world of the forces that preserve law and order, such as times of revolution, war, natural disaster, famine, and civil unrest, the human race returns to the ________, which is horrifying and gruesome.

Q: The central question in the morality of sex is, a. What arguments can be marshaled against the conventional view of sex? b. Is sexual behavior detrimental to human evolution? c. What kind of sexual behavior is morally permissible and under what circumstances? d. Is society as a whole becoming more liberal or more conservative in views about sexual behavior?

Q: ________, an influential social contract theorist, attempted to determine what moral principles a society would accept if they were arrived at through a hypothetical give-and-take that was as fair and impartial as possible.

Q: The conventionalist and the liberal take opposing views on the moral permissibility of a. marriage. c. homosexuality. b. love. d. domestic life.

Q: In a recent public opinion poll, ________ percent of respondents said they believe that it is morally acceptable for a man and woman to have sex before marriage. a. 90 c. 25 b. 66 d. 40

Q: The notion that as long as basic moral standards are respected, any sexual activity engaged in by informed, consenting adults is permissible is known as the ________ view. a. hedonistic c. liberal b. conventional d. moderate

Q: A categorical imperative tells us a. what to do if we have certain desires. b. that we should always perform our imperfect duties. c. that we should do something in all situations regardless of our wants and needs. d. what our hypothetical duties are.

Q: Kissing someone without first obtaining consent is an example of a. rape. c. both rape and sexual assault. b. sexual assault. d. neither rape nor sexual assault.

Q: Kant believes that every action implies a. a hypothetical moral agent. c. a general rule, or maxim. b. an imperfect duty. d. a conditional law.

Q: Suppose a married couple openly engages in consensual extramarital sexual activity with other people. According to Thomas Mappess Kantian view of sexuality, the sexual behavior of this couple would be a. permissible overall except for oral sex. b. impermissible. c. permissible. d. permissible overall except for the use of contraception.

Q: The difference between hypothetical and categorical imperatives is that a. hypothetical imperatives are universal, whereas categorical imperatives are not. b. hypothetical imperatives are rational and categorical imperatives are conditional. c. hypothetical imperatives are absolutist, whereas categorical imperatives are not. d. hypothetical imperatives are conditional, whereas categorical imperatives are unconditional.

Q: An unmarried man and woman have frequent sex and engage in activities that most of society would label unconventional, unnatural, and deviant. Their sexual behavior results in the greatest net good for all concerned. A utilitarian would therefore say that their sexual activities are a. permissible except for deviant sex. b. permissible except for activities labeled unnatural. c. impermissible. d. permissible.

Q: The consequentialist answer to the question Why are racists wrong? is likely to appeal to two fundamental moral principles: respect for persons and justice.

Q: The ethical theory that says that the right action is the one that advances ones own best interests is called ________.

Q: One of the criticisms of social contract theory is that its doubtful that those who are supposed to be parties to the contract have actually given a. due attention to morality. b. any thought to whether Hobbes was correct. c. any consideration to those who are not party to the contract. d. their consent to the terms of the contract.

Q: To the classic utilitarian, ________ is the only intrinsic good.

Q: In his explanation of weak affirmative action, Louis P. Pojman argues, There is no more moral requirement to guarantee that 12 percent of professors are Black than to guarantee that 85 percent of the players in the National Basketball Association are White. He is here trying to show that weak affirmative action aims for equal opportunity, not equal results.

Q: John Stuart Mill called the utilitarian principle, by which all actions can be judged, the ________ principle.

Q: Some critics of social contract theory argue that few people have ever actually consented to the terms of a social contract. Some defenders of social contract theory reply that people are much more likely to have given their a. verbal consent. c. fictional consent. b. implicit consent. d. refusal to consent.

Q: According to Carl Cohen, No matter who the beneficiaries may be or who the victims, preference on the basis of race is morally wrong. It was wrong in the distant past and in the recent past; it is wrong now; and it will always be wrong. Cohens position rejects strong affirmative action policies on nonconsequentialist grounds.

Q: Rule-egoism says that to determine the right action you must apply the egoistic principle to individual acts.

Q: Some philosophers, called race ________, agree with race skeptics that biological race is a myth but are reluctant to jettison the social construct.

Q: Psychological egoism is a moral theory.

Q: ________ is the belief that some races are inferior in significant respects or otherwise deserving of dislike or hostility.

Q: Utilitarianism is a moral theory for promoting human welfare.

Q: ________ refers to the advantages or benefits that whites enjoy simply because they are white.

Q: When act- and rule-utilitarianism are applied to the same moral issue, they may yield different answers.

Q: Racism often involves ________; that is, racially biased opinions based on incomplete or erroneous information.

Q: According to social contract theory, morality comprises the social rules that are in everyones best interests to heed.

Q: The nonconsequentialist answer to the question Why are racists wrong? is that they hurt people.

Q: The practice of trying to make amends for, or eradicating, discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and gender is called ________.

Q: Because people will renege on deals they enter, Hobbes believes that what is needed for enforcing the social contract is an absolute sovereigna fearsome, powerful person he refers to as the a. Divine Father. c. Leviathan. b. Utility Monster. d. categorical imperative.

Q: One of the concerns raised by critics of social contract theory is that vulnerable individuals, such as the severely disabled, the very poor, nonhuman animals, children, and infants, have no moral status and no rights according to the theory.

Q: Opponents of preferential hiring practices argue that the only standard for awarding jobs is a. competence. c. equal opportunity. b. diversity. d. justice.

Q: Suppose you break your promise to visit your dying grandmother on the grounds that you can create more happiness by partying with your friends. This utilitarian view of the situation seems to conflict with our commonsense a. view of justice. c. view of our obligations to other people. b. view of rights. d. notion of utilitarian morality.

Q: Scientific racism refers to a school of thought that held that (1) humanity can indeed be divided into separate and distinct races, (2) race enables us to explain the most basic differences among people, and (3) some races are superior to others.

Q: Defenders of act-utilitarianism insist that the scenarios put forth by critics that seem to show utilitarianism in conflict with commonsense morality are a. misleading and implausible. c. too realistic. b. likely to occur at least some of the time. d. common but inconsequential.

Q: The traditional idea about race is that it consists of heritable biological features common to all members of a racial groupfeatures that explain the character and cultural traits of those members. However, most scientists and philosophers believe that this view is false.

Q: Utilitarianism (in all its forms) requires that in our actions we always try to maximize utility, everyone considered. This requirement has given rise to a. ethical egoism. c. the maximization problem. b. the no-rest problem. d. the Golden Rule problem.

Q: Some philosophers, known as race skeptics, believe that race has a physical scientific basis and argue that the concept of race should be the main focus of science.

Q: Commonsense morality makes a distinction between doing our duty and doing more than duty requires, what are called supererogatory actions. This distinction seems to disappear in a. ethical egoism. c. utilitarianism. b. social contract theory. d. Kants theory.

Q: The view of many researchers and scholars is that races (in the biological sense) dont exist, but racialized groups do.

Q: Rule-utilitarianism has been accused of being internally inconsistent because the theory can a. easily lapse back into act-utilitarianism. c. always fall back on rigid rules. b. be defended through act-utilitarianism. d. never be understood.

Q: Lawrence Blum insists that every instance of racial conflict, insensitivity, discomfort, miscommunication, exclusion, injustice, or ignorance should be called racist.

Q: Utilitarianism reminds us that a. the consequences of our actions do not matter most of the time. b. not everyone counts equally in moral deliberations. c. some absolutist rules are necessary. d. the consequences of our actions make a difference in our moral deliberations.

Q: Currently, blacks and dark-skinned racial minorities lag well behind whites in virtually every area of social life; they are about three times more likely to be poor than whites, earn about 40 percent less than whites, and have about an eighth of the net worth that whites have.

Q: The philosopher Thomas Hobbes says that people are naturally a. greedy, selfish, violent, self-destructive, and desperate. b. compassionate, generous, and considerate. c. eager to believe in a religious doctrine. d. lazy and unambitious.

Q: Ethical egoism seems to conflict with a. psychological egoism. b. our considered moral judgments and our moral experience. c. our considered moral judgments and our self-interest. d. our moral experience and self-indulgence.

Q: In many contexts, scholars find that students perform better in school when their credentials are closer to those of their classmates, whereas they have more trouble persisting in a difficult major, graduating from college, or getting a good job when they are surrounded by peers who have much higher credentials. This has been referred to as the mismatch effect. If we assume the mismatch effect is real, what would a utilitarian say this suggests about the use of strong affirmative action? a. The mismatch effect is not relevant to the issue of strong affirmative action. b. The mismatch effect illustrates how strong affirmative action is not always beneficial to minorities. c. The mismatch effect illustrates the importance of diversity in these contexts. d. The mismatch effect illustrates how strong affirmative action is almost always beneficial to minorities.

Q: Suppose for someone there are only two possible actions: (1) read Aristotle, or (2) spend a weekend on a tropical isle filled with intensely pleasurable debauchery. Under these circumstances, John Stuart Mill would likely a. spend a week in intensely pleasurable debauchery. b. refrain from making such a choice. c. combine reading Aristotle with debauchery. d. read Aristotle.

Q: Some argue that preferential programs create role models for minorities and women. These role models are essential for demonstrating to young people that significant achievement is possible. Opponents reply that a. preferential programs do not actually create role models for minorities and women. b. there are already enough role models for minorities and women. c. role models are not needed for young people to know that achievement is possible. d. the best role models are people who are the most competent, regardless of race or gender.

Q: If, according to Jeremy Bentham, only the total quantity of happiness produced by an action matters, then the person closest to the moral ideal would be a. the self-denying monk. c. the academic scholar. b. the glutton. d. a disciplined soldier.

Q: According to Carl Cohen, Preference creates that burden; it makes a stigma of the race of those who are preferred by race. An ethnic group given special favor by the community is marked as needing special favorand the mark is borne prominently by every one of its members. In this passage, Cohen is rejecting which argument used to support strong affirmative action? a. Race preferences make amends for generations of injustices toward minorities and women. b. Preferential programs can increase racial and cultural diversity. c. Strong affirmative action may be able to eradicate racism and transform our race-conscious society. d. Race preferences create role models for minorities and women whose self-esteem and hopes for success have been dimmed by generations of discrimination.

Q: John Stuart Mill says, It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. This sentiment is an indictment of the glutton but also a pat on the back for those who a. make no distinction between higher and lower pleasures. b. avoid all pleasures. c. enjoy higher pleasures. d. achieve the greatest quantity of pleasure.

Q: A key argument for strong affirmative action is based on a. policies of reverse discrimination. b. feelings of guilt on the part of white males. c. a history of injustices against minorities. d. scientific evidence demonstrating the benefits of diversity.

Q: John Stuart Mill says that humans by nature desire happiness and nothing but happiness; therefore happiness is the standard by which we should judge human conduct, and therefore the principle of utility is at the heart of morality. But this argument is controversial, because a. it reasons from what is to what should be. b. it equivocates on the word happiness. c. it is internally inconsistent. d. Mill failed to defend his theory.

Q: Some argue that affirmative action policies are needed to make amends for past wrongs. This argument appeals to the concept of a. compensatory justice. c. punitive justice. b. distributive justice. d. retributive justice.

Q: Consider a scenario involving the possible killing of an innocent person for the good of others. Such an action could conceivably be sanctioned by a. Kants theory. c. the means-end principle. b. natural law theory. d. act-utilitarianism.

Q: Judith Jarvis Thomson argues that ________ are the best and most suitable form of compensation for the past ill treatment of minorities. a. civil rights laws c. scholarships b. reparation payments d. jobs

Q: Some utilitarians respond to the charge that act-utilitarianism conflicts with commonsense moral intuitions by a. switching to natural law theory. b. rejecting commonsense morality. c. denying that act-utilitarianism is a true moral theory. d. rejecting rule-utilitarianism.

Q: According to one argument, when blacks get preferential treatment in employment some white males end up losing outeven though these whites had no part in past racism and may have never discriminated against anyone. Supporters of preferential hiring practices will say that a. these policies will actually benefit white males and minorities equally. b. all white males are actually racist, even if they dont mean to be. c. the injustice to white males makes amends for past injustices to minorities. d. white males benefit from a history of policies that discriminate against minorities.

Q: Suppose a utilitarian judge decides to rule against a plaintiff in a lawsuit just because people in general would be happier if the plaintiff lost the case. Such a utilitarian move would conflict with a. rule-utilitarianism. c. divine command theory. b. commonsense views about happiness. d. commonsense views about justice.

Q: The main point of a quota is to ensure that a. only the most competent applicants are hired. b. a sufficient number of minorities or women apply. c. an organization has a predetermined percentage of minority members or women. d. reparations are given to those who have suffered the most.

Q: The sociologist Tanya Maria Golash-Boza says that race is a. a natural phenomenon. c. a social construction. b. an inevitable factor in hiring decisions. d. a biological category.

Q: According to Lawrence Blum, popular thinking about race generally dispenses with the biological component, but not with the idea of ________, the notion that certain traits of mind, character, and temperament are inescapably part of a racial groups nature and hence define its racial fate. a. inherency c. incomprehensibility b. inevitability d. incoherence

Q: Lawrence Blum says that the two key concepts in the definition of racism are a. generalization and inference. c. superiority and arrogance. b. ignorance and assumptions. d. inferiorization and antipathy.

Q: The unfavorable treatment of people because of their race is called a. socially constructed discrimination. c. racial prejudice. b. racial discrimination. d. legitimate prejudice.

Q: Unequal treatment that arises from the way organizations, institutions, and social systems operate is referred to as a. individual racism. c. veiled racism. b. global racism. d. structural racism.

Q: In 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a. using quota systems in college admissions is constitutional. b. using quota systems in college admissions is unconstitutional. c. any consideration of race or minority status in admissions is unconstitutional. d. any consideration of race or minority status in admissions is constitutional.

Q: Refusing to give a good worker a raise in pay just because he is black or Hispanic is an example of a. sexism. c. reverse discrimination. b. discrimination. d. affirmative action.

Q: Widespread advertisement of job openings to groups not previously represented in certain privileged positions is an example of a. preferential hiring. c. weak affirmative action. b. reverse discrimination. d. strong affirmative action.

Q: A true ethical egoist chooses actions that a. are exceptionally altruistic. b. lead him to self-indulgent or reckless behavior. c. provide him with whatever he wants. d. promote his own self-interests.

Q: Almost everyone agrees that a. efforts should be made to end discrimination against minorities and women. b. a proportion of available positions should be reserved for minorities and women. c. preferential treatment on the basis of race, gender, or minority status is always wrong. d. strong affirmative action is reverse discrimination against white males.

Q: The philosopher who said that the greatest good is pleasure, and the greatest evil is pain, was a. Kant. c. Aquinas. b. Epicurus. d. Socrates.

Q: Suppose there are two equally qualified candidates for a single position. The only difference between them is that one is white and the other is a person of color. The best decision according to weak affirmative action is to a. award the position to the person of color to fill a quota. b. award the position to the person of color to make amends for generations of racism. c. use a random process to determine which candidate is awarded the position. d. use race as a tiebreaker and award the position to the person of color.