Exam 12: Financial Statement Analysis

For the following, try to come up with an additional premise that will turn the passage into a deductively valid or an inductively strong argument. Usually this requires adding a general moral principle and, sometimes, an extra nonmoral claim as well. The idea is to guarantee that the "ought" claim follows from the "is" claim. You shouldn't have included that material on the exam. It was never mentioned in class.

State whether the following item expresses moral value or nonmoral value; or no value at all. The editor used my illustrations for last week's presentation.

In this pair of cases, the first may serve as precedent for the second. Decide whether the second case is so relevantly similar to the first that it should be decided identically. Explain your decision.

In the following, discuss whether Marina is treating relevantly similar cases in sufficiently similar fashions; identify instances in which the cases are not relevantly similar. Marina votes against a tax increase for maintenance of her city park even though she uses the park and plans to continue using it whether or not the measure passes.

Given the following position on abortion, identify which of the three major ethical theories discussed in the text-utilitarianism, duty theory, or virtue ethics-it follows. Note that each theory may encompass several possible viewpoints on an issue. Abortion should be allowed. It doesn't matter whether one, as an individual, is for or against it; what matters is that women will be dying in back alleys again if their access to abortion is taken away from them.

Evaluate the issue of human cloning from the utilitarian consequentialist viewpoint.

State whether the following item expresses moral value or nonmoral value; or no value at all. The sketches we got back from the designer were awful.

Virtue ethics is an abstruse ethical theory.

State whether the following item expresses moral value or nonmoral value; or no value at all. Debbie has been very good tonight according to the babysitter.

Answer the question in the following paragraph from one of the perspectives described in the text. An employer who is considering hiring Eva has asked Donna, Eva's former supervisor, for a report on Eva. In truth, Eva's work for Donna has been only average. However, (a) Eva is Donna's friend, and Donna knows that Eva probably will not get the job if she says anything negative about Eva, and Donna knows that Eva desperately needs the job. Further, (b) Donna knows that if the situation were reversed, she would not want Eva to mention her deficiencies. Nevertheless, (c) it has been Donna's policy to reveal the deficiencies of employees when she has been asked for references by employers, and she knows that some of Eva's faults may be bothersome to this particular employer. Finally, (d) this employer has leveled with Donna in the past when Donna has asked for a report on people who have worked for him. Should Donna reveal deficiencies in Eva's past performance?

For the following, try to come up with an additional premise that will turn the passage into a deductively valid or an inductively strong argument. Usually this requires adding a general moral principle and, sometimes, an extra nonmoral claim as well. The idea is to guarantee that the "ought" claim follows from the "is" claim. Mr. Thomas ought to treat his pets better. He feeds them so little that they look like they're starving to death.

For the following, try to come up with an additional premise that will turn the passage into a deductively valid or an inductively strong argument. Usually this requires adding a general moral principle and, sometimes, an extra nonmoral claim as well. The idea is to guarantee that the "ought" claim follows from the "is" claim. Galileo's hypothesis should be suppressed. The biblical account in Ecclesiastes clearly states that the sun rises and sets and hastens to the place where it will rise again.

Identify the moral perspective at work here: At the supermarket, Vickie just ran her cart into a display of jars with jams and preserves, and now the aisle is full of broken glass and jam. She feels like leaving the store as quickly as possible. Is that an acceptable course of action? Yes, it is; because Vickie will be happier if she can just get out of there and avoid the mess.

In this pair of cases, the first may serve as precedent for the second. Decide whether the second case is so relevantly similar to the first that it should be decided identically. Explain your decision.

Answer the question in the passage below from one of the perspectives described in the text. Jan witnessed a certain Mr. Gaines commit a crime several months ago. Despite his certain knowledge of Gaines's guilt, the charges against him were dismissed because of an error in the investigation. Jan is especially upset about the nature of the crime-(a) Gaines was defrauding a charitable organization that Jan happens to think accomplishes a lot of good. Jan also knows that the crime was committed out of greed, since (b) Gaines owns a large jewelry store and is already well-off. Gaines has spoken to his friends about how he got away without having to stand trial, and (c) he is gloating about it. One day, Jan is walking up the alley that runs behind Gaines's store, and he notices that the back door has been left unlocked and, from the look of things, it appears that the burglar alarm has not been turned on. One of several vaults in the back room has a half-open door. He realizes that he could make off very easily with a large amount of expensive jewelry. (d) The likelihood of his being caught is very small. It occurs to him that it wouldn't be quite the same as stealing, certainly not as bad as what he saw Gaines do, if (e) he did not keep the loot for himself but gave it away. It occurs to him that (f) if he takes what doesn't belong to him he may not be any better than Gaines, and on the small chance he did get caught, nobody would believe him, and (g) the penalties would be stiff. But (h) this is his chance to see justice done with regard to Gaines, and he can make some deserving people very happy with the proceeds of the burglary. Should Jan grab the jewels?

Answer the question in the following paragraph from one of the perspectives described in the text. Kevin's mother and father are divorced. Kevin is eight, and he lives with his father, John, for three months every summer. The rest of the time, except for occasional weekends, he lives two hundred miles away with his mother. John is the one with the problem: He and Kevin talked a lot last summer about getting a dog. For the first time, John is living in a house that has a backyard big enough to keep a dog and a fence around it as well. John had always used the "no place to keep it" line to avoid making promises, but that no longer applies. John finally promised to get Kevin a dog at the beginning of the next summer, and he knows Kevin is hoping to get one. In fact, John knows that Kevin is expecting a dog with enough confidence that (a) he'll be very disappointed if he doesn't get one, even though he may not say much about it. Furthermore, (b) not getting a dog will deprive both Kevin and John of considerable pleasure, since John knows how happy it would make his son to get one. But the danger of having a dog around is that John lives alone during most of the year, and having a dog means being responsible for another creature. (c) When John travels, as his job requires him to do from time to time, who will look after the dog? He can't leave it with a friend for a week or two at a time. And he has no neighbors close by who could look after it. It looks like a difficult trade-off: Three months a year of pleasure for John, Kevin, and a dog, balanced against what might be nine months a year of frequent unpleasantness for both John and the dog. What should he do?

State whether the following item expresses moral value or nonmoral value; or no value at all. Richard is a nice fellow once you get to know him.

State whether the following item expresses moral value or nonmoral value; or no value at all. It is getting late. We should go home.

State whether the following item expresses moral value or nonmoral value; or no value at all. His whole lecture was boring.

Identify the moral perspective at work here: At the supermarket, Vickie just ran her cart into a display of jars with jams and preserves, and now the aisle is full of broken glass and jam. She feels like leaving the store as quickly as possible. Is that an acceptable course of action? No, it isn't, because someone may have seen her knock the display over. If she is caught leaving, she, as well as the store management, will be embarrassed.