Exam 7: Ethics

What are the moral dangers of suggesting, as Nietzsche and Sartre do, that individuals create their own value systems? Could a prison guard in a Nazi concentration camp describe himself as a "good person" on existentialist grounds?

For Mill, music was an example of __________.

Kant says, "Nothing can possibly be conceived in the world, or even out of it, which can be called good without qualification, except a __________.

Mill thought that the best proof of the fact that pleasure is a human good is that __________.

Utilitarianism is a refined form of __________.

Does Aristotle's model of virtue ethics depend only on social constructs, or does it also leave room for autonomy? Defend your answer.

Cultural relativism insists that if two moralities are fundamentally different, it is impossible for them both to be correct.

Consider the anecdote about Abraham Lincoln. While arguing the psychological egoist position with a friend, he stopped to help some drowning piglets. His friend remarked that his action was altruistic, not egoistic, to which Lincoln countered that it was indeed selfishness because if he didn't stop to help he'd have no peace of mind the rest of the day worrying about the piglets. Is it selfishness? Consider this: Why would Lincoln have had a disturbed peace of mind if he had not helped? Perhaps it is because, as psychological altruism asserts, people naturally act for each other's sake. Perhaps Lincoln responded to his natural condition of psychological altruism by acting according to his natural condition of psychological egoism! Discuss.

Nicomachean Ethics are the moral writings of which philosopher?

"The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals 'utility' or 'the greatest happiness principle' holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure." Because of its emphasis on pleasure, the moral theory described in this passage is certainly a form of __________.

Nietzsche's attack on universal moral principles has been one of the most vigorous philosophical movements of the twentieth century.

Is Kant correct in asserting that people should be praised or blamed only for what they have control over and not for what they have no control over? It seems obvious that congratulating someone on his height or punishing a mentally handicapped person for not doing algebra correctly is ridiculous. Yet, along with Aristotle, we still do this for virtues and vices, even though a person's courage, wit, wealth, and so forth, is often due to heredity and upbringing rather than personal choice. How do you know when, and in what proportion, to praise or blame?

Consider how one might reconcile the rule-based system of Kant with the consequence-based system of utilitarianism. Can the two ethical systems complement one another?

The "happiness calculus" is used by game theorists to establish the duties and responsibilities of citizens of particular governments.

Psychological egoism is the thesis that you should act in the best interest of others because it makes for a better society.

Hume argued that morality was ultimately based on __________.

"There is only one categorical imperative, and it is this: Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." From this formulation of the categorical imperative, Kant derived another, which states,

Shame and pride are two of Aristotle's virtues.

In referencing Ayn Rand, Tara Smith argued that egoism was not about relationships to others because if one were stranded on a deserted island, egoism would be equally imperative.

Two important characteristics of inner judgments are: The agent has reasons to do something, and the agent (as well as everyone else) endorses these reasons.