Exam 7: Plato Why Should We Be Good

According to Huxley, "The science of ethics professes to furnish us with a reasoned rule of life; to tell us what is right action and why it is so."

Explain in detail the two main kinds of virtues Aristotle is concerned with.

In the reading, we find this passage: "If we respect ______________ and see every human being as unique in his own way, we might want to reject a society in which it appeared that individuals were seen merely as interchangeable units in a structure, the value of which lies in its having as many healthy units as possible."

According to Wong, "__________relativism is the doctrine that it is morally wrong to pass judgment on or to interfere with the moral practices of others who have adopted moralities different from one's own."

Explain what Marquis means when he says, "If 'human being,' on the other hand, is taken to be a moral category, then the claim that a fetus is a human being cannot be taken to be a premise in the anti-abortion argument, for it is precisely what needs to be established."

An act which it would be good to do, but not wrong not to do is called "supererogatory."

According to Hanley, "Clones are no more likely to be turned into brainwashed armies than we non-clones are (sadly, they will be no less likely to, either). Clones are no more or less likely to lack ..."

According to Rachels, "The AMA policy statement isolates the crucial issue very well; the crucial issue is 'the intentional termination of the life of one human being by another.' But after identifying this issue, and forbidding _______________, the statement goes on to deny that the cessation of treatment is the intentional termination of a life."

According to Kant, "in ethics the notion of ______ must lead to ends, and must on moral principles give the foundation of maxims with respect to the ends which we ought to propose to ourselves."

Explain what Hanley means when he says, "Clones are no more likely to be turned into brainwashed armies than we non-clones are (sadly, they will be no less likely to, either). Clones are no more or less likely to lack autonomy."

Rachels says that "it is not exactly correct to say that in passive euthanasia the doctor does nothing, for he does do one thing that is very important, ..."

According to Hursthouse, "An ethical theory is self-effacing if, roughly, whatever it claims justifies a particular action, or makes it right, had better not be the agent's motive for doing it."

According to Mill, "The main constituents of a satisfied life appear to be two, either of which by itself is often found sufficient for the purpose," are ...

Hume says, "we shall analyze that complication of mental qualities, which form what, in common life, we call _______________: we shall consider every attribute of the mind, which renders a man an object either of esteem and affection, or of hatred and contempt; every habit or sentiment or faculty, which, if ascribed to any person, implies either praise or blame."

Kant says, "the power and resolved purpose to resist a strong but unjust opponent is called fortitude."

Explain what Mill means when he says, "The utilitarian doctrine is that happiness is desirable, and the only thing desirable, as an end; all other things being only desirable as means to that end."

Hanley says, "It might be supposed that human cloning presents a threat to personal identity, to individual uniqueness. But even were the genetic determinists or Lamarckians correct, and the clone were physically and psychologically identical to the donor, still the result would be a _____________________ person from the donor."

According to the received nature, or common view of justice (not Socrates's view), the perfectly and completely just person ...

Explain what Huxley means when he says, "It is from neglect of these plain considerations that the fanatical individualism of our time attempts to apply the analogy of cosmic nature to society. Once more we have a misapplication of the stoical injunction to follow nature; the duties of the individual to the state are forgotten, and his tendencies to self-assertion are dignified by the name of rights."

According to Rachels, "doctors must be concerned about the legal consequences of what they do, and active euthanasia is clearly forbidden by the law. But even so, doctors should also be concerned with the fact that the law is forcing upon them a moral doctrine that may well be indefensible, and has a considerable effect on their practices."