Question 1

Why is "happiness" a problematic translation for the Greek word eudaimonia?

Accepted Answer

A)  Virtue ethicists believe that someone can achieve eudaimonia without being truly happy. 
B)  Happiness suggests a focus on pleasant feelings, whereas eudaimonia is about how one's life is going as a whole. 
C)  Happiness can be interpreted narrowly or broadly, whereas eudaimonia is strictly about feeling pleasure and the absence of pain. 
D)  Ancient Greek words are essentially untranslatable into modern English because the culture of ancient Greece was so different from ours.

Question 2

What is a hypothetical imperative? What is a categorical imperative?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is a hypothetical imperative? What is...

Question 3

In your own words, explain Rossian deontology.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In your own words, explain Rossian deontology....

Question 4

One formulation of the categorical imperative is that you should act only on maxims that you could universalize without a contradiction in your own will.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 5

Some consequentialists believe that people should rely primarily on obligations or virtues when reasoning about what to do.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 6

Some people prefer rule utilitarianism over act utilitarianism because they think that act utilitarianism is too demanding in some ways and not demanding enough in others.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 7

What is the purpose of the Robin Hood example in Chapter 11?

Accepted Answer

A)  To test whether rule utilitarianism avoids the surprising implications of act utilitarianism. 
B)  To contrast rule utilitarianism's explanation of the wrongness of robbery with Rossian deontology's explanation. 
C)  To illustrate that actions that seem to maximize happiness in the short run can violate a rule whose widespread acceptance is crucial to maximizing happiness in the long run. 
D)  To prove that act utilitarianism is superior to rule utilitarianism because rule utilitarianism would incorrectly prohibit Robin Hood from robbing the rich to give to the poor.

Question 8

Deontology is a metaethical view according to which objective moral facts exist.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 9

What is consequentialism?

Accepted Answer

A)  A family of normative theories that evaluate each action in terms of the effects of performing that action or the effects of something else, such as having a rule that permits that action. 
B)  A branch of utilitarianism according to which each action is to be evaluated according to the total amount of happiness and unhappiness that it creates. 
C)  A type of virtue ethics according to which virtuous character traits are those that produce good consequences for the person who has them. 
D)  A normative theory that focuses primarily on whether someone is a good or bad person, which is assessed in terms of whether the person makes the world a better or worse place.

Question 10

Virtue ethics is:

Accepted Answer

A)  A metaethical view according to which there are objective moral facts about what makes someone's life go well, but not about what someone ought to do in any given circumstance. 
B)  A normative theory according to which persons are evaluated in terms of their character traits and actions are evaluated in terms of which character traits they demonstrate. 
C)  A normative theory according to which it only makes sense to ask whether someone is a good or bad person, as opposed to asking whether an action is right or wrong. 
D)  A metaethical view according to which morality varies from culture to culture because each culture emphasizes different virtues and vices.

Question 11

Rule utilitarianism is the view that an action is right if and only if it is permitted or required by the rules whose acceptance would maximize the total amount of happiness in the world, counting everyone's happiness equally.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 12

What is deontology?

Accepted Answer

A)  A view in applied ethics that moral reasoning should be conducted solely in terms of virtues and vices. 
B)  A metaethical view according to which there are no objective moral facts about what we ought to do. 
C)  A normative theory according to which morality is primarily about fulfilling your obligations. 
D)  A normative theory according to which we are obligated to do whatever will produce the best consequences overall.

Question 13

In your own words, explain the idea of a prima facie obligation.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In your own words, explain the idea...

Question 14

To say that an obligation is a prima facie obligation is to say that it seems obligatory from a certain perspective but is not really obligatory.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 15

According to virtue ethics, anyone who regularly faces danger without fear has the virtue of courage.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 16

One formulation of the categorical imperative is that you should also treat people's rational capacity for action as an end in itself and you should never treat anyone merely as a means to an end.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

In what sense is act utilitarianism sometimes thought to be not demanding enough?

Accepted Answer

A)  Because it requires you to maximize overall happiness, act utilitarianism sometimes allows you to do things that most people regard as morally wrong. 
B)  Because it requires you to make as many people happy as possible, act utilitarianism sometimes does not require you to consider the effects of your actions on the minority of people who are negatively affected by your actions. 
C)  Because it requires you to count everyone's happiness as equal to your own and that of your loved ones, act utilitarianism sometimes requires you to make great sacrifices for others. 
D)  Because it requires you to benefit the few at the expense of the many in certain cases, it does not always require you to take everyone's happiness into account.

Question 18

State Kant's Formula of Humanity. Explain the Formula of Humanity in your own words.

Accepted Answer

The answer of State Kant's Formula of Humanity. Explain the...

Question 19

What is virtue ethics? What are the main differences between virtue ethics and the other normative theories in Chapter 11?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is virtue ethics? What are the...

Question 20

A hypothetical imperative is a principle that tells you what to do if you happen to have a particular goal.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Exam 11: Normative Theories, Part 1

Why is "happiness" a problematic translation for the Greek word eudaimonia?

What is a hypothetical imperative? What is a categorical imperative?

In your own words, explain Rossian deontology.

One formulation of the categorical imperative is that you should act only on maxims that you could universalize without a contradiction in your own will.

Some consequentialists believe that people should rely primarily on obligations or virtues when reasoning about what to do.

Some people prefer rule utilitarianism over act utilitarianism because they think that act utilitarianism is too demanding in some ways and not demanding enough in others.

What is the purpose of the Robin Hood example in Chapter 11?

Deontology is a metaethical view according to which objective moral facts exist.

What is consequentialism?

Virtue ethics is:

Rule utilitarianism is the view that an action is right if and only if it is permitted or required by the rules whose acceptance would maximize the total amount of happiness in the world, counting everyone's happiness equally.

What is deontology?

In your own words, explain the idea of a prima facie obligation.

To say that an obligation is a prima facie obligation is to say that it seems obligatory from a certain perspective but is not really obligatory.

According to virtue ethics, anyone who regularly faces danger without fear has the virtue of courage.

One formulation of the categorical imperative is that you should also treat people's rational capacity for action as an end in itself and you should never treat anyone merely as a means to an end.

In what sense is act utilitarianism sometimes thought to be not demanding enough?

State Kant's Formula of Humanity. Explain the Formula of Humanity in your own words.

What is virtue ethics? What are the main differences between virtue ethics and the other normative theories in Chapter 11?

A hypothetical imperative is a principle that tells you what to do if you happen to have a particular goal.