MEJO 141 Final Exam Review ACTUAL UPDATED QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS
Aristotle's Golden Mean - Happiness (flourishing) is the ultimate good
- The ultimate good can be achieved by exercising "virtue"
- Virtue is the mean between two extremes
- Virtue is relative to situation
- Golden Mean: The golden mean or golden middle way is the desirable middle
between two, one of excess and the other of deficiency
Plato and Aristotle Picture - Plato's right hand pointing to the heavens and Aristotle's hand gesturing down to
earth
- Plato is carrying his book Timaeus, a sophisticated treatment of space, time, and
change, including the Earth, which guided mathematical sciences for over
millennium
- Int he painting Aristotle carries his Ethics, which he denied could be reduced to
a mathematical science
- Aristotle, with his four elements theory, held that all change on Earth was owing
to motions of the heavens
- Plato's philosophy was abstract and utopian
- Aristotle's approach was empirical, practical, and commonsensical
Golden Mean Examples Deficiency (cowardly, lethargic, secretive, apathetic)
Excess
(Reckless, selfish, blatant, insensitive)
Balance
(Courageous, industrious, honest, empathetic)
, Patterson Intro to Ethical Decision Making - Aristotles For Aristotle, the highest virtue was citizenship, and its highest practitioner the
Golden Mean statesman, a politician who exercised so much practical wisdom in his daily
activity that he elevated the craft of politics to art
Golden mean (Media Application) - Instead of totally banning all tobacco advertising or deciding not to regulate it
at all, the FTC chose a middle ground
- The FTC banned cig ads from TV and required that warning labels be included in
print ads on cigarette packs
Immanuel Kant's Categorical - Act as if the choices you make could become universal law
- Treat each individual as an end and never as merely a means ("Do unto others as
you would have others do unto you")
- Ethics is absolute and lies in the act not individual
- Categorical Imperative: an unconditional moral obligation which is binding in all
circumstances and is not dependent on a person's inclination or purpose
Categorical Imperative: For Kant moral acts are duty and must be carried out at all time regardless of
situation
- Strict duties: Not to murder, not to lie, not to break promise
- Meritorious duties: Help others, show gratitude, develop one's talents
Categorical Imperative Media Applications - Journalists can never lie or invade someone's right to privacy to get a story
- Deception by advertisers to sell a product is always wrong
- Dishonesty in public relations is never right even if telling the truth hurts the
company's reputation
Categorical Imperative (Kant) Kant teaches the Categorical Imperative, which encourages people to act as if
what they do will become a universal law
Utilitarianism - Happiness (pleasure) or absence of pain is the only moral end
- The consequences of actions are important in deciding whether they are ethical
- Utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that promotes actions that
maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals
- the most moral acts are those which maximize happiness (pleasure) for the most
number of people and minimize pain
- In Utilitarianism, the outcome determines whether an act is moral "the need of
the many outweigh the few"
Utilitarianism Media Applications The Principle of Utility would suggest that it's acceptable to lie to get a story if it
results in the greater good for society, that is if more people are helped by
uncovering the information than are hurt by the lie to get the information
Principle of Utility Mill teaches the Principle of Utility, which seeks the greatest good for the greatest
number of people
ANSWERS
Aristotle's Golden Mean - Happiness (flourishing) is the ultimate good
- The ultimate good can be achieved by exercising "virtue"
- Virtue is the mean between two extremes
- Virtue is relative to situation
- Golden Mean: The golden mean or golden middle way is the desirable middle
between two, one of excess and the other of deficiency
Plato and Aristotle Picture - Plato's right hand pointing to the heavens and Aristotle's hand gesturing down to
earth
- Plato is carrying his book Timaeus, a sophisticated treatment of space, time, and
change, including the Earth, which guided mathematical sciences for over
millennium
- Int he painting Aristotle carries his Ethics, which he denied could be reduced to
a mathematical science
- Aristotle, with his four elements theory, held that all change on Earth was owing
to motions of the heavens
- Plato's philosophy was abstract and utopian
- Aristotle's approach was empirical, practical, and commonsensical
Golden Mean Examples Deficiency (cowardly, lethargic, secretive, apathetic)
Excess
(Reckless, selfish, blatant, insensitive)
Balance
(Courageous, industrious, honest, empathetic)
, Patterson Intro to Ethical Decision Making - Aristotles For Aristotle, the highest virtue was citizenship, and its highest practitioner the
Golden Mean statesman, a politician who exercised so much practical wisdom in his daily
activity that he elevated the craft of politics to art
Golden mean (Media Application) - Instead of totally banning all tobacco advertising or deciding not to regulate it
at all, the FTC chose a middle ground
- The FTC banned cig ads from TV and required that warning labels be included in
print ads on cigarette packs
Immanuel Kant's Categorical - Act as if the choices you make could become universal law
- Treat each individual as an end and never as merely a means ("Do unto others as
you would have others do unto you")
- Ethics is absolute and lies in the act not individual
- Categorical Imperative: an unconditional moral obligation which is binding in all
circumstances and is not dependent on a person's inclination or purpose
Categorical Imperative: For Kant moral acts are duty and must be carried out at all time regardless of
situation
- Strict duties: Not to murder, not to lie, not to break promise
- Meritorious duties: Help others, show gratitude, develop one's talents
Categorical Imperative Media Applications - Journalists can never lie or invade someone's right to privacy to get a story
- Deception by advertisers to sell a product is always wrong
- Dishonesty in public relations is never right even if telling the truth hurts the
company's reputation
Categorical Imperative (Kant) Kant teaches the Categorical Imperative, which encourages people to act as if
what they do will become a universal law
Utilitarianism - Happiness (pleasure) or absence of pain is the only moral end
- The consequences of actions are important in deciding whether they are ethical
- Utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that promotes actions that
maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals
- the most moral acts are those which maximize happiness (pleasure) for the most
number of people and minimize pain
- In Utilitarianism, the outcome determines whether an act is moral "the need of
the many outweigh the few"
Utilitarianism Media Applications The Principle of Utility would suggest that it's acceptable to lie to get a story if it
results in the greater good for society, that is if more people are helped by
uncovering the information than are hurt by the lie to get the information
Principle of Utility Mill teaches the Principle of Utility, which seeks the greatest good for the greatest
number of people
