PHIL 100 EXAM 2 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
What philosophical branch does ethics belong to? - Answers - Axiology
What are the four cardinal virtues? - Answers - -Wisdom
-Courage
-Temperance
-Justice
What each of the ten major ethical schools as discussed in class and the major
proponents of each? - Answers - -Utilitarianism
-Deontology
-Virtue Ethics
-Social Contract
-Altruism
-Egoism
-Positive Law
-Natural Law
-Relativism
-Nihilism
Cons of utilitarnianism - Answers - voluntarism (too demanding), can't solve all
dilemmas, ignores justice, calculating utility is self defeating, predicting consequences
uncertain, doesn't recognize individuals,
Pros of utilitarianism - Answers - Pragmatic, Makes general dilemmas easily decidable,
easy to understand, empirical, disinterested good for all (no favoritism/egalitarian)
Pros of deontology - Answers - Objective universal standard to judge what is right and
wrong, rational, no favoritism (impartial), non-voluntaristic, recognizes the individual,
creates moral framework for individual rights, no reliance on prediction
Cons of deontology - Answers - Not practical (it ignores the importance of
consequences and still itself might be based in nothing other than consequences
either), admits of no exceptions (inflexible), doesn't resolve conflicts between duties,
possible loopholes when universalizing in specific instances, based on narrow sense of
what is rational/irrational,
Pros of virtue ethics - Answers - Flexible, encompasses more than just actions, sense of
community, comports with traditional notions of morality
Cons of virtue ethics - Answers - possibility of voluntarism, can't solve all dilemmas
(application), relativism, conflict of virtues
, Pros of social contract - Answers - based on individual rights, justifies action outside of
self-interest (common good), provides clear way to analyze issues regarding
relationship between people and government (e.g. why is it acceptable to punish
someone for a crime?)
Cons of social contract - Answers - None of us signed the social contract! (i.e. it's an
implied agreement), some actions/situations are subjective -- multiple interpretations,
how to solve a situation where rights conflict?, may be unjust to those who are
incapable of upholding their side of the "contract" (e.g. the mentally ill)
Pros of relativism - Answers - Tolerates differences, tries to be fair, tries to ease
debates and disagreements, recognizes that different societal contexts need different
guidelines, tries to be humble (not to judge)
Cons of relativism - Answers - Line between what you think is right and what you want
is not sharply drawn, moral decisions don't have to be based on reason, just because
two societies have different views does not imply that they necessarily must, no
framework for reconciling cultures in conflict with each other, not clear if everyone in a
society knows their own society's set of moral guidelines, how do they even come about
in the first place?, most societies do seem to share certain core values, only indirectly
based on reason -- many guidelines more a result of tradition than sense
What is utilitarianism? - Answers - Greatest good/pleasure for the greatest number of
people
What is Deontology? - Answers - The study of the nature of duty and obligation.
What larger overarching ethical position does Deontology belong to? - Answers -
Categorical ethics?
What is the Trolley car thought experiment? - Answers - A thought experiment in ethics
involving a runaway trolley car with 5 people tied up in one track and one tied up in
another track. The choices involve pulling the lever to kill either the 5 or 1.
What is the Experience Machine Thought experiment? - Answers - Nozick asks us to
imagine a machine that could give us whatever desirable or pleasurable experiences we
could want. Psychologists have figured out a way to stimulate a person's brain to induce
pleasurable experiences that the subject could not distinguish from those he would have
apart from the machine. He then asks, if given the choice, would we prefer the machine
to real life?
What does utilitarianism consider bad? - Answers - pain
What does hedon mean? - Answers - pleasure
What philosophical branch does ethics belong to? - Answers - Axiology
What are the four cardinal virtues? - Answers - -Wisdom
-Courage
-Temperance
-Justice
What each of the ten major ethical schools as discussed in class and the major
proponents of each? - Answers - -Utilitarianism
-Deontology
-Virtue Ethics
-Social Contract
-Altruism
-Egoism
-Positive Law
-Natural Law
-Relativism
-Nihilism
Cons of utilitarnianism - Answers - voluntarism (too demanding), can't solve all
dilemmas, ignores justice, calculating utility is self defeating, predicting consequences
uncertain, doesn't recognize individuals,
Pros of utilitarianism - Answers - Pragmatic, Makes general dilemmas easily decidable,
easy to understand, empirical, disinterested good for all (no favoritism/egalitarian)
Pros of deontology - Answers - Objective universal standard to judge what is right and
wrong, rational, no favoritism (impartial), non-voluntaristic, recognizes the individual,
creates moral framework for individual rights, no reliance on prediction
Cons of deontology - Answers - Not practical (it ignores the importance of
consequences and still itself might be based in nothing other than consequences
either), admits of no exceptions (inflexible), doesn't resolve conflicts between duties,
possible loopholes when universalizing in specific instances, based on narrow sense of
what is rational/irrational,
Pros of virtue ethics - Answers - Flexible, encompasses more than just actions, sense of
community, comports with traditional notions of morality
Cons of virtue ethics - Answers - possibility of voluntarism, can't solve all dilemmas
(application), relativism, conflict of virtues
, Pros of social contract - Answers - based on individual rights, justifies action outside of
self-interest (common good), provides clear way to analyze issues regarding
relationship between people and government (e.g. why is it acceptable to punish
someone for a crime?)
Cons of social contract - Answers - None of us signed the social contract! (i.e. it's an
implied agreement), some actions/situations are subjective -- multiple interpretations,
how to solve a situation where rights conflict?, may be unjust to those who are
incapable of upholding their side of the "contract" (e.g. the mentally ill)
Pros of relativism - Answers - Tolerates differences, tries to be fair, tries to ease
debates and disagreements, recognizes that different societal contexts need different
guidelines, tries to be humble (not to judge)
Cons of relativism - Answers - Line between what you think is right and what you want
is not sharply drawn, moral decisions don't have to be based on reason, just because
two societies have different views does not imply that they necessarily must, no
framework for reconciling cultures in conflict with each other, not clear if everyone in a
society knows their own society's set of moral guidelines, how do they even come about
in the first place?, most societies do seem to share certain core values, only indirectly
based on reason -- many guidelines more a result of tradition than sense
What is utilitarianism? - Answers - Greatest good/pleasure for the greatest number of
people
What is Deontology? - Answers - The study of the nature of duty and obligation.
What larger overarching ethical position does Deontology belong to? - Answers -
Categorical ethics?
What is the Trolley car thought experiment? - Answers - A thought experiment in ethics
involving a runaway trolley car with 5 people tied up in one track and one tied up in
another track. The choices involve pulling the lever to kill either the 5 or 1.
What is the Experience Machine Thought experiment? - Answers - Nozick asks us to
imagine a machine that could give us whatever desirable or pleasurable experiences we
could want. Psychologists have figured out a way to stimulate a person's brain to induce
pleasurable experiences that the subject could not distinguish from those he would have
apart from the machine. He then asks, if given the choice, would we prefer the machine
to real life?
What does utilitarianism consider bad? - Answers - pain
What does hedon mean? - Answers - pleasure
