Ethical Traditions

Question 1

Some people believe that only actions that have been made _______ are immoral.

Answer 1

illegal

Question 2

The duty to help others in need is called the duty of __________.

Answer 2

beneficence

Question 3

The duty to not harm others is called the duty of ___________.

Answer 3

nonmaleficence

Question 4

Some moral philosophers, such as WD Ross, believe that there are certain basic moral principles which are self evident, and he called them our ___________ duties.

Answer 4

prima facie

Question 5

WD Ross and some other philosophers believe that these principles do not require ______ and are just so. These are duties, so can be broken should conflict arise.

Answer 5

proof

Question 6

The prima facie duties can be overridden, for example, where the duty to ____ would outweigh the probable consequences of keeping a promise.

Answer 6

help

Question 7

The difficulty with the prima facie duties is that it may not be self-evident to those who are intellectually ________ or those who have not thought about it sufficiently, and some people may believe that they should not have these duties at all.

Answer 7

immature

Question 8

Some individuals may lack the necessary _______ faculties to grasp the concept of self-evident moral principles.

Answer 8

mental

Question 9

Medical professionals must balance the benefits and harms before making a healthcare ____________.

Answer 9

intervention

Question 10

The doctrine of _____________ can be illustrated in a health care setting in a patient that is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer; the treatment has some harmful side effects but the benefits of potentially eradicating the cancer outweigh the risks of the treatment.

Answer 10

double effect

Explanation:

This is the term coined for this kind of scenario where harm is deliberately induced to cause good. This doctrine is usually attributed to Aquinas and is highly controversial, especially among Utilitarians.

Question 11

Most moral people would agree that where we can intervene in minimizing or preventing harm, we should do this where there is little or no risk to ourselves, even if it is not in our _____________, as we would expect others to do the same for us if we were in danger.

Answer 11

self-interest

Explanation:

We should help someone in danger where there is little or no risk to ourselves. Applying the Golden Rule, we would expect others to act that way if we were in a bad position.

Question 12

The philosopher Joel Feinberg, in his work The Moral Limits of the Criminal Law, listed 4 principles to determine the legitimacy of government intervention in individual freedom, and these are the Harm Principle, the Offense Principle, ___________, and Legal Moralism.

Answer 12

Paternalism

Question 13

What are the 4 principles listed by philosopher Joel Feinberg in his work the Moral Limits of the Criminal Law?

Answer 13

Harm Principle, Offense Principle, Paternalism Principle, and the Legal Principle

Question 14

__________ is defined as having a person or the government do what they think is best for you, even if it goes against your wishes.

Answer 14

Paternalism

Explanation:

The Paternalism Principle states that the government is morally justified in intervening to prevent an individual from harming himself severely, even if no one else is harmed. Feinberg accepts soft paternalism where those who are incompetent, for example the mentally ill or children, should be protected from hurting themselves.

Question 15

Feinberg expanded on the ____ Principle as laid down by JS Mill in that he included the obligation to act in order to prevent serious harm to others where the agent bore only a minor risk or cost to himself.

Answer 15

Harm

Question 16

JS Mill was the original proponent of the ______ Principle.

Answer 16

Harm

Question 17

Feinbergs _______ Principle permitted governments to prohibit conduct that seriously offended others

Answer 17

Offence

Question 18

__________ allowed for the prohibition of immoral behavior, even if no one is harmed or offended.

Answer 18

Legal Moralism

Question 19

____________ morality would suggest that the special parent-child relationship imposes a strong moral duty on the parents to raise, feed, educate and care for the child by virtue of an implied contract.

Answer 19

Common sense

Explanation:

There is a presumption of an implied contract in this situation even though the child is not competent to make a contract. It is similar to a citizen-state contract. If the parent fails to act in the best interests of the child, for example by abusing the child, then the State should intervene and the child no longer owes the parent a duty of obedience.

Question 20

Some philosophers would argue that we have a duty of _______ concern to individuals close to us, such as family and friends.

Answer 20

special

Explanation:

Being humans, we succumb to our feelings of emotion and love for our friends and family members. Every human life should have equal value but if faced with the choice of saving the life of our child or that of a stranger, we would definitely save that of our child.

Question 21

When dealing with children, professionals such as educators, judges and doctors would normally act in accordance with the ______________ principle.

Answer 21

best interests

Question 22

From the perspective of the _______ profession, the 4 main guiding ethical principles derived from common morality are beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, and autonomy.

Answer 22

medical

Question 23

The principle of ______________ requires that we not deliberately create unnecessary harm or injury to the patient, either through acts committed or omitted.

Answer 23

nonmaleficence

Explanation:

This principle applies both to acts done and those which are not done. So, the principle would be breached by a medical professional forgetting (omitting) to give a patient the correct drug at the correct time.

Question 24

In order for patients in a medical environment to give their ________ consent, medical professionals must have clearly and truthfully explained all of the relevant information to them.

Answer 24

informed

Explanation:

Patients and their family members expect that medical professionals honor their moral and ethical duties to inform them completely about their situation. The veracity of the information will empower the patient to make an informed decision.

Question 25

Health and _____ professionals owe their patients and clients a duty of confidentiality regarding their information and situation.

Answer 25

legal

Explanation:

Patients and their family members expect that medical professionals honor their moral and ethical duties to inform them completely about their situation. The veracity of the information will empower the patient to make an informed decision.

Question 26

Health and _____ professionals owe their patients and clients a duty of confidentiality regarding their information and situation.

Answer 26

legal

Explanation:

This ethical requirement is paramount in our dealings with these professionals and is clearly laid out in the ethical guidelines of the professional bodies of health and legal workers.

Question 27

The principle of _______ within a biomedical context refers to equal treatment of equal persons and fair allocation of resources.

Answer 27

justice

Explanation:

Medical resources must be equally distributed between equal patients and not only, for example, to patients who are from a particular social class.

Question 28

________ Ethics describes the development of responsible practices within the culture of a company in matters like corporate governance, accurate accounting and audits, fair labor practices and environmental management.

Answer 28

Business

Question 29

____ labor practices are essential to ensure that workers are provided with a safe and humane working environment and compensated with a fair wage.

Answer 29

Fair

Explanation:

Companies are ethically responsible for the health and safety of their workers. They should provide a safe environment for example, adequate lighting and correct equipment for the workers to carry out their jobs.

Question 30

When using natural resources, companies have a responsibility to balance their need to generate profits with _____________ degeneration and sustainability.

Answer 30

environmental

Explanation:

Some environmental laws are in place in several states to protect Nature, but just because there isn’t a law against it does not make it morally right.

Question 31

Many business and political leaders ______ environmental sustainability for economic reasons.

Answer 31

oppose

Explanation:

Business and political leaders argue that the cost of environmental sustainability includes lost jobs, a lower standard of living and much higher costs to do business.

Question 32

Environmentalists believe that environmental sustainability is important to the welfare of ______ people.

Answer 32

future

Explanation:

Many environmentalists contend that unless we change our behavior, civilization will break down in a few generations.

Question 33

In hiring employees, companies should have clear-cut hiring policies that prohibit any form of unfair ______________.

Answer 33

discrimination

Explanation:

This is both a legal and moral duty. Companies cannot and should not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion, etc.

Question 34

The senders of unsolicited _____ messages could be considered as breaching our moral and ethical right to privacy.

Answer 34

email

Explanation:

As individuals, we have not consented to the receipt of these messages from unknown persons or companies and hence have the right to be left alone.

Question 35

The US Patriot Act, enacted in 2001, was designed to considerably increase the surveillance and investigative powers of local law enforcement agencies, but it has been argued that since it was hastily introduced, it lacks the normal checks and balances that safeguard _______________.

Answer 35

civil liberties

Explanation:

The Patriot Act has been criticized for providing excessive powers to law enforcement agencies to interfere in the privacy rights of individuals.

Question 36

It could be argued that the Californian law whereby criminals would automatically be sentenced to a 25 year to life sentence if they are convicted of a crime three times is an example of ____ justice because it applies to any crime, even shoplifting, so that three convictions for shoplifting would result in an extremely long prison sentence that is disproportionate to the nature of the crime.

Answer 36

cruel

Explanation:

Sentences for crimes should be proportionate to the nature of the offence and justice should be seen as satisfying the principle of fairness. Therefore, for example, crimes that are nonviolent in nature tend to attract lower sentences than violent ones.

Question 37

Lawyers normally have a strict duty of confidentiality to clients but this duty can be breached where the lawyer believes that the information revealed will save lives or prevent ____________ injury.

Answer 37

considerable

Explanation:

This ethical ruling is laid down by the American Bar Association and their ethics panel used the example of an imaginary lawyer who is informed that a client has accidentally discharged toxic waste into the water supply of a town. The lawyer alerts authorities to avoid a health crisis.

Question 38

Lawyers have a fiduciary obligation to put their ______ interests first over all other considerations.

Answer 38

clients

Explanation:

A fiduciary obligation arises out of trust and confidence.

Question 39

A crime can be defined as a violation of the State; where a law has been broken, blame must be attributed in a contest between the State and offender and the punishment meted out to achieve ___________ justice.

Answer 39

retributive

Explanation:

By its nature, retributive justice implies that the offender must pay for his crime and that the punishment fit the crime. Hence, a more severe crime deserves a more severe punishment.

Question 40

The intended outcome of retributive justice is the restoration of society’s moral balance through punishment, the __________ of further illegal behavior, and the protection of the community.

Answer 40

deterrence

Question 41

Retributive justice aims to ________ further criminal activity of the offender and to deter others from committing similar illegal acts.

Answer 41

prevent

Question 42

The opposite of retributive justice is restorative justice, where the violation is seen as against the person rather than the State and solutions are sought between the offender, victim, and community in an attempt to encourage _______ and reconciliation.

Answer 42

healing

Explanation:

This is the definition of restorative justice and this type of justice is gaining momentum in the US because it moves beyond punishment and deals with the healing and reconciliation that is necessary following a crime.

Question 43

Distributive justice relates to the fair division of a particular limited resource relative to ______.

Answer 43

demand

Explanation:

Resources must be divided fairly within communities and this is what distributive justice refers to in dividing resources relative to demand.

Question 44

One of the most important arguments against reducing economic inequality by economic redistribution is that it violates the rights of those whose ________ is taken.

Answer 44

property

Question 45

In the ___________ style of taxation, a government may tax the rich in order to give to the poor. This is a form of economic redistribution.

Answer 45

Robin Hood

Question 46

The US governments duties in relation to their ethical obligations to citizens are laid out in the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, ___________________ Act of 1988 and 1996, and the Ethics Reform Act of 1989.

Answer 46

OGE Reauthorization

Explanation:

These are the pieces of legislation that determine the ethical guidelines of government action.

Question 47

The ethical behavior of public employees is guided by Executive Orders issued by the President. The two core concepts regulating the behavior of public employees are that they should not use their position for private ____ and that they must act impartially and not favor any person or private organization.

Answer 47

gain

Explanation:

It is morally wrong to take advantage of your position within the government to receive personal gain. For example, accepting a bribe for awarding a contract to a particular group.

Question 48

The FOIA Act of 1966 lays down the rules for persons to obtain records of federal government agencies, thereby creating a degree of ____________ in government operations as well as allowing individuals access to information held about themselves by these agencies and granting them with the power to insist that the records be corrected if in error.

Answer 48

transparency

Explanation:

In particular, FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) allows people to access records about themselves and individuals can insist that the records be changed if incorrect. This is very important in protecting the privacy rights of individuals.

Question 49

In 1999, the Board of _____ decided to waive the company’s Code Of Ethics in order to hide huge amounts of debt in off-balance sheet deals, thereby breaking their duty of care to their employees, investors, partners, and the markets as well as raising questions about the lack of checks and balances to ensure ethical behavior by companies.

Answer 49

Enron

Explanation:

As the leaders of a company, the Board members at Enron owed a duty of care to all those who would be affected by their actions. It is arguable that they were negligent in their duties.

Question 50

The dramatic downfall of companies like Enron was precipitated by unethical financial reporting by their accountants and this led to the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, thereby removing the previous practice of self-__________.

Answer 50

regulation

Explanation:

Many professionals belong to and are represented by their own organizations. They usually champion self-regulation, creating internal rules of ethical and professional conduct. The downfall of Enron led to fears that the accounting profession and capital markets could not be trusted. Hence, the US government intervened via legislation to restore confidence.

Question 51

Where research studies are conducted on the general population, then ____________ justice must be practiced to ensure that no segment of the population is excluded.

Answer 51

distributive

Explanation:

Where a group is excluded, for example, women, then the findings will be tainted. In the past, pharmaceutical trials were mainly conducted on male subjects and as a consequence, some medications were later found to be unsuitable for the female physiology.

Question 52

Some people have argued that it is ethically questionable for the US to spend excessive amounts of money– hundreds of billions of dollars–on the military because that money could be more ____________ used in civilian orientated programs.

Answer 52

productively

Explanation:

These people believe that spending on the military is natural and inevitable but that this amount is excessive. There is also concern about the futility of war and the lack of benefits that result from waging it. Spending the money more productively on saving lives and nurturing humans programs such as health care, sanitation, school building, housing, etc. are considered a more fruitful, as opposed to destructive, approach.

Question 53

China introduced a one child policy to control their spiraling population growth, but many Americans would probably object to the state laying down such rules on the grounds that it is _____________ and breaches the human rights of the people.

Answer 53

paternalistic

Explanation:

This intervention can be viewed as paternalistic in that the state steps in like a father figure to make rules and control the actions of his children. This can be considered hard paternalism and must be weighed against the cost to society of increased population growth, where resources would be inadequate to meet the needs of more than 1 child per family.

Question 54

Many experts believe that ________ development is one way to control population.

Answer 54

economic

Explanation:

Recent studies indicate a relationship between income and family size–as income increases, family size falls. Some experts believe that by raising the standard of living among the poor, population growth will be reduced.

Question 55

Recently, the pharmaceutical giant Glaxo drastically cut the prices of drugs that treat HIV because of moral pressure from individuals who claim that the drugs are too expensive for the many HIV victims in ______.

Answer 55

Africa

Explanation:

Glaxo was accused of ignoring the majority of sufferers of this disease and putting profits before saving lives. As these HIV victims were poor, they had to die because they could not afford treatment.

Question 56

There has been considerable ethical debate about the introduction of research sweat shops by pharmaceutical companies in Third World countries to create new drugs more quickly. Despite the rationale that this policy would save more lives, questions are asked as to whether the research subjects have the power of ________ to refuse treatment as they are in a desperate plight and may not be completely aware of what is being done to them.

Answer 56

autonomy

Explanation:

The principle of autonomy in bioethics relates to the freedom of the subjects to either accept or refuse the proposed treatment.

Question 57

The case of Roe v Wade (1973) acknowledges the constitutional right of privacy and gives a woman the nonabsolute right to ________.

Answer 57

abortion

Explanation:

The Constitution does not explicitly use the word privacy but the Supreme Court has inferred this right from various parts of the Bill of Rights and common law.

Question 58

The pro-lifers in the abortion debate argue that abortion is morally wrong because it kills a ___________, but they make an ethical exception to preserve the mother’s life.

Answer 58

human being

Explanation:

Where the life of the mother is in danger, then an abortion is ethically justified.

Question 59

The most liberal view on abortion is that a woman’s right to choose whether to have an abortion can be exercised at ________ during the pregnancy.

Answer 59

any time

Explanation:

This view is based on the belief that the fetus is not a person and hence does not have the right to life.

Question 60

The moderate voices on abortion argue that it is morally acceptable depending on the _____________ stage of the fetus.

Answer 60

developmental

Explanation:

Most moderates disagree on where the line should be drawn on an acceptable time frame to allow abortions. Most do agree that it is acceptable in the first trimester of the pregnancy and unacceptable in the final trimester unless the mothers health is threatened.

Question 61

Infertility clinics create embryos in ___________ treatments, but many that are created are discarded when not used and moral controversy has erupted because some people believe that embryos have the right to life.

Answer 61

infertility

Question 62

The use of public funds to cover the cost of abortions for poor women can be ethically supported on the grounds that prohibition of such funding would deny women the _____ right to abortion on the grounds of their financial status and be a breach of the principle of justice.

Answer 62

legal

Explanation:

Under the principle of justice, there should be equal treatment of equals. So, if only affluent women could afford abortions, then equality would not be achieved.

Question 63

With regards to suicide, the 3 viewpoints are that it is always wrong, it is always right and that it _______.

Answer 63

depends

Explanation:

Some philosophers argue that the circumstances must be considered before making a moral judgment.

Question 64

It can be argued that being autonomous individuals, we should be able to choose how we live or die but some philosophers believe that this right is not absolute and that we must consider the ____________ of our actions.

Answer 64

consequences

Explanation:

This is because suicide may cause unjustified harm to those left behind; for example, families and friends.