Ethics Final

Question 1

Peter Singer (world poverty): it is wrong NOT to donate to charitable organizations BECAUSE

Answer 1

it is wrong to NOT donate to charitable organizations because we can donate without risking something nearly as important as keeping someone alive

Question 2

Peter Singer (world poverty): Marginal Utility

Answer 2

“The level at which, by giving more, I would cause as much suffering to myself or my dependents as I would relieve by my gift” ie –> if giving to someone in need does NOT hurt yourself/people who depend on you, you SHOULD give

Question 3

Garrett Hardin (world poverty): Problems with helping the world’s poor

Answer 3

1) 2/3 (majority) of world population is poor
2) each nation has a limited carrying capacity
3) poorer nations reproduce 4x faster
4) helping poorer countries prevents them from learning from their mistakes/being self sufficient
5) help –> no motivation for change –> more poverty
6) leads to tragedy of the commons, ie societal collapse

Question 4

Garrett Hardin (world poverty): Tragedy of the Commons

Answer 4

the tragedy of the commons is the collapse of the entire societal system due to overhelping everyone in need. Hardin argues that the tragedy of the commons will happen if wealthy nations donate to poor nations, thus, wealthy nations should NOT donate to poor nations

Question 5

John Arthur (world poverty): What are moral rules supposed to do?

Answer 5

Moral rules are supposed to promote the welfare of oneself/friends/family/anyone who can be harmed

Question 6

John Arthur (world poverty): What does it mean to say that the ideal moral code must be able to be supported by almost everyone? What can/cannot it assume about people?

Answer 6

The ideal moral code must be supported by everyone, meaning it CANNOT assume that people are more objective/selfless than they really are

Question 7

John Arthur (world poverty): Why would the moral code include rights/entitlements, and not just an emphasis on human happiness/basic equality?

Answer 7

The moral code would include rights/entitlements because most people would NOT accept a code that forced them to ALWAYS give away their extra money/organs to help a stranger

Question 8

Onora O’Neil (world poverty): what does it mean to treat someone as an end in itself?

Answer 8

Treating someone as an end in itself means treating them as a rational, autonomous being (they can do what they want)

Question 9

Onora O’Neil (world poverty): 2 Limits of Autonomy

Answer 9

1) humans have a finite amount of knowledge of possible actions & their effects
2) humans have limited autonomy/we depend on others

Question 10

Onora O’Neil (world poverty): How does the fact that humans have limits inform our duty of beneficence (good) to others, especially the poor?

Answer 10

famine and severe poverty restrict one’s autonomy, (and famine/poverty is out of their hands) therefore it is our duty to help the poor

Question 11

Abortion: Philosopher’s View
1) Mary Anne Warren

Answer 11

✅ abortion IS permissible and any laws that restrict a woman from having an abortion are unjust violations of her moral rights

Question 12

Abortion: Philosopher’s View
2) Patrick Lee & Robert George

Answer 12

⛔ abortion is NOT permissible EXCEPT when the woman’s live is in danger due to the pregnancy

Question 13

Abortion: Philosopher’s View
3) Judith Jarvis Thomson

Answer 13

✅ abortion IS permissible when precautions have been Taken or carrying the child to Term would require large sacrifices

Question 14

Abortion: Philosopher’s View
4) Rosalind Hursthouse (hurt = vicious)

Answer 14

🟡 abortion IS permissible only when NO VICIOUS MOTIVES led to pregnancy and NO VICIOUS MOTIVES are involved in the abortion decision (wrong to SOME DEGREE)

Question 15

Abortion:
Mary Anne Warren:
Where does a being’s right to life come from?

Answer 15

a being’s right to life comes from HOW DEVELOPED it is

Question 16

Abortion:
Mary Anne Warren:
5 Criteria for Personhood

Answer 16

1) consciousness
2) reasoning
3) self motivated activity
4) communicate
5) self awareness

Question 17

Abortion:
Mary Anne Warren:
How does she use the 5 Criteria for Personhood to argue for a pro-choice position?

Answer 17

Warren claims that a fetus is NOT a person because it does not have ALL 5 of the criteria for personhood. Thus, abortion IS morally permissible because a fetus is not a person

Question 18

Abortion:
Patrick Lee & Robert George:
a) Where does a being’s right to life come from?
b) What do they think is problematic about Warren’s view of where moral rights come from?

Answer 18

a) a being’s right to life comes from what KIND OF BEING they are
b) a development based theory (warren) makes determining moral rights & worth unreliable/unpredictable/random

Question 19

Abortion:
Patrick Lee and Robert George:
WHY is abortion wrong, DESPITE it being hard to carry a child to term and both the mother/fetus have a right to life?

Answer 19

the burden of pregnancy is LESS than the harm the fetus would suffer by being aborted

Question 20

Abortion:
Judith Thomson:
What determines whether an abortion is morally permissible or not?

Answer 20

whether the woman CONSENTS to being pregnant or not. we have NO RESPONSIBILITY to keep someone else alive if we have not consented to do so.

Question 21

Abortion:
Judith Thomson:
What does the famous violinist scenario supposed to demonstrate about the RIGHT TO LIFE?

Answer 21

the right to life exists in the right to NOT be UNJUSTLY KILLED (meaning abortions are fair)

Question 22

Abortion:
Judith Thomson:
How is the famous violinist scenario supposed to be relevant to the abortion debate?

Answer 22

the famous violinist scenario is the hypothetical scenario in which a terminally ill violinist who needs a kidney is plugged into you, without your consent, and if you unplug him, he will die. is it immoral to unplug him? –>
it shows that NOT all abortions are unjust killings

Question 23

Abortion:
Rosalind Hursthouse:
What reasons does she give for thinking that a woman who opts NOT to be a mother via abortion may be Manifesting a flawed grasp of what her life should be about?

Answer 23

a woman who opts NOT to be a mother via abortion may be manifesting a flawed grasp of what her life should be about because MOTHERHOOD/having kids is a WORTHWHILE/VALUABLE part of a FLOURISHING life

Question 24

Abortion:
Rosalind Hursthouse:
What VICE(S) does she think are shown if a woman disregards the fact that abortion ends a new human life?

Answer 24

she thinks not taking abortion seriously is vicious. she thinks it shows a lack of self confidence and self responsibility

Question 25

Drugs: Philosopher’s View
1) David Boaz

Answer 25

drugs SHOULD be legalized in order to promote self responsiBility & to end govt. intrusion

Question 26

Drugs: Philosopher’s View
2) Peter DeMarneffe

Answer 26

drugs should be DECRIMINALIZED, NOT LEGALIZED for personal/non-commercial use

Question 27

Drugs: Philosopher’s View
3) Daniel Shapiro

Answer 27

drugs are NOT ADDICTIVE, legalization WOULD NOT cause the widespread problems prohibitionists fear

Question 28

Drugs: Philosopher’s View
4) Theodore Dalrymple

Answer 28

legalization CANNOT be supported PHILOSOPHICALLY or PRAGMATICALLY (practically)

Question 29

Drugs:
David Boaz first 4 Reasons for legalization of all drugs

Answer 29

1) the war on drugs is pointless
2) drugs create economic opportunities for dealers
3) drug enforcement infringes on one’s right to live
4) drugs DO NOT cause violence, the HIGH PRICES of drugs cause violence

Question 30

Drugs:
Why does Peter DeMarneffe OPPOSE legalization of drugs?

Answer 30

legalization –> more drug use & more drug abuse

Question 31

Drugs:
DeMarneffe: those at risk of harm from drug abuse have the strongest complaint against WHO?

Answer 31

those at risk of harm from drug abuse have the strongest complaint against DRUG MANUFACTUERS over private users

Question 32

Drugs:
Daniel Shapiro: What are the 3 components of addiction?

Answer 32

1) Drug - the type of drug
2) Set - one’s values/expectations of the drug
3) Setting - cultural/social aspects of drug use

Question 33

Drugs:
Shapiro: Reasons why one’s social setting affects their likelihood of becoming addicted to drugs

Answer 33

1) hospital patients prescribed narcotics rarely get addicted
2) Vietnam veterans stopped using heroin after the war
3) not all countries have violence linked w/ alcohol abuse
4) cocaine users can be functional

Question 34

Drugs:
Shapiro:
a) Why do smokers find it hard to quit?
b) What does he think smokers are actually addicted to?

Answer 34

a) smoking is hard to quit because it is integrated into daily lives, it has mild effects, and it is legal
b) smokers are addicted to the ACTIVITY, not the drug itself

Question 35

Drugs:
Theodore Dalrymple:
Response to the Philosophical case for drug legalization

Answer 35

1) other people are affected by drugs
2) people cannot always do whatever they want/no distinction between important/unimportant
3) taking drugs reduces freedom by limiting interests

Question 36

Drugs:
Dalrymple:
Response to “The war on drugs is a lost war, so we should legalize/regulate drugs”

Answer 36

nobody is fighting to make murder/rape/war/etc legal (just because it still happens) regardless of if it is legal or not

Question 37

Drugs:
Dalrymple:
Response to “Legalizing drugs would reduce crime and alleviate prison overcrowding”

Answer 37

legalization does not change the mindset of drug criminals

Question 38

Drugs:
Dalrymple:
Response to “Legalizing drugs would reduce governmental involvement in our private lives”

Answer 38

legalization would lead to increased govt. intrusion in our lives

Question 39

Gun Laws:
Samuel Wheeler’s main reason for thinking that responsible, properly-trained citizens should be able to carry guns

Answer 39

people have a
right to
1) resist unjust coercion 2) protect themselves from harm
3) resist govt. coercion if the govt. likely goes bad

Question 40

Guns:
1) What does Hugh LaFollette mean by a “fundamental right?
b) Why doesn’t he think there is a fundamental right to own a gun?

Answer 40

a) a fundamental right is a non-derivative right (does not come from other rights) that protects a fundamental interest
b) there is no fundamental right to own a gun because guns are not needed to live a flourishing life

Question 41

Drugs:
LaFollette:
Why does LaFollette think that we should hold gun owners responsible for any harm caused by the use of their guns?

Answer 41

we should hold gun owners responsible for any harm caused by the use of their guns because guns are INHERENTLY dangerous, and it is reasonable to expect people to take responsibility for their risky actions

Question 42

Guns:
David DeGrazia:
What does the moral right to own a gun depend on?

Answer 42

the moral right to own a gun depends on its role in enabling the realization of one/more basic rights

Question 43

Guns:
DeGrazia:
Why does DeGrazia think the only people who have a moral right to own a gun are those who have a special need for them/can be trusted to store/use them safely?

Answer 43

The only people who have a moral right to own a gun are those who have a special need for them / can be trusted to store/use them safely because GUN OWNERSHIP makes households LESS SAFE

Question 44

Guns:
Timothy Hsiao:
WHY does he think the gun control debate is about the right to an effective means of self defense and NOT about average safety?

Answer 44

Hsiao thinks the gun control debate is about the right to an effective means of self defense because having the right to self defense implies the right to obtain a reasonable means of defense

Question 45

Guns:
Hsiao:
Why does Hsiao think that the right to an effective means of self-defense generally cannot be outweighed by an appeal to social utility?

Answer 45

he thinks this because he believes the HARM of guns would have to be much STRONGER than the BENEFITS of social safety in order for it to be valid to restrict gun access