Relationships Between Ethical Traditions Part 1 Flashcards
Tom went hunting and legally shot a very rare deer that was popular with the local people; according to an ______ _______________, there would be greater total well-being if the animal was not shot, whereas the rule utilitarian would conclude that it would be preferable to make a rule disallowing the killing of rare and popular animals.
act utilitarian. According to act utilitarians, we should carry out the act that will maximize the total well-being (or the smallest decrease in well-being) of all affected.
The people from a society meet to decide whether they should enslave a particular race of people in their community. A person who is attracted to the hypothetical social contract theory in the spirit of Rawls would ___________ (agree or disagree?) with the proposal.
Disagree. According to Rawls, the members of the community are in the Original Position behind the veil of ignorance, not knowing their position, race, job, etc. in the community. Hence, they do not know if they are members of the race that could be enslaved. Therefore, they would disagree with this plan.
When it comes to determining whether sex outside of marriage is morally acceptable, the Kantian would have to will a universal law allowing sex before marriage without contradiction and then determine whether these couples are treating each other with ___________ according to the Categorical Imperative.
Respect. The test for respect of persons is the second formulation of the Categorical Imperative. So, if the universal law can be willed without contradiction (as it probably can in this case) and as long as the couples are treating themselves and each other with respect; then a Kantian would not find sex outside of marriage immoral.
__________ believed that casual sex and sex outside of marriage was to be avoided because it was disrespectful to the parties and could result in serious emotional and physical consequences, such as unwanted pregnancy.
Epictetus. This was what Epictetus elucidated in The Art of Living.
If a person manipulated another to have sex with them, then this will breach Kant’s categorical imperative of respect for persons and so our sexual relations with others must always be purely ______________.
Voluntary. If our relations are completely voluntary, then the persons involved will be able to make up their own mind freely without the fear of coercion or manipulation. An example of manipulation is if one party convinces the other to have sex with them based on a lie.
One ______________ argument for defending pornography is that it can increase sexual satisfaction for couples by providing heightened sexual stimulation and arousal.
Utilitarian. Pornography can be both defended and criticized from the utilitarian perspective but it will be difficult to weigh up the harms and benefits. Utilitarians decide on the course of action that produces the greatest well-being for the community, but it will be difficult to measure the evidence of harms against the benefits because of the subjectivity of perspectives.
As one of the Ten Commandments is to not commit adultery, the ___________ ____________ theorist will therefore conclude that adultery is immoral.
Divine Command. The Divine Command theorist believes that if God forbids adultery, then it is immoral.
A utilitarian is likely to conclude that adultery in an open marriage where both parties have agreed to sexual relations with others is morally _________ (right or wrong?).
Wrong. This is because even though it is an open marriage, it is likely that their behavior will create feelings of jealously and insecurity and eventually lead to divorce.
The hedonistic Epicurus believed that happiness could be achieved by maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain and yet he would have probably declared adultery to be immoral because the greatest happiness was achieved through a moderate life which led to ________________.
Tranquility. It is unlikely that adultery will bring the individual a life of peace and tranquility. It could possibly be considered a form of excessive desire that would cause emotional pain.
Fertility clinics create and then destroy embryos that are not utilized and it could be argued that they are applying ______________ reasoning by providing childless couples with the opportunity to conceive and hence raise overall happiness.
Utilitarian. The overall effect is an increase in total well-being; therefore, the act can be morally justified
When it comes to abortion, act utilitarians would contend that it must be looked at on a ______-____-______ basis.
Case-by-case. Each individual case will have to be assessed to determine if the total well-being will be greater if the abortion is carried out. If yes, then it is the correct thing to do.
The Kantian approach to abortion is complicated and leaves many open questions because it depends whether you are looking at it from the perspective of the woman or the ________.
Fetus. When willing a universal law about abortion, the perspective of the fetus will be different to that of the woman. Also, questions arise as to whether the fetus can have a perspective because it may not have the power of conscious thought yet. For the respect of person’s formulation of the categorical imperative, it also depends on perspective since the fetus is not being treated with respect and it is arguable that the woman herself is not treating herself with respect in having an abortion.
Abortion may give rise to the virtue of _____________ for the fetus where it is severely damaged or for the woman where the pregnancy is the consequence of rape.
Compassion. Virtuous acts encourage social peace because their characteristics are advantageous to both the possessor of those virtues and the recipients of the virtuous acts.
A company promoting reverse bungee-jumping rides has sought a license with the government to offer this activity to the people; if the government made the decision according to Mill’s beliefs, then they would _______ (allow or disallow?) it.
Allow. Under Mill’s harm principle, competent individuals make up their own minds if they want to take part in any dangerous activities as long as they are made aware of the dangers.
Jill has been convicted of a crime and sentenced to death. Many would say that she does not deserve such a harsh punishment for so trivial a crime and so several friends offer her the opportunity to escape but she refuses as she believes in the teachings of the philosopher _____________, who propounded that you must always obey the state.
Socrates. He believed that there was an implied contract between the citizen and the state and if you lived in that state then you are subject to the rules and decisions of the state.
Adam has been caught stealing some food from the market to feed his starving family; if the judge was a follower of Aristotle, his moral conclusion would be that Adam was ________.
Guilty. Aristotle believed that some rules were inviolable and these included the law prohibiting theft.
Harry is a bank employee who has stolen from his employer in order to secure the release of his family who has been kidnapped. According to Aristotle, his actions would be ________.
Moral. Harry was coerced into stealing. He did not act voluntarily and hence may not be held morally responsible for his actions. On the other hand, this sort of situation cannot justify every kind of behavior that would normally be considered immoral. So, if Harry killed 10 bank employees and ran over a couple of children while escaping from the bank, then the act of coercion cannot justify this kind of behavior.
A society is ruled by a tyrant who has caused much dissatisfaction to the people he rules, so they decide to rebel and overthrow the tyrant. According to Locke, this action is justifiable because he believed in ___________ rule.
Majority. Locke believed that the formation of the society gave their members the right of revolution where they were displeased with the ruler.
Arthur has a terminal illness and has been told by doctors that he has 12 months to live, so he wants to commit suicide. His wife who is a Kantian ___________ to his plans.
Objects. Kant believed that suicide was always immoral because one could not will a universal law permitting suicide in every case of a terminal illness. Many people do not agree with Kant on this point.
Fred is thinking of committing suicide because he owes $75,000 to friends, family members and his bank. To determine his course of action, he reads the writings of Plato and Aristotle and decides to follow their advice by ___________ (committing or not committing?) suicide.
Not committing. Plato believed that suicide permitted by the gods was morally acceptable. Aristotle and Plato did not prohibit suicide absolutely but felt that suicide committed out of cowardice (as would be the case here – a way of avoiding your responsibilities) was immoral.
