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Question
John Stuart Mill says that humans by nature desire happiness and nothing but happiness;
therefore happiness is the standard by which we should judge human conduct, and therefore
the principle of utility is at the heart of morality. But this argument is controversial, because
a. it reasons from what is to what should be.
b. it equivocates on the word happiness.
c. it is internally inconsistent.
d. Mill failed to defend his theory.
Answer
This answer is hidden. It contains 72 characters.
Related questions
Q:
A common utilitarian argument in favor of capital punishment is that the death penalty
a. prevents the criminal from striking again.
b. reduces the severity of crimes.
c. makes the general public feel safe.
d. is endorsed by all religions.
Q:
What is a major difference between descriptive ethics and normative ethics?
a. Normative ethics concerns moral beliefs, whereas descriptive ethics concerns moral behaviors.
b. Normative ethics implies that some peoples moral beliefs are incorrect, whereas descriptive ethics does not.
c. Descriptive ethics cannot be done properly before doing normative ethics.
d. Descriptive ethics is not a scientific topic of study, whereas normative ethics is.
Q:
In arguments over abortion, both the conservative and the liberal agree that
a. abortion is the killing of an innocent person.
b. abortion before birth would not be the killing of an innocent person.
c. it is wrong to kill an innocent person.
d. the unborn is not a person until birth.
Q:
Chinese parents who argue that aborting female fetuses prevents economic harm to the family,
and should be allowed, would be using a(n) ________ argument.
a. Kantian c. ethical egoist
b. utilitarian d. legal
Q:
In Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
a. all abortions at any stage of pregnancy are permissible.
b. in the first three months of pregnancy, a state may regulate (but not ban) abortion; after viability, a state may forbid abortions, even those necessary to preserve the health or life of the woman.
c. in the first three months of pregnancy, the womans right to an abortion is unrestricted; after this period, a state may regulate and even forbid abortions.
d. in the first three months of pregnancy, the womans right to an abortion is unrestricted; after this period, a state may regulate (but not ban) abortion; after viability, a state may regulate and even forbid abortions, except when abortion is necessary to preserve the health or life of the woman.
Q:
Making the production and sale of drugs no longer a punishable crime is called ________.
Q:
One reason to support a harm-reduction drug policy is that criminalization of drugs has disproportionately affected minorities.
Q:
The deliberate termination of a pregnancy by surgical or medical (with drugs) means is known
generally as
a. therapeutic abortion. c. abortion, or induced abortion.
b. trimester abortion. d. spontaneous abortion.
Q:
The role played in moral theories of the principle of ________, which says that from the moral point of view, all persons are considered equal and should be treated accordingly, is called into question by feminist ethicists.
Q:
Drug addiction is defined as an intense craving for the drug and compulsive, uncontrolled use
of the drug despite harm done to the user or other people.
Q:
Unlike Kant, who maintained that reason is all that is necessary for making moral decisions, feminist ethicists insist that emotion should play a role, too.
Q:
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Q:
Alan Goldman says that the conventional view of sexuality is that sexual behavior must have
a morally significant goal, such as procreation. But he argues that
a. sex is directed towards goals but not toward conventional goals.
b. sex is not a means to some other goal.
c. sex should be directed toward communicating ideas or expressing love.
d. sex is a spiritual journey.
Q:
An unmarried man and woman have frequent sex and engage in activities that most of society
would label unconventional, unnatural, and deviant. Their sexual behavior results in the
greatest net good for all concerned. A utilitarian would therefore say that their sexual
activities are
a. permissible except for deviant sex.
b. permissible except for activities labeled unnatural.
c. impermissible.
d. permissible.
Q:
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a. hypothetical imperatives are universal, whereas categorical imperatives are not.
b. hypothetical imperatives are rational and categorical imperatives are conditional.
c. hypothetical imperatives are absolutist, whereas categorical imperatives are not.
d. hypothetical imperatives are conditional, whereas categorical imperatives are unconditional.
Q:
Kissing someone without first obtaining consent is an example of
a. rape. c. both rape and sexual assault.
b. sexual assault. d. neither rape nor sexual assault.
Q:
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by informed, consenting adults is permissible is known as the ________ view.
a. hedonistic c. liberal
b. conventional d. moderate
Q:
In a recent public opinion poll, ________ percent of respondents said they believe that it is
morally acceptable for a man and woman to have sex before marriage.
a. 90 c. 25
b. 66 d. 40
Q:
John Stuart Mill called the utilitarian principle, by which all actions can be judged, the
________ principle.
Q:
The ethical theory that says that the right action is the one that advances ones own best interests is called ________.
Q:
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Q:
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a. greedy, selfish, violent, self-destructive, and desperate.
b. compassionate, generous, and considerate.
c. eager to believe in a religious doctrine.
d. lazy and unambitious.
Q:
Rule-utilitarianism has been accused of being internally inconsistent because the theory can
a. easily lapse back into act-utilitarianism. c. always fall back on rigid rules.
b. be defended through act-utilitarianism. d. never be understood.
Q:
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basis and argue that the concept of race should be the main focus of science.
Q:
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divided into separate and distinct races, (2) race enables us to explain the most basic
differences among people, and (3) some races are superior to others.
Q:
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white males end up losing outeven though these whites had no part in past racism and
may have never discriminated against anyone. Supporters of preferential hiring practices
will say that
a. these policies will actually benefit white males and minorities equally.
b. all white males are actually racist, even if they dont mean to be.
c. the injustice to white males makes amends for past injustices to minorities.
d. white males benefit from a history of policies that discriminate against minorities.
Q:
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is a morally relevant reason for treating them differently. This principle is called
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b. the greatest happiness principle. d. impartiality.
Q:
If someone argues that euthanasia is permissible because it maximizes happiness, she would
be taking a ________ view of the matter.
Q:
Both objectivists and cultural relativists agree that
a. the truth of moral judgments depends on whether ones culture approves of them.
b. moral judgments differ from culture to culture.
c. moral judgments do not differ from culture to culture.
d. the truth of moral judgments does not depend on whether ones culture approves of them.
Q:
A plausible nonconsequentialist argument for pacifism is
a. war is always wrong because in the deliberate killing of human beings it violates a fundamental rightthe right to life.
b. war is never justified, because it always produces more bad than good. The catastrophic loss of life and the widespread destruction of war can never offset whatever political
or material gains are achieved; riches, land, oil, or power cannot outweigh the carnage.
c. war inevitably leads to more war, and multiple wars can never outweigh the good that might come out of so many conflicts.
d. the loss of even one life in a war is so catastrophically bad that no amount of good resulting from the war could counterbalance it.