Q&A Hero

Q: The nonconsequentialist answer to the question Why are racists wrong? is that they hurt people.

Q: The practice of trying to make amends for, or eradicating, discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and gender is called ________.

Q: Because people will renege on deals they enter, Hobbes believes that what is needed for enforcing the social contract is an absolute sovereigna fearsome, powerful person he refers to as the a. Divine Father. c. Leviathan. b. Utility Monster. d. categorical imperative.

Q: One of the concerns raised by critics of social contract theory is that vulnerable individuals, such as the severely disabled, the very poor, nonhuman animals, children, and infants, have no moral status and no rights according to the theory.

Q: The consequentialist answer to the question Why are racists wrong? is likely to appeal to two fundamental moral principles: respect for persons and justice.

Q: The ethical theory that says that the right action is the one that advances ones own best interests is called ________.

Q: One of the criticisms of social contract theory is that its doubtful that those who are supposed to be parties to the contract have actually given a. due attention to morality. b. any thought to whether Hobbes was correct. c. any consideration to those who are not party to the contract. d. their consent to the terms of the contract.

Q: To the classic utilitarian, ________ is the only intrinsic good.

Q: In his explanation of weak affirmative action, Louis P. Pojman argues, There is no more moral requirement to guarantee that 12 percent of professors are Black than to guarantee that 85 percent of the players in the National Basketball Association are White. He is here trying to show that weak affirmative action aims for equal opportunity, not equal results.

Q: John Stuart Mill called the utilitarian principle, by which all actions can be judged, the ________ principle.

Q: Defenders of act-utilitarianism insist that the scenarios put forth by critics that seem to show utilitarianism in conflict with commonsense morality are a. misleading and implausible. c. too realistic. b. likely to occur at least some of the time. d. common but inconsequential.

Q: The traditional idea about race is that it consists of heritable biological features common to all members of a racial groupfeatures that explain the character and cultural traits of those members. However, most scientists and philosophers believe that this view is false.

Q: Utilitarianism (in all its forms) requires that in our actions we always try to maximize utility, everyone considered. This requirement has given rise to a. ethical egoism. c. the maximization problem. b. the no-rest problem. d. the Golden Rule problem.

Q: Some philosophers, known as race skeptics, believe that race has a physical scientific basis and argue that the concept of race should be the main focus of science.

Q: Commonsense morality makes a distinction between doing our duty and doing more than duty requires, what are called supererogatory actions. This distinction seems to disappear in a. ethical egoism. c. utilitarianism. b. social contract theory. d. Kants theory.

Q: The view of many researchers and scholars is that races (in the biological sense) dont exist, but racialized groups do.

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: Lawrence Blum insists that every instance of racial conflict, insensitivity, discomfort, miscommunication, exclusion, injustice, or ignorance should be called racist.

Q: Utilitarianism reminds us that a. the consequences of our actions do not matter most of the time. b. not everyone counts equally in moral deliberations. c. some absolutist rules are necessary. d. the consequences of our actions make a difference in our moral deliberations.

Q: Currently, blacks and dark-skinned racial minorities lag well behind whites in virtually every area of social life; they are about three times more likely to be poor than whites, earn about 40 percent less than whites, and have about an eighth of the net worth that whites have.

Q: The philosopher Thomas Hobbes says that people are naturally 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: Opponents of preferential hiring practices argue that the only standard for awarding jobs is a. competence. c. equal opportunity. b. diversity. d. justice.

Q: Suppose you break your promise to visit your dying grandmother on the grounds that you can create more happiness by partying with your friends. This utilitarian view of the situation seems to conflict with our commonsense a. view of justice. c. view of our obligations to other people. b. view of rights. d. notion of utilitarian morality.

Q: Scientific racism refers to a school of thought that held that (1) humanity can indeed be 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: Suppose for someone there are only two possible actions: (1) read Aristotle, or (2) spend a weekend on a tropical isle filled with intensely pleasurable debauchery. Under these circumstances, John Stuart Mill would likely a. spend a week in intensely pleasurable debauchery. b. refrain from making such a choice. c. combine reading Aristotle with debauchery. d. read Aristotle.

Q: Some argue that preferential programs create role models for minorities and women. These role models are essential for demonstrating to young people that significant achievement is possible. Opponents reply that a. preferential programs do not actually create role models for minorities and women. b. there are already enough role models for minorities and women. c. role models are not needed for young people to know that achievement is possible. d. the best role models are people who are the most competent, regardless of race or gender.

Q: If, according to Jeremy Bentham, only the total quantity of happiness produced by an action matters, then the person closest to the moral ideal would be a. the self-denying monk. c. the academic scholar. b. the glutton. d. a disciplined soldier.

Q: According to Carl Cohen, Preference creates that burden; it makes a stigma of the race of those who are preferred by race. An ethnic group given special favor by the community is marked as needing special favorand the mark is borne prominently by every one of its members. In this passage, Cohen is rejecting which argument used to support strong affirmative action? a. Race preferences make amends for generations of injustices toward minorities and women. b. Preferential programs can increase racial and cultural diversity. c. Strong affirmative action may be able to eradicate racism and transform our race-conscious society. d. Race preferences create role models for minorities and women whose self-esteem and hopes for success have been dimmed by generations of discrimination.

Q: John Stuart Mill says, It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. This sentiment is an indictment of the glutton but also a pat on the back for those who a. make no distinction between higher and lower pleasures. b. avoid all pleasures. c. enjoy higher pleasures. d. achieve the greatest quantity of pleasure.

Q: A key argument for strong affirmative action is based on a. policies of reverse discrimination. b. feelings of guilt on the part of white males. c. a history of injustices against minorities. d. scientific evidence demonstrating the benefits of diversity.

Q: 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.

Q: Some argue that affirmative action policies are needed to make amends for past wrongs. This argument appeals to the concept of a. compensatory justice. c. punitive justice. b. distributive justice. d. retributive justice.

Q: Consider a scenario involving the possible killing of an innocent person for the good of others. Such an action could conceivably be sanctioned by a. Kants theory. c. the means-end principle. b. natural law theory. d. act-utilitarianism.

Q: Judith Jarvis Thomson argues that ________ are the best and most suitable form of compensation for the past ill treatment of minorities. a. civil rights laws c. scholarships b. reparation payments d. jobs

Q: Some utilitarians respond to the charge that act-utilitarianism conflicts with commonsense moral intuitions by a. switching to natural law theory. b. rejecting commonsense morality. c. denying that act-utilitarianism is a true moral theory. d. rejecting rule-utilitarianism.

Q: According to one argument, when blacks get preferential treatment in employment some 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: Suppose a utilitarian judge decides to rule against a plaintiff in a lawsuit just because people in general would be happier if the plaintiff lost the case. Such a utilitarian move would conflict with a. rule-utilitarianism. c. divine command theory. b. commonsense views about happiness. d. commonsense views about justice.

Q: Ethical egoism seems to conflict with a. psychological egoism. b. our considered moral judgments and our moral experience. c. our considered moral judgments and our self-interest. d. our moral experience and self-indulgence.

Q: In many contexts, scholars find that students perform better in school when their credentials are closer to those of their classmates, whereas they have more trouble persisting in a difficult major, graduating from college, or getting a good job when they are surrounded by peers who have much higher credentials. This has been referred to as the mismatch effect. If we assume the mismatch effect is real, what would a utilitarian say this suggests about the use of strong affirmative action? a. The mismatch effect is not relevant to the issue of strong affirmative action. b. The mismatch effect illustrates how strong affirmative action is not always beneficial to minorities. c. The mismatch effect illustrates the importance of diversity in these contexts. d. The mismatch effect illustrates how strong affirmative action is almost always beneficial to minorities.

Q: The sociologist Tanya Maria Golash-Boza says that race is a. a natural phenomenon. c. a social construction. b. an inevitable factor in hiring decisions. d. a biological category.

Q: According to Lawrence Blum, popular thinking about race generally dispenses with the biological component, but not with the idea of ________, the notion that certain traits of mind, character, and temperament are inescapably part of a racial groups nature and hence define its racial fate. a. inherency c. incomprehensibility b. inevitability d. incoherence

Q: Lawrence Blum says that the two key concepts in the definition of racism are a. generalization and inference. c. superiority and arrogance. b. ignorance and assumptions. d. inferiorization and antipathy.

Q: The unfavorable treatment of people because of their race is called a. socially constructed discrimination. c. racial prejudice. b. racial discrimination. d. legitimate prejudice.

Q: Unequal treatment that arises from the way organizations, institutions, and social systems operate is referred to as a. individual racism. c. veiled racism. b. global racism. d. structural racism.

Q: In 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a. using quota systems in college admissions is constitutional. b. using quota systems in college admissions is unconstitutional. c. any consideration of race or minority status in admissions is unconstitutional. d. any consideration of race or minority status in admissions is constitutional.

Q: Refusing to give a good worker a raise in pay just because he is black or Hispanic is an example of a. sexism. c. reverse discrimination. b. discrimination. d. affirmative action.

Q: Widespread advertisement of job openings to groups not previously represented in certain privileged positions is an example of a. preferential hiring. c. weak affirmative action. b. reverse discrimination. d. strong affirmative action.

Q: A true ethical egoist chooses actions that a. are exceptionally altruistic. b. lead him to self-indulgent or reckless behavior. c. provide him with whatever he wants. d. promote his own self-interests.

Q: Almost everyone agrees that a. efforts should be made to end discrimination against minorities and women. b. a proportion of available positions should be reserved for minorities and women. c. preferential treatment on the basis of race, gender, or minority status is always wrong. d. strong affirmative action is reverse discrimination against white males.

Q: The philosopher who said that the greatest good is pleasure, and the greatest evil is pain, was a. Kant. c. Aquinas. b. Epicurus. d. Socrates.

Q: Suppose there are two equally qualified candidates for a single position. The only difference between them is that one is white and the other is a person of color. The best decision according to weak affirmative action is to a. award the position to the person of color to fill a quota. b. award the position to the person of color to make amends for generations of racism. c. use a random process to determine which candidate is awarded the position. d. use race as a tiebreaker and award the position to the person of color.

Q: Joel Feinberg argues that someone who directly pursues happiness a. will find it faster than others. c. is unlikely to find it. b. is insincere. d. is unlikely to pursue anything.

Q: The main point of a quota is to ensure that a. only the most competent applicants are hired. b. a sufficient number of minorities or women apply. c. an organization has a predetermined percentage of minority members or women. d. reparations are given to those who have suffered the most.

Q: The ecological individualist insists that we must take into consideration the interests of human beings only.

Q: Justice concerning the fair distribution of societys goods is called ________ justice.

Q: A moral theory is inconsistent with our considered moral judgments if a. it allows us to torture infants for fun. b. it judges that we may favor our loved ones over strangers. c. it considers all actions to have selfish motives. d. it states that moral judgments are often difficult to make.

Q: The difficulty underlying the moral dilemma of climate change boils down to what obligations, if any, we have to future generations.

Q: ________ theories of justice hold that all persons have equal value and deserve equal respect and therefore have equal rights to the worlds resources.

Q: According to cultural relativism, what's morally right for a culture is simply whatever that culture approves of or believes is morally right. According to the text, which of these evaluations is most appropriate? a. This theory is incoherent, because it allows that different cultures have different beliefs about what is morally right. b. This theory is inconsistent with our considered moral judgments, because not everyone within a culture will agree on what is morally right. c. This theory is inconsistent with our moral experience, because it means that cultures cannot approve of an action that is morally wrongbut we know that sometimes cultures do approve of morally wrong actions. d. This theory is not useful in moral problem solving, because it gives me no way to find out what is the right thing to do.

Q: A being has ________ when it is a suitable candidate for direct moral concern or respect.

Q: Suppose a moral theory is inconsistent with two of your most trustworthy and important moral judgments (and other considerations do not counterbalance this fact). You should then regard the theory as a. definitely false. c. true until proven otherwise. b. imperfect but true. d. dubious and possibly false.

Q: The notion that only humans have moral status is called ________.

Q: If a moral theory suggests that our moral judgments cannot be rationally supported, it is thereby inconsistent with a. religious ethics. c. the criterion of usefulness. b. the requirement of coherence. d. our moral experience.

Q: A ________ holds the view that all living entities have moral status, whether sentient or not.

Q: A major reason for devising a moral theory is to a. rebut rival theories. c. be able to reject other theories. b. obtain practical guidance. d. determine psychological motivations.

Q: One who believes that some living things have greater moral status than others is known as a species ________.

Q: According to ethical egoism, the morally right action is the one that produces the most favorable balance of good over evil for oneself. Which of these evaluations is most appropriate? a. This theory is incoherent because it conflicts with other moral theories. b. This theory is inconsistent with our considered moral judgments because it says that it is right to harm innocent people when it benefits you. c. This theory is inconsistent with our moral experience because it says that many of our actions are morally wrong. d. This theory is not useful in moral problem solving because there is no way to tell if one action will benefit you more than another.

Q: The view called ________ says that, when considering our moral obligations to the environment, the good of the whole should always outweigh the good of an individual.

Q: several features meant to improve on previous theories. In particular, the author wants to resolve the problem of conflicting rules or principles. Which of the following features BEST helps resolve this problem? a. The theory includes only the best of the rules presented in previous theories. b. The theory includes a principle of respect, requiring respect for all persons. c. The theory includes three principles, rather than one. d. The theory includes prima facie principles, rather than absolute rules. ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: pp. 7071, 7480

Q: If Chant maintains that killing the innocent is wrong because the action is contrary to God's will, she probably accepts the a. natural command theory. c. divine command theory. b. divine imperative theory. d. natural law theory.

Q: Those who believe that nature possesses instrumental value only are likely to believe that a forest has value only because of its economic worth.

Q: The morality of persons getting what is fair or what is their due is known as ________.

Q: A moral theory would fail to meet the minimum requirement of coherence if a. it fails to cohere with considered moral judgments. b. it states that the same action in the same conditions is both right and wrong. c. it fails to cohere with common cultural practices. d. it states that some widely practiced actions are in fact wrong.

Q: Suppose environmentalists want to prevent the disappearance of glaciers in Glacier National Park, which are melting away at an alarming rate. One report claims that slowing global warming can help prevent the melting, which would be accomplished by creating better fuel efficiency for cars and stronger energy efficiency standards for buildings and appliances. Laws passed to implement these higher standards would necessarily reflect a belief that glaciers have moral status.

Q: A persons right that obligates others NOT to interfere with that persons obtaining something is known as a ________.

Q: Which of the following BEST summarizes how to evaluate moral theories? a. First, evaluate the theory for coherence. Then evaluate whether it meets the three moral criteria of adequacy. b. First, evaluate whether the theory supports our most important moral rules. Then evaluate the theory for coherence. c. First, evaluate the consequences of the theory to determine whether they are favorable to you. Then apply the three moral criteria of adequacy. d. First, evaluate whether the three moral criteria of adequacy apply to the theory. Then consider your personal emotional reaction to the theory.

Q: The anthropocentrist necessarily has no regard for the environment.

Q: A ________ right obligates others to help persons obtain something to which they have such a right.

Q: Suppose your favored moral theory says that moral rightness is relative to each individual. This would imply that each person is morally infallible. According to the author, this shows the theory to be a. implausible. c. absolutist. b. plausible. d. consequentialist.

Q: In both zoocentrism and biocentrism, the fundamental unit of moral consideration is the individual animal or plant.