1.
Define in your own words what “the
ethical point of view" means.
The
“ethical point of view" means respecting not only your own goals and
aspirations, but taking into consideration the goals and aspirations of other
people as well.
2.
Define morality and ethics in your own
words.
Morality
refers to guidelines that you can use to determine what you ought to do in a
particular situation. Morality also allows you to figure out whether a
particular decision or action is right or wrong. Ethics is the philosophical study
of morality.
3.
What is the difference between morality
and ethics?
Morality
is focused on solving particular problems. Ethics is broader than morality in that
it includes the higher-level activities evaluating moral systems and the
creation of new ways of evaluating moral problems.
4.
What is the difference between
relativism and objectivism?
Relativism
is the view that “the good" exists inside the human mind. Our role as humans
is to invent “the good." Since “the good" is invented, its definition
is malleable.
Objectivism
is the view that “the good" exists outside the human mind. Our role as humans
is to find or discover “the good." Since “the good" exists
independently of our intellectual activity, its definition never changes.
5.
What are the advantages of using an
ethical theory in which all humans are treated equally and guidelines are
developed through a process of logical reasoning?
By
using an ethical theory in which all humans are treated equally and guidelines
are developed through a process of logical reasoning, it is more likely that
you can craft an ethical argument that will be convincing to a diverse
audience.
6.
Two people are debating the morality of
a particular action. Person A explains why he believes the action is wrong.
Person B disagrees with Person A. Her response to him is, “That’s your
opinion.” Person B has not made a strong ethical argument. Why not?
Person B has
not made a strong ethical argument because she has not brought up any facts or
values that would undermine or contradict the explanation of Person A.
7.
What do we mean when we say an ethical
theory is rational?
When
we say an ethical theory is rational, we mean that it relies upon logical
reasoning from facts or commonly held values.
8.
What is the many/any fallacy? Invent
your own example of this fallacy.
The many/any fallacy is to conclude that any option is acceptable after observing that many options are acceptable. For example, you may observe me take several different routes between home and work, and all of them are good in the sense that they allow me to reach my destination safely and in a reasonable amount of time. That does not imply that all possible routes between home and work are good.
9.
What is the equivalence fallacy? Invent
your own example of this fallacy.
The equivalence fallacy is to confuse similarity with equality. It comes into play in this chapter in the discussion of the divine command theory. When we say “God is good," it is fallacious to argue that God and the good are identical. Another example of the equivalence fallacy would be to conclude from the statement “Adolph Hitler was evil incarnate" that everything Hitler said or did was evil.
10.
Come up with your own example of a moral
rule that would violate the Categorical Imperative.
Sometimes I leave home a little late, but I'd still like to get to work on time. I want to be able to drive through red lights on those days when I am running late. The proposed moral rule is: I may ignore traffic laws when I am pressed for time. If we universalized this rule, then traffic signals would cease to have any meaning. The streets would be chaotic. There would be gridlock or accidents at every busy intersection. That contradicts my desire to get to work on time. Hence my proposed moral rule is logically self-defeating. It is wrong for me to drive through red lights on those days when I am running late.
11.
What is plagiarism? Describe four
different ways that a person can commit plagiarism.
Plagiarism is the use of someone else's words or ideas without giving that person credit. Appendix A actually gives five ways of committing plagiarism:
o
Copying
another's words without putting the words in quotation marks and citing the
source;
o
Paraphrasing
another's words without citing the source;
o
Incorporating
someone else's figures or drawings without citing the source;
o
Referencing
facts that are not common knowledge without citing the source;
o
Using
another person's ideas without giving that person credit.
12.
What is the difference between
plagiarism and misuse of sources?
Plagiarism
refers to deliberately concealing the fact that you have used someone else's words
or ideas. If the action is not intentional, it should be called misuse of
sources.
13.
What is the difference between a
consequentialist theory and a non-consequentialist theory?
A consequentialist theory determines whether an action is right or wrong by evaluating its consequences. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory. A non-consequentialist theory determines whether an action is right or wrong by considering the underlying rule or principle motivating the action. Kantianism and social contract theory are non-consequentialist theories.
14.
Give three examples of a situation in
which your action would be primarily motivated by a sense of duty or
obligation. Give three examples of a situation in which your action would be
primarily motivated by its expected consequences.
Three situations in which my action would be
primarily motivated by a sense of duty or obligation:
(a)
I promised someone if he could get two tickets to a rock concert, I would
purchase a ticket and go with him. He got the tickets and expects me to pay for
mine. I keep my promise, even though I just lost my job and I really can't afford
to go.
(b)
I pay my income taxes, even though I think the government has some wasteful programs.
(c)
Everybody in my fraternity is going to give blood. I donate blood, too, even though
just thinking about it makes me queasy.
Three situations in which my action is primarily
motivated by its expected consequences:
(a)
I give money to a particular charity because it has the lowest administrative overhead
of any international relief organization. I figure more of my money will actually
reach those who need it.
(b)
I work extra hard in a particular class, even though I am not interested in the
material, because I hope the professor will write me a good letter of recommendation.
(c)
I slightly exaggerate my experience in order to get a good job as a server in a
nice restaurant.
15.
What is the problem of moral luck?
M
oral luck
is a problem associated with act utilitarianism. According to act utilitarianism,
the moral worth of an action depends solely on its consequences. If the consequences
are out of the control of the moral agent, an action that should have had a
good effect may end up having a harmful effect. In this case, the action is
deemed to be wrong, even though it was no fault of the person performing the
action.
16.
Why do businesses and governments often
use utilitarian thinking to determine the proper course of action?
Businesses
and governments often use utilitarian thinking to determine the proper course
of action because it allows all the consequences of a decision to be boiled
down to dollars and cents (or some other quantiable unit of measure).
17.
What is the difference principle?
The
difference principle states that social and economic inequalities must be justified,
and the only way to justify a social or economic inequality is to show that its
overall effect is to provide the most benefit to the least advantaged. For
example, under capitalism some people are allowed to have much more wealth than
others. In order to justify capitalism, it must be shown that the poorest are
better off than under alternative economic systems.
18.
Is social contract theory as first
presented a consequentialist theory or a non-consequentialist theory? Is social
contract theory as articulated in Rawls’s two principles of justice a
consequentialist theory or a non-consequentialist theory?
Social
contract theory is a non-consequentialist theory. Social contract theory as articulated
in Rawls's two principles of justice is a non-consequentialist theory.
19.
Describe similarities and differences
between subjective relativism and ethical egoism.
Subjective
relativism and ethical egoism are similar in the sense that both theories allow
an individual to put himself or herself first in determining the right action
to take in a particular situation. However, there is a crucial difference
between the two theories. Subjective relativism, like all relativistic theories,
holds that each person decides what is right for himself or herself. Two people
in the same circumstances could choose completely different actions, and both
could be right. Ethical egoism, on the other hand, is an objective theory. It
holds that the right action for a person to take in a particular situation is
the action that will be to the greatest long-term benefit of that person. A
rational, objective process is used to determine the greatest long-term benefit,
meaning anyone in the same situation should reach the same conclusion.
20.
Describe similarities and differences
between divine command theory and Kantianism.
Both
divine command theory and Kantianism are objective, holding that right and wrong
can be expressed in rules that are true for all people at all times in history.
Divine command theory identifies the good with the will of God, and holds that
the will of God is communicated through holy books. Kantianism, on the other
hand, holds that we can use our reason to determine what is good.
21.
Describe similarities and differences between subjective relativism and act
utilitarianism.
Both subjective relativism and act utilitarianism
would allow an individual to evaluate a situation to determine whether a
particular action is right or wrong. However, subjective relativism allows a
person to use any means to decide the right thing to do. According to act utilitarianism,
the consequences of the possible actions must be evaluated. The correct action
is the one that leads to the greatest increase in total happiness among the
parties affected.
22.
Describe similarities and differences between Kantianism and rule
utilitarianism.
Both Kantianism and rule utilitarianism are objective.
According to both theories, right actions are those that are in line with
universal moral rules. However, the two theories derive the rules in different
ways. Kantianism determines whether a proposed moral rule is acceptable by
evaluating it according to the Categorical Imperative. Utilitarianism
determines whether a proposed moral rule is acceptable by considering the
long-term, overall total change in happiness that would result if everyone always
followed the rule.
23.
Describe similarities and differences between act utilitarianism and rule
utilitarianism.
Both act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism are
consequentialist theories. However, act utilitarianism considers the
consequences that would result from an action taken in one particular
situation. Rule utilitarianism considers the consequences that would result if
everyone always took a certain course of action in all similar situations.
24.
Describe similarities and differences between cultural relativism and social
contract theory.
Both theories focus on the notion of society, but
they are quite different. For one thing, cultural relativism is an example of
relativism, while social contract theory is an example of objectivism. Cultural
relativism says each society must determine for itself what people ought to do
in various situations. Different societies come up with different moral codes.
These rules may be based heavily on tradition and not on reason.
Social contract theory says morality consists in
those rules that rational people ought to recognize are in everyone's best benefit
if they are universally obeyed.
25.
Describe similarities and differences between Kantianism and social contract
theory.
Both Kantianism and social contract theory are
objective, rule-based theories. In
Kantianism, proposed rules are derived by seeing if
they can meet the requirements of the Categorical Imperative. In social
contract theory, proposed rules are derived by seeing if their universal
adoption would be to everyone's mutual benefit.
26.
Evaluate the four scenarios presented in Section 2.1 from a Kantian
perspective.
Alexis did wrong when she made use of a student's login
and password to gain access to the library's computers and printers. Alexis
treated the student as a means to her end of getting access to the private
college's computers.
The anti-spam organization is treating the innocent
computer users in the East Asian country as means to its end of reducing spam.
That is wrong.
The analysis depends upon the expectation of privacy
people should have. The existence of the cameras is public knowledge. If nobody
is being used, the action appears to be morally acceptable.
Releasing the software without informing the
potential users of the possible bugs would be wrong. However, if the hospital
staff were fully notified that the product was in beta test, a decision to
release the product could be justified.
27.
Evaluate the four scenarios presented in Section 2.1 from an act utilitarian
perspective.
The benefits to Alexis were large. The harms to others
were small. Her action was morally acceptable.
Millions of people are getting much less spam. The
benefit to each of these persons is small, but meaningful. Tens of thousands of
citizens of the East Asian country cannot send email to the United States. The
harm to each of these persons is significant.
Concluding whether the action is right or wrong depends
upon the weight you give to each person's benefit or harm.
In this case the benefits seem to outweigh the
harms. The actions of the East Dakota State Police are morally acceptable.
To do the analysis, we must examine the various
courses of action and weigh, for each one, the potential benefits and harms to
the patients, nurses, hospital, and members of the start-up company.
28.
Evaluate the four scenarios presented in Section 2.1 from a rule utilitarian
perspective.
A rule utilitarian is likely to subscribe to the
rule \Gaining access to another person's private information is wrong,"
since a great deal of harm can result if people were unable to protect confidential
information such as credit card numbers. For this reason, Alexis did wrong when
she used someone else's login and password to access the library's computers
and printers.
The challenge with this scenario is to determine
whether any moral rules have been broken. In general, utilitarianism is
comfortable with the notion that maximizing the overall good may mean that the
majority gains a benefit while the minority suffers harm.
The East Dakota State Police is using technology to
increase the safety of the community. Its actions appear to be morally
acceptable.
As long as the company fully discloses the status of
the product, it appears to be onjsafe ground.
29.
Evaluate the four scenarios presented in Section 2.1 from the perspective of
social contract theory.
Alexis violated the property rights of the private
college when she used its computers without permission. Her action was wrong.
The residents of the East Asian country had a
reasonable expectation that their email would be delivered. By blacklisting the
country's ISPs, the anti-spam organization encouraged American ISPs to refuse
to forward email. This seems wrong.
How much privacy should a person have while
operating a motor vehicle on a freeway?
If a person has given up all privacy, then there
seems to be nothing wrong with this
action. If a person has a reasonable expectation of
privacy, then the East Dakota
State Police may have done something wrong if it
secretly gave the FBI access to the information.
The purchaser of a product has a right to expect the
manufacturer stands behind the quality of the product. In this case it would be
wrong for the company to sell the product as if it were completely debugged and
100 percent reliable. On the other hand, the hospital might be willing to beta
test the device if it could get a discounted price or if that would help the company
certify its reliability. The company could begin shipping the device to
hospitals that understood the current state of the software.
