Study Guide for Test #1
Study Guide for Test
#3/Final.
Date: Wednesday, June 1st, 2011 in class
Format: There will be
multiple-choice questions. For these questions,
students should bring: a) a Scantron sheet
(882), and b) a number 2 pencil. There will also be
written questions. For these questions students should
bring a Blue test booklet.
Material: The final is cumulative and is worth
150 points. The following questions should help
you pinpoint some of the main points of focus:
Social Justice
What is Rawls' original position?
What is the veil of ignorance?
What role does the veil of ignorance play in Rawls'
theory?
What two principles does Rawls think agents in the
original position would choose? Why?
What form of government does Rawls advocate and why?
How does Rawls' view differ from Nozick's?
What is libertarianism?
What is the difference between a negative right and a
positive right?
What is the Wilt Chamberlain example? What is
it supposed to demonstrate?
Whose theory of government, Rawls' or Locke's, is
more convincing and why?
What are some problems with Rawls' theory?
What are some problems with Nozick's theory?
Euthanasia
What does "euthanasia" literally mean?
What are the different form of euthanasia?
What is the legal status of euthanasia?
Who was Dr. Jack Kevorkian?
What happened to Karen Quinlan?
What happened to Terri Schiavo?
What is Rachels' conclusion?
What argument does Rachels give to support his
conclusion?
What arguments does Gay-Williams give against
euthanasia?
How would the other ethical theories learned in class
this semester evaluate the problem of euthanasia?
Should euthanasia be performed? Why or why not?
Environmental Ethics
What are the main questions/problems raised by
environmental ethics?
It is often said that historically we have often not
recognized the moral significance of the environment.
What reasons can be given to explain this?
What is intrinsic value? How does it differ
from extrinsic value?
What is deep ecology?
What is ecofeminism?
What is the Gaia Principle?
Who proposed the Land Ethic? What sort of ethic is
this?
What is Baxter's argument in People or Penguins?
How would the other ethical theories learned in class
this semester evaluate the problems posed by the
environment?
In addition, material from earlier the semester
may also be on the final. This includes material
from the previous two study guides:
Natural Law
How does natural law
differ from the other theories learned in class?
What is the principle
of double effect?
What is the principle
of totality?
What four principles
of natural law does Thomas Aquinas discuss?
What are some
problems with natural law ethics?
Virtue Ethics
What is Aristotle's
doctrine of causes?
What is the Golden
Mean?
How does virtue
ethics differ from other ethical theories?
What are some
problems with virtue ethics?
Abortion
What do the terms
"pro-choice" and "pro-life" mean?
What are the facts of
the Roe case? What did the decision by the court say?
What is a trimester?
quickening? viability?
Explain Jarvis
Thomson's position on abortion, according her analysis
of the violinst and the people-seeds.
What key assumption
does Jarvis Thomson make? Why does she make this
assumption?
What is Marquis'
conclusion?
What assumptions does
Marquis make? Is his argument religious?
What is the desire
account? How does it differ from the deprivation
(discontinuity) account?
What is Warren's
conclusion?
How does Warren
define a person?
What is McElroy's
conclusion? What do you make of the title of her
article? Why did she use this title?
What is Noonan's
point about probability? Is this a convincing basis for
a pro-life position? Explain.
Free Speech,
Censorship, Pornography
What restrictions, if
any, would Mill accept on free speech? Why/why not?
Mill gives several
reasons for supporting free speech. What are they?
What are some
problems with Mill's view?
What is the Miller
Test?
How does the U.S.
Supreme Court evaluate obscenity?
What did the
Communications Decency Act say? What is its current
legal status? Explain.
What occurred in the
R.A.V. vs. St. Paul case?
What happened in the
Tin Drum case?
What is Catherine
MacKinnon's argument concerining pornography?
What are some issues
with MacKinnon's argument?
What is Kaminer's
conclusion? What is her argument?
Explain the Attorney
General's report on pornography.
Are there problems
with the Attorney General's report? Explain.
In
addition, make sure you remember the information from
the first two tests:
Divine Command
Theory
What is the divine
command theory of ethics?
Describe the
characters of Socrates and Euthyphro.
What definitions of
holiness (piety) does Euthyphro give?
Why does Socrates
reject each of these definitions?
Relativism
What is relativism?
What is the difference between subjectivism/individual
relativism and cultural relativism? What is
historicism?
What is
ethnocentrism?
What is the
connection between anthropology and relativism?
Who was Ruth
Benedict?
What is the diversity
argument?
What is the Flat
Earth argument?
What are some
problems with relativism?
What is emotivism?
How does it differ from relativism?
Egoism
What is altruism?
What is hedonism?
What is consequentialism?
What is psychological egoism? How does this theory view
altruism?
What are some criticisms of psychological egoism?
What is ethical egoism? How does this theory differ
from psychological egoism?
What is the ring of Gyges story? Who wrote it? What
does it suggest about morality?
What did Adam Smith say about self-interest?
What is the Prisoner's dilemma? What does this example
suggest about ethics?
What does the example of suckers, cheaters and grudgers
suggest about ethics?
Utilitarianism
What is the difference between act and rule
utilitarianism?
What is the difference between the quantity and quality
of pleasure according to utilitarians like John Stuart
Mill?
What are some problems with utilitarianism?
How does utilitarianism relate to consequentialism? To
hedonism?
Who are the main utilitarian thinkers discussed this
semester?
What is the integrity
objection to utilitarianism? Who put forth this
objection? Is this a convincing objection? Why or why
not?
What are some of the
other objections to utilitarianism?
Kantian Ethics
What is non-consequentialism?
Which theories discussed in class so far are
consequentialist and which are non-consequentialist?
What is deontological
ethics?
What does Kant mean
by the "good will"? What does he say about it? Why
does he say this?
What is a maxim?
What is the
Categorical Imperative? What is it designed to do?
What are the two
formulations of the Categorical Imperative discussed in
class?
How does Kant's
ethics differ from utilitarianism?
Both rule
utilitarianism and Kantian ethics use rules. How do
they differ?
What is autonomy?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________-
Divine Command Theory
What is the divine command
theory of ethics?
Describe the characters of
Socrates and Euthyphro.
What definitions of holiness
(piety) does Euthyphro give?
Why does Socrates reject each
of these definitions?
Relativism
What is relativism? What is
the difference between subjectivism/individual relativism and cultural
relativism? What is historicism?
What is ethnocentrism?
What is the connection
between anthropology and relativism?
Who was Ruth Benedict?
What is the diversity
argument?
What is the Flat Earth
argument?
What are some problems with
relativism?
What is emotivism? How does
it differ from relativism?
Egoism
What is altruism?
What is hedonism?
What is consequentialism?
What is psychological egoism? How does this theory view altruism?
What are some criticisms of psychological egoism?
What is ethical egoism? How does this theory differ from psychological
egoism?
What is the ring of Gyges story? Who wrote it? What does it suggest about
morality?
What did Adam Smith say about self-interest?
What is the Prisoner's dilemma? What does this example suggest about ethics?
What does the example of suckers, cheaters and grudgers suggest about ethics?
Utilitarianism
What is the difference between act and rule
utilitarianism?
What is the difference between the quantity
and quality of pleasure according to utilitarians like John Stuart Mill?
What are some problems with utilitarianism?
How does utilitarianism relate to
consequentialism? To hedonism?
Who are the main utilitarian thinkers
discussed this semester?
What is the
integrity objection to utilitarianism? Who put forth this objection? Is this a
convincing objection? Why or why not?
What are some
of the other objections to utilitarianism?
Kantian Ethics
What is non-consequentialism?
Which theories discussed in class so far are consequentialist and which are non-consequentialist?
What is
deontological ethics?
What does
Kant mean by the "good will"? What does he say about it? Why does he say this?
What is a
maxim?
What is the
Categorical Imperative? What is it designed to do?
What are the
two formulations of the Categorical Imperative discussed in class?
How does
Kant's ethics differ from utilitarianism?
Both rule
utilitarianism and Kantian ethics use rules. How do they differ?
What is
autonomy?