Chapter 4 Quiz
Part I: Multiple Choice
1. According to the principle of utility as Bentham formulated it, the right action is the one that: - a) Follows the correct moral rules regardless of outcomes - b) Produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number - c) Is performed by a person of virtuous character - d) Treats all persons as ends in themselves
2. Mill's refinement of Bentham's utilitarianism introduced the claim that: - a) Only the consequences to the moral agent matter - b) Pleasures differ in quality, not just quantity - c) Moral worth is determined by the intention behind an act - d) Virtue is the mean between two vices
3. The Formula of Humanity, one of Kant's formulations of the categorical imperative, states: - a) Act only on principles that produce the best consequences - b) Always follow the rule that maximizes aggregate welfare - c) Act so that you treat humanity always as an end and never as a means only - d) Act only according to principles you could will to become universal laws
4. Which of the following is Kant's term for an action's principle — the general rule you're implicitly following? - a) Eudaimonia - b) Maxim - c) Phronesis - d) Ataraxia
5. Aristotle's concept of eudaimonia is best translated as: - a) Happiness in the sense of pleasurable feeling - b) Freedom from anxiety and mental disturbance - c) Flourishing — living well and doing well through the full exercise of human capacities - d) The mean between excessive and deficient responses
6. In Aristotle's ethics, phronesis refers to: - a) The virtue of courage, the mean between cowardice and recklessness - b) Practical wisdom — the capacity to discern what a situation requires and act accordingly - c) The pleasure of active engagement as opposed to stable contentment - d) The function argument for eudaimonia
7. Peter Singer's "drowning child" argument is designed to show that: - a) Physical proximity is a morally relevant factor that justifies prioritizing nearby suffering - b) Distance and proximity are morally irrelevant — the obligation to prevent suffering applies regardless - c) We cannot be obligated to do more than our fair share - d) Moral intuitions about specific cases are more reliable than abstract principles
8. Robert Nozick's "experience machine" thought experiment challenges consequentialism by arguing that: - a) Pleasure cannot be measured with any precision - b) We care about actually doing things, not just experiencing them — something other than welfare matters - c) The distribution of welfare matters as much as the total - d) Moral worth depends on intentions, not outcomes
9. The "doctrine of the mean" in Aristotle's virtue ethics states that: - a) The right action is always the one that produces moderate consequences - b) Each virtue is the intermediate disposition between excess and deficiency - c) Moral worth is determined by the average of your past actions - d) Pleasure and pain are natural guides that moral theory should follow
10. Which framework is generally considered most relevant to individual rights that cannot be traded off against aggregate welfare? - a) Act utilitarianism - b) Rule consequentialism - c) Kantian deontology - d) Epicurean ethics
Part II: Short Answer
11. Explain, in your own words, what it means to "universalize a maxim" in Kant's ethics. Use an example other than lying to illustrate.
12. A strict consequentialist argues: "Both the lever case and the bridge case involve one death to save five, so the moral answer is the same in both — you should act to minimize deaths." How would a Kantian respond? What distinction does the Kantian draw between the two cases?
13. Describe Aristotle's account of how virtues are acquired. Why does he say that you can't have virtue simply by being told what the virtues are?
14. Singer's effective altruism conclusion follows logically from his drowning child argument. State the argument in premise-conclusion form, then identify the premise you find most questionable and explain why.
15. The chapter argues that moral frameworks are "tools, not algorithms." What does this mean? Give an example of a situation where using only one framework would lead you astray.
Part III: Applied Analysis
16. A pharmaceutical company can spend $50 million on: - Option A: A drug that will cure a rare disease affecting 200 people, all of whom will otherwise die. Cost per life saved: $250,000. - Option B: An improved version of an existing blood pressure medication that will prevent cardiovascular events in a large population. Expected to prevent 5,000 deaths over ten years. Cost per life saved: $10,000.
Analyze this decision from all three frameworks. Which framework do you find most helpful here, and why?
17. A manager discovers that her department has been systematically underpaying women compared to men doing equivalent work. Correcting this will require budget she doesn't have, which means she'll have to lay off one person. She calculates that the aggregate welfare gain from pay equity outweighs the welfare loss of the one person laid off.
- What would a strict consequentialist say about her plan?
- What objections would a Kantian raise?
- What additional considerations does virtue ethics add?
- What do you think she should do?
Answer Key (Selected Questions)
- b — Greatest happiness for the greatest number
- b — Quality of pleasures, not just quantity
- c — Treat humanity as end and never merely as means
- b — Maxim
- c — Flourishing through excellent exercise of human capacities
- b — Practical wisdom
- b — Distance is morally irrelevant
- b — We care about actually doing things, not just experiencing them
- b — Mean between excess and deficiency
- c — Kantian deontology