ETHICS IN AMERICA DSST EXAM -

ETHICS IN AMERICA DSST EXAM -

ACTUAL EXAM 200 QUESTIONS AND CORRECT

DETAILED ANSWERS (VERIFIED ANSWERS )

|ALREADY GRADED A+

Which of the following philosophers were "Utilitarians"?

• Jeremy Bentham

II. John Stuart Mill III. Immanuel Kant a) I only b) I and II only c) I and III only d) I, II, and III - ANSWER- The correct answer is B. Kant was the author of several works on deontological ethics.

Jeremy Bentham worked out the felicific calculus in order to a) decide whether an imperative was categorical or hypothetical b) introduce a hierarchy of pleasures of unequal ethical value 1 / 4

c) reduce moral choices to a universally applicable algorithm d) create a tool for his deontological ethical system - ANSWER- The correct answer is C. Bentham had a fairly unwieldy calculational model that was designed to prejudge the positive (happiness- causing) and negative (harm-causing) outcomes of any action. How usable this calculus was in the lightning-quick decisions that must often be made in ethics has been an ongoing question. Bentham's was a consequentialist, not a deontological, system.

Mill and Bentham disagreed that

• consequences of actions should be taken into account in ethics

II. all pleasures were equivalent a) I only b) I and II only c) II only d) neither I nor II - ANSWER- The correct answer is C. Unlike Bentham, Mill did not hold that all pleasures were equivalent in the working out of moral consequences.

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The "harm principle" was a) authored by Mill and stated that liberty extended up to the point of inflicting harm on another b) authored by Mill and stated that liberty was the highest pleasure in the felicific calculus c) authored by Bentham and was that liberty extended up to the point of inflicting harm on another d) authored by Bentham and was that liberty was the highest pleasure in the felicific calculus - ANSWER- The correct answer is A. Mill took the view that the prevention of harm was the primary moral duty, and that therefore the primary aim of just government and law was to remove any impediments or obstacles to liberty. This lined up with Mill's laissez-faire economic notions. Later scholars called this notion "negative liberty."

Mill would object to Kant's categorical imperative in which of the following ways?

• It is based on the results of actions

II. It assumes too much rationality in human beings III. It can lead to greater unhappiness since consequences cannot be taken into account

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I only b) I and II only c) I and III only d) III only - ANSWER- The correct answer is D. Mill insisted that the consequences of actions be taken into account in ethical questions.He did not believe that the categorical imperative assumed too much rationality; in fact, utilitarianism requires that rationality ultimately dominate the mind as well.

The main difference between rule utilitarianism and act utilitarianism is that a) act utilitarianism requires us to consider the social utility of every act, whereas rule utilitarianism requires us to consider only the social utility of a rule and act accordingly b) act utilitarianism requires us to consider the social utility of every rule, whereas rule utilitarianism requires us to consider only the social utility of every act c) act utilitarianism requires us to use the hedonic calculus, whereas rule utilitarianism does not

d)

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