Chapter 6 Self Quiz

. Which of the following best encapsulates Kant's view on the source of goodness?

Nothing is good but an act done from altruistic motives.

Acts draw their moral goodness from the goal of the agent.

Acts draw their goodness from the outcomes.

Nothing is good in itself but a good will.

. Which of the following is an example of a maxim in Kant's sense?

Never lie!

Staying home from class because it is raining outside

Going hunting every December

Returning a library book

. How might Kant explain how we distinguish between perfect duties and imperfect duties?

No one has a duty to perfection.

Ought implies can.

Perfect duties are required by the moral law; imperfect duties are purely supererogatory.

An imperfect duty is one in which the maxim as universal law could be conceived without contradiction, but which we could never rationally will.

. Which of the following best describes the virtue ethics approach of Aristotle, Aquinas, and Confucius?

Virtues give on the ability to fulfill one's moral duty.

Living virtuously maximizes utility.

Virtues are not so much defined by particular acts but by the dispositions that cause us to live well.

Virtues provide an efficient means to happiness for an egoist.

. Which of the following would be an example of a positive right?

Property rights that constrain other from using one's property

The right to life

The right to free speech

The right to clean drinking water

. For Aristotle, Aquinas, and Confucius, ethics is not primarily about distinguishing right acts from wrong ones. The most important ethical question for them is

to ensure that we do not violate anyone's rights.

to ensure that no person is treated as a mere means to an end.

how we ought to live. What is a good human life?

None of the above.

. The mixing theory of labor is the idea that

information cannot be owned by anyone.

everyone has a right to privacy, unless something more valuable can be created by mixing labor with something that is not already owned by others.

you own yourself and become the owner of whatever you create by mixing your labor with something that is not already owned by others.

intellectual property rights must always be respected.

. What is the difference between Aristotle's notion of eudaimonia and the classic utilitarian notion of happiness?

There is no difference. These are different terms for the same idea.

The utilitarian notion happiness is exclusively focused on pleasure; Aristotle would insist that pleasure is one of many components of human happiness.

The utilitarian notion happiness is exclusively focused on preference satisfaction; Aristotle would insist that happiness is exclusively focused on pleasure.

Aristotle insisted that our intellectual virtues affect our happiness, but utilitarians reject the idea that intellectual skills can have an effect on our happiness.

. Imagine that you walk by a pond in which a three-year-old girl is about to drown. You are the only person around and unless you rescue the girl she will die. A world in which all children in distress are left to die by passers-by is conceivable. However, you cannot rationally will that all of us were to live in such a world. You, therefore,

have a strong utilitarian reason to rescue the girls if you can do so without danger to yourself.

have an imperfect Kantian duty to rescue the drowning girl.

act virtuously if you rescue the girl, because this is the generous and courageous thing to do.

All of the above

. Kant was not a rule-utilitarian. Why not?It is irrelevant whether the sum total of well-being would increase when a maxim is universalized; what matters is whether

it is conceivable that the maxim is universalized, or if one can rationally will that the maxim is universalized.

a virtuous agent would accept the maxim.

it is legally permissible to accept the maxim.

All of the above

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