Lesson test: What ethics asks

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What ethics asks

1.[3p]
Match each question to the layer of ethics it belongs to.

What makes any act right or wrong
What a moral sentence does
Whether this patient may be helped to die
What a society happened to approve of

applied ethics
not ethics at all
metaethics
normative ethics

Show the answer

What makes any act right or wrong: normative ethics What a moral sentence does: metaethics Whether this patient may be helped to die: applied ethics What a society happened to approve of: not ethics at all

2.[3p]
What is Hume's is-ought point, stated as a claim about arguments?

A conclusion containing "ought" cannot follow from premises that all lack it

Correct

Facts about the world are irrelevant to moral questions

The answer is: A conclusion containing "ought" cannot follow from premises that all lack it

Moral claims are expressions of feeling rather than statements

The answer is: A conclusion containing "ought" cannot follow from premises that all lack it

Every moral argument is invalid

The answer is: A conclusion containing "ought" cannot follow from premises that all lack it

3.[3p]
Why does cultural relativism make moral reform impossible?

A reformer dissents from their society's code, so by definition they are wrong until enough people agree

Correct

Cultures never actually change their codes

The answer is: A reformer dissents from their society's code, so by definition they are wrong until enough people agree

Reformers usually belong to more than one culture

The answer is: A reformer dissents from their society's code, so by definition they are wrong until enough people agree

It denies that societies differ in what they approve

The answer is: A reformer dissents from their society's code, so by definition they are wrong until enough people agree

4.[2p]
The fact that societies have differed widely in what they approve of shows that no society was ever mistaken.

True

The answer is: False

False

Correct

5.[3p]
What does Moore's open question argument try to show?

That "good" is not synonymous with any natural property, since asking whether the natural property is good remains a real question

Correct

That good things are always pleasant

The answer is: That "good" is not synonymous with any natural property, since asking whether the natural property is good remains a real question

That moral properties do not exist

The answer is: That "good" is not synonymous with any natural property, since asking whether the natural property is good remains a real question

That evaluative words have no meaning

The answer is: That "good" is not synonymous with any natural property, since asking whether the natural property is good remains a real question

6.[3p]
Why is subjectivism about the speaker a poor description of moral disagreement?

If each side merely reports its own attitude, both statements are true and nobody is disagreeing

Correct

It makes every moral statement false

The answer is: If each side merely reports its own attitude, both statements are true and nobody is disagreeing

It cannot explain why people have attitudes at all

The answer is: If each side merely reports its own attitude, both statements are true and nobody is disagreeing

It requires an objective moral fact to state the attitude

The answer is: If each side merely reports its own attitude, both statements are true and nobody is disagreeing

7.[3p]
Which of these follow from the free will course being about agents while ethics is about acts?

Select all that apply

The question of what to do arises even if nobody is ever responsible for anything

Correct

Scepticism about desert changes the reactive practices without removing the need to deliberate

Correct

If nobody deserves blame, no act is better than any other

The answer is: The question of what to do arises even if nobody is ever responsible for anything, Scepticism about desert changes the reactive practices without removing the need to deliberate

Ethics must first settle whether determinism is true

The answer is: The question of what to do arises even if nobody is ever responsible for anything, Scepticism about desert changes the reactive practices without removing the need to deliberate

8.[2p]
Which philosopher's 1739 Treatise contains the is-ought passage?

CorrectNot quite: Hume

9.[3p]
Two people agree on all the embryology and still disagree about abortion. What kind of disagreement is it?

Normative: they disagree about which property confers moral status

Correct

Factual: one of them has the biology wrong

The answer is: Normative: they disagree about which property confers moral status

Metaethical: one of them denies that moral facts exist

The answer is: Normative: they disagree about which property confers moral status

Verbal: they are using "abortion" differently

The answer is: Normative: they disagree about which property confers moral status

1.[3p] Match each question to the layer of ethics it belongs to.

2.[3p] What is Hume's is-ought point, stated as a claim about arguments?

3.[3p] Why does cultural relativism make moral reform impossible?

4.[2p] The fact that societies have differed widely in what they approve of shows that no society was ever mistaken.

5.[3p] What does Moore's open question argument try to show?

6.[3p] Why is subjectivism about the speaker a poor description of moral disagreement?

7.[3p] Which of these follow from the free will course being about agents while ethics is about acts?

8.[2p] Which philosopher's 1739 Treatise contains the is-ought passage?

9.[3p] Two people agree on all the embryology and still disagree about abortion. What kind of disagreement is it?

1.[3p]
Match each question to the layer of ethics it belongs to.

2.[3p]
What is Hume's is-ought point, stated as a claim about arguments?

3.[3p]
Why does cultural relativism make moral reform impossible?

4.[2p]
The fact that societies have differed widely in what they approve of shows that no society was ever mistaken.

5.[3p]
What does Moore's open question argument try to show?

6.[3p]
Why is subjectivism about the speaker a poor description of moral disagreement?

7.[3p]
Which of these follow from the free will course being about agents while ethics is about acts?

8.[2p]
Which philosopher's 1739 Treatise contains the is-ought passage?

9.[3p]
Two people agree on all the embryology and still disagree about abortion. What kind of disagreement is it?