QUIZ 1
QUESTION 1
According to utilitarianism, the morally right act is the one that …
a) … contributes to my own happiness.
b) … maximizes my own happiness.
amount of happiness across all those affected by the act.
c) … contributes to the total
d) … maximizes the total amount of happiness across all those
affected by the act. Status: correct
e) … minimizes the total amount of happiness across all those affected by the act.
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1. QUESTION 2
One key difference between Bentham’s and Mill’s respective versions of utilitarianism is that …
a) … Bentham draws a distinction between higher and lower pleasures while Mill does not.
b) … Mill believes
that the principle of utility applies both to the actions of individuals and government policies while Bentham believes that it
applies only to the actions of individuals.
c) … Bentham believes that the principle of utility applies both to the actions
of individuals and government policies while Mill believes that it applies only to the actions of individuals.
draws a distinction between higher and lower pleasures while Bentham does not. Status: correct
Mill believes that morality requires the maximization of aggregate happiness.
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d) … Mill
e) … Bentham but not
2. QUESTION 3
According to Bentham, …
a) … every person has a natural right to life, liberty, and property.
right to life, liberty, and property.
b) … every person has an unalienable natural
c) … the idea of natural rights is essential to understanding the idea of social justice
and moral rightness. Status: incorrect
d) … the idea of natural rights does not make sense.
e) … the idea of natural
rights is central to utilitarianism.
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3. QUESTION 4
According to Mill, …
a) … individuals have natural rights.
b) … the ideas of justice and individual rights are central to common sense
morality and utilitarianism can account for that status.
c) … utilitarianism is a doctrine for swine.
d) … the idea of
maximized aggregate happiness is incoherent. Status: incorrect
e) … all pleasures are qualitatively equal.
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4. QUESTION 5
In ancient Rome, Christians were fed to the lions in a public spectacle intended to entertain the masses. Which of the
following sounds most like something that Mill might say about this situation?:
a) Since all pleasures are of the same quality, all that matters, morally speaking, is the quantity of pleasure that the
crowd derives from the spectacle minus the quantity of pain experienced by the Christians who are being fed to the lions.
b) The principle of utility is a good theory in most situations. But in extreme situations like this, we need to do what is
moral rather than what the principle of utility tells us to do. For this reason, it is wrong to feed the Christians to the lions.
c) Some pleasures, because they are of a low quality, do not deserve to be given equal weight or priority when deciding
what to do. The pleasure obtained from watching someone being fed to a lion is likely to be one such pleasure. So the pain
suffered by the Christians should factor into my deliberations more heavily than the pleasure enjoyed by the
spectators. Status: correct
d) b and c.
e) a and c.
QUIZ 2
1. QUESTION 1
According to Robert Nozick, the state is justified to tax a citizen (even against his or her will) if:
a) the revenues support things like healthcare and education, which improve the life-prospects of all citizens.
citizens are required to pay the same percentage of their income.
c) the majority enacts the taxation.
b) all
d) doing so
leads to the greatest happiness of society as a whole.
e) the taxes are used to support nothing more than a minimal
state. Status: correct
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2. QUESTION 2
Nozick’s Wilt Chamberlain example (updated by Professor Sandel to the Michael Jordan example) is supposed to illustrate
that …
a) … liberty upsets patterns and, therefore, patterned conceptions of justice require illegitimate restrictions of
liberty. Status: correct
b) … liberty upsets patterns and, therefore, the entitlement conception of justice (justice in
holdings and justice in transfer) requires illegitimate restrictions of liberty.
c) … liberty does not upset patterns and,
therefore, patterned conceptions of justice are more plausible than the entitlement conception of justice (justice in holdings
and justice in transfer).
d) … no matter how just an initial distribution may be, voluntary interaction among free agents
will always lead to injustice.
e) … there is no such thing as a just distribution of goods.
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3. QUESTION 3
Locke’s purpose in examining the “state of nature” is:
a) to show how primitive human beings lived before they formed societies.
human beings and, thereby, the legitimate extent of political power.
marginal improvements to the state of nature.
b) to determine the natural rights of
c) to show that all governments represent at least
d) to show why the state of nature is inadequate for determining what our
fundamental rights should be.
e) to show that the right to property obtains in the state of nature but not in civil
society. Status: incorrect
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4. QUESTION 4
According to Locke, is private property possible in the state of nature?
a) Yes. According to Locke, anyone can lay claim on something without having to do anything.
to Locke, the earth is given to men in common.
is a sufficient condition for coming to own it.
b) No. According
c) Yes. According to Locke, mixing one’s labor with an unowned thing
d) No. According to Locke, the idea of private property is conceptually
dependent on a conception of justice.
e) Yes. According to Locke, one can come to own something by mixing one’s
labor with it and provided there is enough, and as good, left for others. Status: correct
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5. QUESTION 5
Which of the following best characterizes the difference between Locke and Nozick on the issue of unalienable rights?
a) Nozick thinks that I own myself, and that this means I may do whatever I want with myself — including, for
instance, selling myself into slavery. Locke agrees, but warns that selling myself into slavery is unlikely to make me happy.
b) Nozick thinks that I own myself, and that this means I may do whatever I want with myself — including, for
instance, selling myself into slavery. Locke disagrees. He thinks there are certain rights that I may not alienate, no matter
how badly I might want to. Status: correct
c) Nozick, as a libertarian, thinks that my right to liberty is the most
important right, and so I could never alienate my liberty for any reason. Locke, on the other hand, thinks I can alienate my
liberty for the purpose of protecting my life and property.
d) Both Nozick and Locke admit that there are unalienable
rights. They disagree only about which ones are unalienable.
e) Nozick thinks that because our rights are a gift from
God, we could never alienate them. Locke thinks we should sometimes alienate them, since they were given to us by God to
use as we please.
QUIZ 3
1. QUESTION 1
Which of the following best captures Kant’s Formula of Humanity as End?
a) “I ought never to act in such a way that I could not also will that my maxim should become a universal law.”
b)
“Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in any other person, only as an end, never as a
means.”
c) “Never make an exception for yourself.”
d) “Act only on that maxim by which you can at the same time
will that it should become a universal law.”
e) “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person
or in any other person, always at the same time as an end, never merely as means.” Status: correct
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2. QUESTION 2
“I am to make a deceitful promise in circumstances in which my situation is such that I am in real need of money and I
know that I will never be able to pay it back in order to further my own personal advantage.” Kant claims that the
universalization of this maxim results in a contradiction. What does Kant mean?
a) Kant means that a world where everyone makes deceitful promises would be a bad one.
b) Kant means that we
cannot imagine a world where everyone makes deceitful promises, because the practice of promising presupposes trust and
no one would trust anyone in a world where everyone makes deceitful promises.
c) Kant means that it is pointless to
make a deceitful promise.
d) Kant means that it is impossible to conceive of a world in which all promises are offered
with the intention of being broken, because a promise will only be accepted if all promises are kept. So, if one promise is
broken, none will be accepted. Status: incorrect
e) Kant means that on pains of irrationality we must never keep our
promises.
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3. QUESTION 3
In Kant’s time, peasants would sometimes sell their teeth to wealthier individuals who needed them. Kant objected to this,
and he would presumably, for similar reasons, object to selling organs (like kidneys) in the present day. Which of following
most accurately characterizes Kant’s reasons for objecting to selling parts of one’s body?
a) The pain caused by having a tooth or an organ extracted is severe — severe enough to outweigh the pleasure that the
recipient will enjoy.
b) Extracting teeth and organs is digusting, and, therefore, morally wrong.
c) Extracting teeth
and organs inherently involves a certain amount of risk. Something could go wrong, and the procedure could result in
infection, further illness, or death. Kant says that we are not allowed to take risks with our lives.
d) By selling part of
her body, a person would be treating herself as a mere means, and not as an end in herself. Status: correct
e) An
individual’s body is owned by God, and so she is not free to do with it whatever she wishes. God has ultimate ownership
over her body, and so selling a tooth or an organ would require selling something that one does not actually own.
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4. QUESTION 4
Which of the following most accurately expresses Kant’s view about the relationship between freedom and duty?
a) To be truly free, a person must not be constrained in any way. To have a duty is to be required to act in a particular
way, and thus to be subject to a constraint. Thus, freedom and duty are incompatible.
b) To be truly free, a person must
not follow any laws at all. To be free is to be lawless. But acting from duty involves acting from laws. So the moral person
is necessarily unfree.
c) To be truly free, a person must not follow any laws. However, it is impossible to avoid acting
from laws altogether. So a person should act from moral laws because moral laws are good. And because they are good, a
person who acts from them is mostly free.
d) To be truly free, a person must not act on laws that are imposed on her by
another, but only on laws that she gives to herself. The moral law is the law that a rational being gives to herself. Therefore,
the person who acts from the moral law is truly free. Status: correct
e) To be truly free, a person must do only what she
wants. A rational person will always have a strong desire to do moral things. So when she acts on that desire, she will be
both free and moral.
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5. QUESTION 5
Kant offers an example of an honest shopkeeper who refuses to cheat his customers. Kant imagines one motive that the
shopkeeper might have: a worry that if he is dishonest, word will get out and he will lose business. Why does Kant discuss
this example?
a) He wants to argue that honesty is the best policy, because if the shopkeeper does what is right, he is also likely to
thrive as a businessperson.
b) He wants to demonstrate that an honest action can sometimes lack moral worth if it is
done from the wrong motive. Status: correct
c) He wants to show us that there are many motives that have moral worth,
and that the honest shopkeeper deserves our praise.
d) He wants to show that if everyone acted the way that the
shopkeeper does, no one would be able to conduct business anymore. Therefore, the shopkeeper’s actions violate the
categorical imperative.
e) He wants us to see the inherent moral dilemma faced by those who run a business.
QUIZ 4
1. QUESTION 1
What is the original position?
a) A time in the past when people lived behind a veil of ignorance that covered up their knowledge about who in
particular they are (e.g. their social status and natural talents).
b) A utopian society in which people live behind a veil of
ignorance that covers up their knowledge about who in particular they are (e.g. their social status and natural talents).
c)
A hypothetical scenario in which people who are temporarily placed behind a veil of ignorance that covers up their
knowledge about who in particular they are (e.g. their social status and natural talents) choose the principles of justice for
their society. Status: correct
d) A utopian society in which everyone acts in accordance with Rawls’ principles of
justice.
e) A time past when people acted in accordance with Rawls’ principles of justice.
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2. QUESTION 2
What is the main function of the veil of ignorance?
a) To ensure that people are not biased by knowledge about particular facts about themselves (e.g. how strong or
intelligent they are) when thinking about matters of justice.
of justice. Status: incorrect
in real life.
b) To ensure people’s anonymity when choosing principles
c) To ensure that people are just as biased when they choose principles of justice as they are
d) To ensure that people are keenly aware of differences in bargaining power when choosing principles of
justice.
e) To ensure that, when choosing principles of justice, individuals are keenly aware of their distinguishing
features.
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3. QUESTION 3
Why, according to Rawls, is a hypothetical contract between people of equal standing who are placed behind a veil of
ignorance morally more significant than an actual contract?
a) Because it is not tainted by asymmetries in bargaining power (e.g. differences in people's wealth or intelligence or
strength). Status: correct
b) Because it is more thoughtful.
c) Because people often do not know what they want.
d) Because an actual contract is not tainted by asymmetries in bargaining power (e.g. differences in people's wealth or
intelligence or strength).
e) Because tacit consent is more informative than a hypothetical contract.
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4. QUESTION 4
Individuals who use their talents to earn an income on the free market sometimes claim that they ought to be allowed to
keep all of that income because they morally deserve it. How would Rawls respond to this?
a) “While you might think that your talents are your own, this is merely an illusion. A person’s talents are the property
of the entire society, and so the wealth created through the use of a person’s talents is also collective property that we need
to distribute fairly.”
b) “The fact that you were born with the talents you have is a morally arbitrary fact. You do not
morally deserve your talents, and so the claim that you deserve the wealth that your talents attract is dubious.” Status:
incorrect
c) “The fact that you were born into a society in which your particular talents are in high demand or in low
supply is a morally arbitrary fact. The fact that your particular talents are in high demand or in low supply is what allows
you to use those talents to become wealthy. So the claim that you deserve the wealth that your talents attract is dubious.”
d) (a) and (b).
e) (b) and (c).
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5. QUESTION 5
Rawls thinks that people are justified in owning the objects and wealth that they do when:
a) They acquired those objects by mixing their labor with them, and they acquired other wealth by engaging in free
exchange with others.
b) They acquired those objects and wealth through a system that rewards them for the moral
excellence they exhibit when they work hard and show initiative.
c) The objects and wealth were acquired within a
market regulated by principles of justice that protect individual liberties and fair equality of opportunity for all and then
work to the benefit of the least well-off members of society. Status: correct
d) a and c.
e) b and c.
QUIZ 5
1. QUESTION 1
According to Aristotle, the cultivation of moral virtue arises through ...
a) ... nature.
b) ... practice. Status: correct
c) ... luck.
d) ... prayer.
e) All of the above are correct.
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2. QUESTION 2
Which of the following best represents Aristotle’s view about the role of morality in politics?
a) “Morality has no place in politics. Not only is it immoral to try to legislate morality, but it is impossible to do so.
Morality is about intention or motive, and the state cannot affect the motives of its citizens. Only the individuals themselves
can determine their motives.”
basic rights.”
b) “Morality will always play some role in politics, but only regarding questions about
c) “Encouraging and fostering a virtuous citizenry is the primary purpose of the state.” Status: correct
d) “While it is always best to have virtuous citizens, the state itself should remain non-judgmental and take no position
on which ways of living are best.”
e) All of the above are correct.
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3. QUESTION 3
Sometimes we disagree and argue about what the telos or the purpose of a social practice really consists in. According to
Aristotle, when we have those disagreements what's at stake is ...
a) ... only who will get what.
b) ... whether the social practice helps maximize pleasure overall.
excellences of persons will be honored.
c) ... only what
d) ... not just who will get what but also what qualities, what excellences of
persons will be honored. Status: correct
e) None of the above.
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4. QUESTION 4
According to Aristotle, ...
a) … the individual is prior to the polis (the political community).
of pleasure minus pain.
b) … morality is about the maximized aggregate
c) … the polis (the political community) exists by nature and is prior to the individual. Status:
correct
d) … distributive justice is a matter of what would be chosen behind a veil of ignorance.
above.
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e) All of the
5. QUESTION 5
Casey Martin was a golfer on the PGA Tour who, due to an illness, needed a golf cart to move around the course. After
being denied permission to use a cart, Martin sued the PGA. Many of the players on the tour objected to the suggestion that
Martin should be allowed to use a cart. Which of the following objections to Martin’s being allowed to use the cart is an
expression of teleological reasoning?
a) “Walking the course is part of the game. If you allow Martin to ride a cart, he really isn’t playing the game
anymore.” Status: correct
b) “If Martin does not have to walk the course, he will have an unfair advantage.”
“The PGA is a private organization. The courts should not tell a private organization what to do.”
(a), (b), and (c).
d) (a) and (b).
c)
e)
EXAM
1. QUESTION 1
Bentham and Kant agree on which of the following?
a) Pleasure is the only thing that is good without qualification.
name of maximizing aggregate happiness.
b) Individual rights limit what can be done in the
c) The good will is the only thing that is good without qualification. Status:
incorrect
d) Maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain is all that matters, morally speaking.
individual self-interest.
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e) Morality constrains
2. QUESTION 2
Aristotle and Rawls have opposing views about the relation between justice and moral desert. What best characterizes the
difference?
a) Aristotle argues that justice is giving people what they deserve, while Rawls believes that moral desert is irrelevant
when it comes to a just distribution of goods.
b) Rawls argues that a distribution is just only if everyone gets what he or
she deserves while Aristotle believes that a distribution is just if fair equality of opportunity is realized.
c) Aristotle
believes that a distribution is just if everyone gets what he deserves, while Rawls believes that a distribution is just if and
only if everyone gets an equal share. Status: incorrect
d) Rawls argues that a distribution is just if the position of the
worst off is maximized, while Aristotle believes that a distribution is just if the position of the worst off is minimized.
e) Aristotle believes that a distribution is just if everyone gets an equal share, while Rawls believes that a distribution is just
if everyone gets what he or she deserves.
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3. QUESTION 3
Who argues that individuals have natural rights to life, liberty, and property that constrain what government is allowed to
do?
a) Aristotle.
b) Locke. Status: correct
c) Bentham.
d) All of the above.
e) None of the above.
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4. QUESTION 4
Which of the following do both Kant and Rawls support?
a) Individual rights should be protected insofar and as long as doing so maximizes overall happiness.
beings do not have the capacity for reason/rationality.
particular conception of the good life. Status: correct
b) Human
c) What is just or right is prior to and independent of any
d) The good is prior to and independent of what is just or right.
e) a) and d).
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5. QUESTION 5
Who wrote: “Men therefore in society having property, they have such a right to the goods, which by the law of the
community are theirs, that nobody hath a right to take their substance or any part of it from them, without their own consent;
without this they have no property at all; ..."
a) Aristotle
b) Nozick
c) Mill
d) Locke Status: correct
e) Kant
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6. QUESTION 6
Who argued that there is but one Categorical Imperative, namely this: Act only on that maxim whereby you can at the same
time will that it should become a universal law?
a) Aristotle.
b) Mill.
c) Rawls.
d) Kant. Status: correct
e) Locke.
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7. QUESTION 7
Rawls and Nozick agree about which of the following claims:
a) Sometimes it can be wrong to perform the act that maximizes utility overall. Status: correct
state to tax people’s earnings in order to provide education for all citizens.
b) It is unjust for the
c) Departures from an equal distribution of
shares are only permissible if it raises the expectation of the least advantaged member of society.
d) Distributive shares
should not be influenced by such chance contingencies as accident of birth and good fortune.
e) All of the above are
correct.
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8. QUESTION 8
Which best reflects what Nozick and Aristotle would say about how we should distribute high-quality violins?
a) Nozick would say that the best violins should go to the highest bidder, whereas Aristotle would say that they should
go to the most talented violinists, because their music would bring listeners the most happiness.
b) Nozick would say
that the best violins should go to the hardest worker, whereas Aristotle would say that they should go to the most virtuous
citizens as a way of honoring them.
c) Nozick would say that the best violins should go to the people who will make the
best use of them, whereas Aristotle would say that all citizens—but not slaves—deserve a chance to use the violins.
d)
Nozick would say that society should be set up so that at birth everyone has an equal chance of acquiring one of the violins,
whereas Aristotle would say that the best violins should go to the best violinists. Status: incorrect
e) Nozick would say
that that the best violins should be owned either by the people who made them, or the people who acquired them through
free exchange, whereas Aristotle would say that the best violins should go to those with the most musical ability because
that will best honor the excellence of their violin-playing ability.
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9. QUESTION 9
Which of the following is something that both Bentham and Mill would endorse?
a) Individuals have natural rights.
b) The good is best understood in terms of pleasure. Status: correct
c) The
good is best understood in terms of virtue.
d) The right is prior to the good.
e) Pleasures differ with respect to their
quality.
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10. QUESTION 10
Locke and Rawls are both social contract theorists. Locke appeals to (among other things) a citizen’s “tacit consent” to the
social contract. Rawls appeals to a citizen’s “hypothetical consent” to the social contract. What is the difference between
these two kinds of consent?
a) Tacit consent requires actually expressing one’s consent to the terms of the contract, whereas hypothetical consent
simply requires that a citizen would have given consent under certain ideal conditions.
b) One who gives tacit consent
implies consent to the terms of the contract through her actions, whereas someone who gives hypothetical consent explicitly
agrees to the terms of the contract based on some particular desire that she has.
c) One who gives tacit consent
implicitly suggests, through her actions, that she accepts the terms of the contract, whereas to say that someone
hypothetically consents means that she would have consented to the terms of the contract were she asked to do so under
certain ideal conditions.Status: correct
d) Tacit consent is consent given in the state of nature, whereas hypothetical
consent occurs within an ideal society.
e) Tacit consent is consent given by any rational agent, irrespective of her
particular desires or ends, whereas someone who gives hypothetical consent agrees to the terms of the contract based on
some particular desire that she has.
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11. QUESTION 11
Against utilitarianism, which of the following authors would object, “To maximize utility by imposing burdens on some
individuals is to treat all of society like a single person. But society is not like a single person, and so utilitarianism is
mistaken.”
a) Rawls, because he thinks it matters not just how much utility is produced in aggregate, but also how the utility is
distributed.
b) Nozick, because separate persons have rights that make it impermissible to take from one person in order
to give to another.
c) Bentham, because he thinks that all pleasures are of equal quality.
d) a and b Status: correct
e) a, b, and c
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12. QUESTION 12
Which of the following philosophers take the good to be prior to the right?
a) Rawls.
b) Kant.
c) Aristotle. Status: correct
d) a and b are correct.
e) a and c are correct.
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13. QUESTION 13
What would Bentham and Aristotle likely say of a person who tortures animals because he takes pleasure in doing so?
a) Bentham: “It is inherently bad that this person enjoys torturing innocent animals, and it is bad that the animals get
tortured. There is nothing good about this situation” Aristotle: “It is not virtuous to torture animals, and the person should
refrain from doing so regardless of whether he would enjoy it.”
b) Bentham: “It is bad for the animal if it is tortured.
But the act of torture is made less bad by the fact that this person took pleasure in it.” Aristotle: “It is not virtuous to torture
animals, and the act is made worse by the fact that the person enjoyed doing it.” Status: correct
c) Bentham: “It is bad
for the animal if it is tortured. But the act of torture is made less bad by the fact that this person took pleasure in it.”
Aristotle: “It is not virtuous to torture animals, but the act of torture is made less lamentable by the fact that this person took
pleasure in it.”
d) Bentham: “It is bad for the animal if it is tortured. The pleasure experienced by the person torturing
the animal is irrelevant to whether the act of torturing the animal is good or bad.” Aristotle: “It is not virtuous to torture
animals, and the act is made worse by the fact that the person enjoyed doing it.”
e) Bentham: “Torturing an animal is
neither right nor wrong because animals do not have rights.” Aristotle: "It is not virtuous to torture animals, but the act of
torture is made less lamentable by the fact that this person took pleasure in it.”
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14. QUESTION 14
The philosophies of John Locke and Robert Nozick can be said to diverge in which of the following respects:
a) Nozick defends strict constraints on what the majority can do whereas Locke defends no constraints.
b) Locke
derives individual rights from the good of society as a whole, whereas Nozick derives rights from individual self-ownership.
c) For Locke, the right to life is inalienable, whereas for Nozick, the right may be surrendered by its possessor. Status:
correct
d) Nozick defends a pre-political (natural) right to property whereas Locke does not.
e) Locke claims that
the purpose of government is to secure rights, whereas Nozick claims that its purpose is to secure wealth.
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15. QUESTION 15
Rawls might criticize Locke’s social contract on which of the following grounds?
a) The parties to the contract know too much about their particular interests and as a result, the terms of the contract are
not necessarily fair. Status: correct
b) The contract fails to protect people’s property rights.
that human beings in the state of nature remain unchanged by civil society.
c) The contract assumes
d) The contract fails to guarantee the
greatest good for the greatest number.
e) All of the above.
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16. QUESTION 16
Rawls and Nozick both agree that ...
a) ... the law should embody no conception of the good life.
provide basic necessities to those unable to procure them.
b) ... in the name of liberty, the government must
c) ... private institutions are not subject to principles of
justice.
d) ... redistributive taxation is unjust unless it remedies some past injustice. Status: incorrect
majority enacts it after sustained public debate, publicly funded healthcare is just.
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e) ... if the
17. QUESTION 17
Communitarians and Rawls disagree about which of the following?
a) Individuals have natural duties.
b) Individuals can incur voluntary obligations through an act of consent.
c)
Individuals have obligations of solidarity or membership that are neither natural duties owed to all people nor obligations
traceable to an act of consent.
d) a) and c). Status: incorrect
e) a) and b).
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18. QUESTION 18
At a particular moment in time, a particular society’s wealth is distributed very unevenly, with some individuals controlling
ten times the amount of wealth as the least wealthy individuals. How would Nozick and Rawls assess the society in terms of
justice?
a) Nozick would say that the society is just, because the more talented deserve greater rewards. Rawls would say that
the society is unjust, because the difference principle condemns all economic inequality.
b) Nozick would say that the
society is just, because the market demands a certain amount of economic inequality. Rawls would say that the society is
just because inequalities give citizens incentive to work hard and to try to become one of the wealthy members of society.
c) Nozick would say that it is impossible to tell whether the society is just without knowing how the inequalities came
about. Rawls would say that it is possible to tell whether the society is just, and that it is unjust, because the difference
principle condemns all economic inequality.
d) Nozick would say that it is impossible to tell whether the society is just
without knowing whether the economic goods were acquired in accordance with the principles of justice in acquisition
(initial holdings) and justice in transfer (free market). Rawls would say that whether the society is just depends upon
whether the inequalities are working to the advantage of the least advantaged as constrained by principles guaranteeing fair
equal opportunity and equal liberties. Status: correct
e) Nozick would say that the society is not just, because extreme
economic inequality interferes with fair equality of opportunity. Rawls would say that whether society is just depends upon
whether members of the least advantaged group are able to live a decent life.
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19. QUESTION 19
Which of the following best captures how Aristotle might respond to Locke’s claim that the purpose of politics is to secure
life, liberty, and property?
a) Politics has nothing to do with securing life, liberty, and property.
b) In defending the natural rights to life,
liberty, and property, Locke overlooks the sense in which rights come from convention.
c) Although a political
community should not neglect securing life, liberty, and property, this is not its primary or highest purpose. The primary or
highest purpose of the political community is to form good character/cultivate the virtue of citizens/realize the good
life. Status: correct
d) Locke is correct, but he misinterprets the right to property as a right to use and abuse whatever
possessions one has justly acquired.
e) Although the primary purpose of politics is to secure life, liberty, and property,
politics also involves other purposes, such as teaching people how to be productive members of society.
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20. QUESTION 20
How might Aristotle reply to the claim that individuals should be free to pursue their own conceptions of the good life and
that participating in politics is only one life option among many?
a) Participating in politics, broadly conceived as the practice of deliberation, is actually the condition for the ability to
pursue one’s own conception of the good life.
city. Status: incorrect
b) One can only achieve the good by receiving the highest honors in the
c) Although the state should guide people’s life choices, it should not enforce any conception of
the good through law.
d) One should avoid participating in politics only if it detracts from one’s happiness.
of the above.
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e) All
21. QUESTION 21
Who wrote: "Of two pleasures, if there be one to which all or almost all who have experience of both give a decided
preference, irrespective of any feeling of moral obligation to prefer it, that is the more desirable pleasure. If one of the two
is, by those who are competently acquainted with both, placed so far above the other that they prefer it, even though
knowing it to be attended with a greater amount of discontent, and would not resign it for any quantity of the other pleasure
which their nature is capable of, we are justified in ascribing to the preferred enjoyment a superiority in quality, so far
outweighing quantity as to render it, in comparison, of small account."
a) Aristotle.
b) Locke.
c) Bentham.
d) Mill. Status: correct
e) Kant.
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22. QUESTION 22
In which of the following ways do utilitarians and Aristotle stand united against the liberal and the libertarian?
a) Utilitarians and Aristotle believe in natural rights, whereas liberals and libertarians are concerned mostly with
liberty.
b) Utilitarians and Aristotle both believe that the government should attempt to maximize the aggregate of
pleasure minus pain, whereas liberals and libertarians believe that the government should simply protect rights.
c)
Utilitarians and Aristotle start by asking what things are good and then argue that the government should advance the good,
whereas liberals and libertarians believe that it is not the government’s job to pursue any particular conception of the
good. Status: correct
d) a and c
e) b and c
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23. QUESTION 23
Which of the following is something that Kant and libertarians would endorse?
a) If one is able to do what one wants, one is free.
oneself. Status: incorrect
b) To be free is to live by laws that one has given to
c) Individual rights constrain what can be done in the name of maximizing overall utility.
d) Individual rights should be protected insofar as they maximize overall utility.
e) All of the above.
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24. QUESTION 24
Which of the following philosophers can be said to prioritize the right over the good?
a) Kant. Status: correct
b) Mill.
c) Bentham.
d) Aristotle
e) None of the above.
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25. QUESTION 25
According to Professor Sandel, if judgments about the good are unavoidable in debates about justice and rights, is it
possible to reason about the good (these judgments about the good)?
a) If reasoning about the good means that you must have a single principle or rule or maxim or criterion for the good
life that you simply plug in every time who have a disagreement about morality, then the answer is "Yes."
b) If
reasoning about the good means that you must have a single principle or rule or maxim or criterion for the good life that you
simply plug in every time who have a disagreement about morality, then the answer is "No."
c) If reasoning about the
good life (or, for that matter, justice) means moving back and forth between our considered judgments about particular cases
and the general principles we would articulate to make sense of these judgments, and then at least sometimes revising the
judgments about the particular cases in light of the principles (or vice versa), then the answer is "Yes." Status: incorrect
d) If reasoning about the good life (or, for that matter, justice) means moving back and forth between our considered
judgments about particular cases and the general principles we would articulate to make sense of these judgments, and then
at least sometimes revising the judgments about the particular cases in light of the principles (or vice versa), then the answer
is "No."
e) b) and c)
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