Philosophy 051-01
Introduction to Ethics
Midterm Examination
50 minutes
Closed book.
This examination has two pages.
Name: _____________________________________
E-mail address: ______________________________________
A.
Multiple choice. Circle the correct
answer for each question right on this exam page.
[ /1 each: total /5]
A1. Which is of the following is closest to why Aristotle compares pleasure to the bloom on the cheeks of a youth? (At least on the interpretation offered in class.)
(a) Every pleasure is good just as every bloom on the cheeks of a youth is good.
(b) It is embarrassing to talk of pleasures, and so one should blush when talking of them.
(c) Pleasure involves a heated emotion, and a blush comes precisely from an overheating of the blood according to Aristotle’s biology.
(d) The bloom on the cheeks of a youth is only beautiful if the youth is already beautiful independently of the bloom.
(e) When one feels pleasure, one blushes, and Aristotle calls this blush a “bloom.”
A2. Which of the following is closest to Thomas Aquinas’s view of capital punishment?
(a) It is never permissible.
(b) It is sometimes permissible because of the principle of double effect.
(c) It is sometimes permissible for a reason different from the principle of double effect.
A3. Which of the following is closest to Thomas Aquinas’s view of self-defense which results in the death of the attacker?
(a) It is never permissible.
(b) It is sometimes permissible because of the principle of double effect.
(c) It is sometimes permissible for a reason different from the principle of double effect.
A4. The ring of Gyges is used in Plato’s Republic primarily to:
(a) Amuse the readers by telling them a myth.
(b) Get the readers to understand issues concerning the question of whether or why we should be just.
(c) Prove that morality is not identical with what the gods command.
(d) Prove that Socrates is a virtuous man.
(e) Teach the readers that if they are virtuous then the gods will reward them with wondrous gifts like the ring of Gyges.
A5. Which of the following is a statement Aristotle would not agree with?
(a) A sea-captain who throws the goods overboard in a storm acts in a sense voluntarily.
(b) As long as you know what the right thing to do is, and you do it freely and without ulterior motives, then you act virtuously.
(c) One can do the right thing and yet not do it virtuously.
(d) The right thing to do is what the virtuous person would do.
(e) There are ultimate goods,
for the sake of which all other things should be pursued.
B. Distinctions. Choose two
of the following pairs of terms, and for each pair, briefly define both terms
while clearly but briefly explaining the difference between them.
The answer to each question should not be more than 2-3 sentences.
On the cover of your exam booklet,
write down the numbers of the questions you chose here (e.g., “B2, B4”).
[ /3 each: total /6]
B1. The contextual intermediate (or intermediate relative to us) vs. the objective intermediate (or intermediate in the object), in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.
B2. Foreseeing a bad result vs. intending a bad result, in Aquinas’s Principle of Double Effect.
B3. Consequentialism vs. non-consequentialism in ethics.
B4. Divine command theory vs. natural law ethics.
C.
Essays. Choose two of the
following topics and write a ¾- to one-page essay on each of them.
Make sure that your essay answers each of the subquestions in the topic
(not necessarily in this order). On the cover of your exam booklet, write down the numbers of the
questions you chose here (e.g., “C3, C5”).
[ /8 each: total /16]
C1. What is hedonistic utilitarianism? (Make sure you define its theory of the right and its theory of the good, and how it differs from non-hedonistic utilitarianism.) Which part of Mill’s view might make someone think Mill is not a hedonistic utilitarian? Do you think Mill is a hedonistic utilitarian? What is the story of the Experience Machine and how might it be relevant to whether hedonistic utilitarianism is correct?
C2. How does C. S. Lewis argue for an absolute morality? Give two objections to his view, with at least one of them taken from the text of Mere Christianity. How could C. S. Lewis respond to these two objections? At least one of the responses should again be taken from the text.
C3. After Euthyphro finally understands Socrates’ question “What is holiness?” how does he answer it? What is Socrates’ main objection to this answer? (Hint: The main objection does not have to do with disagreements between the gods.) Euthyphro has no answer to this objection, but how could either Euthyphro or a modern monotheist respond to this objection? (If you like, you can also say whether you think this response would be a good one.)
C4. What is Aristotle’s account of the ultimate good for human beings, and how does he argue for it? How is this connected with virtue? Make sure you distinguish intellectual and ethical virtues, and explain how the distinction is connected with Aristotle’s theory of the soul. After you do this, take any one of the following three common definitions of happiness: happiness=virtue, happiness=wealth and happiness=pleasure, and explain how although this definition differs from Aristotle’s, given Aristotle’s definition we can see an element of truth in this definition. If you choose this topic, you do not need to discuss your own critical reaction to these views/arguments, but only to explain Aristotle’s view.
C5. (harder)
What does Natural Law theory have to do with the purposes of things and with
basic goods (make sure you explain what “basic good” means)?
Explain at least two of the first principles of natural law and say
something about why