LNAT Ethical and Moral Reasoning 2

Question 1

The 'trolley problem' thought experiment is designed primarily to explore which ethical question?

Accepted Answer

Whether it is morally permissible to harm one person to save many

Answer

Whether punishment should be retributive or rehabilitative

Answer

How societies should allocate scarce medical resources equitably

Answer

Whether individuals have a duty to obey unjust laws

Question 2

Civil disobedience as described by Thoreau and practiced by Martin Luther King Jr. rests on the moral claim that:

Accepted Answer

Individuals have a moral duty to resist laws they believe are fundamentally unjust

Answer

All laws must be obeyed because they represent the will of the democratic majority

Answer

Violence is sometimes necessary to achieve meaningful social change

Answer

Democratic systems automatically produce morally just laws

Question 3

In law, the 'reasonable person' standard primarily serves to:

Accepted Answer

Apply an objective ethical benchmark to evaluate individual conduct

Answer

Protect defendants from overly strict legal liability in all cases

Answer

Allow judges to apply their own personal moral views in deciding cases

Answer

Reduce the burden of proof required in civil negligence cases

Question 4

Natural law theory, as articulated by thinkers like Aquinas, holds that:

Accepted Answer

Human-made laws derive legitimacy from conformity to universal moral principles

Answer

Law is whatever a sovereign power formally declares it to be

Answer

Morality is entirely culturally relative with no universal basis

Answer

Legal rights exist wholly independently of any moral framework

Question 5

A government passes a law producing great economic benefits for the majority but systematically disadvantaging a minority group. Which ethical framework would most clearly object on grounds of rights?

Accepted Answer

Rights-based (deontological) theory

Answer

Utilitarianism

Answer

Legal positivism

Answer

Pragmatism

Question 6

'Moral relativism' in ethical reasoning refers to the view that:

Accepted Answer

Moral standards are not universally fixed but vary across cultures or individuals

Answer

All moral questions have a single correct answer discoverable through reason

Answer

Moral judgments are universally valid across all cultures and historical periods

Answer

Consequences are the only valid basis for moral evaluation

Question 7

Which scenario best illustrates the ethical doctrine of 'double effect'?

Accepted Answer

A surgeon administers pain relief to a dying patient knowing it may hasten death, intending only to relieve suffering

Answer

A judge sentences a defendant harshly specifically to deter future crimes by others

Answer

A lawyer suppresses evidence knowing it will produce an unjust acquittal

Answer

A legislator votes for a popular law they privately believe is morally unjust