PhD Doctor of Philosophy Philosophy: Morality and The Moral Life 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which philosopher argued that moral worth depends solely on acting from duty (Pflicht) rather than inclination?
- John Stuart Mill
- Immanuel Kant (Correct answer)
- David Hume
- Aristotle
Correct answer: Immanuel Kant
Kant held that an action has moral worth only when performed from duty, not from inclination or self-interest.
Question 2: In virtue ethics, eudaimonia is best translated as:
- Pleasure
- Duty fulfillment
- Flourishing or well-being (Correct answer)
- Moral perfection
Correct answer: Flourishing or well-being
Eudaimonia, central to Aristotle's ethics, refers to human flourishing or living well rather than mere pleasure.
Question 3: The trolley problem is primarily used in ethics to illustrate tension between:
- Virtue and vice
- Consequentialist and deontological intuitions (Correct answer)
- Divine command theory and natural law
- Contractarianism and libertarianism
Correct answer: Consequentialist and deontological intuitions
The trolley problem highlights the clash between maximizing outcomes (consequentialism) and the prohibition on using people as means (deontology).
Question 4: Peter Singer's utilitarian argument for famine relief concludes that affluent individuals are morally obligated to give until:
- They have given 10% of income
- Giving more would cause comparable moral harm to themselves (Correct answer)
- Local needs are fully met first
- Government foreign aid becomes sufficient
Correct answer: Giving more would cause comparable moral harm to themselves
Singer argues we must give until the point where giving further would sacrifice something of comparable moral importance.
Question 5: Moral relativism holds that moral judgments are:
- Universally valid across cultures
- True or false relative to cultural or individual standards (Correct answer)
- Always derived from natural law
- Irreducibly emotional expressions
Correct answer: True or false relative to cultural or individual standards
Moral relativism maintains that the truth of moral claims is relative to the norms of a particular culture or individual.
Question 6: The 'original position' with a 'veil of ignorance' is a thought experiment developed by:
- Robert Nozick
- John Rawls (Correct answer)
- Thomas Hobbes
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Correct answer: John Rawls
John Rawls used the original position and veil of ignorance in A Theory of Justice to derive fair principles of justice.
Question 7: Which metaethical position holds that moral statements express attitudes rather than describe facts?
- Moral realism
- Natural law theory
- Emotivism (Correct answer)
- Intuitionism
Correct answer: Emotivism
Emotivism, associated with A.J. Ayer and C.L. Stevenson, treats moral utterances as expressions of emotional attitudes, not truth-apt propositions.
PhD Doctor of Philosophy Philosophy: Morality and The Moral Life 2
Which philosopher argued that moral worth depends solely on acting from duty (Pflicht) rather than inclination?