Study Questions 2

(for 2nd. midterm, July 25thth 2003, Friday

Philosophy 1175

East Carolina University
 
Instructor: Yalçin
Hinman Chapter 5

What is consequentialism?

What is the general idea behind utilitarianism?

How do hedonistic utilitarianism, eudaimonistic utilitarianism, ideal utilitarianismand preference utilitarianismdifferfrom each other?

What is utility?

What is maximizing utility?

What are hedons and dolors?

What is supererogation?

Does utilitarianism allow for supererogatoryactions?

How is act utilitarianism formulated?

What are the objections that face act utilitarianism?

How is rule utilitarianism formulated?

What considerations are relevant for determining the group relative to which utilitarian calculations are to be made?

What are the issues that need to be taken into account in evaluating utilitarianism? (Hinman p.193-202)

What is the argument that claims that rule utilitarianism collapses to act utilitarianism?

Hinman Chapter 6

What kind of ethics is an ethics of duty?

What does an ethics of duty say about the grocer, suicide and sympathy examples; how does this contrast with what other ethical theories would say about these cases?

What do the moral minimalism and moral alienation criticisms of duty ethics say?

How is acting out of duty different from following orders?

How is a categorical imperative distinguishedfrom a hypothetical imperative?

What is a maxim?

What are the two formulations of the categorical imperative?

How does one test for universalizability?

Can Kantian ethics deal adequately with exceptions?

What does it mean to say that someone is treated only as a means?

Does the second formulation of the categorical imperative cover a sufficiently wide range of moral circumstances?

What do some Kantians (e.g., Hill) say about self-respect?


 

Hinman Chapter 7

 

What are rights, entitlements, claims, duties and responsibilities, and how are they interrelated?

What is the difference between negative and positive rights?
What is the difference between absolute and prima facie rights?
What are the four ways in which rights can be grounded or justified?
What are the two objections to the attempt to ground rights as self-evident?
What is the main problem for the attempt to ground rights as based on divine foundations?
What is the main problem for the attempt to ground rights as based on natural law?
What are the problems for the attempt to ground rights on human nature?
What is a right conferring property?
What do people mean by the empirical conditions necessary for grounding a right conferring property?
Do animals have rights?
What is standing?
Is there a way in which utilitarians can justify rights?
Is there a way the Kantians can justify rights?
What is the right to life, to property, to equality and well-being??
What are social-contract rights?
From the readings from Boss:

 

Make sure that you are able to come up with reasonable answers to the discussion questions found at the end of the following readings (page numbers indicate where the questions can be found).

Singer (p. 278)

Williams (p. 282)

Locke (p. 346)