PHIL 160 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Ethics - Answers - The normative study of behavior.
Normative Discipline - Answers - Tell how things ought to be or should be.
Descriptive Discipline - Answers - How things are, how they were, or how they will be,
and why.
Fundamental Project of Moral Philosophy - Answers - To explain what makes morally
right actions right.
Moral Point of View - Answers - An impartial, fair, and objective point of view from which
we reconcile conflicts of interest.
Prudential Point of View - Answers - Whether the act best promotes the agent's well-
being.
Legal Point of View - Answers - Whether the act is permissible according to the law.
Necessary Condition - Answers - -If x does not occur/obtain, then y will not.
-In order for y to occur/obtain, x must also occur/obtain.
-example:
"You won't get into the pool at the YMCA unless you are wearing a swimsuit."
Sufficient Condition - Answers - If x occurs or obtains, y must also occur or obtain.
-example:
"If you're in Lawrence, then you're in Douglas County."
Argument - Answers - A series of considerations that are presented by an author in
support of some point of view that he or she wants to convince us of.
Validity - Answers - Iff the truth of its premises would guarantee the truth of its
conclusion: if all the premises were true, then the conclusion would have to be true too.
Forms of valid arguments - Answers - -Modus Ponens: If P, then Q. P. Therefore, Q.
-Modus Tollens: If P, then Q. Not Q. Therefore, not P.
-Disjunctive Syllogism: Either P or Q. Not P. Therefore, Q.
-Hypothetical Syllogism: if P, then Q. If Q, then R. Therefore, if P, then R.
Can a valid argument have false premises? - Answers - Yes
Can a valid argument have a false conclusion? - Answers - Yes
Can a valid argument have true premises and a false conclusion? - Answers - No
, Soundness - Answers - Iff it is both valid and factually correct.
How does soundness differ from validity? - Answers - Validity is the argument's logical
structure, while soundness requires both the structure and true premises.
What does an argument need in order to be sound? - Answers - When it is both valid
and factually correct.
Divine Command - Answers - An action is morally right iff it does not violate any one of
God's commands.
Theological Voluntarism - Answers - An action is right in virtue of the fact that it does not
violate God's commands. Right acts are right because God commanded them.
The Divine Advisor View - Answers - Any act God commands is going to be right, and if
an act is right, he will have commanded it. Acts are right because they meet some
independent standard.
Objection to Theological Voluntarism - Answers - If theological voluntarism is true, then
murder is wrong merely because God forbids it. But what makes murder wrong is the
fact that it causes unnecessary suffering and deprives its victim of a valuable future.
Therefore, theological voluntarism is false.
Euthyphro Argument - Answers - Even if DC is true, and the right actions are the ones
that God commands, we can still ask what makes these actions right.
Problem of Natural Evil - Answers - Natural evil exists in events or situations that are
very bad, but that are not the result of human actions or choices. If God is omnipotent,
omniscient, omnibenevolent, and sovereign, He would not permit natural evil to exist.
But natural evil does exist, so God does not exist.
Cultural Relativism - Answers - An action is morally right iff it is permitted by the moral
code of the society in which it is performed.
Society - Answers - A collection of people living in close proximity to one another, who
share many beliefs and values, political and economic institutions, and many social
customs.
Moral Code - Answers - Consists of beliefs about what behavior is morally acceptable
and/or forbidden that are widely shared within a society.
The Case of Fauziya - Answers - 1. If CR is true, then it is morally permissible for the
doctor in Togo to mutilate Fauziya against her will.
2. But it is not morally permissible for him to do this.
3. Therefore, CR is false.
Ethics - Answers - The normative study of behavior.
Normative Discipline - Answers - Tell how things ought to be or should be.
Descriptive Discipline - Answers - How things are, how they were, or how they will be,
and why.
Fundamental Project of Moral Philosophy - Answers - To explain what makes morally
right actions right.
Moral Point of View - Answers - An impartial, fair, and objective point of view from which
we reconcile conflicts of interest.
Prudential Point of View - Answers - Whether the act best promotes the agent's well-
being.
Legal Point of View - Answers - Whether the act is permissible according to the law.
Necessary Condition - Answers - -If x does not occur/obtain, then y will not.
-In order for y to occur/obtain, x must also occur/obtain.
-example:
"You won't get into the pool at the YMCA unless you are wearing a swimsuit."
Sufficient Condition - Answers - If x occurs or obtains, y must also occur or obtain.
-example:
"If you're in Lawrence, then you're in Douglas County."
Argument - Answers - A series of considerations that are presented by an author in
support of some point of view that he or she wants to convince us of.
Validity - Answers - Iff the truth of its premises would guarantee the truth of its
conclusion: if all the premises were true, then the conclusion would have to be true too.
Forms of valid arguments - Answers - -Modus Ponens: If P, then Q. P. Therefore, Q.
-Modus Tollens: If P, then Q. Not Q. Therefore, not P.
-Disjunctive Syllogism: Either P or Q. Not P. Therefore, Q.
-Hypothetical Syllogism: if P, then Q. If Q, then R. Therefore, if P, then R.
Can a valid argument have false premises? - Answers - Yes
Can a valid argument have a false conclusion? - Answers - Yes
Can a valid argument have true premises and a false conclusion? - Answers - No
, Soundness - Answers - Iff it is both valid and factually correct.
How does soundness differ from validity? - Answers - Validity is the argument's logical
structure, while soundness requires both the structure and true premises.
What does an argument need in order to be sound? - Answers - When it is both valid
and factually correct.
Divine Command - Answers - An action is morally right iff it does not violate any one of
God's commands.
Theological Voluntarism - Answers - An action is right in virtue of the fact that it does not
violate God's commands. Right acts are right because God commanded them.
The Divine Advisor View - Answers - Any act God commands is going to be right, and if
an act is right, he will have commanded it. Acts are right because they meet some
independent standard.
Objection to Theological Voluntarism - Answers - If theological voluntarism is true, then
murder is wrong merely because God forbids it. But what makes murder wrong is the
fact that it causes unnecessary suffering and deprives its victim of a valuable future.
Therefore, theological voluntarism is false.
Euthyphro Argument - Answers - Even if DC is true, and the right actions are the ones
that God commands, we can still ask what makes these actions right.
Problem of Natural Evil - Answers - Natural evil exists in events or situations that are
very bad, but that are not the result of human actions or choices. If God is omnipotent,
omniscient, omnibenevolent, and sovereign, He would not permit natural evil to exist.
But natural evil does exist, so God does not exist.
Cultural Relativism - Answers - An action is morally right iff it is permitted by the moral
code of the society in which it is performed.
Society - Answers - A collection of people living in close proximity to one another, who
share many beliefs and values, political and economic institutions, and many social
customs.
Moral Code - Answers - Consists of beliefs about what behavior is morally acceptable
and/or forbidden that are widely shared within a society.
The Case of Fauziya - Answers - 1. If CR is true, then it is morally permissible for the
doctor in Togo to mutilate Fauziya against her will.
2. But it is not morally permissible for him to do this.
3. Therefore, CR is false.
