Hillsborough Community College, Spring 2020, Final Exam
30 points
Some Questions are multiple choice, and others require a short answer that sufficiently answers the
questions. There are 100 questions. You should be able to answer most of these simply by remembering
what you’ve read and studied over the course of the semester. Of course, you have the book too and six
days.
Make it clear what your answer is. For the short answer questions, you can put your answer after the
question. For the multiple choice, you can highlight your answer, or you could place a capitalized letter
after each question, indicating your answer.
Each question is worth .3 points, except for the extra credit questions that are at the end. They are worth
1 point each. There are seven extra credit questions. (Ultimately, you could get a 37 on this final exam.)
This is due before 11:59pm on Monday, May 11th. Upload your document to Canvas.
Introduction:
1. The area of moral philosophy known as “value theory” includes questions such as:
a. Is morality objective?
b. What do we owe to each other?
c. What kind of life is most worth living?
d. How do we know which actions are morally right?
2. The question “do the ends justify the means?” falls within the area of
a. value theory.
b. normative ethics.
c. metaethics.
d. moral psychology.
3. The claim that morality is a human invention and therefore not objective is a claim about
a. applied ethics.
b. value theory.
c. normative ethics.
d. metaethics.
4. In philosophy, an argument is a(n)
a. formal debate between two parties who disagree.
b. heated confrontation concerning a key philosophical issue.
c. chain of reasoning consisting of a set of reasons that supports some conclusion.
d. objection to a stated philosophical position.
1
, 5. It is impossible for a valid argument to have
a. true premises and a false conclusion.
b. true premises and a true conclusion.
c. false premises and a false conclusion.
d. none of the above
6. The conclusion of a sound argument
a. will always be true.
b. will always be false.
c. might be true but also might be false.
d. will always be relevant to the debate at hand.
7. A moral agent is
a. someone who acts morally all the time.
b. someone who acts in accordance with the ethics of his or her profession.
c. anyone who is capable of controlling his or her behavior through moral reasoning.
d. any individual whose interests we must consider to act morally.
8. Which of the following commonly motivates people to be skeptical about morality?
a. the existence of moral disagreement
b. the belief that science is the only way of discovering truth
c. the view that all moral rules have exceptions
d. all of the above
Chapter One:
9. Explain the difference between intrinsic value and instrumental value and give examples of things you
take to be valuable in each way.
Intrinsic values such as knowledge are good in and of themselves while instrumental goods are good
because they bring about other good like money allowing you to buy food and shelter.
10. Hedonists distinguish between two types of pleasure. Explain this distinction and give examples of each
type of pleasure. Which type of pleasure do hedonists claim is more important? The two kinds of
pleasre to a hedonist is physical pleasure and attitudinal pleasure. Physical pleasure is the kind of
pleasure you would receive from a message, it comes with a certain feeling. Whereas attuiudinal
pleasure doe not have a specific feeling attached but is perceived as happiness and this is the more
important kind of pleasure (enjoyment).
Chapter Two:
2
, 11) Describe the paradox of hedonism and explain why it is often taken to be a problem for the theory.
The paradox of hedonism is that you cannot acquire happiness by chasing your desired alone, in fact the
issue is that relentlessly pursuing happiness will likely push that very happiness away from you. Chasing
happiness alone will not make us better off.
12) Autonomy is the
a. ability to control others’ lives.
b. power to guide our life through our own free choices.
c. ability of our subconscious to affect our behavior.
d. power that robots have to operate according to a set of commands.
13) The value of autonomy explains why paternalism is
a. always justified.
b. never justified.
c. always objectionable, even when it is justified.
d. always praiseworthy, even when it is not justified.
Chapter Three:
14) According to the desire satisfaction theory of welfare something is intrinsically good for you
a. if it satisfies your desires.
b. only if it satisfies your desires.
c. because it satisfies your desires.
d. all of the above
15) According to the desire satisfaction theory, we are usually motivated to do what is good for us because
a. we are afraid of the consequences if we fail to do so.
b. desires motivate us to do things.
c. our beliefs about the good motivate us to do things.
d. none of the above
16) According to the desire theory, to know what’s good for us we must know
a. what we desire.
b. how to get what we desire.
c. both a and b
d. neither a nor b
3
30 points
Some Questions are multiple choice, and others require a short answer that sufficiently answers the
questions. There are 100 questions. You should be able to answer most of these simply by remembering
what you’ve read and studied over the course of the semester. Of course, you have the book too and six
days.
Make it clear what your answer is. For the short answer questions, you can put your answer after the
question. For the multiple choice, you can highlight your answer, or you could place a capitalized letter
after each question, indicating your answer.
Each question is worth .3 points, except for the extra credit questions that are at the end. They are worth
1 point each. There are seven extra credit questions. (Ultimately, you could get a 37 on this final exam.)
This is due before 11:59pm on Monday, May 11th. Upload your document to Canvas.
Introduction:
1. The area of moral philosophy known as “value theory” includes questions such as:
a. Is morality objective?
b. What do we owe to each other?
c. What kind of life is most worth living?
d. How do we know which actions are morally right?
2. The question “do the ends justify the means?” falls within the area of
a. value theory.
b. normative ethics.
c. metaethics.
d. moral psychology.
3. The claim that morality is a human invention and therefore not objective is a claim about
a. applied ethics.
b. value theory.
c. normative ethics.
d. metaethics.
4. In philosophy, an argument is a(n)
a. formal debate between two parties who disagree.
b. heated confrontation concerning a key philosophical issue.
c. chain of reasoning consisting of a set of reasons that supports some conclusion.
d. objection to a stated philosophical position.
1
, 5. It is impossible for a valid argument to have
a. true premises and a false conclusion.
b. true premises and a true conclusion.
c. false premises and a false conclusion.
d. none of the above
6. The conclusion of a sound argument
a. will always be true.
b. will always be false.
c. might be true but also might be false.
d. will always be relevant to the debate at hand.
7. A moral agent is
a. someone who acts morally all the time.
b. someone who acts in accordance with the ethics of his or her profession.
c. anyone who is capable of controlling his or her behavior through moral reasoning.
d. any individual whose interests we must consider to act morally.
8. Which of the following commonly motivates people to be skeptical about morality?
a. the existence of moral disagreement
b. the belief that science is the only way of discovering truth
c. the view that all moral rules have exceptions
d. all of the above
Chapter One:
9. Explain the difference between intrinsic value and instrumental value and give examples of things you
take to be valuable in each way.
Intrinsic values such as knowledge are good in and of themselves while instrumental goods are good
because they bring about other good like money allowing you to buy food and shelter.
10. Hedonists distinguish between two types of pleasure. Explain this distinction and give examples of each
type of pleasure. Which type of pleasure do hedonists claim is more important? The two kinds of
pleasre to a hedonist is physical pleasure and attitudinal pleasure. Physical pleasure is the kind of
pleasure you would receive from a message, it comes with a certain feeling. Whereas attuiudinal
pleasure doe not have a specific feeling attached but is perceived as happiness and this is the more
important kind of pleasure (enjoyment).
Chapter Two:
2
, 11) Describe the paradox of hedonism and explain why it is often taken to be a problem for the theory.
The paradox of hedonism is that you cannot acquire happiness by chasing your desired alone, in fact the
issue is that relentlessly pursuing happiness will likely push that very happiness away from you. Chasing
happiness alone will not make us better off.
12) Autonomy is the
a. ability to control others’ lives.
b. power to guide our life through our own free choices.
c. ability of our subconscious to affect our behavior.
d. power that robots have to operate according to a set of commands.
13) The value of autonomy explains why paternalism is
a. always justified.
b. never justified.
c. always objectionable, even when it is justified.
d. always praiseworthy, even when it is not justified.
Chapter Three:
14) According to the desire satisfaction theory of welfare something is intrinsically good for you
a. if it satisfies your desires.
b. only if it satisfies your desires.
c. because it satisfies your desires.
d. all of the above
15) According to the desire satisfaction theory, we are usually motivated to do what is good for us because
a. we are afraid of the consequences if we fail to do so.
b. desires motivate us to do things.
c. our beliefs about the good motivate us to do things.
d. none of the above
16) According to the desire theory, to know what’s good for us we must know
a. what we desire.
b. how to get what we desire.
c. both a and b
d. neither a nor b
3
