Description

Question 1

Bentham and Kant agree on which of the

following?

a) Pleasure is the only thing that is good without qualification.

b) Individual rights limit what can be done in the name of maximizing aggregate happiness.

c) The good will is the only thing that is good without qualification.

d) Maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain is all that matters, morally speaking.

e) Morality constrains individual self-interest.

Question 2

1 point possible (graded)

Aristotle and Rawls have opposing views about the relation between justice and moral desert. What best characterizes the difference?

a) Aristotle argues that justice is giving people what they deserve, while Rawls believes that moral desert is irrelevant when it comes to a just distribution of goods.

b) Rawls argues that a distribution is just only if everyone gets what he or she deserves while Aristotle believes that a distribution is just if fair equality of opportunity is realized.

c) Aristotle believes that a distribution is just if everyone gets what he deserves, while Rawls believes that a distribution is just if and only if everyone gets an equal share.

d) Rawls argues that a distribution is just if the position of the worst off is maximized, while Aristotle believes that a distribution is just if the position of the worst off is minimized.

e) Aristotle believes that a distribution is just if everyone gets an equal share, while Rawls believes that a distribution is just if everyone gets what he or she deserves.

Question 3

1 point possible (graded)

Which of the following do both Kant and Rawls support?

a) Individual rights should be protected insofar and as long as doing so maximizes overall happiness.

b) Human beings do not have the capacity for reason/rationality.

c) What is just or right is prior to and independent of any particular conception of the good life.

d) The good is prior to and independent of what is just or right.

e) a) and d).

Question 4

1 point possible (graded)

Rawls and Nozick agree about which of the following claims:

a) Sometimes it can be wrong to perform the act that maximizes utility overall.

b) It is unjust for the state to tax people's earnings in order to provide education for all citizens.

c) Departures from an equal distribution of shares are only permissible if it raises the expectation of the least advantaged member of society.

d) Distributive shares should not be influenced by such chance contingencies as accident of birth and good fortune.

e) All of the above are correct.

Question 5

1 point possible (graded)

Which best reflects what Nozick and Aristotle would say about how we should distribute high-quality violins?

a) Nozick would say that the best violins should go to the highest bidder, whereas Aristotle would say that they should go to those who will play them in a way most pleasing to the listeners.

b) Nozick would say that the best violins should go to the hardest worker, whereas Aristotle would say that they should go to the most virtuous citizens as a way of honoring them.

c) Nozick would say that the best violins should go to the people who will make the best use of them, whereas Aristotle would say that all citizens—but not slaves—deserve a chance to use the violins.

d) Nozick would say that society should be set up so that at birth everyone has an equal chance of acquiring one of the violins, whereas Aristotle would say that the best violins should go to the best violinists.

e) Nozick would say that that the best violins should be owned either by the people who made them, or the people who acquired them through free exchange, whereas Aristotle would say that the best violins should go to the best violin players.

Question 6

1 point possible (graded)

Which of the following is something that both Bentham and Mill would endorse?

a) Individuals have natural rights.

b) The good is best understood in terms of pleasure.

c) The good is best understood in terms of virtue.