Western Ethics Questions and Answers

Q: Psychological Hedonism commits the fallacy of :

Psychological hedonism commits the fallacy of Hysteron Proteron.Hysteron proteron means putting the later thing first. Psychological hedonism says that we always desire pleasure. Critics reply that pleasure usually follows the satisfaction of a desire for some object, such as food or knowledge; the desire comes first and the pleasure after. Making pleasure the object of every desire reverses this order, which is why textbooks of ethics name this fallacy.Division and composition are fallacies about inferring from a whole to its parts or from parts to the whole. Ignoratio elenchi is arguing beside the point. None of these describes the hedonist's reversal of desire and pleasure.

Q: Which of the following is not Kant's Maxim ?

The one that is not Kant's maxim is Never act on that maxim which clashes with other maxims.Kant's categorical imperative has three standard formulations. The formula of universal law: act only on that maxim which you can at the same time will to become a universal law (B). The formula of humanity: treat humanity, in yourself or in another, never merely as a means but always also as an end (C). The formula of the kingdom of ends: act as a legislating member of a possible kingdom of ends (A).Kant's test is whether a maxim can be universalised without contradiction, not whether it clashes with an agent's other maxims, so option D is not one of his formulations.

Q: Kant's ethics is criticized on the grounds of being :

Kant's ethics is criticised for being formal and stringent.The charge of formalism, pressed by Hegel among others, is that the categorical imperative gives only an empty form, universalisability, and cannot by itself tell us what our concrete duties are. The charge of rigorism is that Kant's ethics admits no exceptions, so that one may not lie even to a murderer asking where a friend is hiding, and leaves no room for feelings such as sympathy as moral motives.Kant's ethics is not poetic or metaphorical; it is abstract and argued. It may be difficult, but 'recondite' and 'unintelligible' are not the recognised objections to it.

Q: The term 'Right' is derived from .......

'Right' comes from the Latin 'Rectus'.Rectus means straight or according to rule, and ethics textbooks note that 'right' conduct is conduct according to a rule or law, just as 'moral' comes from mores and 'ethics' from ethos.'Rare', 'Retina' and 'Rain' merely begin with the same letters and have no link to the word's meaning.

Q: Reformative theory of punishment is also known as ................. theory.

The reformative theory is also called the educative theory.It holds that punishment should reform and educate the offender, treating crime as a sickness or failure of character to be corrected through training, education and rehabilitation so that he returns to society improved.The preventive (deterrent) theory looks to stopping future crime by example and fear, which is a different theory. 'Logical' and 'philosophical' are not names of theories of punishment.

Q: Which, among the following philosophers, is not moral definist philosopher ?

The philosopher who is not a definist is Moore.Definism holds that ethical terms such as 'good' can be defined in non-ethical terms. Moore's Principia Ethica argues that 'good' is a simple, indefinable quality, and calls every such definition the naturalistic fallacy; he is an intuitionist.Mill and Bentham define good in terms of pleasure or happiness, and Spencer's evolutionary ethics defines it in terms of conduct that furthers life. All three are definists.

Q: Which of the following are types of Deontological theories ?

The types are act-deontological and rule-deontological theories.Frankena's classification divides deontological theories by how duty is known. Act-deontology says we see what is right in each particular situation; rule-deontology says rightness is fixed by rules, such as Kant's categorical imperative or Ross's prima facie duties.Moral and non-moral is a distinction among values or judgements, and the other two pairs are not recognised classifications of deontological ethics.

Q: Whom according to the following thinkers, "the study of what is right or good in conduct is Ethics" ?

The definition is Mackenzie's.J. S. Mackenzie's A Manual of Ethics opens by defining ethics as the study of what is right or good in conduct, the standard textbook definition of ethics as a normative science of conduct.Muirhead wrote The Elements of Ethics, William James was a psychologist and pragmatist, and Sidgwick's The Methods of Ethics frames ethics as the study of methods for deciding what one ought to do; none is the source of this wording.

Q: The principle of "Tit for Tat" is included in ..............

"Tit for tat" belongs to the retributive theory.Retributivism says punishment is deserved because of the wrong done, and should repay the offender in proportion: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The offender gets back what he gave.The deterrent theory justifies punishment by its effect in frightening others from crime, the reformative theory by its effect in improving the offender; both look forward to consequences, not back to the deed. 'Naturalist theory' is not a standard theory of punishment.

Q: "It is worse for a man to do wrong than to suffer wrong" is a statement by .......................

The statement is by Socrates.In Plato's Gorgias, Socrates argues against Polus that doing injustice is worse than suffering it, because the wrongdoer harms his own soul, and that a wrongdoer is better off punished than unpunished.Plato wrote the dialogue, but the claim is put in Socrates' mouth and is counted as a Socratic thesis. Aristotle and Anselm are not associated with it.

41.

Psychological Hedonism commits the fallacy of :

A.Hysteron Proteron
B.Division
C.Composition
D.Ignoratio elenchi

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: A

Psychological hedonism commits the fallacy of Hysteron Proteron.

Hysteron proteron means putting the later thing first. Psychological hedonism says that we always desire pleasure. Critics reply that pleasure usually follows the satisfaction of a desire for some object, such as food or knowledge; the desire comes first and the pleasure after. Making pleasure the object of every desire reverses this order, which is why textbooks of ethics name this fallacy.

Division and composition are fallacies about inferring from a whole to its parts or from parts to the whole. Ignoratio elenchi is arguing beside the point. None of these describes the hedonist's reversal of desire and pleasure.

Discuss in Forum

42.

Which of the following is not Kant's Maxim ?

A.Act as a member of the Kingdom
B.Act on that maxim which thou wills to be a universal law
C.Never use anyone as an instrument but as end-in-himself
D.Never act on that maxim which clashes with other maxims

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: D

The one that is not Kant's maxim is Never act on that maxim which clashes with other maxims.

Kant's categorical imperative has three standard formulations. The formula of universal law: act only on that maxim which you can at the same time will to become a universal law (B). The formula of humanity: treat humanity, in yourself or in another, never merely as a means but always also as an end (C). The formula of the kingdom of ends: act as a legislating member of a possible kingdom of ends (A).

Kant's test is whether a maxim can be universalised without contradiction, not whether it clashes with an agent's other maxims, so option D is not one of his formulations.

Discuss in Forum

43.

Kant's ethics is criticized on the grounds of being :

A.formal and stringent
B.poetic and metaphorical
C.recondite
D.unintelligible

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: A

Kant's ethics is criticised for being formal and stringent.

The charge of formalism, pressed by Hegel among others, is that the categorical imperative gives only an empty form, universalisability, and cannot by itself tell us what our concrete duties are. The charge of rigorism is that Kant's ethics admits no exceptions, so that one may not lie even to a murderer asking where a friend is hiding, and leaves no room for feelings such as sympathy as moral motives.

Kant's ethics is not poetic or metaphorical; it is abstract and argued. It may be difficult, but 'recondite' and 'unintelligible' are not the recognised objections to it.

Discuss in Forum

44.

The term 'Right' is derived from .......

A.'Rare'
B.'Retina'
C.'Rain'
D.'Rectus'

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2024, SET Exam - 2024,

Answer: D

'Right' comes from the Latin 'Rectus'.

Rectus means straight or according to rule, and ethics textbooks note that 'right' conduct is conduct according to a rule or law, just as 'moral' comes from mores and 'ethics' from ethos.

'Rare', 'Retina' and 'Rain' merely begin with the same letters and have no link to the word's meaning.

Discuss in Forum

45.

Reformative theory of punishment is also known as ................. theory.

A.Preventive
B.Logical
C.Educative
D.Philosophical

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2024, SET Exam - 2024,

Answer: C

The reformative theory is also called the educative theory.

It holds that punishment should reform and educate the offender, treating crime as a sickness or failure of character to be corrected through training, education and rehabilitation so that he returns to society improved.

The preventive (deterrent) theory looks to stopping future crime by example and fear, which is a different theory. 'Logical' and 'philosophical' are not names of theories of punishment.

Discuss in Forum

46.

Which, among the following philosophers, is not moral definist philosopher ?

A.Mill
B.Bentham
C.Moore
D.Spencer

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2024, SET Exam - 2024,

Answer: C

The philosopher who is not a definist is Moore.

Definism holds that ethical terms such as 'good' can be defined in non-ethical terms. Moore's Principia Ethica argues that 'good' is a simple, indefinable quality, and calls every such definition the naturalistic fallacy; he is an intuitionist.

Mill and Bentham define good in terms of pleasure or happiness, and Spencer's evolutionary ethics defines it in terms of conduct that furthers life. All three are definists.

Discuss in Forum

47.

Which of the following are types of Deontological theories ?

A.Moral and non-moral
B.Philosophical and non-philosophical
C.Act-deontological and rule-deontological
D.Traditional and modern

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2024, SET Exam - 2024,

Answer: C

The types are act-deontological and rule-deontological theories.

Frankena's classification divides deontological theories by how duty is known. Act-deontology says we see what is right in each particular situation; rule-deontology says rightness is fixed by rules, such as Kant's categorical imperative or Ross's prima facie duties.

Moral and non-moral is a distinction among values or judgements, and the other two pairs are not recognised classifications of deontological ethics.

Discuss in Forum

48.

Whom according to the following thinkers, "the study of what is right or good in conduct is Ethics" ?

A.Mackenzie
B.Muirhead
C.William James
D.Sidgwick

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2024, SET Exam - 2024,

Answer: A

The definition is Mackenzie's.

J. S. Mackenzie's A Manual of Ethics opens by defining ethics as the study of what is right or good in conduct, the standard textbook definition of ethics as a normative science of conduct.

Muirhead wrote The Elements of Ethics, William James was a psychologist and pragmatist, and Sidgwick's The Methods of Ethics frames ethics as the study of methods for deciding what one ought to do; none is the source of this wording.

Discuss in Forum

49.

The principle of "Tit for Tat" is included in ..............

A.The Deterrent theory
B.The Reformative theory
C.The Retributive theory
D.The Naturalist theory

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2024, SET Exam - 2024,

Answer: C

"Tit for tat" belongs to the retributive theory.

Retributivism says punishment is deserved because of the wrong done, and should repay the offender in proportion: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The offender gets back what he gave.

The deterrent theory justifies punishment by its effect in frightening others from crime, the reformative theory by its effect in improving the offender; both look forward to consequences, not back to the deed. 'Naturalist theory' is not a standard theory of punishment.

Discuss in Forum

50.

"It is worse for a man to do wrong than to suffer wrong" is a statement by .......................

A.Socrates
B.Plato
C.Aristotle
D.Anselm

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2024, SET Exam - 2024,

Answer: A

The statement is by Socrates.

In Plato's Gorgias, Socrates argues against Polus that doing injustice is worse than suffering it, because the wrongdoer harms his own soul, and that a wrongdoer is better off punished than unpunished.

Plato wrote the dialogue, but the claim is put in Socrates' mouth and is counted as a Socratic thesis. Aristotle and Anselm are not associated with it.

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