Western Ethics Questions and Answers

Q: Whom according to the following philosophers, man should carry out activities yielding the maximum pleasure, without making qualitative distinction ?

The philosopher is Bentham.Bentham's utilitarianism measures pleasures only by quantity, using his hedonic calculus of intensity, duration, certainty, nearness and so on. He held that 'quantity of pleasure being equal, push-pin is as good as poetry', so he made no qualitative distinction between pleasures.Mill disagreed and distinguished higher from lower pleasures by quality. Spencer grounded ethics in evolution, and Kant rejected pleasure as the basis of morality altogether.

Q: Ethical subjectivism is ..........

Ethical subjectivism is a cognitivist theory.Simple ethical subjectivism says that a moral judgement states a fact about the speaker's attitudes: 'X is wrong' means 'I disapprove of X'. Such a statement is true or false, depending on whether the speaker really has that attitude, which makes the theory cognitivist.Emotivism is the non-cognitivist theory that moral judgements express attitudes rather than report them, so they are neither true nor false; subjectivism is therefore not a kind of emotivism. Prescriptivism, Hare's view that moral judgements are universal prescriptions, is also non-cognitivist.

Q: Duty for the sake of duty is included in

Duty for the sake of duty is included in the Categorical Imperative, so the answer is B.Kant held that a morally good act is one done from respect for the moral law and not from inclination or for a result. The moral law commands unconditionally, as a categorical imperative, and one of its forms says to act only on a maxim that can be willed as a universal law.Categorical dialectic, categorical logic and categorical discourse (A, C and D) are not terms of Kant's ethics.

Q: Which one of the following pairs is correctly matched ?

The correctly matched pair is extreme variation in customs, taboos and so on from culture to culture : cultural relativism, so the answer is B.Cultural relativism holds that moral beliefs and practices differ widely from society to society, and that they should be judged within each culture.In A, the claim that similar moral principles do not exist in all societies is the relativist's, not the absolutist's. In C, the view that freedom is compatible with determinism is soft determinism (compatibilism) and not hard determinism. In D, the claim that there is no causality at all is indeterminism, not soft determinism.

Q: Which one among the following is a postulate of morality ?

The postulate of morality is God, so the answer is A.Kant held that the moral law is known directly, but that to make sense of its demands we must postulate freedom of the will, the immortality of the soul and the existence of God, who joins virtue to happiness. These are the postulates of practical reason.Society (B), good conduct (C) and harmony (D) are not postulates in this sense. Good conduct is what morality asks for, not what it presupposes.

61.

Whom according to the following philosophers, man should carry out activities yielding the maximum pleasure, without making qualitative distinction ?

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

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2025, SET Exam - 2025,

Answer: C

The philosopher is Bentham.

Bentham's utilitarianism measures pleasures only by quantity, using his hedonic calculus of intensity, duration, certainty, nearness and so on. He held that 'quantity of pleasure being equal, push-pin is as good as poetry', so he made no qualitative distinction between pleasures.

Mill disagreed and distinguished higher from lower pleasures by quality. Spencer grounded ethics in evolution, and Kant rejected pleasure as the basis of morality altogether.

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62.

Ethical subjectivism is ..........

A.A cognitivist theory
B.A non-cognitivist theory
C.A kind of emotivism
D.Prescriptivism

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2025, SET Exam - 2025,

Answer: A

Ethical subjectivism is a cognitivist theory.

Simple ethical subjectivism says that a moral judgement states a fact about the speaker's attitudes: 'X is wrong' means 'I disapprove of X'. Such a statement is true or false, depending on whether the speaker really has that attitude, which makes the theory cognitivist.

Emotivism is the non-cognitivist theory that moral judgements express attitudes rather than report them, so they are neither true nor false; subjectivism is therefore not a kind of emotivism. Prescriptivism, Hare's view that moral judgements are universal prescriptions, is also non-cognitivist.

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63.

Which theory covers the interest of maximum number of people in the society ?

A.Perfectionism
B.Utilitarianism
C.Rationalism
D.Intuitionism

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: B

The theory that looks to the interest of the greatest number is utilitarianism, so the answer is B.

Bentham and Mill taught that an action is right when it promotes the greatest happiness of the greatest number, so the test of conduct is the amount of good in the society.

Perfectionism (A) aims at the development of the person's own nature, rationalism (C) bases morals on reason, and intuitionism (D) holds that moral truths are known by direct insight. None of the three counts the number of persons benefited.

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64.

Duty for the sake of duty is included in

A.Categorical Dialectic
B.Categorical Imperative
C.Categorical Logic
D.Categorical Discourse

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: B

Duty for the sake of duty is included in the Categorical Imperative, so the answer is B.

Kant held that a morally good act is one done from respect for the moral law and not from inclination or for a result. The moral law commands unconditionally, as a categorical imperative, and one of its forms says to act only on a maxim that can be willed as a universal law.

Categorical dialectic, categorical logic and categorical discourse (A, C and D) are not terms of Kant's ethics.

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65.

As per whose ethics Rational law is the Universal Law that holds for all and acceptable to all ?

A.Mill
B.Sidgewick
C.Kant
D.Bentham

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: C

The ethics in which rational law is the universal law holding for all and acceptable to all is that of Kant, so the answer is C.

Kant based morality on reason: the moral law is given by the practical reason of every rational being, it is the same for all and it binds universally, which is the formula of universal law in the categorical imperative.

Mill and Bentham (A and D) judge actions by their consequences, and Sidgwick (B) tried to reconcile intuitionism with utilitarianism, so none of them rests the law on reason alone.

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66.

Which one of the following pairs is correctly matched ?

A.Similar moral principles do not exist in all societies : Cultural Absolutism
B.There is extreme variations in customs, taboos and so on from culture to culture : Cultural relativism
C.Freedom is compatible with determinism : Hard determinism
D.There is no causality at all : Soft determinism

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: B

The correctly matched pair is extreme variation in customs, taboos and so on from culture to culture : cultural relativism, so the answer is B.

Cultural relativism holds that moral beliefs and practices differ widely from society to society, and that they should be judged within each culture.

In A, the claim that similar moral principles do not exist in all societies is the relativist's, not the absolutist's. In C, the view that freedom is compatible with determinism is soft determinism (compatibilism) and not hard determinism. In D, the claim that there is no causality at all is indeterminism, not soft determinism.

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67.

Which one among the following is a postulate of morality ?

A.God
B.Society
C.Good conduct
D.Harmony

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: A

The postulate of morality is God, so the answer is A.

Kant held that the moral law is known directly, but that to make sense of its demands we must postulate freedom of the will, the immortality of the soul and the existence of God, who joins virtue to happiness. These are the postulates of practical reason.

Society (B), good conduct (C) and harmony (D) are not postulates in this sense. Good conduct is what morality asks for, not what it presupposes.

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68.

Select the code that contains the three Kantian postulates of morality :

A.Freedom, Will and Intuition
B.Freedom, God and Immortality
C.Freedom, Knowledge and Emotion
D.Necessity, Category and Sensibility

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: B

The three Kantian postulates of morality are freedom, God and immortality, option B. In the Critique of Practical Reason Kant argues that, in order to make sense of the moral law, we must postulate the freedom of the will, the existence of God and the immortality of the soul.

Options A, C and D mix in other terms, such as will, intuition, knowledge, emotion, necessity, category and sensibility. These are terms from other parts of Kant's philosophy or from other thinkers, and none of them is a set of postulates of practical reason.

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69.

A man who seeks pleasure and fails to get it, is facing the paradox of

A.Eudaemonism
B.Hedonism
C.Rigourism
D.Altruism

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: B

A man who seeks pleasure and fails to get it faces the paradox of hedonism, option B. The paradox is that pleasure is not obtained by seeking it directly, since a person who aims only at pleasure often fails, and pleasure comes as a by-product of activity directed at other ends.

Eudaemonism (option A) is the pursuit of well-being as a whole. Rigourism (option C) is the strict view that duty must be done without regard to inclination, and altruism (option D) is the view that one should act for the good of others. None of these gives the paradox.

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70.

Select the code that contains two theories of punishment.

A.Reactionary & Reassuring
B.Retributive & Reformative
C.Preventive & Reactionary
D.Reassuring & Retributive

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: B

The two theories of punishment are the retributive and the reformative, option B. The retributive theory holds that the wrongdoer deserves punishment in return for the wrong, and the reformative theory holds that the aim is to reform the offender. The preventive or deterrent theory is the other well-known one.

Reactionary and reassuring (options A, C and D) are not names of theories of punishment in the standard list. The paired terms in those options either are not theories of punishment at all or combine one standard term with one that is not. Only option B names two recognised theories.

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