Ethical Theory Study Questions, January 2008
1. Neither utilitarianism nor deontology, at least in their pure forms, makes
room for what Samuel Scheffler has called "agent-centered prerogatives."
Neither theory, in other words, allows people's desires to further their own
projects to trump what morality demands. Discuss the success or failure of
either utilitarianism or deontology in dismissing the morality of agentcentered prerogatives.
2. Kant claims that the normativity of ethical principles for rational beings
springs from the autonomy that rationality itself implies. Explain Kant's
argument for this view and critically evaluate it.
3. Contractualist moral theories claim that I should treat other people only
in ways that they (if they are reasonable) would agree are justified. On what
notion of "reasonableness" does contractualism rest? Does contractualism do
justice to our moral intuitions about how others ought to be treated?
4. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle claims that a person cannot rely in
moral decision-making on any straightforward set of principles or moral rules
but at most exercise his or her moral judgment. How, if at all, does Aristotle
avoid the charge of moral relativism?
5. What, if anything, is wrong with the idea that some people's desires are
not in their own best interest and thus should not be taken into account in
our moral deliberations? Discuss one moral theory that endorses paternalism
and another that rejects it, and critically evaluate both theories.
6. Does love for another person have moral worth? Or is love a non-moral
emotion? Discuss one moral theory that recognizes the moral worth of love
and one that does not, and critically evaluate each theory.
7. Explain and evaluate the way the expressivist theory of either Gibbard,
Blackburn or Timmons/Horgan deals with the Frege-Geach problem.
8. Some feminist moral philosophers claim that the notion of "care" has
been neglected in the history of moral philosophy and that an ethics of care
is in tension with moral theories that emphasize responsibility and justice.
Rehearse and critically evaluate two moral theories, one that endorses an
ethics of care and one that is explicitly opposed to it.
9. Which version of the prisoner’s dilemma seems to raise the most serious
difficulty for the idea that acting morally is a matter of acting rationally? Is
there really a problem? If there is, what should we conclude?
10. Are there situations in which our acting collectively as rule-utilitarianism
requires would maximize aggregate utility? If there is a situation in which
act and rule utilitarianism conflict, could you as an individual concerned
solely to maximize aggregate utility have any reason to act as ruleutilitarianism requires? What, if anything, follows?
11. What is Michael Smith’s allegedly inconsistent triad of propositions
regarding the language of morality? Are they really inconsistent? If so,
which should we drop?
12. What is Nozick’s Wilt Chamberlain example supposed to prove as
regards our alleged rights to freedom and equality? What, if anything, does
it prove?
Exam
Section I. 2, 4, 3
Section 2. 1, 12, 8
Section 3. 7, 11, 9