Virtue Based Ethics

Short Answer (make certain all of your responses of in complete sentences)       1.     What is the mind/body problem?             2.     What is rationalism and who was a rationalist?             3.     Explain Plato’s conception of forms.               4.     Who said “Cogito ergo sum” and what does it mean?               5.     What does Hume’s Fork tell us regarding epistemology?             6.     Define empiricism and identify one challenge to the basic theory                 7.     Explain virtue based ethics.                 8.     What is the challenge to hedonism?             9.     What does it mean to be a “good man” for Aristotle?           10.  What is Utilitarianism?               11.  What are Kantian ethics?                 12.  Why do we study Utopias and Dystopias?             13.  Explain Nomos.             14.  Who is right, Bentham or Kant?                 15.   What time is it?             Ethical Dilemmas  (For each dilemma, use one of the ethical theories we examined in class to solve the situation(please use a different ethical theory for each dilemma   ·       19 You are an emergency worker that has just been called to the scene of an accident. When you arrive you see that the car belongs to your wife. Fearing the worst you rush over to see she is trapped in her car with another man. She sees you and although barely conscious, she manages to mouth the words “I’m sorry”… You don’t understand, but her look answers you question. The man next to her is her lover with whom she’s been having an affair. You reel back in shock, devastated by what her eyes have just told you. As you step back, the wreck in front of you comes into focus. You see your wife is seriously hurt and she needs attention straight away. Even if she gets attention there’s a very high chance she’ll die. You look at the seat next to her and see her lover. He’s bleeding heavily from a wound to the neck and you need to stem the flow of blood immediately. It will only take about 5 minutes to stop, but it will mean your wife will definitely die. If you tend to your wife however, the man will bleed to death despite the fact it could have been avoided. Who would you choose to work on?                 ·       20 A pregnant woman leading a group of people out of a cave on a coast is stuck in the mouth of that cave. In a short time high tide will be upon them, and unless she is unstuck, they will all be drowned except the woman, whose head is out of the cave. Fortunately, (or unfortunately,) someone has with him a stick of dynamite. There seems no way to get the pregnant woman loose without using the dynamite which will inevitably kill her; but if they do not use it everyone will drown. What should they do?             21. A madman who has threatened to explode several bombs in crowded areas has been apprehended. Unfortunately, he has already planted the bombs and they are scheduled to go off in a short time. It is possible that hundreds of people may die. The authorities cannot make him divulge the location of the bombs by conventional methods. He refuses to say anything and requests a lawyer to protect his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination. In exasperation, some high level official suggests torture. This would be illegal, of course, but the official thinks that it is nevertheless the right thing to do in this desperate situation. Do you agree? If you do, would it also be morally justifiable to torture the mad bomber’s innocent wife if that is the only way to make him talk? Why?           22. A huge comet strikes the Earth and wipes out 90% of life and all infrastructure. Would you want to continue to live in such a decimated world or would you be tempted to take your own life?           23.Your best friend is getting married in an hours time. You discover their partner has been having an affair and have concrete evidence to prove their guilt. Do you tell your friend and ruin their big day?           24.You sadly discover you have only months to live and start planning your funeral. You have to choose just one song that sums up your life to play at the funeral. What would you choose?                 25. Your home is burgled but fortunately the culprits are caught and your possessions returned to you. What would you deem a suitable punishment for the burglars?         26   On this test, you can not remember all the names of all the ethical theories that we discussed in class which were, Hedonism, Epicurean Hedonism, Utilitarianism and Kantian Ethics, so how are you going to answer the above questions correctly?                   27  In theory, “true love” has many merits, but how do you know in real life if you have “true love”?                  28.  Was questions 34 a “fair” question?             29. True/False- You are still breathing             30. True/False –It is raining out the classroom window right now.            Bonus-list five classmates names                 Super bonus-What is the good life and how do you know?   (Two sentence max)                                                         Essay(choose One)   —How can you the author ensure that you receive an “A” on this examination? (Deduce a way to answer this question and then examine your possible actions by employing one of the ethical theories we discussed in class.   —Ought you to be a “good or right” individual?  Please justify your thesis by creating a detailed proof for your system of choice and remember these concepts are mutually exclusive.