Philosophy Trivia Questions for College Students

Cicero claims that there could be "no more pernicious doctrine" than the idea that:

• Amoral rightness is relative to one's culture.
• Bthe gods do not care what we do.
• Cit is sometimes permissible to lie.
• Da thing may be expedient without being morally right.

When it comes to defining good, Moore claims that many past philosophers are guilty of:

• Athe naturalistic fallacy.
• Bthe ad hominem fallacy.
• Ccircular reasoning.
• Dbegging the question.

Singer claims that his conclusions are similar to those of:

• AThomas Aquinas.
• BImmanuel Kant.
• CAristotle.
• DPlato.

Baier asserts that when we ask for moral advice, we are asking for others to:

• Aempathize with us.
• Bissue commands.
• Cdeliberate with us.
• Dinform us of their preferences.

Mill claims that one of the strongest objections to utilitarianism is drawn from the idea of:

• Asupererogation.
• Bvirtue.
• Cduty.
• Djustice.

Rawls claims that a conception of justice should be justified by:

• Adirect acquaintance via moral intuition.
• Bnone of the above.
• Cthe mutual support of many considerations, which it fits into one coherent view.
• Ddeducing it from self-evident premises.

Feinberg claims that the best way to pursue happiness is to:

• Apursue happiness.
• Bpursue pleasure.
• Cforget about happiness.
• Dnone of the above.

Wolf claims that interpreting Kant's ethics so that it consists of a finite set of constraints:

• Aimplausibly places an "upper bound" on moral worthiness.
• Byields an unattractive picture of moral sainthood.
• Cyields a theory that is too demanding.
• Dtransforms the theory into a form of contractarianism.

Plato indicates that the knowledge of pure reason is preferable to conceptual understanding, because knowing that something is a certain kind of thing is not as good as knowing:

• Athe logos or rationale of the thing, that is, why it is the way it is.
• Bhow we come to learn what to call a thing in virtue of our own experiences.
• Cwhy we differ among ourselves about what we claim to know.
• Dthe difference between knowledge and opinion as outlined in Plato's divided line image.

Rawls argues that parties in the original position would not accept utilitarianism because:

• Ait is too difficult to determine which policies would maximize happiness.
• Bdoing so would be too risky.
• Cit requires us to do unjust things, such as executing innocent people.
• Dthey would be behind the veil of ignorance and thus would never have heard of utilitarianism.

"Is there anything you would be willing to die for?" is a philosophical question insofar as:

• Ait does not have any right or wrong answer because it is a meaningless question.
• Bit is a meaningless question because everyone could have a different answer to it.
• Cit forces us to articulate and justify our beliefs about what we know and ought to do.
• Dit is more concerned with one's religious beliefs than with factual claims about the world.

Hume defines virtue as:

• Aa tendency to maximize happiness.
• Bwhatever mental action or quality gives a spectator a sentiment of approbation.
• Cwhatever mental action or quality brings about the best consequences for all.
• Da tendency to pursue justice.

According to Butler, it is impossible to:

• Aapprove of the actions of others without imitating them.
• Bbe motivated by genuine benevolence.
• Cdo that which is good and not to approve of it.
• Ddo something of which one does not oneself approve.

Hume claims that a person who is unaffected by images of human happiness or misery will also be indifferent to:

• Avirtue and vice.
• Bart and beauty.
• Call of the above.
• Dhis own well-being.

According to Socrates, justice is when a soul is ruled by its:

• Arational part.
• Bdesire for honor.
• Cnone of the above.
• Drespect for the law.

Epictetus claims that the most important part of philosophy deals with:

• Anone of the above.
• Bthe explanation of why certain demonstrations are valid.
• Cwhich principles of action are correct.
• Dthe explanation for why certain principles of action are correct.

Aristotle states that if we ask what the highest good of human action is:

• Athere is no agreement about the answer.
• Bthere is no objective answer to this question.
• Cnearly everyone agrees that it is happiness.
• Dmost people agree that it is pleasure.

Socrates tells Crito that he should attempt to break out of prison if and only if doing so would be:

• Ato his advantage.
• Bjust.
• Charmful to his enemies and advantageous to his friends.
• Dpleasing to the gods.

According to Epicurus, the wealth required for a good life is:

• Aavailable only to the rich.
• Bavailable only to the gods.
• Cattainable for everyone, but only through great effort.
• Deasily procured.

Which of the following would Gauthier not accept?

• AMorality faces a foundational crisis.
• BA rational agent is one who acts to achieve the maximal fulfillment of her preferences.
• CDeliberative justification is incomplete.
• DIn some situations, everyone will do better if they mutually agree to constrain their pursuit of self-interest.

Aristotle divides the virtues into:

• Apositive virtues and negative virtues.
• Bmoral virtues and intellectual virtues.
• Cnatural virtues and artificial virtues.
• Dhuman virtues and divine virtues.

Bentham claims that actions are right or wrong in virtue of:

• Atheir consequences.
• Bthe motives behind them.
• Cneither a nor b.
• Dboth a and b.

Rawls claims that students with fewer native assets (such as intelligence) should be given:

• Avirtually no educational resources.
• Bmore attention and resources than those with more native assets.
• Cthe same level of attention and resources as those with more native assets.
• Dless attention and fewer resources than those with more native assets.

According to Epicurus:

• Anot every pleasure is good, but every pleasure is to be chosen.
• Bnot every pleasure is good, and not every pleasure is to be chosen.
• Cevery pleasure is good, and every pleasure is to be chosen.
• Devery pleasure is good, but not every pleasure is to be chosen.

Bentham claims that utilitarian calculations:

• Aare fundamentally flawed.
• Bneed not be performed before each action, but should always be kept in mind.
• Cshould be performed prior to each action.
• Dare merely a formal device, and do not have practical application.

What are some of the frequent frustrations in writing or reading about research ethics?

• AThe same debates are rehearsed over decades.
• BWriters differ over what is ethically acceptable.
• CCases of ethical violation tend to be linked with certain research methods.
• DAll of the above.

According to Brandt, John Stuart Mill's view most closely resembles:

• Aa rule-utilitarianism based on ideal moral rules.
• BKant's ethics.
• Cact-utilitarianism.
• Da rule-utilitarianism based on the actual rules of society.

According to Hume, reason:

• Ashould be used to direct our passions.
• Bshould serve our passions.
• Cshould be used to extinguish our passions.
• Dshould operate completely independently of our passions.

The control condition claims:

• Aone cannot be morally blamed for taking control of one's own life.
• Bit is morally wrong to try to control the lives of (adult) others.
• Cit is morally wrong to ever lose control of oneself.
• Done cannot be morally assessed for what is due to factors outside one's control.

Anscombe claims that it is not profitable to do moral philosophy until we have an adequate philosophy of:

• Apsychology.
• Breligion.
• Cart.
• Dphysics.

Singer's argument begins with the assumption that:

• Awe ought to do whatever maximizes happiness.
• Bsuffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care are bad.
• Call people are created equal.
• Dpleasure is good.

When using visual methods in a research project what should you take into consideration alongside the legal guidelines?

• AAll of the above.
• BAny risk of invasion of privacy
• CWhat constitutes a public space
• DProtecting individuals from potential harm

In Hobbes's view, to say something is good is to say that:

• Amost people desire it.
• Byou desire it.
• Cmost people ought to desire it.
• Dit is conducive to human happiness.

How did Tolstoy's life change after his crisis of meaning?

• AHe distrusted everyone.
• BHe became religious.
• CHis income increased dramatically.
• DHe became an agnostic.

In Butler's view, acting virtuously consists of acting in accordance with:

• Aall of our inward principles.
• Bour highest inward principle.
• Cour strongest inward principle.
• Dthe commands of God.

According to Epicurus, a law is unjust when:

• Ait is not in accordance with natural law.
• Bit is not in accordance with the traditions of society.
• Cit is offensive to the gods.
• Dit is not beneficial to those it affects.

During his trial, Socrates argues that he would never intentionally corrupt others because:

• Ahe would not know how.
• Bthis would make them vicious, and they would then harm him.
• Cit is his duty not to do so.
• Dhe would be likely to get caught if he did so.

Before his conversion, what was Tolstoy surrounded by?

• Awhat is considered deep insight
• Bwhat is considered complete happiness
• Cwhat is considered heavenly bliss
• Dthings that no one would want

Concerning the relationship between morality and theology, Bentham claims that:

• Awe must first know whether something is right before we can know whether it conforms to God's will.
• BGod exists, but does not concern himself with matters of morality.
• CGod does not exist.
• Dwe must first know whether something conforms to God's will before we can know that it is right.

By "animal motion," Hobbes means:

• Aall voluntary behavior.
• Binstinctive behavior, such as nursing young.
• Cinvoluntary operations such as heartbeat and breathing.
• Dirrational behavior.

According to Aristotle, we should begin ethical inquiry by specifying:

• Awhich things are intrinsically valuable.
• Bthe aim of human life.
• Cwhat constraints on behavior it would be reasonable to agree to.
• Dwhat our fundamental duties are.

Hobbes defines injustice as:

• Afailure to perform one's covenant.
• Btreating another person as a mere means.
• Cviolating a law of nature.
• Dtaking more than one's share of a good.

Parfit claims that the magnitude of pains:

• Acan be compared within individuals, but not between individuals.
• Bcannot compared either within individuals or between individuals.
• Ccan be compared, but only roughly.
• Dcan be precisely compared.

Moore defines good as:

• Apleasure.
• Bthat which we desire.
• Cthat which we desire to desire.
• Dnone of the above.

According to Rawls, we can enter the original position:

• Aat any time, by simply following a certain procedure.
• Bonly if we somehow forget who we are, which is very rare.
• Conly by leaving society and remaking social institutions from scratch.
• Dnone of the above.

According to Stevenson, moral disagreements involve:

• Adisagreement in belief.
• Bdisagreement in interest.
• Cdisagreement in theory.
• Ddisagreement in practice.

According to Hobbes, the right of nature is:

• Athe right of the king to rule his subjects.
• Ban entitlement to the fruits of one's labors.
• Ca claim not to be harmed by others.
• Dthe liberty to use one's powers to preserve one's life.

Aristotle saw his theory of the virtues as:

• Aapplicable only to himself.
• Brelative to his culture.
• Copen-ended and revisable.
• Dfinal and complete.

Epictetus claims that when someone strikes you, what really angers you is:

• Ayour own judgment.
• Btheir malicious intentions.
• Cthe insult involved.
• Dthe force of the blow.

Kant claims that the natural purpose of reason is to:

• Aproduce pleasure.
• Bproduce a good will.
• Cproduce knowledge.
• Dproduce happiness.