Possible Exam Questions for the last Ethical Inquiry Exam (on August 16)

Note: I will choose four questions from this list to be answered quite briefly. You will be able to consult your textbooks but not any notes or handouts or other papers.

1. What do you think is the most compelling reason to think that early abortions are morally wrong? How good a reason is that?

2. How does Susan Sherwin distinguish between ‘feminine ethics’ and ‘feminist ethics’?

3. How might one explain the difference between a ‘feminine’ and a ‘feminist’ approach to the issue of abortion?

4. Do you think that an “ethic of care” is needed to correct the male bias of mainstream ethical theory? (Why or why not?)

5. Explain the basic idea of virtue theory in your own words. What, according to Rachels, is an important flaw or error in this theory?

6. What do you think about the claim that at least some of the virtues are universal, in the sense that they are needed for a good life regardless of your cultural context?

7. What reasons might be given for thinking that widespread use of pornography is not a good thing? How good are those reasons?

8. According to Raymond Gastil, pornography and obscenity can produce a kind of ‘moral harm’. How so? Does he have a good point?

9. How, according to Rae Langton, might pornography silence and subordinate women?

10. Joel Feinberg says that, according to the principles he has worked out, “Homosexual lovers, petting and kissing on a public bus are unreasonably offensive … if there is an area of their city, not unreasonably distant …” where they can engage in such activity. (p. 635) How do his principles lead him to this conclusion? Is he right?

11. What are some reasons for thinking that it might be a good idea for a university to have regulations prohibiting racist speech on campus? How good are these reasons?