PHIL 4120: Professional Ethics

University of West Georgia

Spring 2009

Date: Wednesday February 11

This test will be worth 20% of your total course grade. This is a timed test; you will have 50 minutes to complete the test.

You are required to provide your own blue book for the test. Blue books are mini notebooks designed especially for writing tests. They are available from the UWG Bookstore and at the cart in the atrium of the TLC. They come in two sizes: small and large. Small should be large enough, unless you have really large handwriting, in which case you may want to use a large bluebook.

Section I will consist of definitions [10-20% of total test grade]. I will give you a short list of terms and phrases to define. Typically, only a sentence or two is necessary for a satisfactory answer. The terms and phrases will come from the following list:

· philosophy

· inquiry

· ethics

· meta-ethics

· normative ethics

· normative

· descriptive

· applied ethics

· obligatory

· supererogatory

· morally neutral

· ethical relativism

· objective

· moral realism

· paternalism

· autonomy

· ethical subjectivism

· argument

· validity

· soundness

· hypothetical imperatives

· categorical imperatives

· classical utilitarianism

· modern utilitarianism

· passive euthanasia

· active euthanasia

· consequentialism

· deontology

· virtue ethics

· teleological theories

· the maximization principle

· triage

· distributive justice

· fatalism

· sentience

Your definitions should as be as detailed, clear and precise as possible. For example, the following is not an adequate definition of the term "a priori": "independent of experience." This would get you partial credit, but not full credit. A much better definition is this: "An a priori statement is one that can be known to be true or false independent of sense experience, for example, ‘All bachelors are unmarried’ and ‘Triangles have three sides.’"

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Section II will consist of short answer questions [30-40% of total test grade]. Your answers to these questions should be as detailed, clear and precise as possible. Typically, a paragraph of about five to seven sentences is sufficient for a satisfactory answer. The questions will be drawn from the following list:

· Explain and illustrate with examples the two different formulations of Kant’s Categorical Imperative.

· Explain the difference between utilitarians Garrett Hardin and Peter Singer on the issue of world poverty.

· Explain the three types of harm distinguished by Pence and give an example of each.

· Explain religious fatalism, its relevance to the issue of multiple births, and one of the ways in which Pence criticizes it.

· Explain how emotivism would analyze a moral judgment like “human cloning is wrong,” and explain one possible problem with this theory.

· Explain what an advance directive is and describe the various types of advance directive.

· Explain the various standards of death and brain-death covered in class.

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Section III will consist of one discussion question [50% of total test grade].

You will be given two questions and allowed to choose one to answer. Your answers should be as detailed, clear and precise as time allows. In other words, tell me everything you know about the question asked. If you omit something that is relevant to the question, I will assume that you do not know the material you are omitting.

I expect your essay to integrate material from class discussions, the online lecture notes, and your reading. It is appropriate to include relevant facts and statistics, but the bulk of your essay should concern the ethical aspects of the issues raised. Your answer should also include your own view of the issue at hand and a reasoned defense of that view.

The purpose of this question is to test (1) your understanding and memory of the material covered in class and (2) your ability to engage in original thought about that material. The majority of the grade you get on your essay question will be based on requirement (1); but for full credit, I will require that you state and defend your own position(s) on the issue at hand, thus fulfilling requirement (2).

· Discuss how a utilitarian, Kant, and a virtue ethicist would answer the question, “Is it ever morally permissible for a physician to lie to her patient?” Which of these three approaches is best? Defend your answer.

· Discuss the role of motives in medical ethics and on how utilitarianism, Kant and virtue ethics view this issue. Which of these three approaches to the issue of motives is best? Defend your answer.

· Discuss the different ways in which utilitarians, Kant and Rawls would address the question of the moral obligation to treat HIV and AIDS in the developing world. Which of these three approaches to the issue of HIV/AIDS is best? Defend your answer.

· Discuss the approaches utilitarians, Kant, and Leon Kass would take in morally evaluating recent advances in reproductive technologies. Make sure to discuss specific reproductive technologies in your answer. Which of the approaches is best? Defend your answer.

· Discuss the case of Terri Schiavo and the relevance to that case of the notions of personhood and mercy. Should Schiavo have been kept alive against her husband’s wishes? Defend your answer.

By requiring that you answer one of these essay questions, I am assessing your ability to engage in informed moral reasoning about the issue at hand. In studying for this portion of the test, I recommend that you practice composing essays that explain the arguments and other moral considerations relevant to each issue and that incorporate relevant facts (from the lecture notes and/or the textbook) where appropriate.

I expect that you will spend between 20 and 25 minutes on this essay during the 50 minutes you will have to take the test. I realize that, for some essay questions on this study guide, we may have covered more material than you can address in that length of time. So in preparing for the test, you should select which arguments, moral issues, and relevant facts you plan to discuss while writing your answers. It is unwise to study by simply reading through the lecture notes and textbook again and again and then to attempt to compose an essay “on the fly,” while taking the test. In preparing to take the test, you should, at the very least, construct an outline of each of the essays you may be asked to write. I recommend that you go beyond simply constructing outlines and actually practice writing your essays as much as possible while preparing for the test.