EXAM 1

SECTION 1: Prescriptive/normative and Descriptive phrases

These are not true/false!

1. _________Stoning is a dreadful practice and should be banned.
2. _________People of faith have a good foundation for a moral code, unlike atheists.
3. __________Socrates should have accepted the deal Crito offered in order to escape from prison.
4. _________Some people feel that polygamy should be legal.
5. _________Many State legislative bodies are putting forth legislation that would effectively cripple Planned Parenthood.
6. _________If a business owner has sincerely held religious beliefs, s/he should be able to refuse service to anyone.
7. _________Some people feel that methane gas is advancing dangerous climate change, and that it would be best, therefore, to stop raising cattle for food.
8. _________It would be best for California to ban the death penalty.
9. _________Soraya was stoned for adultery.
10. .________Some doctors do not want to participate in the Aid in Dying Act.
11. The Latin term morales is literally translated as_____________________________________________________________________.
12. The Greek term ethos is literally translated as _______________________________________________________________________.
13. The Greek term eudaimonia is literally translated as _______________________________________________________________________.
14. T      F     The "cultural relativism (ethical relativism) argument is a perfectly sound argument.
15. The terms _______________________/_____________________________ are generally used when referring to honest or dishonest business practices.
16. A person who is indifferent to moral standards, such as a sociopath or an infant, would be termed _________________________________________.
17. A statement about morality, generally descriptive in nature, but which makes no prescriptive rule about morality, is referred to as _______________________________________________________________________.
18. The terms _____________________________________/_____________________________ are generally used when referring to personal moral relationships with each other.
19. T      F    Because every culture has different moral codes, there is no single universal, objective moral truth.
20. T      F    Socrates is famous for saying that if one agrees to live in a certain place, the laws should be scrutinized to determine if they are just, and that popular opinion should play a large role in agreeing on the morality of these laws.

SECTION II:  SHORT ANSWER BRIEF ESSAY QUESTIONS

1.  List at least three reasons why it would be unwise to use religion as the basis for a universally persuasive moral argument.  FIVE BONUS POINTS FOR EACH REASON PAST THREE. (Don't restate any of your reasons in different words.  (15 points plus bonus points)

2.  This question requires short, simple answers only.

a.  What is the "Cultural Differences" argument (also known as the "Cultural Relativism" or "Ethical Relativism" argument)?  (20 points)

b.  Is this argument sound or unsound? (5 points)

c.  Why or why not? (5 points)

3.  List the 5 Basic Principles with their subheadings. (50 points)

a.  Explain how the 5 Basic Principles support the soundness or unsoundness of the Cultural Differences argument.  (10 points)

4.  Choose ONLY TWO of the characters (listed below) from the movie The Stoning of Soraya M and THOROUGHLY EXPLAIN how each of these characters EITHER honored or violated the 5 Basic Principles.  (10 points apiece.  20 points total)

a.  Soraya, the wife of Ali

b.  Ali, Soraya's husband

c.  Zahra, Soraya's aunt

d.  Ebrahim, the mayor

e.  Hashem, the auto mechanic for whom Soraya worked following the death of Hashem's wife

f.  The fake mullah

g.  Friedoun Sahebjam, the French/Iranian journalist to whom Zahra told Soraya's story.