1. Discussion: Lying-promises are morally wrong
Discussion: Lying-promises are morally wrongDiscussion: Lying-promises are morally
wrong1. According to Kant, making a lying-promise is morally wrong because:A. It is not
expected to maximize happiness.B. It violates a rule that tends to contribute positively to
the overall utility of society.C. It is self-defeating in that it results in a practical
contradiction.D. It tends to corrupt the character of the cheater.E. It annihilates
happiness. 2. According to Kant, our moral duties (as given by the categorical imperative):A.
Can only be determined from a consideration of what is seen to be rational from the
viewpoint of a particular culture or society.B. Can only be determined from a consideration
of the “historical struggle” of a culture or society.C. Are binding on all human beings from
the moment of conception until death.D. Are binding on all rational persons, at all times, in
all places.E. Are binding on all persons if, and only if, they are seen to promote the general
interests of society.3. The basic idea behind Kant’s categorical imperative is that our moral
duties are:A. Binding only on those persons who are expected to live flourishing or
”eudaimonic” lives on the whole.B. Binding on all persons at all times regardless of
whether a given individual is a rational person or not.C. Binding on all rational persons at all
times independently of what a given rational person happens to want or desire at a given
time.D. Binding on all rational persons, but are fully determined by the culture in which a
person lives, and thus allow for a ”categorical difference” between one society and
another. 4. According to Kant, I treat someone merely as a means if:A. I ask someone to act
in way that he does not want to act.B. I ask someone to act in way that is in my self-
interest.C. I act according to a principle that conflicts with the customs of society.
Discussion: Lying-promises are morally wrongD. I act according to a principle that a
reasonable person could not reasonably accept.E. I act according to a principle that does not
tend to contribute to the happiness of others. 5. A Kantian criticism of a deterrence
(utilitarian) justification of punishment is that:A. A maxim of punishment can never be
willed to be a universal law of nature.B. A society that punishes criminal offenders nevers
succeeds in maximizing overall happiness.C. By making an example of a convicted criminal
by punishing him we treat him as a means only.D. Punishment is never an effective
deterrent.E. Punishment can never reform a person’s character.6. The claims made by
Phadke and Anandh that kidney sales commercialize or commodify the human body, and so
kidney sales undercut human dignity can best be seen as what type of argument in spirit.A.
Utilitiarian.B. Aristotelian.C. Kantian.D. Nihilistic.E. None of the above.ORDER NOW FOR
CUSTOMIZED, PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPERS7. In response to the claim that kidney sales
2. would reduce altruistic giving, Radcliffe-Richards (et. al.) claim:A. That just because some
useful action is not motivated by altruism is not a reason to ban that action.B. That altruistic
giving must never be allowed to be reduced.C. That there is really no such thing as altruistic
giving.D. All of the above.E. None of the above. Essay question:8. How might Kant show that
lying-promises are morally wrong using his formula of universal law version (Ch. 9 in
Rachels’ EMP) of the Categorical Imperative. A lying-promise is when you say the words,
”I promise..,” to someone, but have no intention of fulfilling that promise (e.g., someone
says, ”I promise to pay you back next week if you lend me a few dollars today,” but this
person has absolutely no intention of paying the other person back if the other person lends
him the money).Then explain why the very idea of an absolute prohibition of certain types
of actions or omissions (e.g., ”don’t ever make lying promises”) is intuitively problematic
for Kant’s view of morality.
