Download QUESTIONS TO ACCOMPANY MORAL CHOICES, 2nd ED

QUESTIONS TO ACCOMPANY MORAL CHOICES, 2nd ED. BY SCOTT B. RAE
Ch. 1
1. How would you answer the question, “Why be moral?” How does Rae answer this
question?
2. What’s the technical distinction between morality and ethics?
3. What are the 4 specific considerations in making a moral judgment?
4. What are the 3 subcategories of ethical systems? What are the various forms of each
system? (It may be helpful to answer these questions with a diagram or “family tree” that
shows the relationships among the terms.)
5. Briefly define the following: deontological ethics, teleological ethics, utilitarianism,
ethical egoism, cultural relativism, moral subjectivism.
Ch. 2
1. What’s the “Euthyphro Dilemma”? How do divine command and natural law theories
respond to this dilemma? What are the strengths and weaknesses of these theories?
2. Briefly describe the following: theocracy, Jubilee.
3. How are Old Testament and New Testament ethics similar to each other? How are they
different from each other? How did biblical ethics (whether OT or NT) differ from the
ethics of the world around them?
4. Briefly describe the 3 alternatives in dealing with moral dilemmas.
Ch. 3a
1. How did Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans, and the Stoics answer the 3 questions given on
p. 49?
2. Briefly identify the following: virtue theory, telos, (the golden) mean, the Republic,
Nicomachean Ethics.
Ch. 3b
1. How did Augustine and Thomas Aquinas answer the 3 questions given on p. 49?
2. Contrast Augustine’s and Aquinas’s models of society.
3. Briefly describe the 4 types of law according to Aquinas.
4. Briefly identify the following: City of God, Summa Theologica.
Ch. 3c
1. How did Hobbes, Hume, and Kant answer the 3 questions given on p. 49?
2. Briefly identify the following: Leviathan, the Categorical Imperative, the good will.
3. What, according to Hobbes, is the purpose of the social contract? Is his view of society
closer to Augustine’s or Aquinas’s view? Support your answer.
4. Contrast Hume and Kant on the relationship of reason and the passions.
Ch. 4
1. In the chapter’s opening debate, with which participant do you agree most? Why?
2. Which ethical system is associated with Ayn Rand?
3. Compare and contrast Bentham’s and Mill’s versions of utilitarianism.
4. Briefly describe the strengths and weaknesses of the 5 ethical systems discussed in this
chapter. Which system is closest to your own view, and why? (Your answer to Question
1 above may shed some light on this.)
Ch. 5
Using the 7 elements of moral decision-making, write answers to the questions associated with
the 4 case studies in the chapter.
Ch. 6
1. What is the present legal status of abortion in the USA?
2. Evaluate the pro-choice arguments and pro-life counterarguments put forward in this
chapter. Which arguments and/or counterarguments seem most persuasive to you?
Why? Which are the hardest to respond to? Why?
3. Have you personally known anyone who has been involved with abortion (such as
someone who’s had an abortion, someone who’s done an abortion, someone who’s a
sidewalk counselor or protester, or the boyfriend/husband of someone who’s had an
abortion)? Does this personal link or lack of it influence your position on abortion?
***Since this can be a very personal set of questions, please feel free to refrain from
using names or details that would give away too much information. Contact me if you
struggle with completing this assignment.***
Ch. 7
1. Answer the questions that go along with the case study at the beginning of the chapter.
2. Briefly define the following: surrogate motherhood, IVF. What are your views on these
two uses of reproductive technologies?
3. Have you personally known anyone who has been involved with the reproductive
technologies covered in this chapter? Does this personal link or lack of it influence your
position? (The same advice about answering Question 3 from Ch. 6 applies here.)
Ch. 8
1. Respond to the 3 case studies at the beginning of the chapter. What are your views on
these issues?
2. Briefly define the following: genetic testing, gene therapy, cloning. Are there any
legitimate uses for these technologies? Support your answer.
3. Have you personally known anyone who has been involved with the genetic technologies
covered in this chapter? Does this personal link or lack of it influence your position?
(The same advice about answering Question 3 from Ch. 6 applies here.)
Ch. 9
1. Respond to the 3 case studies at the beginning of the chapter. What are your views on
these issues?
2. Name and briefly describe the 3 forms of euthanasia.
3. What’s the difference between ordinary and extraordinary means?
4. What’s a living will?
5. Evaluate the pro-euthanasia arguments and anti-euthanasia counterarguments put forward
in this chapter. Which arguments and/or counterarguments seem most persuasive to you?
Why? Which are the hardest to respond to? Why?
6. Have you personally known anyone who has been involved with euthanasia? Does this
personal link or lack of it influence your position? (The same advice about answering
Question 3 from Ch. 6 applies here.)
Ch. 10
1. Answer the questions posed in the case study on p. 210.
2. Evaluate the abolitionist and retentionist arguments put forward in this chapter. Which
arguments seem most persuasive to you? Why? Which are the hardest to respond to?
Why?
3. Have you personally known anyone who has been involved with capital punishment? Does
this personal link or lack of it influence your position? (The same advice about answering
Question 3 from Ch. 6 applies here.)
Ch. 11a
1. Summarize the biblical teaching on sexual relationships. Was there anything in Rae’s
coverage of the biblical material that stood out to you?
2. What distinction has been made between being homoerotic and being homosexual?
3. Evaluate the arguments for and against legitimizing homosexual behavior. Which
arguments seem most persuasive to you? Why? Which are the hardest to respond to?
Why?
4. Have you personally known anyone who has been involved with homosexuality? Does this
personal link or lack of it influence your position? (The same advice about answering
Question 3 from Ch. 6 applies here.)
Ch. 11b
1. For what reasons does Rae question the accuracy of the term, “safe sex”?
2. Evaluate the 3 elements of sexual self-control. In addition, are there any other pieces of
advice you would recommend?
3. Reflect on the letter from “Free and Happy” to Dear Abby. What can we learn from this
testimonial?
Ch. 12
1. Suppose you really are on the panel described in the opening of this chapter. In dialog
with the other panelists, present your view on war.
2. Briefly describe the 2 versions of pacifism and the 2 versions of just war.
3. Evaluate the criteria for a just war. Would you add to or subtract from the criteria?
4. Evaluate the pacifist and just-war arguments put forward in this chapter. Which
arguments seem most persuasive to you? Why? Which are the hardest to respond to?
Why?
5. Have you personally known anyone who has been involved with warfare? Does this
personal link or lack of it influence your position? (The same advice about answering
Question 3 from Ch. 6 applies here.)
Ch. 13
1. Briefly describe how you would vote as a Christian legislator on the 7 test case laws at
the beginning (and end) of the chapter.
2. How has the definition of “pluralism” changed?
3. Name and evaluate the 3 Christian views on legislating morality. Which view is closest
to your own? (Your answers to Question 1 above may shed light on this.)