DSST Ethics in America Practice Questions Answer Key

1. B: Eudaimonia is not just a momentary sense of happiness, but something far more lasting which extends throughout one’s life. Aristotle did not believe that this kind of true happiness could be achieved by seeking pleasure, wealth, honor, or fame–anything that could be taken away from one’s life.
2. C: Aristotle believed that humans are rational beings and should devote themselves to satisfying their curiosity, acquiring knowledge, and seeking the truth.
3. A: Socrates defined moral relativism as whatever a particular community believes about a moral issue is true for that community. That means that there are no universal moral principles that each and every society should accept. It is not possible for a community to make a mistake in its moral judgments or to have an objectively false moral belief.
4. D: If a character trait is a genuine virtue, it can never lead its possessor to act wrongly. For example, true courage would never lead a person to do anything immoral or unethical. True courage leads people to act rightfully, as they should.
5. D: The Ten Commandments, which appear in the Old Testament, are embraced by both Judaism and Christianity, while the New Testament is not. Although some Jews believe in the Messiah, they do not believe that Jesus was he. The Vedas are the sacred texts of Hinduism.
6. D: Humans are the most special and important parts of the universe because they share reason with the divine. According to the Stoics, the universe was created by God for a purpose, and everything else besides humans is designed to further their well-being.
7. A: A law is no law at all if it is not just. A central tenet of a just law is that all who are affected by it or to whom it might be applied, be made aware of it in advance of any effort to enforce it.
8. A: Hobbes was a materialist who believed that humans are composed entirely of physical matter. Consequently, temporary happiness is all that can be achieved in this life.
9. B: Place the responsibility on the homeless for their own predicament. Libertarians believe there is no way, privately or publicly, that the poor or homeless can be helped because their limitless needs will never be met. In addition, no one has the right to take away money that you earned and they did not.
10. B: Thucydides. Although Jefferson, King, and Rousseau dealt with ideas regarding freedom, they did not specifically equate freedom with happiness and courage.