Ch 2 test bank

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Ethics can be broadly defined as the study of what is good or right for human beings.
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true
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The study of business ethics has several central authorities.
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false
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Because there are no universal, clear-cut standards to apply to ethical analysis, it is impossible to make meaningful ethical judgments.
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false
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Not everything that is legal is also morally correct.
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true
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An ethical relativist looks to a central authority, such as the Bible, to guide her in ethical decision making.
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false
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The two major forms of utilitarianism are situational and a priori.
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false
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Situational ethics judges a person's ethics, and it does so from the perspective of the actor.
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true
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Jeremy Bentham was not a proponent of utilitarianism.
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false
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There are no important criticisms of utilitarianism.
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false
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A leading proponent of the utilitarian approach to ethics was the eighteenth-century philosopher Immanuel Kant.
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false
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Deontologists are sometimes criticized for rigidity and excessive formalism.
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true
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Intuitionism holds that rational persons possess inherent powers to assess the correctness of actions.
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true
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In employment relationships, ethical issues arise regarding safety and compensation of workers, privacy, and the legitimacy of whistle-blowing.
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true
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Harvard philosopher John Rawls stressed liberty as the most important obligation owed by a society to its members.
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false
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To a libertarian, it is not unjust for some people to accumulate fortunes while others live in poverty.
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true
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Although corporations are not persons but artificial entities created by the state, it is clear that they can and should be held morally accountable.
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false
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Corporations are generally held to a higher standard of accountability than are public bodies.
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false
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According to Milton Friedman, the social obligation of a corporation is to return as much money as possible to its shareholders.
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true
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According to Adam Smith, the capitalistic system is composed of economic motivation, private productive property, free enterprise, free markets, competition, and limited government.
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true
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Most philosophers now agree that people can discover fundamental ethical rules by applying careful a priori reasoning.
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false
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The theory of distributive justice analyzes society through a "veil of ignorance."
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true
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What is unjust to a social egalitarian will also be unjust to a libertarian.
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false
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From a Kantian perspective, for an action to be moral, it must be possible for it to be made into a universal law and it must respect the autonomy and rationality of all human beings.
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true
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Under a Kantian approach to ethics, a person should not lie to colleagues unless that person supports the right of all colleagues to lie to one another.
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true
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Under a strict utilitarian approach, it is ethical to force an individual to participate in a painful medical experiment if the purpose of the experiment is to develop a cure that will benefit large numbers of people.
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true
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Kant's approach, like that of ethical fundamentalists, asserts that universal laws stem from the direct pronouncements of God.
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false
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Bill would like to propose to the board of directors of Midway Corporation that it distribute five percent of its pre-tax yearly income to feed the poor. To Milton Friedman and others, Bill's proposal might be considered unethical, because it violates the purpose for which the corporation was established.
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true
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According to one argument in favor of corporate social responsibility, the more responsibly companies act, the less the government must regulate them.
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true
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Andrew Carnegie was a believer in corporate social responsibility.
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true
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Situational ethics is essentially the same as ethical relativism.
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false
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Deontological theories assess good and evil in terms of the consequences of actions rather than by the motives that lead to them.
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false
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Utilitarian notions underlie cost-benefit analysis.
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true
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Business ethics is a subset of ethics; there is no special set of ethical principles that applies only to the business world.
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true
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Ethical relativism holds that when any two individuals or cultures differ regarding the morality of a particular issue or action, they are both correct because morality is relative.
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true
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The definition of the doctrine of ethical relativism includes: a. that when any two individuals differ regarding the morality of an issue or action, they are both correct because morality is relative. b. the proposition that a good or moral act is one that results in "the greatest good for the greatest number." c. the notion that cost-benefit analysis is the most relative and therefore the fairest tool of analysis to use in making ethical decisions. d. that without any further evaluation, the ultimate judgment of the correctness of an action rests with a central authority.
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A
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Which of the following does not describe the libertarian social ethics theory? a. Libertarians stress market outcomes as the basis for distributing society's rewards. b. Libertarians encourage social control over all people in order to design an equitable society. c. Libertarians believe it is an injustice for society to take wealth earned by some citizens and distribute it to those who did not directly earn it. d. The fact that some people end up with fortunes while others are poor proves only that some can play the market effectively while others cannot.
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B
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In Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, how many "institutions" are in the capitalistic system? a. 3 b. 4 c. 5 d. 6
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D
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The ethical theory that underlies cost-benefit analysis is: a. libertarianism. b. utilitarianism. c. deontological. d. ethical relativism.
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B
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How many stages are there in Kohlberg's theory of moral development? a. 2 b. 3 c. 4 d. 5
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B
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In 2002, Congress passed what legislation seeking to prevent business scandals by increasing corporate responsibility through imposing additional corporate governance requirements on publicly held corporations? a. The Securities and Exchange Act b. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act c. The Kohlberg Act d. The Uniform Commercial Code
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B
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The ethical decision-making approach that views ethical decisions from the actor's perspective and then judges whether the decisions were ethical is: a. ethical fundamentalism. b. absolutism. c. situational ethics. d. act utilitarianism.
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C
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True cost-benefit analysis as a social theory: a. only measures monetary gains and losses in making business decisions. b. compares direct and indirect costs and benefits of program alternatives for meeting a specific goal. c. is another theory that judges persons' actions by what those persons believe is right for themselves. d. emphasizes justice and a central moral authority.
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B
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Arguments favoring social responsibility of business entities include all but which of the following? a. Corporations are subject to a higher standard of accountability than are public bodies. b. Limited liability granted to corporations carries a responsibility to contribute to society's betterment. c. Corporate involvement in social causes makes good business sense. d. The more responsibly companies act, the less regulation the government must provide.
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A
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In what way or ways are situational ethics and ethical relativism similar? a. They both look to a central authority or set of rules to guide ethical decision-making. b. They both assess each separate act according to whether it maximizes pleasure over pain. c. They both judge actions from the perspective of the person who actually made the judgment. d. All of the above.
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C
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To a(n) ____, whether telling a lie in a given instance would produce greater pleasure than telling the truth is less important than deciding if a general practice of lying would maximize society's pleasure. a. deontologist b. rule utilitarian c. ethical fundamentalist d. ethical relativist
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B
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How does Immanuel Kant's approach to ethical decision-making differ from that of an ethical fundamentalist? a. Kant's approach is premised on man's rationality and not on principles handed down from above. b. Kant's approach stresses liberty and not justice. c. Kant's approach judges society in moral terms by how it distributes goods and services. d. Kant's approach assesses each separate act according to whether it maximizes pleasure over pain.
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A
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To what source did Kant look to find his categorical imperatives? a. God b. The Bible c. Man d. The Ten Commandments
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C
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Under which ethical system would it be ethical to compel a few citizens to undergo painful or fatal medical tests in order to develop cures for the rest of the world? a. Utilitarianism b. Ethical fundamentalism c. Distributive justice d. Libertarianism
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A
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The definition of business ethics includes which of the following points? a. It is a branch of applied ethics. b. It is fully codified in federal statutes. c. It has a central authority and universal standards. d. It seeks to determine what is good and right in business settings. e. Both (a) and (d).
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E
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According to Jack Behrman, a professor of business ethics, free enterprise involves a: a. combination of properties. b. capitalistic combination of factors of production. c. group expression of the use of private property. d. All of the above. e. None of the above.
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D
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Which arguments oppose business involvement in socially responsible activities? a. Lack of corporate focus on profitability. b. Unfairness to company employees and shareholders. c. Lack of accountability. d. All of the above. e. (a) and (c), but not (b).
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D
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Nineteen-year-old Martin was raised in a good, Christian home and attended parochial school through eighth grade. Martin is a good student and citizen who conforms to the expectations of his church, family, and peers. He does so because he loves his family and church, is loyal to them, and trusts them. Under Kohlberg's schematic analysis, Martin is most likely at what stage of moral development? a. Preconventional b. Conventional c. Postconventional d. Universal
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B
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Which of the following is a common criticism of deontological ethical theories? a. They are excessively pragmatic. b. They are rigid and excessively formal. c. They only consider actions by their motives. d. They fail to consider universal principles.
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B
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Which of the following is a common criticism of ethical relativism? a. It promotes open-mindedness and tolerance. b. It assumes that a person's actions are always correct for that person, but if that is true, then all behavior is, by definition, moral. c. It is rigid and excessively formal. d. It is too judgmental.
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B
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The type of moral equality espoused by John Rawls is: a. freedom to do what one wishes. b. social and material equality. c. freedom from government regulation. d. equality of opportunity, not of results.
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D
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An auto designer chooses to devote his efforts to designing an automobile that is the safest vehicle possible. He does so because he wishes to save lives and prevent disabling injuries. He believes he and his employer have a duty to provide the public with the safest possible vehicle. The designer's approach to ethical decision-making is best characterized as: a. utilitarian. b. deontological. c. ethically relative. d. ethically fundamental.
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B
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Adam Smith, in The Wealth of Nations, said the capitalistic system was composed of institutions which include all but which of the following? a. Economic motivation b. Free enterprise c. Labor d. Limited government
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C
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