CALICUT UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

V SEMESTER
B. A PHILOSOPHY
Fundamentals of Ethics
QUESTION BANK FOR INTERNAL ASSESSMENT
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Ethics is concerned precisely with the __________ to decide the right/wrong in human conduct.
a) will b) norms c) imagination d) laws
2. The __________ word ‘mores’ is the root of the word ‘morality’.
a) Greek b) English c) French d) Latin
3. The term ‘ethics’ is derived from a/an __________ word.
a) Latin b) Greek c) Spanish d) English
4. Summum Bonum refers to the _________ good.
a) personal b) social c) supreme d) lower
5. _________ is not a positive science.
a) Ethics b) Sociology c) Physics d) Biology
6. Ethics as a normative science deals with the __________ of human conduct.
a) ideas b) standards c) betterment d) None of these
7. A desire that continues to be effective can be termed a ___________.
a) will b) motive c) wish d) intention
8. Human desire is _________ animal appetite.
a) different from b) similar to
c) the same as d) not distinguishable from
9. A human being may be hungry and yet not __________ food.
a) take b) provide c) like d) desire
10. ___________ is a formed habit.
a) Custom b) Desire c) Wish d) Character
11. The force of will leads to _________.
a) action b) inaction c) result d) wish
12. __________ may be outer or inner.
a) Desire b) Wish c) Intention d) All these
13. _________ induces us to act in a certain way.
a) Wish b) Motive c) Will d) Desire
14. The motive of an action is a part of the __________.
a) intention b) will c) wish d) none of these
15. ___________ is a representative of hedonist ethics.
a) Bentham b) J. S. Mill
c) Both (a) and (b) d) Neither (a) nor (b)

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16. ‘Character’ refers to the complete system constituted by the acts of _________ of a particular
kind.
a) wish b) desire c) intention d) will
17. __________ exactly corresponds to character.
a) Wish b) conduct c) Will d) Desire
18. If human actions are completely determined by _________, it is not free will.
a) reason b) moral imperative c) circumstances d) All these
19. Find out the items in the List B that match those in the List A.
List A List B
1. Hedonism 1.A selected desire
2. Free will 2. Herbert Spencer
3. Wish 3. Pleasure as moral standard
4. Evolutionary morality 4. Higher human faculty
a) 3, 4, 1, 2 b) 2, 3, 1, 4 c) 1, 4, 3, 2 d) 3, 4, 2, 1
20. Pleasure/pain is the norm of moral evaluation in __________.
a) Intuitionism b) Virtue ethics c) Hedonism d) All these
21. “Men always do seek pleasure”. This position is called __________ hedonism.
a) psychological b) ethical c) egoistic d) universalistic
22. Universalistic hedonism is also called ___________.
a) ethical b) psychological c) utilitarianism d) altruism
23. It is wrong to break a promise because as a moral law it cannot be universalized. This illustrates
the ethical position of _____________.
a) Kant b) J. S. Mill c) Bentham d) Spencer
24. Ethical hedonism is the view that human beings ___________ seek pleasure.
a) always do b) ought to c) shall not d) ought not
25. ___________ hedonism refers to the pleasure of each individual.
a) Egoistic b) Psychological c) Universalistic d) none of these
26. ___________ hedonism refers to the pleasure of all human beings.
a) psychological b) egoistic c) ethical d) universalistic
27. The ethics of __________ is precisely termed utilitarianism.
a) Kant b) Spencer c) J. S. Mill d) T. H. Green
28. All conduct either promotes or hinders the organism’s adaptation to the environment. This
implies the ___________ theory of morality.
a) hedonist b) evolutionary c) intuitionist d) none of these
29. Adjustment of internal relations to external relations is the basic postulate of the ethical theory of
____________.
a) Bentham b) J. S. Mill c) Kant d) Herbert Spencer
30. According to ____________, moral life makes the inherent rational/spiritual principle more and
more explicit.
a) J. S. Mill b) T. H. Green c) Herbert Spencer d) Bentham
31. According to Kant, moral imperative is ___________.
a) evolutionary b) hypothetical c) categorical d) all these
32. According to _________, conscience is the supreme authority in human nature.
a) Butler b) Bentham b) J. S. Mill d) Spencer

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33. Kant accepted ________ as the final authority in moral life.
a) pleasure b) reason c) freedom d) pain
34. Find out the items in the List B that match those in the List A.
List A List B
1. Utilitarianism 1. Spencer
2. Evolutionism 2. Education
3. Intuitionism 3. Hedonism
4. Human rights 4. Conscience
a) 2, 3, 1, 4 b) 3, 1, 4, 2 c) 4, 3, 1, 2 d) 3, 1, 2, 4
35. Both Bentham and Mill share the __________ principle of morality.
a) pleasure b) evolutionist
c) both (a) and (b) d) neither (a) nor (b)
36. ________ is the author of Methods of Ethics.
a) Kant b) T. H. Green c) Butler d) Sidgwick
37. According to hedonists, pleasure is the only thing that is ____________.
a) possible b) avoidable c) visible d) desirable
38. Desire and _________ are frequently used as synonymous.
a) pleasure b) intention c) wish d) will
39. Find out the mismatching pair.
a) Kant/hedonism b) Ethics/normative science
c) Intuitionism/conscience d) Evolutionism/adaptation
40. According to __________, conscience is superior to self-love.
a) Bentham b) J. S. Mill c) Butler d) Spencer
41. Actions are right/wrong according to their intrinsic nature. This is the position of _________.
a) Intuitionists b) Hedonists c) Utilitarians d) None of these
42. According to Kant, an action is good/bad ____________.
a) with reference to some external standard b) according to the pleasure/pain it produces
c) in itself d) extrinsically
43. ‘The moral principle that guides your action should become a universal law’. This is the view of
_____________.
a) J. S. Mill b) Bentham
c) both (a) and (b) d) neither (a) nor (b)
44. The ethical theory of ___________ shows a close affinity with Darwin’s theory of evolution.
a) J. S. Mill b) Herbert Spencer c) Immanuel Kant d) None of these
45. “The greatest happiness of the greatest number” is the dictum of _________ hedonism.
a) egoistic b) psychological c) universalistic d) all these
46. Sidgwick argued that _________ keeps us impartial in the choice of pleasure.
a) ego b) reason c) passion d) society
47. Psychological hedonism recognizes _________ as the object of desire.
a) pleasure b) reason c) pain d) law
48. According to J. S. Mill, some pleasures are more desirable on account of ___________.
a) quantity b) quality c) appetite d) beauty
49. Sidgwick tried a synthesis between __________, J. S. Mill and Kant.
a) Bentham b) Spencer c) Butler d) None of these

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50. The author of The Data of Ethics is ___________.
a) Kant b) Spencer c) Bentham d) J. S. Mill
51. Perfection or self-realization is the ________ of moral evolution.
a) beginning b) content c) law d) ideal
52. The view that moral development is directed towards a specific goal is __________.
a) universalistic b) teleological c) legal d) all these
53. __________ is the author of Prolegomena to Ethics.
a) Bentham b) Aristotle c) T. H. Green d) J. S. Mill
54. A _________ action ‘tends to bring about what is good’.
a) bad b) right c) wrong d) legal
55. ________ argued that if conscience had strength and authority, “it would absolutely govern the
world”.
a) T. H. Green b) J. S. Mill c) Butler d) Immanuel Kant
56. Avoiding injury either to oneself or to another’s physical well-being implies the Respect for
_______.
a) Life b) Character c) Freedom d) Property
57. Respect for life corresponds to the right to __________.
a) Property b) Freedom c) Education d) Life
58. Mackenzie defines ________ as ‘The science of the ideal in human conduct’.
a) Character b) Ethics c) Hedonism d) Utilitarianism
59. The Greek term from which _________ is derived means ‘custom or ‘habit’.
a) morality b) psychology c) education d) ethics
60. The subject matter of ethics is ________.
a) human conduct b) ultimate truth
c) knowledge d) reality
61. Butler’s term for intuitive moral faculty is _______.
a) appetite b) desire c) purpose d) conscience
62. The right of the child to education corresponds to the parents’ __________ to ensure it.
a) interest b) duty c) right d) capacity
63. Education is a practical means that corresponds to the _________ theory of punishment.
a) Deterrent b) Retributive c) Reformative d) None of these
64. The right to freedom is essential to _________.
a) Hedonism b) Democracyc) Dictatorship d) All these
65. Deterrent theory of punishment is ___________.
a) preventive b) reformative c) educative d) none of these
66. Retributive theory of punishment involves ___________.
a) education b) reformation c) revenge d) conversion
67. Capital punishment cannot be justified according to ___________ theory of punishment.
a) Retributive b) Reformative
c) both (a) and (b) d) neither (a) nor (b)
68. The right to ________ is recently included in the fundamental rights in India.
a) life b) freedom c) education d) property

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 69. _________ is not a proponent of hedonism.
a) Kant b) T. H. Green
c) both (a) and (b) d) neither (a) nor (b)
70. Social Darwinism refers to the position of ___________.
a) Kant b) J. S. Mill c) Bentham d) Spencer
71. Those phenomena of conduct in these highest creatures, with which Morality is concerned, also
conform to the laws of evolution. ___________ said this.
a) Herbert Spencer b) Charles Darwin c) Bentham d) T. H. Green
72. Find out the matching pairs.
1. Bentham/hedonism 2. Reformative view of punishment/the penalty of death
3. T. H. Green/utilitarianism 4. Kant/Critique of Practical reason
a) Only 4 b) 1 and 4 c) 2 and 3 d) Only 1
73. According to Sidgwick, ‘nothing is desirable in itself except ___________.
a) pain b) pleasure
c) both (a) and (b) d) neither (a) nor (b)
74. Rights and duties are the __________ constituents of the citizen’s life.
a) opposite b) contradictory c) invalid d) complementary
75. Right to _________ is the most fundamental right.
a) property b) freedom c) education d) life
76. ___________ theory of punishment is more humanitarian.
a) Retributive b) Reformative
c) both (a) and (b) d) neither (a) nor (b)
77. Ethics deals with the “____________ of human beings living in societies.”
a) conduct b) duties c) rights d) desires
ANSWER KEY

1b 2d 3b 4c 5a 6b 7c 8a 9d 10 d

11 a 12 c 13 b 14 a 15 c 16 d 17 b 18 c 19 a 20 c

21 a 22 c 23 a 24 b 25 a 26 d 27 c 28 b 29 d 30 b

31 c 32 a 33 b 34 b 35 a 36 d 37 d 38 c 39 a 40 c

41 a 42 c 43 d 44 b 45 c 46 b 47 a 48 b 49 c 50 b

51 d 52 b 53 c 54 b 55 c 56 a 57 d 58 b 59 d 60 a

61 d 62 b 63 c 64 b 65 a 66 c 67 b 68 c 69 c 70 d

71 a 72 b 73 b 74 d 75 d 76 b 77 a
Prepared By:
Dr. M. Ramakrishnan
Former Head of the Dept. of Philosophy
Govt. Brennen College, Thalassery
(Former Chairperson, Board of Studies in Philosophy, University of Calicut)