Multiple Choice Quiz

Singer's argument begins with the assumption that:

all people are created equal.

we ought to do whatever maximizes happiness.

pleasure is good.

suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care are bad.

By "without sacrificing anything of comparable importance" Singer means:

without causing anything comparably bad to happen.

without doing something that is wrong in itself.

without failing to promote some moral good comparable in significance to the bad thing we can prevent.

all of the above.

Singer claims we cannot discriminate against someone merely because he is far away from us, if:

we accept any principle of impartiality.

we accept any principle of universalizability.

we accept any principle of equality.

any of the above.

Singer claims that his argument upsets the traditional distinction between:

duty and charity.

egoism and altruism.

rights and privileges.

positive and negative rights.

One objection to Singer's theory that he considers is that it:

does not do enough to address suffering in other countries besides our own.

inappropriately makes proximity morally important.

does not account for the fact that we have stricter obligations to our loved ones than to strangers.

requires too drastic a revision to our moral scheme.

Singer claims that he introduces the weak version of his principle:

because people are usually more persuaded by it.

because it is correct.

in order to show that even on this undeniable principle a great change in our way of life is required.

because accepting it leads to acceptance of the stronger principle.

In response to the argument that famine relief is counterproductive because it leads to overpopulation, Singer claims that:

this has empirically been shown to be false.

this is true, but should not be of moral concern to us.

this is a reason to give money to population control efforts.

there is no such thing as "overpopulation."

According to Singer, compliance with his principle requires:

modest changes to our personal habits, but not to our society as a whole.

modest changes to our personal habits, as well as to society.

drastic changes to our personal habits, but not to our society.

drastic changes to both our personal habits and to our society.

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