Explain, Apply, Evaluate 1: Moral Theories Answer the questions below. Submit your answers on Moodle as a Microsoft Word document. That document should contain only your answers and should be double-spaced. Include a number or heading for each answer, but do not include the questions. Your answers should total roughly two double-spaced pages and are due by 10:00 p.m. on Friday, September 16. 1) Explain (40 points) Utilitarianism and Kantianism both offer standards of right action. Briefly explain what each theory claims that people ought to do. 2) Apply (40 points) Utilitarianism and Kantianism both affirm many of our commonsense moral beliefs—whether the judgment that serious things like genocide are wrong or more ordinary things like that it is typically wrong to lie. They sometimes disagree, however, about verdicts in difficult cases. And even in cases where they agree, the theories often reach the same verdict by different reasons. Consider the following case: Connie’s Conversion: Connie’s religious beliefs have recently changed dramatically, and she no longer shares her parents’ religious beliefs. Connie worries that if she tells her parents that she no longer shares their faith, it will hurt their feelings and they will no longer know how to interact with her. (They were devastated when they found out last year that Connie’s cousin, Joel, had left behind the religious views he was raised with. They are no longer speaking to him.) So, Connie simply pretends to still believe what her family does. When she’s visiting family, she continues celebrating religious holidays and attending religious services, and she even prays aloud at meals when asked to. As a result, Connie’s parents have no idea that her beliefs have changed. Explain how a utilitarian and a Kantian would disagree about this case. (Perhaps they would disagree about whether this is wrong. Perhaps they’d agree about whether it’s wrong but give different reasoning. You need to make a case for which of these it would be. If you argue that they would agree about whether Connie acts wrongly, then explain why their reasons would be different.) 3) Evaluate (20 points) Based on your exposure to them so far, which of the moral theories that we have discussed (utilitarianism, Kantianism, virtue ethics) seems best? Why? Give specific reasons that your preferred theory is superior to at least one other theory we have discussed. (This is a general question, not a question about Connie’s case. Of course, you’re welcome to mention Connie’s case if it’s relevant to the argument you make.)
