Free DSST Ethics in America Practice Test (2026)

Question 1

According to Aristotle, the virtue of courage is

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a mean between the extremes of cowardice and rashness

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obedience to God's commands in times of danger

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acting only on rules that could become universal laws

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whatever action produces the greatest happiness

Question 2

In the Just War tradition, the principle of discrimination (noncombatant immunity) requires that

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soldiers must not deliberately target civilians

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a war may be declared only by a legitimate authority

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war must be the last resort after peaceful means fail

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the harm caused must not outweigh the good achieved

Question 3

Cultural relativism is the view that

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right and wrong are determined by the standards of each society

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some moral rules hold for all people at all times

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morality depends entirely on God's commands

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each person's feelings decide what is right for that person alone

Question 4

Thomas Hobbes argued that without a government, human life in the 'state of nature' would be

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'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short'

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peaceful and governed by natural compassion

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ruled by a natural aristocracy of the wise

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free and equal under the laws of nature that all obey

Question 5

James Rachels challenged the traditional view that letting a patient die is morally better than actively killing the patient. His argument is that

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killing is not in itself worse than letting die when motive and result match

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active euthanasia is always wrong because it violates the natural law

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doctors should never withdraw life support once treatment has begun

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only the patient's family should have the right to decide on euthanasia

Question 6

John Rawls asked people to choose principles of justice from behind a 'veil of ignorance.' The veil hides

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their own place in society, such as wealth, talents and race

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the existing laws of the country they happen to live in

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the moral views of earlier philosophers and religious teachers

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the likely consequences of the principles they finally choose

Question 7

Carol Gilligan criticized Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development because it

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undervalued an ethic of care common in women's moral reasoning

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gave too much weight to religious belief and church teaching in moral development

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ignored the role of reward and punishment in young children's behavior

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claimed that moral reasoning cannot be studied scientifically at all

Question 8

Peter Singer uses the term 'speciesism' to describe

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discounting animals' interests simply because they are not human

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the belief that every species has exactly the same right to exist

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the scientific practice of classifying living things into groups

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favoring rare and endangered species over common, widespread ones

Question 9

Kant's categorical imperative includes the formula that we should

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treat humanity, in ourselves and others, always as an end and never merely as a means

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act so as to bring about the greatest good for the greatest number

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follow the customs of our own society

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do whatever a virtuous person would enjoy doing

Question 10

In Plato's dialogue Euthyphro, Socrates asks: 'Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?' This question challenges

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the view that morality depends only on divine command

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the view that pleasure is the highest good

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the idea that justice is the interest of the stronger

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the belief that humans have free will

Question 11

Judith Jarvis Thomson's 'violinist' argument about abortion claims that

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even if a fetus is a person, its right to life does not include using another's body

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a fetus becomes a person with full moral rights only at the moment of birth

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abortion is always wrong because it ends a potential human life

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abortion is a purely private matter that ethics has no standing to judge

Question 12

In his 'Letter from Birmingham Jail,' Martin Luther King Jr. argued that an unjust law is

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a human law out of harmony with the moral law

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any law passed without a majority vote of the people

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a law that a person simply dislikes or finds inconvenient

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a law that has not yet been tested in a federal court

Question 13

A retributivist defends punishment mainly on the grounds that

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offenders deserve to suffer in proportion to the wrong they have done

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punishment discourages others from committing crimes

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punishment can reform offenders into law-abiding citizens

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locking up offenders protects society from future crimes

Question 14

Thomas Aquinas's natural law theory holds that

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moral principles can be known by human reason reflecting on human nature and its purposes

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morality is simply whatever the ruler commands

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moral rules are invented by each culture and have no deeper basis

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only the consequences of an act determine its rightness

Question 15

The Belmont Report (1979), written after abuses such as the Tuskegee syphilis study, sets out three ethical principles for research with human subjects. They are

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respect for persons, beneficence and justice

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autonomy, secrecy and efficiency

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loyalty, obedience and duty

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profit, progress and publication

Question 16

Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism defends

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rational self-interest as a virtue and laissez-faire capitalism

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sacrificing one's own interests for the good of others

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the ethics of care based on close relationships

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following religious tradition as the basis of morality

Question 17

The deep ecology movement, associated with Arne Naess, holds that

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all living things have value in themselves, apart from their usefulness to humans

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nature should be protected only because humans need its resources

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technology will solve every environmental problem

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only animals that can feel pain have moral standing

Question 18

In Plato's Republic, the story of the Ring of Gyges, which makes its wearer invisible, is used to raise the question of

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whether people would act justly if they could never be caught

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whether the soul survives the death of the body

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whether knowledge comes from the senses or from reason

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whether rulers should be chosen by lot

Question 19

Peter Singer's 'drowning child' example is used to argue that

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people in rich countries have a strong duty to help relieve distant poverty

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parents have moral duties only to care for their own children

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charity should be left entirely to governments and their agencies

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physical distance makes our duties to strangers disappear

Question 20

John Stuart Mill's harm principle in On Liberty states that

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society may limit a person's liberty only to prevent harm to others

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the government should prevent people from harming themselves

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laws should enforce the moral views of the majority

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freedom of speech should be limited when ideas are offensive

Question 21

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, is significant because it

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set out a first common international standard of rights for all people

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created a permanent international court to try war crimes

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banned the testing and use of nuclear weapons by member states

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established the United Nations and its Security Council

Question 22

The Stoic philosopher Epictetus taught that the key to a good and tranquil life is to

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separate what is within our control from what is not, and accept the rest

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seek as much pleasure as possible while carefully avoiding all pain

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withdraw from all close relationships and from public life

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obey the laws and rulers of the state without ever questioning them

Question 23

A company's hiring algorithm, trained on its past hiring decisions, ranks women's résumés lower than men's with similar qualifications. This ethical problem is best described as

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algorithmic bias that repeats past discrimination

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a violation of intellectual property rights

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a lack of computing power

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the problem of moral luck

Question 24

Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that legitimate political authority rests on

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the general will of the people, set by a social contract

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the divine right of kings to rule their subjects

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the strength and military power of the ruler

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the private interests of wealthy property owners alone

Question 25

Robert Nozick's entitlement theory of justice holds that a distribution of wealth is just if

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it arose from just acquisition and voluntary transfers

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everyone ends up with an equal share

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it most benefits the least advantaged members of society

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it produces the greatest total happiness

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