Chapter Twenty One:
Ethics Systems: Rights and Justice
True/False Questions:
1) Consequentialist ethics systems focus on the good and evaluate the good in terms
of individuals’ preferences for consequences.
2) Basic liberties such as freedom of speech and rights such as equal opportunity are
fundamental concepts that express considerations of freedom, autonomy, and
basic equality.
3) Ethics systems are classified as teleological or theoretical.
4) Teleological or consequentialist systems hold that moral right takes precedence
over the good and can be evaluated by considerations independent of, or in
addition to, consequences.
5) Both teleological and deontological systems are ultimately concerted with the
evaluation of actions.
6) If you apply both teleological and deontological systems to the same situation,
while different in approach, the same evaluations of actions will happen.
7) Rights may be derived form moral principles only.
8) Rights can be established by private agreements, such as contracts.
9) Rights are only positive.
10) Both moral rights and legislated rights can be enforced.
11) Rights and entitlements evolve over time as a driver of change.
12) Kantian maxims are also referred to as moral rules.
13) The foundations of Kantian maxims and his theory of morality are freedom and
inductive logic.
14) The key to understanding Kantian approaches is to remember that the “good” is
emphasized over the “right.”
15) Because Kant was concerned with the irrationality of humans, he reasoned that
even though maxims should be universal, it was impossible given humans
irrationality.
16) The moral rights of Kantian ethics are extrinsic.
17) A categorical imperative under a Kantian system would be as follows: “Treat
individuals always as autonomous ends, and so never solely as means.”
18) Rights consistent with Kant’s system include freedoms of speech and conscience.
19) Using the ethical approach of Kant, the employer who fires people based on race
or some other arbitrary reason other than performance would be unethical.
20) Rights may be instrumental or extrinsic.
21) Claims that people have economic rights to housing or food are claims about
instrumental rights intended to improve their well-being.
22) Intrinsic rights require extensive justification if they are to prevail.
23) Instrumental rights are not to be respected because they do not contribute to
achieving better consequences.
24) One difference between intrinsic and instrumental rights is that in one people
must be treated as ends and in the other they can be treated as a means.
25) A fundamental criticism of deontological systems is that they fail to explain why
a principle or right should be respected.
26) A criticism of Kant’s system is that it clearly indicates whether or when one right
has priority over another, such as the right to privacy in the workplace.
27) A granted right is established by moral consensus or by government.
28) A granted right is accompanied by a clear assignment of the corresponding duty..
29) An example of having no moral standing and having a claimed right is to label
genetically engineered foods.
30) Rights analysis is a component of managerial decision-making.
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Multiple Choice Questions:
31) Which of the following is not part of the methodology of rights analysis?
a) Identify the rights claimed and their claimed moral bases
b) Determine which claimed right satisfies moral standards
c) Identify trends in moral philosophy
d) Choose the action that does best in terms of established priorities
32) Which of the following best summarizes what Kant would say about conflicts
among rights?
a) Intrinsic rights established under the categorical imperative do not conflict
b) Extrinsic rights are the central issue in settling conflicts
c) Individuals have not claim on rights
d) Rights are only important if individuals all agree to them
33) In applying Kantian reasoning to the insurance industry, which is the most
accurate among the following statements?
a) All insurances agencies must insure everyone
b) No insurance agencies should insure the poor
c) Individuals have no granted right to life insurance so insurance companies need
not provide insurance to everyone
d) Insurance is a right for all
34) Because moral and granted rights can be in conflict in managerial settings, what
do companies need to do?
a) Prioritize them
b) Survey shareholders
c) Set fluid boundaries
d) Have the Board of Directors set all policy
35) What are the possible bases for rights?
a) Moral only
b) Moral and legal
c) Legal only
d) None of the above is correct
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36) What are the two rights that are protected when the right to privacy is claimed on
moral basis in terms of integrity tests?
a) Fair opportunity and liberty
b) Liberty and human dignity
c) Employer rights and liberty
d) Fair opportunity and human dignity
37) If the right to hire is granted on moral/legal ground in terms of the interests of
rights protected in integrity tests, what are the actions consistent with the right?
a) Test where honesty is important to job performance
b) Test all prospective employees
c) Do not test at all
d) Test only on the basis of age
38) ___________ justice is concerned with whether and how a person should be
compensated for an injustice.
a) Personal
b) Compensatory
c) Constitutional
d) Religious
39) What best describes the support for equal employment opportunity?
a) Few support it, but strongly and vocally
b) Almost all ethical systems support it
c) Only half of the ethical systems support it
d) There is little ethical support for it
40) In terms of concern about illegal discrimination in an employment relationship,
what is the focus primarily on?
a) Calculated discrimination
b) Unintentional racism
c) Employment practices and policies
d) Intentional racism and sexism
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41) Which of the following best describes what the courts can look at in
discrimination suits?
a) Only Title 7 of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
b) Title 7 and prior laws that can even go back to the 1800’s
c) Title 7 and Affirmative Action
d) Title 7 and Title 9 of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
42) What act bans discrimination on the basis of disability in virtually all aspects of
employment?
a) Rehabilitation Act of 1973
b) The Americans with Handicaps Act of 1987
c) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
d) There is no such act
43) What does liberalism emphasize?
a) Liberty of groups
b) The liberty of society
c) The liberty of individuals
d) International liberty
44) According to Nozick’s conclusion about rights, what is just is whatever results
from what?
a) Voluntary actions of individuals
b) Voluntary acts of government
c) Legislative mandates
d) National ethical debates
45) What are justice theories concerned with?
a) How different individuals stand relative to each other on dimensions
b) How individuals relate in society in relationship to the moral laws
c) How groups relate relative to each other on dimensions
d) How societies relate to one another on different dimensions
46) There are three principal categories of justice theories. Which of the following is
not one of them?
a) Distributive
b) Retributive
c) Redistributive
d) Compensatory
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47) What is the theory of distributive justice concerned with?
a) The distribution of the rewards and burdens of social interaction
b) The distribution of rights and wrongs in society
c) The redistribution of rights to those once deprived of them
d) The distribution of goods in society in a fair and equitable manner
48) What is compensatory justice concerned with?
a) Justice tolerance
b) Justice intolerance
c) Whether and how a person should be compensated for an injustice
d) None are correct
49) Rawls’s theory of justice is based on all but which of the following theorist’s
ideas on social contract?
a) Kant
b) Rousseau
c) Locke
d) Descartes
50) Rawls provides a theory of ______ justice.
a) Distributive
b) Compensatory
c) Retributive
d) Attributive
Essays and Review Questions:
1) What is ethics? Why is it important to individuals, organizations, managers
and society? What does ethics mean to you?
2) Compare and contrast Kant and Rawls.
3) Apply Rawls’s and Kant’s theories to Affirmative Action. Take a position and
argue it after you have explained what would come about depending on whose
theory you applied to AA.
4) Using the information supplied in the case of Genetic Testing in the
Workplace, prepare a report to your Human Resources department on how to
ethically handle the situation depending on what the ethical principles of the
firm are.
5) What are the key issues in the case of Citigroup and Subprime Lending?
6) What do the concepts of rights and justice mean to you? Why do you think the
way you do and how does it impact your day-to-day existence? How will it
impact what type of work you do and where you work or will it not impact
your work?
7) Explain the following: ethics systems are classified as teleological or
deontological. Use specific examples in your explanation.
8) Describe, analyze, and critique Kantian maxims or moral rules.
9) Develop a new ethical theory for the 21st century.
10) Discuss the application of the ethical theories presented in this chapter to both
equal employment opportunity and affirmative action. Use specifics in your
analysis.