Study guide for Test 1
CSC 301 Computers and Society

September 30, 2019

Dr. Marek A. Suchenek

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This page is posted here for in-class use only. No other use or uses is/are allowed.


Study carefully these sections of the Lecture Notes:

Introductory material

The purpose of society

Constitutional matters

and these files:

Closing Remarks

The Purpose of Society

International law vs. the American Constitution

Below is a list of questions that you should be able to answer if you studied the above-mentioned material well enough. Please, do not assume that these questions will be on the Test 1 or that they cover all topics on the Test 1; their only purpose is to help you self-assess your knowledge of the subject. In my (Dr. M.S.) opinion, the actual questions on the Test 1 will be easier, or at least not more difficult, than the questions below.
What is the difference between is and ought?

What is ethics? What is meta-ethics? What is an example of paradoxical consequences of mixing ethics and meta-ethics?

How are ethics and morality related to each other?

What is the naturalistic fallacy?

What is the moralistic fallacy?

What are the similarities and differences between legality and morality? What are examples of actions that are legal but not moral? Can the differences between legality and morality be ever eliminated and why?

What is the Golden Rule? How is it related to empathy?

What is the domain of applicability of the Golden Rule?

What is the Perfect Axiom for the Golden Rule? How is it related to being judgmental or non-judgmental?

What is opportunism? How is opportunism related to the Golden Rule?

What is moral relativism? What is the moral-relativist view on objective truth? How is moral relativism related to the Golden Rule? What are examples of paradoxical consequences of moral relativism?

What is human universalism? How does it impact the Golden Rule? What are examples of paradoxical consequences of human universalism? How is human universalism related to globalism?

What is postmodernism? How are postmodernism and moral relativism related to each other?

What is the presumption of innocence? Where did the presumption of innocence originate from?

What is the purpose of morality in the U.S.?

What is the primary purpose of society? What are examples of objectives that are not primary purposes of society?

What is the purpose of an individual?

What are examples of the negative aspects of a society?

What are the opposing answers to this question: How much of individual way of life needs to be subordinated to the "common good" in order for the group to survive?

What are the benefits of individual freedom? How does the unprecedented success of the Internet as a free (mostly uncontrolled, that is) problem-solving "computer" explain the beneficial impact of individual freedom on economic prosperity?

What are the benefits of competition? How is competition related to social, economic, and technological progress?

What was the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890? Why are monopolies detrimental to social, economic, and technological progress?

What is the role of the Preamble to the Constitution of the U.S.?

What is the meaning of the term the People used in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?

What is the primary purpose of the Constitution in relation to the nation and society? Why is the prescribed process of amending the Constitution so convoluted and lengthy?

Why is accountability of the government to the People important?

What is the purpose of the Bill of Rights?

What is the origin of the rights (that is, where did these rights come from?) listed in the Bill of Rights?

What is the relation between the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?

What is the role of democracy? Does democracy guarantee individual rights? What is tyranny of majority? What are examples of nations in which democracy does not work well (for instance, in which individual rights are not respected and the innocent are not protected)?

What Amendment implies that everything that is not permitted for the federal government is prohibited to the federal government?

What Amendment implies that everything that is not prohibited for the people is permitted to the people?

What are the powers of the U.S. Congress given to it by Article I Section 8 of the Constitution?

What were the two purposes of Amendment XIV? What did Amendment XIV incorporate?

What is the relationship between the Constitution of the U.S. and the "international law"?

How does incorporating foreign or international laws, legal doctrines, and court decisions into American (domestic) justice system impact the accountability of the government?

What is an example (attributed to Bertrand Russell) illustrating that absurd conclusions invalidate presumptions or contradictory premises and not the other way around, that is, absurdity does not become a proven matter after one "proved" it from false presumptions or contradictory premises?