PHIL 482 - Exam 2 Questions and
Complete Solutions Graded A+
(T/F) Subjective Risk depends on what one perceives about a technology or situation - Answer: True
(T/F) The precautionary principle is the dominant way of approaching risk in the US - Answer: False
(Europe)
(T/F) Risk-benefit analysis is the dominant way of approaching risk in the US - Answer: True
(T/F) That the subjective and objective risks of an activity sometimes differ demonstrates that subjects
are irrational or irrelevant - Answer: False
The likeliness that a negative event will actually happen is called _____ risk. - Answer: objective
(T/F) A fundamental problem with the risk-benefit analysis is that the principle of maximizing benefit is
based solely on human intuitions - Answer: False
(T/F) Although a human life has no precise monetary value, even a precautionary analysis would
consider it irrational to spend enormous amounts of money to prevent a statistical death - Answer: True
(T/F) The principle of maximizing expected value holds that we must always be willing to accept a risk if
the benefits of doing so are large enough - Answer: True
Common objections to risk-benefit analysis - Answer: seems morally problematic to assign monetary
value to human life, numbers in quantitative analysis are often uncertain
(T/F) Someone who subscribes to the precautionary principle believes that safety and the avoidance of
risk often outweigh the potential benefits that taking a risk may offer - Answer: True
