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Key Facts: HKDSE ERS Exam
HKDSE Ethics and Religious Studies is a Category A elective assessed by Paper 1 Ethics (50%, 1h45) and Paper 2 Religious Traditions (50%, 1h45), graded on Levels 1-5 with 5** as the top distinction.
Sample HKDSE ERS Practice Questions
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1The official HKDSE Ethics and Religious Studies exam is mainly essay-based rather than multiple-choice. Which paper focuses on Normative Ethics and personal/social issues?
A.Paper 1 (Ethics)
B.Paper 2 (Religious Traditions)
C.School-based assessment only
D.Paper 3 (Comparative Religion)
Explanation: Paper 1 is the Ethics paper (about 50% of the subject). Part A covers Normative Ethics and Part B covers personal and social issues. This MCQ bank is an English study adaptation to build conceptual knowledge for those essay tasks.
2In Kantian deontology, what makes an action morally right?
A.It produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number
B.It is done from duty according to a maxim that can be universalised
C.It develops excellent character traits over a lifetime
D.It obeys the positive law of the state regardless of content
Explanation: For Kant, moral worth comes from acting from duty. The Categorical Imperative requires that the maxim of one's action could be willed as a universal law, independent of personal desire or outcome.
3Jeremy Bentham's classical utilitarianism measures the rightness of actions primarily by which standard?
A.Whether they respect inviolable natural rights
B.Whether they conform to divine commands
C.Whether they promote the greatest happiness (pleasure over pain) for the greatest number
D.Whether the agent acts from a pure sense of duty
Explanation: Bentham's hedonistic utilitarianism judges actions by their consequences for overall utility, understood as pleasure and the absence of pain, summed across all affected parties.
4According to Aristotle's virtue ethics, what is eudaimonia?
A.A temporary feeling of intense pleasure
B.Strict obedience to a list of absolute rules
C.The greatest total utility in a society
D.Human flourishing or living well through a life of virtue
Explanation: Eudaimonia is often translated as flourishing or living well. For Aristotle it is the highest human good, achieved by exercising the virtues in accordance with reason over a complete life.
5Which statement best captures the difference between act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism?
A.Act utilitarianism evaluates each act by its consequences; rule utilitarianism evaluates acts by reference to rules whose general acceptance maximises utility
B.Act utilitarianism is religious; rule utilitarianism is secular
C.Act utilitarianism rejects all consequences; rule utilitarianism accepts only rights
D.There is no difference; the two labels describe the same theory
Explanation: Act utilitarianism asks which particular action produces the best outcome now. Rule utilitarianism asks which rules, if generally followed, would produce the best overall outcomes, then judges acts by those rules.
6Kant's Formula of Humanity requires that we treat persons as ends in themselves. What does this primarily prohibit?
A.Helping others achieve their goals
B.Using people merely as means without respecting their rational autonomy
C.Making any promise that involves another person
D.Experiencing pleasure when doing one's duty
Explanation: Kant holds that rational persons have dignity and must never be treated merely as instruments. Using someone only for one's own ends without regarding their capacity to set ends is a central moral failure.
7Natural law ethics, in the classical tradition associated with Thomas Aquinas, typically holds that:
A.Morality is only whatever positive law currently states
B.Only revealed scripture can give any moral knowledge
C.Basic human goods can be known by reason and should guide action
D.Pleasure is the sole intrinsic good
Explanation: Natural law theory claims that practical reason can discern basic goods (such as life, knowledge, and sociability) rooted in human nature, and that moral norms direct us toward those goods and away from their destruction.
8A rights-based ethicist criticises a utilitarian policy that sacrifices one innocent person to save five others. What is the strongest form of this criticism?
A.The policy fails to maximise total pleasure
B.The policy develops vicious character in the agent
C.The policy ignores divine revelation entirely
D.The policy violates the inviolable right of the innocent person not to be used as a mere resource
Explanation: Rights-based ethics often treats certain claims (such as not being killed or used merely as a means) as side-constraints that cannot be overridden solely by aggregate benefits. Sacrificing the innocent for utility violates that constraint.
9Divine command theory most directly claims that:
A.An action is morally right if and only if it is commanded (or willed) by God
B.God's existence can be proved only by moral argument
C.All religions share identical moral codes
D.Secular ethics is impossible for religious believers
Explanation: Divine command theory grounds moral obligation in God's will or commands. Rightness and wrongness are defined by what God requires, permits, or forbids.
10Cultural relativism in ethics holds that:
A.There are universal moral truths binding all cultures
B.Moral right and wrong are determined solely by the norms of one's culture
C.Only individual feelings determine right and wrong
D.Scientific method alone can settle all moral disputes
Explanation: Cultural relativism claims that moral standards are relative to societies or cultures: an action is right if it accords with the norms of the culture in question, and there is no culture-transcending moral truth.
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