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DSST Ethics in America Practice Test

Unofficial practice on the DSST Ethics in America outline: foundational issues, ethical traditions and real-world issues.

According to Aristotle, what is the distinctive function of human beings?

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Exam mode: 50 questions, 60 minutes.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with Prometric. Bank checked October 8, 2026.

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All 50 questions

Contemporary foundational issues 5

  • A hard determinist holds that determinism is true. What follows, on that view, about free will? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Free Will". DSST outline area I (10%), b. Determinism and Free Will
  • According to divine command theory, what does moral obligation consist in? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Divine Command Theory". DSST outline area I (10%), c. Relationship between morality and religion
  • The claim that the truth of a moral judgment is relative to the individual person who makes it, not to a group, is often given what name? Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Moral Relativism". DSST outline area I (10%), a. Relativism, Subjectivism and Absolutism
  • What is compatibilism? Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Compatibilism". DSST outline area I (10%), b. Determinism and Free Will
  • Which view holds that a moral judgment is true or false only in relation to a standpoint, such as that of a culture, and that no standpoint is uniquely privileged? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Moral Relativism". DSST outline area I (10%), a. Relativism, Subjectivism and Absolutism
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Ethical traditions 25

  • According to Aristotle, what is the distinctive function of human beings? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Virtue Ethics". DSST outline area II (50%), a. Greek views: Aristotle
  • According to John Locke, how does a person come to own private property? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Social Contract Theory". DSST outline area II (50%), b. Law and Justice: Locke
  • According to the Declaration of Independence, from what do governments derive their just powers? National Archives, "Declaration of Independence: A Transcription". DSST outline area II (50%), b. Law and Justice: Jefferson
  • Another formulation of Kant's categorical imperative says that humanity must never be used in which way? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Immanuel Kant". DSST outline area II (50%), b. Law and Justice: Kant
  • Carol Gilligan outlined a path of moral development different from the one described by her mentor. Who was he? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Care Ethics". DSST outline area II (50%), d. Feminist/Womanist Ethics: Gilligan
  • Epicurus taught that the point of one's actions is to attain pleasure. How did he conceive of that pleasure? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Epicurus". DSST outline area II (50%), c. Consequentialist Ethics: Epicurus
  • Eudaimonia is the central term of Aristotle's ethics. How is it usually, if loosely, translated? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Virtue Ethics". DSST outline area II (50%), a. Greek views: Aristotle
  • The first formulation of Kant's categorical imperative tells a person to act only on a maxim that meets which test? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Immanuel Kant". DSST outline area II (50%), b. Law and Justice: Kant
  • How did John Stuart Mill's hedonism differ from the view that pleasure is all of one kind? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "John Stuart Mill: Ethics". DSST outline area II (50%), c. Consequentialist Ethics: Mill
  • In John Rawls's original position, what does the veil of ignorance hide from the parties who choose principles of justice? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "John Rawls". DSST outline area II (50%), b. Law and Justice: Rawls
  • In Plato's theory of Forms, what is the world we know through the senses? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Plato". DSST outline area II (50%), a. Greek views: Plato
  • In the Letter from a Birmingham Jail, how does Martin Luther King Jr. define a just law? Martin Luther King Jr., "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" (University of Pennsylvania, African Studies Center). DSST outline area II (50%), b. Law and Justice: King
  • In which book did Adam Smith try to describe the natural principles governing morality? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Adam Smith". DSST outline area II (50%), c. Consequentialist Ethics: Smith
  • Jeremy Bentham wrote that "nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters." What are they? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Jeremy Bentham". DSST outline area II (50%), c. Consequentialist Ethics: Bentham
  • Plato describes a soul with a rational part, a spirited part and an appetitive part. When is such a soul just? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Plato". DSST outline area II (50%), a. Greek views: Plato
  • Socrates held that no one errs knowingly. On his view, what explains wrongdoing? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Socrates". DSST outline area II (50%), a. Greek views: Socrates
  • The Stoic teacher Epictetus sorted things by whether they are in our power. Which of these did he count as not in our power? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Epictetus". DSST outline area II (50%), b. Law and Justice: Epictetus
  • Thomas Aquinas distinguished four kinds of law. Which list names them? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Natural Law". DSST outline area II (50%), b. Law and Justice: Aquinas
  • What did Thomas Hobbes think awaits people who do not give their obedience to a sovereign? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Hobbes: Moral and Political Philosophy". DSST outline area II (50%), b. Law and Justice: Hobbes
  • What name did Ayn Rand give to her philosophy? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Ayn Rand". DSST outline area II (50%), c. Consequentialist Ethics: Rand
  • Which book of 1651 is the most famous work of Thomas Hobbes? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Hobbes: Moral and Political Philosophy". DSST outline area II (50%), b. Law and Justice: Hobbes
  • Which claim about how to live is Socrates best known for? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Socrates". DSST outline area II (50%), a. Greek views: Socrates
  • Which is the only kind of state that Robert Nozick held can be morally justified? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Robert Nozick". DSST outline area II (50%), b. Law and Justice: Nozick
  • Which philosopher opened The Social Contract with the line that man is born free and everywhere is in chains? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Jean-Jacques Rousseau". DSST outline area II (50%), b. Law and Justice: Rousseau
  • Which two parties did Nel Noddings identify in a caring relationship? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Care Ethics". DSST outline area II (50%), d. Feminist/Womanist Ethics: Noddings

Ethical analysis of real-world issues 20

  • According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, which law made affirmative action a remedy that federal courts could impose on violators? Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Affirmative Action". DSST outline area III (40%), d. Civil rights
  • An AI system denies someone a credit card and the person cannot find out how it reached that output. Which ethical problem does this show? Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics". DSST outline area III (40%), j. Artificial Intelligence
  • By Aldo Leopold's land ethic, an act is right if it tends to keep what intact? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Environmental Ethics". DSST outline area III (40%), g. Life centered and human centered ethics
  • How do retributivists justify punishment? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Punishment". DSST outline area III (40%), e. Criminal Justice and Punishment
  • How does Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights describe all human beings? United Nations, "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". DSST outline area III (40%), h. Human rights
  • In "Famine, Affluence, and Morality," what does Peter Singer argue about affluent people? Wikipedia, "Famine, Affluence, and Morality". DSST outline area III (40%), c. Economic issues
  • In debates about end-of-life care, what is passive euthanasia? Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Voluntary Euthanasia". DSST outline area III (40%), b. Life and death issues
  • In just war theory, what does jus ad bellum concern? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Just War Theory". DSST outline area III (40%), f. War and peace
  • Peter Singer uses the word speciesism for what? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Animals and Ethics". DSST outline area III (40%), g. Life centered and human centered ethics
  • Rawls's difference principle allows social and economic inequalities on what condition? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "John Rawls". DSST outline area III (40%), c. Economic issues
  • What did the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 make a crime? Wikipedia, "National Organ Transplant Act of 1984". DSST outline area III (40%), i. Biomedical ethics
  • What did the Supreme Court hold in Furman v. Georgia (1972)? Wikipedia, "Furman v. Georgia". DSST outline area III (40%), e. Criminal Justice and Punishment
  • What did the Supreme Court hold in Loving v. Virginia (1967)? Wikipedia, "Loving v. Virginia". DSST outline area III (40%), a. Morality, relationships, and sexuality
  • What did the Supreme Court rule in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)? Wikipedia, "Regents of the University of California v. Bakke". DSST outline area III (40%), d. Civil rights
  • What does the doctrine of double effect say is sometimes permissible? Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Doctrine of Double Effect". DSST outline area III (40%), b. Life and death issues
  • What makes a case of euthanasia non-voluntary? Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Voluntary Euthanasia". DSST outline area III (40%), b. Life and death issues
  • Which 2015 Supreme Court decision ruled that same-sex couples have the fundamental right to marry? Wikipedia, "Obergefell v. Hodges". DSST outline area III (40%), a. Morality, relationships, and sexuality
  • Which body proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948? United Nations, "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". DSST outline area III (40%), h. Human rights
  • Which three core principles for research with human subjects does the Belmont Report identify? Wikipedia, "Belmont Report". DSST outline area III (40%), i. Biomedical ethics
  • Within jus in bello, what does the principle of discrimination concern? Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Just War Theory". DSST outline area III (40%), f. War and peace

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the content outline of the DSST Ethics in America fact sheet (Prometric, Rev 1/2026, https://getcollegecredit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Ethics-in-America-1.pdf, read 2026-10-08): contemporary foundational issues 10%, ethical traditions 50%, ethical analysis of real-world issues 40%. The bank holds 5, 25 and 20 questions. Each fact was read on 2026-10-08 on the public page named under its question: the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the National Archives transcription of the Declaration of Independence, the text of the Letter from a Birmingham Jail at the University of Pennsylvania, the United Nations text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, for seven court cases and statutes, Wikipedia. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

How it works

This free DSST Ethics in America practice test has 50 questions of our own on moral theories, the philosophers on the outline and present-day issues. It is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Prometric, owner of the DSST exams.

Read the full guide

Three areas, one of them half the exam

The fact sheet (Rev 1/2026) gives contemporary foundational issues 10%, ethical traditions 50% and ethical analysis of real-world issues 40%. The traditions run from Socrates, Plato and Aristotle through Hobbes, Locke, Kant, Mill and Rawls to Gilligan and Noddings. The bank holds 5, 25 and 20.

Length and timing

There are 100 questions and 2 hours on the real exam; Exam mode gives 50 and 60 minutes.

No side taken

On issues such as euthanasia, affirmative action and capital punishment, a question asks what a named philosopher, court or document says, never which view is right.

  • Match each philosopher to one idea: Kant and the categorical imperative, Rawls and the veil of ignorance, Bentham and pleasure and pain.
  • The outline revised 1/2026 lists artificial intelligence among the real-world issues.

Questions and answers

Is there a DSST Ethics in America study guide?

Prometric's fact sheet costs nothing and gives the outline plus three textbooks. For free reading, the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, cited under most answers here, have articles on most philosophers the outline names.

What score do you need on the DSST Ethics in America exam?

Credit is recommended from 400: the American Council on Education suggests 3 semester hours at the lower baccalaureate level. 400 is a score, not a percent right, and your school has the final say on credit.

Are these real DSST Ethics in America questions?

No. They were written for this site from the outline and from public reference works. None repeats or rewords an exam item or a fact sheet sample, and your result here says nothing about the real exam.

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