Bay 12 Games Forum

I am having some trouble using Photoshop.
:I

Quote from: Cheeetar on June 04, 2010, 10:12:19 pm

Pandarsenic: Request a replacement. If all you can do is post active lurking posts twice a day or so then you shouldn't be playing this. If you don't request a replacement I'll assume you're scum using your tests as an excuse to active lurk and not contribute at all.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

1. The exam should be typed. It should be 6-8 pages (1500-2000 words). (It is my estimate that an A answer to the questions will require this many words, but of course, there is no guarantee that if you write that many, you will get an A.) It should be submitted as a hard copy, not an email attachment. The test is due Tuesday June 8 by 9 AM. Bring it to your TA’s office. If he is not there, slide it under the door. There will be a penalty of one grading increment for each day late (that is, a B test will be marked down to B-minus, and so on.) No exams will be accepted after Thursday, June 10 at noon. So if we don’t have your test by Thursday, your grade in the course will be will be F. (To pass the course, you must complete all three tests.)
2. The two 40 point questions are meant, in part, to give you an opportunity to show that you have done the reading. So to get a good grade on them, you must provide some evidence that you have done the reading, in the form quotes from the reading. That is, at least some of the claims you make about the views of the philosophers you discuss should be supported by quotes. The quotes must have identifying page references. (No particular citation format is required. But you need to make it clear where you got the quote and the page.)
3. The exam should be your own work. Evidence of collaboration with other students will be reported to the relevant university authorities as academic dishonesty. Of course, plagiarism, as from websites, will be reported too. Anything you get from somewhere else has to be identified with a footnote.

QUESTIONS.
1. Answer A or B (40 points)

A. Mill and Aristotle both make use of the idea that the good life for a human is a life spent doing distinctively human things. What are their arguments for this conclusion (how do they attempt to establish this)? Is Mill’s idea of what would be involved in living a life doing distinctively human things the same as Aristotle’s? Why or why not?

B. Compare and contrast ordinary act utilitarianism with the two versions of the categorical imperative (the formula of universal law and the formula of humanity as an end it itself). To what extent do they yield similar conclusions? To what extent do they yield different conclusions? You will need to take account of the distinction, in Kant, between perfect and imperfect duties. You might consider what the principle of utility would say about the cases that Kant considers when giving examples of the application of the categorical imperative.



2. Answer A or B (40 points)

A. Mill and Aristotle both give an important place to justice. Explain how justice fits into Mill’s utilitarian framework. Explain how Aristotle understands the requirements of justice. How do their two accounts of justice differ? Can they be regarded as focusing on different aspects of the same moral idea? If so, how do their views fit together? If not, why not?

B. Hume and Mill both offer theories of justice. They both seem to understand justice in terms of a structure of rules that give each individual a certain moral “space” where they are protected from interference by other people. But they offer different accounts of the ultimate justification that humans have to create this structure of rules. Explain how each understands the ultimate justification for creating the structure of rules associated with justice.


3. Answer A, B, or C (20 points)

A. Locke says we acquire property in material things by "mixing our labor" with them. In his discussion he suggests three more particular moral mechanisms that might underlie this idea. What are they? How successful are they in explaining why mixing one's labor with something creates a property right in it? One of Locke’s provisos says that there must be as much and as good left for others. According to what was said in lecture, can this condition be met in the modern world or not?

B. Locke is concerned to establish that there is a moral requirement to obey the law. What, in his view, gives later generations a reason for obeying the law? What would Kant say about this? Using the test specified by the first version of the Categorical Imperative (the formula of universal law), as interpreted in class, determine whether members of later generations are morally required to obey the law. That is, formulate a maxim and test it.

C. Nussbaum's discussion of when we can regard people as legitimately living under cultural arrangements different from those in the West suggests that we can do this only when everyone in the society has certain core functional capabilities. They may then freely choose not to exercise them. List four of the functional capabilities that she mentions and briefly say what is involved in them. Nussbaum can be regarded as providing a theory that is Aristotelian in spirit. How is a capabilities-based approach Aristotelian?

Ha, Toony, I joined during the Lete 40d period, and I already have 20 days logged in!

I'm going to post about my addiction in tha sad thread...