FINAL EXAM
Submission Instructions
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Complete on a separate Microsoft Word document.
Your name must be on your exam.
Upload to D2L folder by July 29. Late exams will not be accepted and will not be graded.
Point Breakdown
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Below are 8 questions, select 6 to write on.
Each question is worth 2.5 points each.
Your responses should be as thorough as possible and clearly demonstrate that you
understand the concepts and the relationship between the concepts that form the various
arguments.
Word Length for Responses
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There is a word length requirement for each response: 425 words
Keep in mind that it may take you more than 425 words to adequately explain the concepts,
arguments, etc.
Plagiarism
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DO NOT PLAGIARIZE OR PARAPHRASE from online sources. This includes copy other
material and simply replacing the nouns and verbs with synonyms.
Review lecture notes and primary texts, but DO NOT COPY NOTES OR PRIMARY TEXT.
Answer these questions in your own words.
Any plagiarism will result in a zero on the exam and possible removal from the course.
Exam Questions: Select 6
Responses must be at least 425 words long.
1. Thoroughly discuss Aristotle’s functional conception of goodness; summarize his
argument that the active life of rationality (the rational part of the soul) is the function
(ergon) of human beings; explain precisely how it is that our function enables us to lead
happy lives (eudaimonia).
--Review Nicomachean Ethics, Book I
(In Section 2: Living Well)
2. Discuss Plato’s analysis of the two sources of confusion for the soul; illustrate both
sources with examples; discuss why each part of the soul (i.e., the whole soul) must be
involved in education and how this “turning the whole” vs. “turning only a part” of the
soul is represented by the prisoners’ bodies.
--Review “Allegory of the Cave”
(In Section 3: Ignorance and Plato’s Cave)
3. Thoroughly explain, with examples, Aristotle classification of the three forms of
friendship; explain why friendship of the Good is the true or perfect form of friendship
and why it is based on self-love; explain the difference between a good “self-love” and a
bad (or base) form of “self-love.”
--Review On Friendship: From Nicomachean Ethics, Books VIII and IX
(In Section 4: Virtue, Friendship, and the Sage)
4. Explain the area of normative ethics and the tradition of consequentalism; Discuss both
the many similarities and the many differences between Jeremy Bentham’s and John
Stuart Mill’s versions of utilitarianism (do not copy from internet sources).
--Review Introduction to Morals and Legislation by Bentham and Utilitarianism by Mill
(In Section 5 Normative Ethics, Pt. 1 and Section 9 Normative Ethics, Pt. 2)
5. Discuss Milgram’s conception of the “agentic state” by summarizing his obedience
experiments; summarize his insights into the factors that render people obedient to
unjust authority and his analysis of the nature of evil in society.
--Review Obedience to Authority
(In Section 6: The Problem of Obedience)
6. Address the strategic differences between Robert F. Williams’ and MLK’s approach to
social struggle by explaining 1) Robert F. Williams’ commitment to a flexibility of tactics
and armed self-defense and his specific arguments against non-violence; and 2) King’s
commitment to pure nonviolence and his critique of self-defense.
--Review many relevant texts on/by King and Williams
(In Section 10: Applied Ethics, Pt. 1)
7. Explain Peter Singer’s Principle of “Comparable Moral Importance” and summarize his
argument that we have a moral duty to donate to charity for famine relief; explain his
response to the objection regarding proximity and the objection that his argument is “too
demanding.”
--Review Famine, Affluence, Morality
(in Section 11: Applied Ethics, Pt. 2)
8. Explain the theory of cultural relativism as explored by Gensler, addressing both its
strengths and its various weaknesses.
--Review Cultural Relativism
(in Section 12: Meta-Ethics)