What is “Ethics”? What is its relationship to “Value”?

1. Early Material

1. What is “Ethics”? What is its relationship to “Value”?

2. The normative/descriptive distinction

3. What is epistemology? What is metaphysics? What is skepticism?

4. What was Descartes’ basic puzzle?

5. What is Theological Voluntarism? How did it contribute to the “moral crisis of the Modern Era”?

6. Who was Montaigne? What position did he endorse?

7. Who was Hobbes? What did he mean by the state of nature? What were the basic “conditions” for humans in the state of nature? How did Hobbes use the state of nature to offer a solution to the moral crisis?

8. What do philosophers mean by prudential reason?

9. What is the Utilitarian principle? And what is the basic argument for it?

10. What were the two parts of Mill’s theory qualitative hedonism?

11. What is the difference between the three consequentialist theories: Utilitarianism, Altruism, Egoism?

12. What are some objections to Utilitarianism?

13. What is Kant’s Categorical Imperative & what is a “maxim”?

14. Why does Kant investigate the idea of “duty”?

15. What is the difference between a hypothetical imperative and categorical imperative? Which does Kant thinks is essential to morality and why?

16. What is the “CI” Procedure? Can you construct an example to explain it?

17. What is the main difference between the theories of Kant and Mill?

18. What are some objections to Kant’s argument?

2. Most Recent Material

1. Could you in a few short sentences explain why Douglass uses “scorching irony” to discuss slavery in America?

2. Could you explain what Mill means by “liberty”?

3. Could you define “white privilege”? Who wrote directly about it?

4. What was Blum’s definition of racism?

5. Why think racism is one of the most pressing problems facing our country today?

6. What reasons are there for thinking it is permanent, and who argued for this position?

7. Ethical Egoism. Who argued for it? What is it? What is a trivial objection to it? What is the basic argument for it, and why does that argument fail?.

8. Nietzsche’s egoism.

1. What is a “genealogy” or morality?

2. In the “birds of prey” parable, what is the value system? (i.e. good and bad, good and evil, something else?) Can you explain the values?

3. Why does Nietzsche think this old value system changed? What did it change into? What does it mean to say that moral ideas are ‘ideological’? Which moral idea, in particular, is he attacking?

3. Other Material

1. Free Will

1. What is the determinist claim?

2. Be able to define ‘causal determinism’

3. Explain the basic dilemma of free will (moral responsibility).

4. What is the formal argument (i.e. what are the premises and conclusions of the argument for) for each of the following:

1. Hard Determinism (Also on the Quiz)

2. Libertarianism

3. Soft Determinism

4. Can you state an objection to each?

5. How does Campbell think he proves free will? What does he mean by saying it is practically necessary that we believe in free will?

6. In order to make the compatibilist argument, Ayer suggests that we must redefine freedom – but how? What is his argument to convince you we should redefine freedom?

2. God and Evil

1. You must know the formal Problem of Evil (the premises and conclusions), what evil is according to the problem (kinds of evil), and what I called “Aspects” of the problem.

2. You must know the Naïve solutions and why they fail

3. You must know the various versions of the solution based on the claim that “Evil is necessary for good”, and the major challenges this solution faces

4. You must know the Free Will Defense.

3. Proof of God’s Existence

1. Why do you need a proof if you’ve solved the problem of evil?

2. How does the “First Cause” argument run?

1. Be able to state it in premise and conclusion form.

2. Be able to identify problems in the argument and the way (or ways) you might fix those problems. Be particularly sure you understand the problems caused by the second premise. Also know how the non- believer might capitalize on a “mysterious” claim to challenge the First Cause argument.

3. Ultimately, does the first cause argument succeed? Why or why not?

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