Final Exam Study Sheet:



FINAL ESSAY EXAM Due December 5, 2017, noon, via email: pgratton@mun.caInstructions: Type out answers to the following essay questions within a Word document. For Part I, you should have answers 1.5-2 pages in length. For Part II, your answer should be at least three pages (double-spaced, of course). Be sure to organize your essays with clear introduction and thesis statement, using textual evidence to back up your interpretations of the authors you cover. Be sure to cite any secondary sources that you use. Good luck!Part I: Answer two of the following essay questions. (Total value: 50%)Eichmann and Kant on the Categorical ImperativeIn this essay, begin by discussing Kant’s categorical imperative. How do we figure out our duties towards others (and ourselves)? What kind of politics would this lead us to? Then review how Eichmann “perverts” the categorical imperative? What are the crucial differences from Kant’s version? How does this lead him to being “evil”?Questions of Character (15%):In this essay, you will compare Kant and Aristotle on the question of character. First, discuss what the point of education is for Aristotle? What virtues should be inculcated? Why? Is ethics and exact science for him? Why or why not? Next discuss whether in the Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals Kant takes up the issue of character. Why or why not? Is his focus in ethics on character? If so, why? If not, why not? Note any similarities or differences as they arise in comparing these two thinkers.Happiness and Ethics:In this essay, you will compare Aristotle and Mill on the notion of happiness. First begin by explaining what it means for Aristotle. How is it attained? Is it a state of mind, an action, a feeling? How is it connected to character, practical reason, and virtue? Be sure to define fully what Aristotle means by this term. Next, review what Mill means by happiness. Is it different from Aristotle’s meaning of the term? Why? What does it mean for Mill? Be sure to explain fully what Mill means by happiness, especially as it relates to his ethical theory. Lastly, what would Aristotle say about Mill’s definition of happiness? And why doesn’t Mill follow Aristotle’s definition? (That is, why, if he’s interested in happiness, too, doesn’t he simply say Aristotle was right?)Part II Answer the following essay question (50%)Ethics after the Death of God:In this essay you will take up what Nietzsche means to live beyond good and evil, by looking at his Genealogy of Morals. What is Nietzsche’s task in that “polemic”? Why does he write it? Is Nietzsche simply against ethics or morality? What is Nietzsche, then, calling on us to do with what we learn in the Genealogy. You will then turn to Arendt’s claims in “What is Authority?” and in Eichmann in Jerusalem to discuss why she believes we are indeed beyond “good and evil.” How is her account similar or different from Nietzsche? What kind of character would Eichmann be for Nietzsche? Is he life affirming? Why or why not? Next, focus on Arendt’s account of how we are to judge in a civilization that has lost the thread of tradition. How can we gauge our moral responsibility? Be sure to define any key terms you use (slave morality, judgment, authority, ressentiment, etc.). ................
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