In preparing for the exam, secure your understanding of each of the concepts, distinctions, and issues below. The exam will consist of essay questions that you can answer on the basis of your understanding of these ideas. Some questions may ask you simply to explain an idea; others will ask you about the relations among two or more ideas, perhaps ideas presented by different philosophers, or ask you to compare what two philosophers might say about a topic. You can expect some freedom of choice in the questions you answer but not enough to enable you to safely ignore more than a few items on this list.
In formulating this list, I have chosen terms or phrases that appear in the texts you’ve read, but some appear there more prominently than others. If, as you are studying, you have any doubt about what I have in mind or where discussions of these ideas appear, I’ll be happy to supply more information.
Topics
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Plato • whether virtue is teachable • unity of the virtues • whether anyone ever willingly chooses something bad • relation of wisdom and courage Aristotle • happiness (eudaimonia) • virtue as a mean • incontinence (akrasia) • prudence • kinds of friendship • lives of theoretical study and of virtue concered with action Mengzi • 4 sprouts of virtue • goodness of human nature • filial piety (e.g., duty to parents) Kant • a good will • hypothetical vs. categorical imperative |
Kant continued • 3 forms of the categorical imperative • autonomy vs. heteronomy • strict vs. broad obligation • external and internal lying (i.e., lying as discussed both in “On a Supposed Right to Lie” and Doct. of Virt. §9) Mill • quantity and quality of pleasure • feeling as the sanction of morality • justice and the principle of utility Nagel • agent-neutral, autonomous agent-relative, and deontological agent-relative values Sartre • existence precedes essence • bad faith Baier • trust vs. contract • test for the moral decency of trust |