| Phi 110 Fall 2015 |
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In preparing for the exam, secure your understanding of each of the concepts, distinctions, and groups of related concepts below. In particular:
• For each item, be able to supply (as appropriate) a short definition, explanation of a distinction, or account of the relation between concepts.
• When related topics are listed for two philosophers, be able to compare their views in connection with these topics.
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. 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 text, but some appear 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 • piety and what the gods love • whether anyone does wrong voluntarily • unity of the virtues (e.g., the relation between courage and wisdom)
Aristotle • happiness (eudaimonia) • virtue as a mean • prudence • incontinence (akrasia) • justice in distribution and rectification • 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 • 3 forms of the categorical imperative |
Kant continued • autonomy vs. heteronomy • juridical vs. ethical duties • duties (e.g., truth-telling) and harmful consequences Mill • quantity and quality of pleasure • feeling as the sanction of morality • justice and the principle of utility Moore • naturalistic fallacy Nagel • agent-neutral, autonomous agent-relative, and deontological agent-relative values Sartre • existence precedes essence • anguish, forlornness, and despair • bad faith (or dishonesty) Baier • trust vs. contract • test for the moral decency of trust |