Direct Measures
SLO 1
In the Gorgias, one could interpret Socrates as asserting the following: 1. Doing injustice is a greater evil than suffering injustice. 2. No one prefers the greater evil. 3. Therefore, no one prefers doing injustice to suffering it.
Given this interpretation, what's wrong with this argument?
(a) It's an instance of the intensional fallacy
(b) It's an instance of the fallacy of denying the antecedent
(c) It's an ad hominem
Is the following argument valid? 1. Equal opportunity is morally required only if an authority has organized a competition for prizes, like a race, and required others to participate. 2. No authority has organized a competition, like a race, and required others to participate. Therefore: 3. It is not the case that equal opportunity is morally required.
Is the following argument sound? 1. By natural right, all persons own the product of their labor. 2. Mothers are persons. 3. All babies are the product of their mother’s labor. Therefore: 4. By natural right, mothers own their babies.
SLO 2
Show (using a proof) that {p~p}|– p
Use a truth table to show that the argument p V q p is invalid
SLO 3
Construct a short (less than 1000 words) exegesis and critique of Anderson’s defense of the claim that surrogacy contracts immorally commodify children.
Identify the author of the following passage, identify the main point of the passage, and describe the relationship between the main point and the author's view on the good life.
“But there is no known Epicurean theory of life which does not assign to the pleasures of
the intellect; of the feelings and imagination, and of the moral sentiments, a much higher value as pleasures than to those of mere sensation.... It is quite compatible with the principle of utility to recognize the fact, that some kinds of pleasure are more desirable and more valuable than others. It would be absurd that while, in estimating all other things, quality is considered as well as quantity, the estimation of pleasures should be supposed to depend on quantity alone.”
Do you think a rational agent’s preference relation shouldbe transitive? Explain.
SLO 4
What is moral contractualism? (a) The view that what's right is whatever I can coherently believe is right. (b) The view thatrightactionis determined by the terms of an actual or hypothetical social contract. (c) The view that the right action is whatever produces the best consequences.
Consider the following question, which Kahneman and Tversky asked subjectsin a lab:
Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination andsocial justice, and also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations. Which is moreprobable? (a) Linda is a bank teller. (b) Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement. What is thecorrectanswer to this question?
Which of the following is the best description ofmetaphysical moral intuitionism? (a) The view that moral properties are simple and irreducible. (b) The view that one must exercise one's “faculty of intuition" in order to gain moral knowledge. (c) The view that one can onlyintuitone's own happiness and the happiness of others.
Aristotle supports the view that a human's function is to reason by:(a) giving the ergon argument (b) distinguishing between instrumental and intrinsic goods (c) showing that virtue is a "mean between extremes."
Indirect Measures (all responses are on a 7 point Likert scale):
How comfortable would you be explaining the following ideas to a student just beginning her study of philosophy:
- Validity?
- Soundness?
- Deontology?
- Consequentialism?
- Moral Realism/Antirealism?
Do you feel that your writing skills are good enough to write a short discussion offering a basic philosophical analysis of an issue in public policy (taxation, health care, gay marriage, affirmative action or the like) for publication as a letter to the editor in
- a newspaper?
- a news oriented blog?