Principles of Ethics Name______

Phil 311

Exam 2

This is a take-home exam. Please answer ALL the questions. Be sure to support what you say in your summaries or critiques with quotations from the text itself. When you quote an author, you still have to explain what the quotation says in your own words. You need to be as detailed as possible. Your exam is due on Tuesday, Nov. 1. It needs to be typed (12-point font) and have one-inch margins on all sides. Double-space please. All pages should be numbered. Please staple this sheet to your exam. I will not grade your work unless I have your signature confirming your compliance to Wofford’s Honor Code (reverse side). You have the time and resources (textbook, class notes, student presentations, and relevant class discussions) to perform well on this exam.

Cultural Relativism

1.  State, in your own words, Benedict’s argument about the origin of morals.

2.  Rachels (The Elements of Moral Philosophy) disagrees with Benedict’s view. Explain his objection.

3.  How would Benedict respond to Rachels?

Utilitarianism

1.  Explain utilitarianism. Be sure to note questions below. You do not want to repeat yourself.

2.  What does Mill mean by the following: “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied” (167)? Explain. Please provide an example.

3.  Mill writes, “As between his own happiness and that of others, utilitarianism requires him to be as strictly impartial as a disinterested and benevolent spectator.” Explain what he means by this. Please provide an example.

4.  Answer ONE:

  1. Do all values have a utilitarian basis?
  2. Identify two weaknesses with Mill’s utilitarian framework.
  3. In your view, is an action immoral if it fails to maximize the happiness of all sentient creatures?

Nietzsche and Sartre

1.  According to Nietzsche, how does master morality differ from slave morality?

2.  In your own view, is life essentially a process of overpowering, appropriating, and exploiting the weaker? Please provide a unique example to support your position.

3.  Nietzsche, in Human All Too Human, claims that free will is an illusion. Sartre, however, maintains the opposite, namely, that we are free to create our values. Explain Sartre’s view. In your analysis, be sure to include a careful explanation of these key words/concepts: (1) existence precedes essence, (2) forlornness, (3) despair.

4.  Answer ONE:

  1. Do we create our own essence by our choices? If so, is this what gives our life meaning?
  2. If God does not exist, is there any basis for objective moral values?
  3. Do we choose something because it has value, or does it have value because we choose it?

Honor Code______(please sign)