Study Guide for Exam 3

Completed.

Exam 3 will be in class on Thursday, December 8, and will be closed-book. The study guide and exam are arranged in such a way that if you can answer all of the following questions satisfactorily, you will do well on the exam. The exam will consist of multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions (and perhaps some other kinds). There is an essay for the last exam, and you should pick one out of the following two questions and prepare for it.

I make my exams from the study guide, so there will be no surprises. It also might seem like a lot of questions, but if you had done your readings on time and been attentive in class, you should already know the answer to a majority of them. I recommend that everyone have read all the material twice before the exam. You can email me questions on the study guide, but, please, no questions like 'what's the answer to #5?' This defeats the purpose. I'll answer questions if you write to me what you think the answer is, and put a good faith effort into answering it. Then I'll respond. Ok, here goes:

ESSAY QUESTIONS:

Pick ONE of the following two questions and prepare your answer beforehand. You cannot bring in any papers/notes, so I don't recommend writing the whole thing, unless you think that will help you. But, at least prepare an outline and memorize what you're going to say.

A. One question will be on abortion

Pick one or two of your favored (or least disfavored) arguments for/against abortion from the articles we read. Explain it. Then, state an objection to that argument that would be brought up by another one of the authors we read. How could one reply to this objection? How would you? Use arguments. Try to demonstrate mastery of the course material.

B. Rawls, Nozick, and Utilitarianism

Rawls explicitly rejects Utilitarianism as a philosophy that rational, self-interested people would choose to follow. Nozick implicitly rejects Utilitarianism by defending unpatterned principles of justice which would most likely not maximize utility. Explain their views and how they are against Utilitarianism. Do you think that these rejections of Utilitarianism are correct? Why or why not? Do you think that we ought to be guided by Utilitarianism in how we make our government? Why or why not? (or, to what extent?). Use arguments, and try to demonstrate mastery of the course material.

  1. Warren - On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion

    1. What is the difference between the moral notion of a person and the biological notion of a human being? Why is it important, especially in criticizing arguments such as Noonan's?

    2. What does Warren think are the proper criteria for personhood? Why do fetuses, according to her, not satisfy the criteria? How does this entail that abortion is permissible?

    3. How does Warren's argument entail that infanticide is permissible?

    4. What criticisms of Warren's argument can be found in Hursthouse? Stone?

  2. Jarvis Thomson - A Defense of Abortion

    1. What assumption does JT grant to the anti-abortionist, while still arguing for the permissibility of abortion?

    2. What is the violinist case supposed to show? How is this supposed to cut against the 'extreme view' of the anti-abortionist?

    3. JT admits that the violinist analogy is relevantly disanalogous with standard cases of unwanted pregnancies, and so she offers another analogy. What is it, and how does it work?

    4. What different interpretations of having the 'right to life' does JT discuss? Which interpretation does she think is most plausible?

    5. What role does the distinction of being indecent vs. being unjust play in JT's arguments?

    6. How does a fetus apparently get its right to not be aborted, according to JT?

  1. Stone: The Morality of Abortion

    1. How does Stone argue that abortion is impermissible in most cases?

    2. How does Stone defend his second premise?

    3. How does Stone respond to the claim that we can abort because fetuses are not persons?

  1. Rosalind - Virtue Ethics and Abortion

    1. Why does Hursthouse think that arguments based on rights and the status of the fetus are largely irrelevant to the question of the morality or not of abortion?

    2. What kinds of factors should we instead focus on when thinking about abortion's permissibility?

    3. When does Hursthouse think that abortion is not vicious? When vicious? What kinds of vice can sometimes be exhibited when one gets an unnecessary abortion, according to Hursthouse?

  1. Rawls - "A Liberal Theory of Justice"

  2. What is the 'veil of ignorance'? What purpose does this heuristic device serve?

  3. What is the 'original position'? How does it figure into Rawls' method of arriving at a fair conception of distributive justice?

  4. What is Rawls conception of justice? In particular, what are the liberty and difference principles? Why are they fair? Why would self-interested rational beings in the original position agree to them? (Be able to explain how the difference principle is defended by appeal to the Maximin principle).

  5. What problems are there with Rawls theory? (class discussions, plus Nozick)

  6. Nozick - "A Libertarian Theory of Justice"

  7. What is entitlement theory? What is Nozick's theory of distributive justice? How is it opposed to 'end-state' or 'patterned' principles of distributive justice?

  8. What are patterned principles of justice? What are historical principles of justice?

  9. How does liberty upset patterns and patterns upset liberty? [be sure to remember some of Nozick's examples]

  10. How, according to Nozick, is taxation (above the level necessary to keep the minimal state running) like forced labor?

  11. What is Locke's theory of acquisition of unowned goods? What is Locke's proviso?

  12. What are some problems with Nozick's theory (class discussions)