Person, as I take it, is the name for this self. Wherever a man finds what he calls himself, there, I think, another may say is the same person. It is a forensic term, appropriating actions and their merit, and so belongs only to intelligent agents capable of a law, and happiness, and misery. This personality extends itself beyond present existence to what is past only by consciousness - whereby it becomes concerned and accountable; owns and imputes to itself past actions, just upon the same ground and for the same reason as it does the present. All which is founded in a concern for happiness, the unavoidable concomitant of consciousness; that which is conscious of pleasure and pain, desiring that self that is conscious should be happy. And therefore whatever past actions it cannot reconcile or appropriate to that present self by consciousness, it can be no more concerned than if they had never been done: and to receive pleasure or pain, i.e. reward or punishment, on the account of any such action is all one as to be made happy or miserable in its first being without any demerit at all. For, supposing a man punished now for what he had done in another life, whereof he could be made to have no consciousness at all, what difference is there between that punishment and being created miserable? And therefore, conformable to this, the apostle tells us, that, at the great day, when everyone shall "receive according to his doings, the secrets of all hearts shall be laid open." The sentence shall be justified by the consciousness all persons shall have, that they themselves, in what bodies soever they appear, or what substances soever that consciousness adheres to, are the same that committed those actions, and deserve punishment for them . . .
Who is the author of this passage? (1 mark)
Paraphrase (state in your own words) what the author is saying in this passage. (3 marks)
What does the author mean by forensic? (1 mark)
What possible metaphysical commitment(s) can be attributed to the author given his position in this passage? Why? (2 marks)
Suppose you underwent surgery where your brain was transplanted into a new body. According the author's view in this passage, would you be the same person? Why or why not? (3 marks).
1. Explain Plato's divided line analogy, his allegory of the cave, and the relationship between the two. (5 marks)
2. Explain Aristotle's distinction between absolute and relative mean. Which one plays a role in his ethics? Explain how so. Why does Aristotle claim that there are some acts that admit no mean? (5 marks)
3. State the interaction problem for Descartes's mind/body dualism. State Berkeley's solution. Explain how Berkeley's argument connects to Hume's view on causation. (5 marks)
4. Explain the distinction between psychological egoism and psychological altruism. Explain the distinction between ethical egoism and ethical altruism. Which of these was Glaucon attempting to defend? Which of these was Rachels attempting to defend? (5 marks)
5. Explain Marx's views on alienation of labour. How does a worker whose labour is not alienated live? Compare these two states to the states of nature that Hobbes and Locke discuss. (5 marks)
6. A A
These two letter A’s are both black. Is it the same identical black in both letters? Why? Make sure to address both Plato and Hume.
Is there a connection between the moral grounds for the conservative view of abortion and ethical grounds for vegetarianism? Discuss with reference to English and Singer.