Sunday, April 16, 2006
Notes for Thursday, April 20, 2006
Discussion of topics for Final Exam.
PHI 150 Final Exam (to be held from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 in the Computer Lab of the Science Building).
Write on one topic only.
1. “I am condemned to freedom,” writes Jean-Paul Sartre, paradoxically. Once you have established what Sartre means by freedom, move on to the larger issue of freedom versus determinism. Can there be both freedom and determinism in the same world? And how do you suppose it comes about that Sartre finds it impossible (or more precisely immoral, “bad faith”) to escape from freedom, while other thinkers have wondered whether there could even be such a thing?
2. Some philosophers have questioned whether there can really be such a thing as altruism; others, granting that there can be such a thing, wonder whether it is a good thing. On the other hand, many of the world’s great spiritual traditions have emphasized the value of putting the interest of the other person before self-interest. Is philosophy then somehow immoral or amoral? Or is their a philosophical path leading to a vindication of altruism?
3. Paul Gaugin notes, shortly after arriving in Tahiti from France in 1891: “There is something virile in the women and something feminine in the men.” Paul Valéry writes in his Aperçus (1938): “In every man there is a woman; no sultan’s wife was ever so carefully hidden.” Comment on these remarks, and try to reflect on questions of gender and sex (making the distinction between the two as clear as possible) in such a way as to answer the question: Is there any such thing as “the feminine?” Is there an essence of the feminine, or just the existence of women? Is one justified in finding meaning in gender differences?
PHI 150 Final Exam (to be held from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 in the Computer Lab of the Science Building).
Write on one topic only.
1. “I am condemned to freedom,” writes Jean-Paul Sartre, paradoxically. Once you have established what Sartre means by freedom, move on to the larger issue of freedom versus determinism. Can there be both freedom and determinism in the same world? And how do you suppose it comes about that Sartre finds it impossible (or more precisely immoral, “bad faith”) to escape from freedom, while other thinkers have wondered whether there could even be such a thing?
2. Some philosophers have questioned whether there can really be such a thing as altruism; others, granting that there can be such a thing, wonder whether it is a good thing. On the other hand, many of the world’s great spiritual traditions have emphasized the value of putting the interest of the other person before self-interest. Is philosophy then somehow immoral or amoral? Or is their a philosophical path leading to a vindication of altruism?
3. Paul Gaugin notes, shortly after arriving in Tahiti from France in 1891: “There is something virile in the women and something feminine in the men.” Paul Valéry writes in his Aperçus (1938): “In every man there is a woman; no sultan’s wife was ever so carefully hidden.” Comment on these remarks, and try to reflect on questions of gender and sex (making the distinction between the two as clear as possible) in such a way as to answer the question: Is there any such thing as “the feminine?” Is there an essence of the feminine, or just the existence of women? Is one justified in finding meaning in gender differences?
# posted by Michael @ 4:33 PM 
