What You Need to Know for the Second Test

Lakeland College Shinjuku December 2006

Dr. Geoffrey Roche

Ethics 212-1

Format: Answer any TWO questions, ONLY ONE from each section. Time allowed: 1 hour 30 minutes.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR THE FINAL TEST

Section 1 Virtue Ethics (lectures 11 and 12)

You should be able to explain Aristotle’s notion of Telos (purpose), phronesis (practical reason), Eudaimonia (flourishing), and arête (excellence).

You should be able to explain some of the shortcomings of Virtue Ethics, in particular the incompleteness problem and the egoism problem.
You should be able to explain the question as to whether the wicked can flourish.

Section 2 Nietzsche and Slave Morality (lectures 14 and 15)

You should know what the Genealogy of Morals is

You should know why Nietzsche rejects all normative ethics, in particular Utilitarianism and Kant

You should know about Nietzsche’s morality.

You should know the basic flaws in Nietzsche’s ‘Genealogy of Morals’ theory.

You should think about the implications of accepting Nietzsche’s ethics.

Section 3 Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide (lectures 16 and 17)

You need to be able to give a definition of Voluntary Euthanasia
You need to be able to explain the difference between Voluntary Euthanasia and Non- Voluntary Euthanasia
You need to be able to explain the two main arguments in favor of VE: Utilitarianism (both Classical and Preference Utilitarianism) and Deontological (respect for rights).
You need to be able to explain Paternalism and Autonomy

You need to be able to explain the three STRONGEST objections to the legalization or (as in Japan) tolerance of Voluntary Euthanasia.
You should be able to explain the difference between Active and Passive Euthanasia
You should know what the Slippery Slope argument is.
You should know how the situation in Japan complicates the Euthanasia debate.

Section 4 Punishment and the Death Penalty (lectures 18 and 19)

You need to know what Retributivism means
You should know what the standard arguments in favour of the death penalty are
You should know the Utilitarian arguments both for and against the death penalty are
You should know what Rehabilitation is
You should know the ways in which Retributivism is inconsistent with Utilitarianism

You should know the strongest arguments for, and against, the death penalty.

You should know the counterarguments for these arguments.

You should be able to articulate a response to the question “should Japan retain the death penalty?”

Section 5 The Non- Medical Use of Drugs (lectures 20 and 21)
You need to know what the terms Autonomy and Paternalism are.
You need to know what the non- arbitrary distinction is between legal and illegal drugs is, or, if there isn’t one, why not, and what the distinction should be based on.
You need to know what Prohibition in the United States was, and why it failed.

You need to know the strongest arguments presented by Milton Friedman and Bob Bennett, and how each would reply. You need to be able to defend your view on dangerous drugs, whether legal or illegal. (This requires that you can cite and critically discuss AT LEAST THREE counterarguments).

Section 6 Race and Racism (lectures 22 and 23)

You should know the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic racism

You should know the distinction between empirical and essentialist theories of racism

You should know what Kant, Hume, Nietzsche and Aristotle have to say on the subject of race.

You should decide whether the racism of these four thinkers is contradictory, or consistent, with their own moral thought.