Midterm Date: Wed Oct. 15 Dr. Ron Mallon
Below are 5 essay questions. On the final exam, two of these will appear at random, and
you will be asked to write on one.
1. Antonius
Block, the knight in The Seventh Seal,
confesses, ÒI want God to put out his hand, show his face, speak to me. I cry
out to him in the dark but there is no one there.Ó He is anguished about whether God exists. Both Saint Anselm and Blaise Pascal
offer arguments that might comfort Block, but in very different ways. Explain what these arguments are, and
whether either should be of any comfort to Block.
2. In Open
Your Eyes, CŽsar chooses to return to the
Òreal worldÓ rather than continue to live in an illusory life. Robert Nozick suggests that such a
preference indicates that we care about more than whether we have good
experiences. Explain whether you
think Nozick is right that we do (like CŽsar) have such preferences, and then
discuss whether we ought to care about the real.
3. In The
Matrix, we are led to believe that the
machines want to continue operating so they subjugate humanity for use as an
energy source, and in Blade Runner,
Roy Batty is a replicant that seems to fear his own demise so much that he
risks returning to Earth to confront his maker. Both ÔwantingÕ and ÔfearingÕ are mental states. Do machines and replicants have minds? Consider a functionalist approach to
the problem, and assess itÕs success.
4. Assess
whether one of the following is just:
(a) The drive to ÒretireÓ replicants in Blade
Runner.
(b) The quest by the replicants in Blade Runner to confront (and ultimately murder) their creator.
In answering the question, distinguish between absolutist
and utilitarian conceptions of justice, and explain the Doctrine of Double
Effect.
5. Nagel says a
mouseÕs life is not absurd, but ours is.
Explain and assess his argument.
Some study questions for shorter answer sections:
1. What is a
deductively valid argument?
2. What is the
ontological argument for the existence of God?
3. Descartes
attempts to establish certainty through the method of doubt. What is the one thing that Descartes
cannot doubt, and why?
4. What is
PascalÕs Wager?
5. Distinguish
between absolutist and utilitarian conceptions of right.
6. Explain
McGinnÕs distinction between dream-like imaginings and perceptual hallucination
approaches to understanding the operation of the Matrix.
7. What is the
story of the Ring of Gyges, and what is it supposed to show?
8. According to
Nagel, what is the essence of the absurd?