PHIL 224
Fall 2015
Study Guide/Content Exam 1
I You should be able to identify or define the following terms:
Intrinsic Value
Extrinsic Value
Moral Principle
Principle of Explanatory Value
Principle of Practical Guidance
Ethics By Authority
Divine Command Theory
Ethical Relativism
Upanishads
Atman
Brahman
Dhammapada
Anatman
The Analects
The Sage
The Decree of Heaven
Republic
Dikaiosune
II You should be able to correctly respond to short answer questions based on the following
slides.
The Role of Reasons
The Right and the Good
Tripartite Deontic Schema
Moral Value
A Theory of the Right and the Good
Taking Aim with Moral Principles
Evaluating Ethical Theories
Divine Command Theory
Ethical Relativism
THNs: Some Common Features
Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad
Atman and Brahman
Brahmanic Cosmogony
Where do Humans Fit?
Good vs. Gratifying
The Prescription
Anatman
Only Thoughts
The Fool
Enlightenment
The Confucian Universe
The Place of the Person
Social Discord
In Pursuit of Jen
Good or Bad?
Bad!
Cephalus and Polemarchus
Thrasymachus Part I
Thrasymachus Part II
Is a Life of Dikaiosune
Platonic Metaphysics
Human Nature
III You should be able to respond to one of the following in a short essay.
Choose one of the two examples of Ethics by Authority we discussed in class and critically
evaluate it from the standpoint of the taskss of moral theory. Make sure to summarize the theory
in question, and then apply the evaluative principles specified in the discussion of moral theory.
Compare and contrast the conceptions of human nature presented in the Hindu and Buddhist
traditions. Make sure to address each of the elements of a theory of human nature: Metaphysics
and ontology, Crisis, Diagnosis, and Prescription.
On the basis of a summary of the Confucian account of the nature of the universe and the place
of the human within it, present and defend either Mencius’s or Hsun Tzu’s account of the basic
orientation of human nature. Which ever one you choose to defend, make sure to include
discussion of the other’s position and why it is incorrect.
Evaluate Plato’s rejection of the account of dikaiosune offered by Thrasymachus. Is he right to
reject this account? Why or why not?