Final Study Questions
What is the harm principle? What are some of the difficulties that arise when one tries to
use the harm principle as a way of defending individual liberty?
Explain clearly and completely Mill’s four arguments in favor of freedom of thought and
discussion
Explain what Kierkegaard means when he says “Truth is Subjectivity.” Why does
Kierkegaard believe that subjective truth more important than objective truth when it
comes to religious belief?
What is the “phenomenological reduction (Bracketing)?
What is the intentionality of consciousness? How can this aspect of consciousness be
used to formulate an argument against materialism?
Explain how one can use phenomenology as a way of criticizing Berkeley’s approach to
perception.
What does Sartre mean when he says that, for human beings, “existence precedes
essence.”
In what way is Sartre’s freedom something we really don’t want to admit to ourselves?
Give an example to illustrate Sartre’s point.