King’s College London
University of London
This paper is part of an examination of the College counting towards
the award of a degree. Examinations are governed by the College
Regulations under the authority of the Academic Board.
BSc/BA/BEng EXAMINATION
6AAN4053
FACTS AND VALUES IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Summer 2013
TIME ALLOWED: THREE HOURS
ANSWER THREE QUESTIONS, EACH FROM A DIFFERENT SECTION
Candidates should avoid overlap in their answers
DO NOT REMOVE THIS EXAM PAPER FROM THE
EXAMINATION ROOM
TURN OVER WHEN INSTRUCTED
2013 © King’s College London
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6AAN4053
Section A
1. What is Socrates’ conception of happiness? Answer by reference
to the Apology, the Crito, the Meno, or the Phaedo.
2. Is the theory of recollection a plausible account of how we
acquire knowledge? Answer by reference to the Meno or the
Phaedo.
3. Is virtue teachable? Answer by reference to the Meno or the
Protagoras.
4. Is Socrates’ argument for the immortality of the soul in the
Phaedo convincing?
Section B
5. Outline the main stages of the process by which the geocentric
picture of the world inherited from the Greeks came to be
replaced by the modern heliocentric picture. What were the
main obstacles that had to be overcome before it gained wide
acceptance?
6. What are the main features of a way of thinking that makes it
appropriate to describe it as magical? How much did the rise of
modern philosophy and science in the seventeenth century
contribute to the decline of such beliefs?
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7. Corpuscularian and mechanistic explanations became increasingly
popular during the course of the seventeenth century. Why was
this? How close is the connection between these two ways of
thinking about nature?
8. Did the Scientific Revolution have any impact on the way people
thought about ethics, either directly or indirectly?
Section C
9. Does Kant have compelling anti-consequentialist arguments?
10.
What is the Categorical Imperative procedure? Is it a
plausible means of determining our moral obligations? Discuss
with reference to one of Kant's examples.
11.
Is Kant's claim regarding the relation between selflegislation and moral value a coherent one?
12.
What is the relationship between morality and freedom in
Kant's view? Is it a plausible position?
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Section D
13. What does Nietzsche mean by a genealogy of morality? What (if
anything) does Nietzsche’s genealogy contribute to our understanding
of morality?
14. How, and how well does Nietzsche explain the genesis of the
concept of guilt in the Second Essay of the Genealogy?
15. Explain and assess the role played by the ascetic ideal in The
Genealogy of Morality.
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