This Outline has been updated as of Wednesday, April 07, 2004. It now includes a copy
of the instructions as they will appear on your exam!!!!
Final Exam Outline for Philosophy 201G, Introduction to Ethics and Value Theory.
Exam Details:
When: Friday, April 16th 2004, from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Where: Talbot College, Room 348
Duration: 3hrs.
Format: Essay.
Value: 40% of final grade.
As I have said in class, this exam will involve writing 4 essays of equal weight, chosen
from a set of 8 possible essays. Each answer will be worth 10 marks, for a total of 40
marks or 40% of your final grade. All of the material covered in the class will be eligible
for inclusion as a question on the final exam, including both lecture material and
readings.
Given that each essay is equally valuable, I think that you should structure your 3 hour
exam time accordingly. That is, give yourself no more than 45 minutes to answer each
question, then move on. If you don’t have time to finish a question, move on anyway and
hopefully you’ll have time to return to your unfinished answer at the end of the exam.
I am ‘guess-timating’ that the length of a 45 minute essay should be around two and a
half to three and a half pages, double spaced. There are two points to emphasize here:
first, this is just an estimate… you need to be direct in your responses to the question, so
don’t ramble-on hoping to fill up the space. And if you’ve got more than three and a half
pages of stuff to say, all of which is relevant to the question you’ve been asked, and you
still have time, keep going. The point is that these page limits are nothing more than
guidelines… your answer could be more or less than 2.5 – 3.5 pages and still be good.
The second thing for me to emphasize is that your answers must be double-spaced!!!.
I’m sure you can appreciate how hard it is to read things that have been written in a rush;
don’t make it any harder.
As far as structuring your answers goes, try to follow the structure of the question. As
you’ll see, the questions are made up of several sentences, so you might think of each
sentence as needing a paragraph to respond. Again however, this is just a guideline. Not
every sentence of every question will require an entire paragraph, so you’ll need to use
your judgment. Here’s an example (that obviously won’t appear on your final exam) that
should help clarify what I mean.
Suppose the following question appeared on your exam:
What is Descartes’ view of ‘substance’? What are the reasons he provides in support of
that view? How does Descartes’ account of substance affect his regard for animals?
So, this question is probably a little shorter than what will be on your exam, but it is
identical in structure. The first sentence would probably not merit an entire paragraph…
you could simply state that he maintains there are two substances in the universe,
extended things and thinking things. Then you could proceed to provide an account of
Descartes’ argument in favour of the view that there are only two substances. This might
actually take more than a paragraph, depending on how many steps (i.e., premises) are
involved in the argument, and how much detail you provide to elaborate each step.
Finally, you would end your answer with a new paragraph which details how that
argument influences Descartes’ view of animals, which again, could take more than a
single paragraph depending on your judgment. The point is that you should use the
structure of the question to guide the structure of your answer.
As far as the specifics of your answer are concerned, the philosophical virtues of being
clear and concise hold for exams just as much as they do for essays. You must answer the
question directly and completely, i.e., don’t include irrelevant points that fail to directly
answer the question you’re being asked.
As I’ve said in class, the questions themselves will be purely exegetical, i.e., you will not
be required to come up with your own arguments for thinking that a particular position is
either good or bad. This does not mean you won’t have to think. The questions will cover
different aspects of specific positions, and may even ask to contrast two positions (though
these will be contrasts that were mentioned in class). So while nothing on the exam is
intended to ‘trick’ anyone, you will need a detailed grasp of all the course material to do
well.
Finally, the grading method. I will not have a concrete set of criteria that have to be
mentioned in an answer in order to get a good mark. I will expect certain things to be
discussed, but I am also flexible to the possibility that a question can be answered in a
variety of ways. The key is to say as much as you can to answer the question as directly
as you can. Those who do the best job of completely and clearly answering the question
will get the best marks.
I hope this helps. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. And I will be
holding office hours before the exam… I’ll let you know when specifically in class.
What I’ve tacked on as the last page here is the first half of the exam as you will see it on
exam day… take a look at it, and notice how it corresponds to the recommendations I
make in this outline.
The University of Western Ontario
Philosophy 201G – Introduction to Ethics and Value Theory
Final Examination
Instructor: Ryan Robb
Date: April 16th, 2004
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Location: Talbot College, room 348
Duration: 3 hours
Format: Essay
Instructions:
Answer any four (4) of the following eight (8) essay questions, in the answer booklets
provided. If you answer more than four questions, the first four questions appearing in
your answer booklet will be marked, and the others will be disregarded. Answer booklets
are available on request throughout the exam. Make sure that your name and student
number are both clearly marked on the front of every booklet you use. PLEASE MAKE
SURE THAT ALL OF YOUR ANSWERS ARE DOUBLE-SPACED!!!
This examination is three hours long, and each of your four responses is given the same
weight of 10 marks, for an exam total of 40 marks, or 40% of your final grade. Try to
plan your answers accordingly by giving yourself about forty-five minutes for each.
READ THE QUESTIONS CAREFULLY!!! Answer each part of the question directly,
providing as much detail as you can, but don’t waste time including irrelevant
information.