Assignment

I. Identifications

Select just seven of the following items. Tell me briefly (a) what each is and (b) why it is important emotivism, ethics of care, divine command theory, relativism, antitheory, Euthyphro's dilemma, St. Augustine, Mo Tzu, Friedrich Nietzsche, Søren Kierkegaard, Carol Gilligan, Nel Noddings, Aroha Te Pareake Mead, Victor Frankl, trolley problems, logotherapy, will to power

II. Short Essays

Answer any three of the following questions in 1-3 paragraphs. Be sure that your answer provides historical information showing clearly how it is correct.

1. Is Kierkegaard's category of "the public" still relevant? How do you think he would apply it to contemporary "global" culture?

2. Why does Nietzsche think that existence has no purpose and that life has no meaning apart from what each individual gives it? How might this view change the way a person lives?

3. What is the purpose of cooperation? Why do human beings cooperate?

4. What is the difference between merely providing care for someone and truly caring for that person? Do you think our moral obligations extend to everyone or only to those we can truly care for? Explain.

5. Morality has long been seen by many people as a matter of achievement: we become more ethical by overcoming immorality and changing ourselves for the better. But St. Augustine (following St. Paul) observes that we have neither sufficient ability to know what is truly moral, nor the power on our own to achieve it; thus, morality is a result of God's grace. Do you agree with St. Augustine? Why or why not?