Assignment
Questions:
1. On page 392, Norman Melchert proposes the following thought experiment: "Imagine that your soul left your body and went to heaven, but your consciousness (including your memories and your basic character traits) remained here on Earth in your body. Where would you be? Why? (Or couldn't you imagine that? Why not?)." Your answers should draw on the material we discussed in class including: Descartes, Hobbes, Searle, and Dennett, as well as the eCampus article by John Perry. Your answer will be a version of either dualism or materialism (do not talk about faith, that is a separate issue).
2. Explain why David Hume argues that we are not justified in saying that there is a necessary connection between X (the so-called cause) and Y (the alleged effect). Why is it that, according to empiricists such as Hume, we can say only that experience produces a belief in causality and not an idea?
3. Why does Gretchen Weirob object to Cartesian substance dualism? Use her example of the Blue River to illustrate her objection to Descartes' conception of personal identity.
4. Norman Melchert asks the following: "Suppose you are talking things over with Kant and he says, ‘Lying is wrong, you know.' And, in the way undergraduates are apt to these days, you reply, "Who's to say?' What would Kant have to say to you? And would you need to think again about that flippant, but very popular, [rhetorical] question?" (The Great Conversation, 455).
Your answers will require you to explain Kant's Categorical Imperative and identify the "form" that practical reason takes when we try to universalize our moral maxim. (Important: Use your own example to illustrate! I want your analysis as well as your own personal opinion (supported, of course, by a good argument rooted in an understanding of Kant).
Instructions
1. One page each answer
2. Should be free from plagiarism
3. Should be of simple language and understanding, using own examples
4. Use book-Norman Melchert. The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy, 7th ed.
5. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
6. Should have thesis and explain reasons.