Study Guide #1 – for the first test Phil 311-01 – Dr. T.

Hoffmann – September 2010

Freedom
• What is freedom?
– In which sense does freedom involve more than “having a choice”?
– In which sense does freedom involve more than “doing what I want”?
– Why is it important to critically reflect upon my own desires? (by asking “should I desire
what I desire?”)
– See also the selection from MacIntyre, The Unconscious, New York, 2004, pp. 12–15, for the
connection between self-determination and rational agency.

Capital Punishment
• According to Reiman, how do the lex talionis and proportional retributivism differ?
• How does Reiman justify capital punishment?
• How does Aquinas justify capital punishment (Summary handout # 3 on the website)
• In light of the four general purposes of punishment (Summary handout # 3), should capital
punishment be practiced?

Torture
• Krauthammer:
– In which cases should torture be permissible, according to Krauthammer, and why?
– What ethical principles are implicit in Krauthammer’s view?
– Critically assess Krauthammer’s view.
• Sullivan:
– How does Sullivan argue against torture? What is the ethical dimension of his arguments?
– What is Sullivan’s position regarding torture in “ticking bomb” and “slow-fuse” scenarios?
– Critically assess Sullivan’s position.

Utilitarianism (John Stuart Mill)

• What precisely makes an action good, according to Mill, and what precisely makes it evil?
• What is the “Greatest Happiness Principle”?
• What does happiness consist in?
• According to Mill, are there any rules that hold no exceptions?
• What is the value given to the subjective dispositions of the agent, the characteristics of the
action itself, and to the consequences?

Deontology or “Duty Ethics” (Immanuel Kant)

• What precisely makes an action good, according to Kant?*
• What is the “Categorical Imperative”?
• By what test do we find out what our duty is, according to Kant?
• How does Kant illustrate this with the example of telling a false promise?
• What is the value given to the subjective dispositions of the agent, the characteristics of the
action itself, and to the consequences?

Just War (Michael Walzer)

• What are the four criteria for the moral justification of actions with good and bad effects
(“double effect”)?
• What are the classical criteria for a just war?

* Answer: the action has to be done “in accord with duty” and “from duty.” The expression “from duty” means: I must
be motivated to do the dutiful action because it is my duty to do it, rather than for whatever other motive (such as: stay-
ing out of trouble, being praised, or whatever personal advantage I could have from doing what is in accord with duty.)