EXAM II

(1) First explain the desire fulfillment view of the good life, stating three distinct and serious problems with it. Then explain the objective list view. Use the two lists, in my book and in Finnis, to create your own. Defend the decisions you make about what to include and exclude.

(2) Peter Singer and Harriet Johnson have very different views on whether disabilities reduce a person’s chances of living a good life. Explain each view and the repercussions of each view for the question of infanticide. What’s the "compromise" view I recommend in WT chapter 6?

(3) Sartre argues that an ultimate choice ought to be made with a sense of "anguish" and "abandonment," but in the end a person has to "just choose." Explain what he means by "anguish" and "abandonment" and then discuss whether you’re satisfied with the advice to "just choose." Discuss in connection with a specific choice from Sartre.

(4) In the Hitchcock movie Rope, Brandon defends committing murder-for-fun by appealing to Nietzsche’s philosophy. What views does he attribute to Nietzsche? Explain what’s right and wrong in his interpretation, and then give a fuller picture of what Nietzsche really said.

(5) Susan Wolf thinks there’s such a thing as too much morality. A moral saint’s life is missing some important things. Explain this view and discuss it in light of the actual lives of very good people. How is Wolf’s view like or unlike Nietzsche’s?

(6) Explain what Peter Singer has to say about the sources of contemporary malaise. What does he think of psychotherapy as a solution? What does he advocate as the solution? Critically discuss his position, taking into account my discussion in WT chapter 8.

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How to do even better than you did on Exam I.