PART I:

 

 

 

Directions: The following problems ask you to evaluate hypothetical situations and/or concepts related to the reading in this module.  While there are no “correct answers” for these problems, you must demonstrate a strong understanding of the concepts and lessons from this module’s reading assignment.  Please provide detailed and elaborate responses to the following problems.  Your responses should include examples from the reading assignments and should utilize APA guidelines and should utilize APA guidelines.  Responses that fall short of the assigned minimum page length will not earn any points.

 

 

 

1.      Which sort of world would you prefer: a world in which there is a clearly ordered ranking of values, without conflict or a world in which values genuinely conflict, and no rank ordering is possible?  Your response should be at least one half of one page in length.

 

 

 

2.      Suppose that you adopt Susan Wolf’s outlook: moral considerations are important, but they need not always be dominant.  How would you decide when and which moral demands could be set aside?  For example, suppose you are struggling with the question of whether to buy a Rolex or a less luxurious but perfectly adequate timepiece.  You realize that buying the Rolex is a wasteful use of resources that could turned to morally better uses; but you enjoy having some wasteful flashy luxuries in your life.  The question is not whether buying the Rolex is morally wrong (you are a utilitarian, and you have already concluded that it is morally wrong); rather, the question is whether this is an occasion in which you should deny moral considerations a dominant role.  Would you use moral considerations in answering that question?  Why or why not?  Your response should be at least one half of one page in length.

 

 

 

3.      Identify three different cultural groups that you belong to. Do any of these groups uphold conflicting morals, and if so how do you negotiate between them?  Your response should be at least one page in length.

 

 

 

4.      Think about an action that you have done before that you felt was selfless. Explain how that action could be perceived as selfish.  Your response should be at least one half of one page in length.

 

 

 

5.      Suppose you were in a situation where you must decide between stealing, which you believe is morally wrong, or letting a child go hungry.  Which choice would you consider morally correct and why?  Your response should be at least one page in length.

 

 

 

6.      Suppose that you know that if your friend leads a morally good life, they will be very unhappy.  Would you advise them to be a morally good person or not?  Why or why not?  Your response should be at least one page in length.

 

 

 

7.      Imagine that the scenario in question six is charged so that it is you who will be unhappy if you lead a morally good life.  Would your advice change?  Why or why not? Your response should be at least one half of one page in length.

 

 

 

8.      Summarize Häyry’s argument in this week’s reading.  Your response should be at least one half of one page in length.

 

 

 

 

 

PART II: Journal

 

 

 

Please describe what aspect of this week’s lesson you found most interesting and why.  What effect, if any, did it have on your moral/ ethical outlook?  Your response should be at least one half of one page in length.

 

 

Directions: Please provide detailed and elaborate responses to the following questions.  Your responses should include examples from the reading assignments.  Each response should be at least one half of one page in length and utilize APA format.

 

 

 

1.      What is the difference between a moral judgment and an aesthetic judgment?

 

 

 

2.      Define cultural relativism.

 

 

 

3.      Describe the problems with cultural relativism.  In light of its problems, are there any valuable insights the theory brings to moral theorizing?

 

 

 

4.      What is a moral saint?

 

 

 

5.      Why does Susan Wolf have a problem with the idea of moral saints?

 

 

 

6.      How does value pluralism differ from political pluralism?  Can one be a value pluralist without being a political pluralist?  Explain.