REVIEW QUESTIONS

The hour exam on Wed. Oct. 27 will have two parts.

Part I concerns Confucius, Kant, and Mill. You will be asked to identify five quotations (5 points each), and then to explain one of the quotations in detail (25 points). For the quotation you choose, you should be able to show how the ideas expressed connect with the overall theory, etc.

Part II is an essay. You will be asked to write an essay on one of the following questions (50 points). Not all the variations below will appear, but the three questions will appear.

1. Do we individually have a moral obligation to help those in “absolute poverty” in other parts of the world? Discuss this question by referring to the ethical philosophy of either I. Kant or J. S. Mill. If you choose Kant, please be able to discuss the recommendations of O. O’Neill. If you choose Mill, be able to discuss the paper by P. Singer. (Try to take a stance, agreeing or disagreeing with the conclusions drawn by O’Neill or Singer.) Does either philosophy have implications for public policy (as opposed to private charity)? For example, should the US Government provide aid to (wartorn) Dafur in Sudan or Sierra Leone (where the average life expectancy is said to be 43 years)? You are encouraged to choose your own examples.

2. G. Hardin argues that the logic and ethics of the “lifeboat” applies to questions of helping—whether by individuals or nations—people starving in overpopulated countries abroad. What are his main arguments? Are his assumptions correct and applicable to questions of aid? Is the lifeboat analogy a good one? In what ways and in what ways not? Refer to the paper by W. Aiken in addressing the analogy’s aptness. In your view, can Hardin’s position withstand Aiken’s attack?

3. What would be the Confucian position on helping strangers in need? Develop a Confucian policy of individual beneficence by discussing such cases as rescuing a child who has fallen into a pond or sending money to organizations that help people living in squalor in other parts of the world. Please say something about the contrast of ethical universalism and particularism as well as the Confucian doctrine of jen (“humanity”). Optionally, extend your discussion into the area of public policy (beyond the ethics of individuals). Can you imagine a Confucian view on questions of aid?