Below is a series of prompts connected to the texts we have read. Respond to each prompt. You should write about three pages total, giving about one page to each numbered question.
In presenting his “experience machine” thought experiment, Robert Nozick writes that “plugging into the machine is a kind of suicide.” Explain what Nozick means by this. Then, explain whether you think that Nozick’s argument is a successful rebuttal to Mill’s utilitarianism, making sure to thoroughly describe and consider counterarguments.
2. Answer each of these questions in a paragraph or two.
One of the central concepts in the Nicomachean Ethics is eudaimonia (εὐδαιμονία), often translated into English as “happiness.” What is the meaning of this concept for Aristotle, and how does it differ from what people ordinarily mean with the word “happiness?” What are two of the four misconceptions about eudaimonia (in Aristotle’s sense) that Aristotle is concerned to correct?
In what ways does the subject matter of the Nicomachean Ethics differ from what we usually mean by “morality”? In what ways does it address questions of morality? If Aristotle is not primarily concerned here with how to live morally, what is the driving question of the text?
3. Answer each of the three questions below with a paragraph or two.
Kant claims that a good will is good simply and directly. Explain what he means by this.
Explain why, according to Kant, making a false promise is a violation of the moral law.
C. Give an original example of immoral behavior—not one of Kant’s examples—and then use
Kantian reasoning to assess this behavior.
