PHIL101 Exam Three – Axiology
In-Class Questions
1. Choose one of these two arguments and then do the following: (1) name the form of argument (2) analyze its form (3) determine whether or not the argument is a valid one (4) explain why it is or is not valid. Indicate whether you have chosen A or B. 10 points.
A. God is Love
Love is Blind
Stevie Wonder is blind
Stevie Wonder is God
B. Either the fridge is broken or we’ve lost our electricity
Wait, the TV’s plugged in and on in the other room.
So, I guess refrigerator is working.
2. Choose three of the following quotations (indicate the letter of your choice) and then do the following: (1) name the philosopher or philosophy associated with it (2) explain what you think the quotation means in the context of the philosophy. 10 points each — total 30 points.
A. “The proof that the state is a creation of nature and prior to the individual is that the individual, when isolated, is not self-sufficing; and therefore he is like a part in relation to the whole.”
B. “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
C. “They see the very truth of their age and their world, the next genus, so to speak, which is already formed in the womb of time. It is theirs to know this new universal, the necessary next stage of their world, to make it their own aim, and put all their energy into it …”
D. “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line … Am I an American or am I a Negro? Can I be both: Or is it my duty to cease to be a Negro as soon as possible and be an American?”
E. “What do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence? We mean that man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world—and defines himself afterwards. If man as the existentialist sees him is not definable, it is because to begin with he is nothing. He will not be anything until later, and then he will be what he makes of himself.”
F. “What would my ideal caring self do … to advance the good of the other(s) in the context of a network of care.”
G. “A human person is essentially the center of a thick set of concentric circles of obligations and responsibilities matched by rights and privileges … based on the common possession of the divine spark.”
