Joe Lau

Exam

  • Not open-book.
  • The exam has two parts.
  • Part A is a set of short questions testing your comprehension of the required readings and the topics discussed in the course.
  • Part B consists of two essay questions chosen from a list of questions which will be distributed about two weeks before the exam.
  • Some students have asked about the length of answers. This is difficult to say as it depends on the question and how good your preparation is, among other things. For the longer questions:
    • A long answer need not be better than a short one if irrelevant and incorrect material is included.
    • Make sure your handwriting is legible.
    • For the essay question, an average answer is probably about 2 pages long, but a one page answer which is well-written can be just as good. But not all students are able to write good and short answers. It is a good idea to spend some time coming up with an outline of your points ans organize them in a logical manner.
  • For the shorter question, there should be no need to write more than one page (if it is single spaced, but you can use double spacing if you want).

Exam questions

In the actual exam, you will have to answer a few (2-5) short questions, and two longer essay questions. They will be selected from the list below and you will not be able to choose which questions to answer.

Short questions

  • Explain briefly what the three kinds of values are.
  • What is moral relativism? How is it different from moral absolutism?
  • What is wrong with the argument that we can eat animals because they do not have the potential to develop into fully rational beings?
  • What is wrong with the argument that we can eat animals because we own them?
  • Is it true that all objects of art are objects of aesthetic appreciation? Is the reverse also true?
  • What is utilitarianism?
  • What is selective breeding and how is it different from recent GM technology?
  • What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic objections to GM?
  • Describe very briefly two arguments in support of drug legalization.
  • Describe very briefly two arguments against GM food.
  • List three conditions that a standard of taste has to satisfy according to Hume.
  • What is "blameless disagreement"?
  • What are phenomenal states and how are they related to food?
  • What is the knowledge argument?
  • Describe the point of Singer's Lily Pond example.

Longer essay questions

  • What is the institutional theory of art and what are the criticisms of this theory?
  • Discuss the argument that food cannot be art because it lacks content.
  • Evaluate the argument that drugs should not be made legal because we should not let people damage their mental and physical health.
  • Discuss and evaluate the argument that in deciding whether drugs should be made legal we should treat alcohol in the same way.
  • "Even if the present meat production system is morally wrong, it does not follow that an individual consumer should refrain from eating meat." Do you agree with this claim? Why or why not?
  • How does the ability reply relate to the knowledge argument? Is it supposed to support or refute the argument? Do you agree with it? Why or why not?
  • How good are these arguments that we do not have the duty to give money to save starving children? (1) Many other people in the same position do not donate money. (2) Most of the donated money will benefit corrupt government officials or be used inefficiently.