Study Guide PHIL140 Midterm Exam Format: The exam will consist of: - T/F and multiple-choice questions, similar to those on the quizzes - Short answer: Open-response questions that can be answered in 2-3 sentences - Essay: There will be several essay questions; you will choose one and answer it (in 4-5 paragraphs). o These will require the same approach as your Short Writing Assignments: you should demonstrate an understanding of the different authors’ moral positions and be able to critically analyze those positions in articulating and defending your own view. Topics Covered: The exam will cover all the topics we have discussed so far: the moral status of animals, pornography & free speech, and global poverty. You will be expected to be familiar with the main arguments of all the authors we’ve read so far (except for Mark Rich and Ian Gittler, two journalists writing about the pornography industry). How You Should Prepare: Different preparation strategies will work for different people, but here is a method that I’m confident will leave you well-prepared for this exam. For each article we’ve read, write yourself a synopsis in which you answer the following questions: - What is the main point or points this author is trying to convince me of? (That is, what is the author’s thesis or central claim) - What are the main considerations the author gives to try to convince you of their thesis? - If this author were having a live debate with the other theorists we’ve read on this topic, what would they disagree most strongly about? o (Do this for each possible pairing of theorists in an area. So for global poverty, characterize the key disagreements in Singer vs. Arthur, Singer vs. Slote, and Arthur vs. Slote.) In addition to doing these synopses, reviewing the lecture slides will probably be helpful. The slides should help focus your attention on the most important details of the readings, so you don’t get bogged down in unnecessary details.Study Guide PHIL140 Midterm Exam General Things You Should Know: - The nature of the distinction between empirical and normative claims, and how to recognize the difference. - What a moral theory is. - (In very broad terms) the key tenets of the following moral theories: utilitarianism, contractualism, virtue ethics. - What the “Harm Principle” is. - Taxonomy of categories of action: morally prohibited, permitted, neutral, obligatory, supererogatory Topic-Specific Things You Should Know: Animals: - Why the following objections to moral vegetarianism are flawed: o Vegetarian/vegan diets are unhealthy. o Vegetarian/vegan diets are prohibitively expensive. o Predator species eat other animals all the time. o Humans are evolved/designed to eat meat. Pornography: - Why psychological research on non-conscious attitudes is relevant to the morality of pornography. - Why the moral issue of pornography is separable from the legal/policy issue of the censorship of pornography. - The distinction between sex and sexuality and why it matters for the morality of pornography. - How pornography can be related to sexual violence without causing it (see Cameron & Frazer) Poverty: - How emphasis on different aspects of commonsense morality (e.g., suffering, rights & desert, or empathy) leads to different judgments about the extent of our obligations to donate to poverty relief. - The advantages and disadvantages of a highly demanding moral
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