Final Exam for Thurs. May 12th

Essay questions. Answer ANY TWO of the following questions. Your answer should explore as many of the relevant aspects as possible (e.g. moral, legal, political, practical, theoretical, etc.) Use of notes for this in-class exam is allowed.

__________________________

1. When is killing ethically justified?

Use any issues and examples we discussed in class, along with the relevant theories, to answer this question. You may focus your answer on capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia, or another context, or you may address each of these.

2. What do we owe to those in need?

In our rights-based ethical language, we have both negative (e.g. non-interference) and positive (e.g. duties to help others achieve well-being). What are we ethically obligated to do to help those in need around us?

3. What kind of material inequality is justifiable in a just society?

How much material inequality is too much inequality for a society to be considered just? How would the US need to be altered, if at all, in order to make it a just society in terms of the distribution of wealth and social privileges?

4. What kinds of representations, if any, are not ethically justifiable?

In certain discussions of media ethics, images of sex and violence are deemed unethical and seen as toxic for the society. Are there such images which are toxic? If so, in what sense are they toxic and what are the ethical dimensions of allowing, or censoring their expression?

5. How far should acknowledge of fundamental Lockean rights be extended to include the non-human world?

Utilitarians argue that the ability to suffer is the fundamental criterion for considering something as having interests which make an ethical claim on us. The Bolivian government recently called for acknowledgment of rights even for entities considered non-sentient, such as water, air and minerals. Is this extension too much or is it necessary for environmental sustainability? Is so, why? If not, why not?

6. When is one ethically justified in disobeying one’s government?

According to Lockean rights, the institution of civil society requires the alienation of the right to judge and execute the moral “law of nature.” When does the unethical behavior of a government justify civil, or non-civil disobedience to the state?