Phil Study Guide Questions PDF

Philosophy Study Guide Questions From Canvas Ian Tully & Robert Week 2 Robert Nozick Study Questions: 1.​ What is “The Experience Machine”? Answer: The Experience Machine is a hypothetical device that simulates any desired experience by directly stimulating the brain. 2.​ Wh...

Philosophy Study Guide Questions From Canvas Ian Tully & Robert Week 2 Robert Nozick Study Questions: 1.​ What is “The Experience Machine”? Answer: The Experience Machine is a hypothetical device that simulates any desired experience by directly stimulating the brain. 2.​ What are three reasons Nozick suggests make us reluctant to plug into the machine? Answer: People want to do things, not just experience doing them. People want to have certain character traits, not just the experience of having them. People value connection to a deeper reality, not a man-made one. 3. What is that reluctance said to show? Answer: The reluctance shows that happiness involves more than pleasure, challenging hedonism. Ian Tully Study Questions: 1.​ What is the desire theory of happiness?​ Answer:The desire theory states that happiness depends on fulfilling actual desires ranked by intensity. 2.​ What is the Simple View of the desire theory of happiness?​ Answer:The Simple View holds that a person’s life improves or worsens based solely on their satisfied actual desires. 3.​ Is Frankl’s description of the psychology of some people who lived in concentration camps an example of complete conative collapse? Why or why not?​ Answer: Yes, because these individuals lacked any actual desires, fitting the definition of complete conative collapse.  4.​ What is the “absent desire problem” for the Simple View or version of the desire theory of happiness?​ Answer: The absent desire problem arises because it cannot explain how life improves or worsens for those with no desires. 5.​ What are “idealized desires”?​ Answer:Idealized desires are what a fully informed and rational version of a person would desire for them. 6.​ Why do “idealized desires” fail to solve the “absent desire problem” according to Tully?​ Answer: Idealized desires fail because without actual desires, there is no basis for forming informed desires. Osahana & Ranjoo Seodu Herr Week 3 Marina Oshana Study Guide Questions What’s the basic contrast between these conceptions of happiness? (This is a difficult question.)​ Answer: The relational conception ties happiness to social conditions and external factors, while the internalist view focuses solely on internal psychological states. What’s the internalist conception?​ Answer: The internalist conception holds that happiness depends only on a person’s internal desires and satisfaction, independent of their social conditions. What’s the relational conception?​ Answer: The relational conception argues that happiness requires adequate social conditions, opportunities, and external support to form meaningful desires. According to Oshana, why is Wilma autonomous, while Harriet is not?​ Answer: Wilma has control over her choices and access to opportunities that support personal growth, whereas Harriet’s choices are constrained by subservient social relations. Is this claim consistent with her “relational” theory of autonomy?​ Answer: Yes, because the relational theory requires adequate social conditions for autonomy, which the Taliban woman lacks. Do you agree with Oshana’s claims about the social conditions (or “relations”) that are necessary for personal autonomy? Why or why not.​ Answer: Answers will vary based on individual perspectives, but a relational theorist would agree because autonomy depends on external conditions and opportunities. Ranjoo Seodu Herr Study Guide Questions According to Herr, do women who participate in the Women’s Mosque Movement (WMM) in Egypt lead autonomous lives, according to Oshana’s conception of personal autonomy? Why or why not.​ Answer: No, because their choices are shaped by patriarchal norms that limit their autonomy according to Oshana's standards. What positive attributes do many women in the WMM exemplify according to Herr?​ Answer: WMM women exhibit moral agency, commitment to hypergoods, and the ability to make moral distinctions within their religious framework. If women in the WMM are not autonomous, is their welfare or happiness compromised (lesser) in Herr’s view? Why or why not.​ Answer: No, because Herr believes happiness can be achieved through moral agency and commitment to community values, even without autonomy. What does Herr’s account imply about the happiness of women living under less progressive regimes like the Taliban in Afghanistan?​ Answer: Herr suggests that happiness may still be possible for these women through moral agency, even if autonomy is absent. Study Questions for J.S. Mill On Liberty – Book 1 According to Mill, how has the threat of tyranny over the individual evolved over time?​ Answer: The threat of tyranny has evolved from the unchecked power of rulers to social tyranny, where society imposes its will through norms and public opinion. What is the “tyranny of the majority”?​ Answer: The tyranny of the majority refers to society's imposition of its ideas and practices as rules of conduct, suppressing individuality and dissent. What is the “harm principle”? What does it require from (a) the laws and (b) from other people?​ Answer: The harm principle states that actions should only be restricted if they harm others, requiring (a) laws to prohibit harmful acts and (b) people to tolerate self-regarding actions. Does the harm principle permit punishing adults whose actions harm only themselves or which harm other consenting adults?​ Answer: No, the harm principle does not allow punishment for actions that harm only oneself or other consenting adults. Does the harm principle permit taxing people or drafting them into the military?​ Answer: Yes, the harm principle permits such measures as necessary contributions to society to prevent harm by omission. On Liberty – Book 2 Why does Mill claim that speech which offends the majority but which may possibly be true has social utility?​ Answer: Offensive speech that may be true promotes the discovery of truth by allowing open debate and challenging falsehoods. Why does Mill claim that exposure to speech which is known to be false benefits people?​ Answer: Exposure to false speech strengthens people's understanding and justification of true beliefs through active reasoning. What does Mill mean by “dead dogmas”?​ Answer: Dead dogmas are beliefs held without understanding or justification, rendering them ineffective and unexamined. On Liberty – Book 3 Why does Mill claim that each person’s happiness depends on having the opportunity to experiment with different lifestyles?​ Answer: Mill argues that experimenting with lifestyles allows individuals to discover what life plans best suit their unique nature, leading to genuine happiness. Why does Mill claim that happiness requires more than a capacity for ape-like imitation?​ Answer: Happiness requires self-direction and critical thinking, as imitation prevents individuals from developing their unique character and achieving personal growth. Here is the study guide with answers added under each question: Study Guide to Eggleston What is the “well-being conception of a person’s interests”?​ Answer: The well-being conception holds that a person's interests are determined by what contributes to their well-being or quality of life. What is the “respect and additivity” principle?​ Answer: The respect and additivity principle states that individuals’ interests must be respected separately and can be added together to evaluate collective outcomes. How does Eggleston apply it to the example of whether a road should be widened?​ Answer: Eggleston uses the principle to argue that the benefits of widening a road must be weighed against the cumulative costs to individuals whose well-being is negatively impacted. What is the “receptacles objection” to utilitarianism?​ Answer: The receptacles objection claims that utilitarianism treats people merely as containers for pleasure and pain, disregarding individuality. What is Eggleston’s reply to that objection?​ Answer: Eggleston argues that utilitarianism respects individuality by considering how each person’s well-being contributes to the overall assessment of good. Study Guide Questions: Andrei Marmor According to Marmor, the moral right to privacy is justified by a basic interest of persons. What interest is that? Why, in other words, do we need a right to privacy?​ Answer: The moral right to privacy is justified by the interest in controlling the boundaries of personal information to maintain autonomy and freedom in relationships. Marmor describes different examples to prove we have the interest he describes in (1). What are his examples? Do you agree that they support his argument about why there is a moral right to privacy?​ Answer: Marmor provides examples such as confidential conversations and personal decisions, arguing they show privacy is essential for autonomy; whether they support his argument depends on whether one values control over information as central to autonomy. Marmor claims that the moral right to privacy can be violated in two ways. What are those two ways?​ Answer: The two ways are intrusion, where someone accesses private information without consent, and disclosure, where private information is shared without permission. Marmor claims that the right to privacy is not a right to conduct. What does he mean by that? Do you agree with him?​ Answer: Marmor means the right to privacy concerns controlling access to information rather than justifying specific actions; agreement depends on one’s interpretation of the relationship between privacy and autonomy.