PART A

Pick one or more questions below and write a substantive post with >100 words. Please try to provide evidence(s) to support your idea(s).

Questions:

• Do we have a duty to work out where we stand on ethical issues? Why can’t we just defer to experts like we do in other domains (like theoretical physics)?

• What is moral relativism? Why might people be attracted to it? Is it plausible?

• What is moral scepticism, and how is it different from moral relativism? Is it any more (or less) plausible than moral relativism?

• What is the three-way distinction between normative ethics, applied ethics, and meta-ethics? Can you give an example of an applied ethical debate?

• Is your death bad for you, specifically, or only (at most) for others? Why might someone claim that it isn’t bad for you?

• If death isn’t bad for the person concerned, then does this mean that we shouldn’t grieve their passing? Would such grieving then be solely about you, and not about the person who has died?

• We don’t care that we didn’t exist for a long time before we were born. Does it follow that we shouldn’t care that we will cease to exist after we die?

• Can you be harmed even after your death (e.g., if someone tells lies about you)? If so, does that mean that the ‘badness’ of death can’t just be understood in terms of your own suffering?

• What is the distinction between intrinsicand extrinsicgoodness? Can you give an example of each?

• How might we make sense of the ‘badness’ of death by arguing that while it is not intrinsically bad, it is extrinsically bad?

• Why isSisyphus’s life held to be meaningless? Is it? • What is the perspective known as sub specie aerternitatis?

Why might life seem meaningless when viewed from this perspective?

• Would God’s existence necessarilyconfer meaning on our lives? If not, why not?

• What is the distinction between finaland instrumental(or non-final) value? Can you give an example of each?

• How does the distinction between final and instrumental value differ from the intrinsic/extrinsic goodness distinction? Can you give an example of something that is finally valuable but not intrinsically good?

• How might we make sense of the meaning of life in terms of final value?

• What is hedonism? How does ethical hedonismdiffer from psychological hedonism?

• What is utilitarianism, and why is it a form of hedonism? • How would an ethical hedonist account for the meaning of

life? Could one lead a life full of pleasure that was nonetheless meaningless? Would appealing to ‘higher’ pleasures make any difference here?

• What is the experience machine? Is a life lived in the experience machine meaningful?

• What is eudaimonia? What are the virtues? What role does the latter play in the former?

• Why according to virtue ethics is a life lived in the experience machine meaningless?

• How might a virtue ethics account for the meaning of life?