Overview
Philosophy 20 – Ethics
Exam #5
Summer 2023
Write one typed and double-spaced, approximately three pages. Your essay should be based on the assigned readings and classroom discussions, not on outside materials or sources.
DO NOT USE THE INTERNET TO RESEARCH THESE QUESTIONS. Anything cited or downloaded from the internet will be considered plagiarism. See syllabus for penalties for plagiarism.
-1) Choose a or b:
-a) Kant claims that the categorical imperative will lead us to objective, universal and necessary rules which we will know a priori. In other words, it is a hard universalist theory yet we are morally autonomous—we make the decisions. If everyone is morally autonomous and makes his or her own moral decisions, why is this not a subjectivist position?
-b) Is the categorical imperative a practical guide to morality? Kant argues that sticking to the rule is better than breaking it. Is he right, or can you give an example of a case where perhaps it would be better to make exceptions? What are some of the other weaknesses of Kant’s position as a normative moral theory?