Ethical Egoism Assignment | Homework for You

Choose four of the following questions to answer. Each is worth 25% of your overall test grade.

Choose two of the following:

1) Based on “The Apology” by Plato – (i) provide an elucidation of Socrates’ indictments; (ii) elaborate his defences against these charges; (iii) provide three arguments to convince your reader that the asking of questions can count as a form of corruption (specifically, an act that can corrupt others); and (iv) provide three arguments to convince your reader that the asking of questions may not count as a form of corruption (specifically, an act that can corrupt others).

2) Based on lectures and “The Apology” by Plato – Socrates never advances positive knowledge, but seeks knowledge by attempting to discover what cannot be a case of knowledge based on the reasons others offer as evidence for that “knowledge”. How does this largely negative exercise help us discover/move towards knowledge?

3) Ethical Egoism – (i) provide an elucidation of the various versions of ethical egoism that exist (look to the textbook AND my lecture(s)); (ii) provide two arguments not included in the TEXTBOOK for why ethical egoism (specify which version(s) you are referencing) contains internal tensions/confusions/problems that make the position implausible; and (iii) provide two arguments for why even if ethical egoism is true/plausible (specify which version(s) you are referencing), ethical egoism does not challenge our ability to engage in practical ethics together.

3) Utilitarianism – (i) elaborate what utilitarianism amounts to as described in the textbook; (ii) provide four arguments not referenced in the textbook to suggest that utilitarianism suffers from tensions/confusions/problems; and (iii) defend utilitarianism on two grounds not offered by the textbook itself.

4) Kant’s Deontology – (i) elaborate Kant’s account of deontology (his Categorical Imperative); (ii) outline four issues not referenced in the textbook to argue that Kant’s deontology suffers from tensions/confusions/problems; and (iii) defend Kant’s deontology on two grounds not offered by Kant himself.

5) Virtue Ethics – (i) elaborate Aristotle’s account of virtue ethics; (ii) outline four issues not referenced in the textbook to argue that virtue ethics suffers from tensions/confusions/problems; and (iii) defend virtue ethics on two grounds not offered by Aristotle himself or the textbook.

Choose two of the following:

6) “All Animals are Equal” by Singer – (i) elaborate Singer’s argument in this piece; (ii) outline three issues not referenced in the textbook to argue that Singer’s argument suffers from tensions/confusions/problems; and (iii) defend Singer’s argument on three grounds not offered by Singer himself or by the textbook.

7) “Animal Citizenship” by Donaldson and Kymlicka – (i) elaborate the authors’ argument in this piece; (ii) outline three issues not referenced in the textbook to argue that the authors’ argument suffers from tensions/confusions/problems; and (iii) defend the authors’ argument on three grounds not offered by the authors themselves or by the textbook.

8) “Should Trees Have Standing? Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects” by Stone – (i) elaborate Stone’s argument in this piece; (ii) outline three issues not referenced in the textbook to argue that Stone’s argument suffers from tensions/confusions/problems; and (iii) defend Stone’s argument on three grounds not offered by Stone himself.

9) “The Biocentric Outlook on Nature” by Taylor (Section IV – The Denial of Human Superiority) – (i) elaborate Taylor’s argument in this section; (ii) outline three issues not referenced in the textbook to argue that Taylor’s fourth section suffers from tensions/confusions/problems; and (iii) defend Taylor’s argument in his fourth section on three grounds not offered by either Taylor or the textbook.

Book: Environmental Ethics for Canadians (2016). Ed. Byron Williston. Second Edition. Oxford University Press.