100 points IS-322 --- FIRST EXAM
INSTRUCTIONS: Please write with economy and fluency on the following questions. Fold the exam lengthwise and place your name ONLY on the back (outside) of the last page. Due date: End class hour on Thursday, March 2. Clear syntax and presentation will be interpreted as reflecting clarity of thought.
Exam suggestions and limits:
- Include ideas necessary and sufficient to answer the questions and convince your readers that you know what you're talking about...but avoid including trivia.
- You should not exceed six manuscript pages in total length (typed, double-spaced equivalent).
- You should write not necessarily to reflect your own views, because it is the supporting justifications, not the position itself, that will receive the most scrutiny. "We care very much about what you think about what they think."
Part I. Theory. Credit = 50 points
Consider the following pairs of opposites that we have invoked in the course.
- authority, power ---vs.--- political freedom
- philosophy as a way of knowing ---vs.--- science as a way of knowing
- ontological freedom ---vs.--- determinism
- absolutism ---vs.--- relativism
- feminism ---vs.--- traditionalism
- reason ---vs.--- passion, feeling
- altruism ---vs.--- self interest
THE QUESTION: Write an essay in which you analyze how any two thinkers we have read for this course would view any ONE (and only one) of the pairs of opposites above. Your two thinkers may agree or disagree; that part doesn't matter. What does matter is the extent to which you construct a clear analysis that correctly represents and supports their position(s) with respect to the pair of opposites you have selected.
Part II. Praxis. Credit = 50 points
You are a genetic counselor interviewing two clients, Mr. and Mrs. Faith, a married couple in their forties. There is a law in your state requiring genetic screening for a certain target group in which are included your clients. You know the following facts about the Faiths:
- (a) They have two children, one of whom is afflicted with the genetic defect against which is directed this particular screening program.
- (b) Neither Mr. or Mrs. Faith actually has the defect, from which it follows that their child could only have been afflicted with it if both parents of the child are carriers --- i.e., in both cases, the gene responsible for the defect is recessive.
- (c) Mrs. Faith's tests show that she is a carrier, but the tests of Mr. Faith demonstrate that he is not.
- (d) The Faiths do not want any more children, and their marriage appears happy and successful.
- (e) Finally, as a result of being given information before their genetic tests were done, the Faiths understand the facts referred to in (b) above.
THE QUESTION: What do you tell the Faiths about (c)? Use your knowledge of both utilitarianism and deontology to construct rational supporting arguments that appeal to principles such as the principle of utility (for Bentham and Mill) and the categorical imperative (for Kant). Note: The two arguments could either allow you to come to a single conclusion, using independent lines of reasoning, or they could work against each other, resulting in ethical grounds for opposing courses of action.