Download Phil 206 2007 - UKZN: Philosophy

UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL
HOWARD COLLEGE CAMPUS
EXAMINATIONS NOVEMBER 2007
PHIL206H2: ETHICS: KNOWLEDGE AND VALUES
EXAMINER:
DEEPAK MISTREY
RICHARD SIVIL
MODERATOR:
DEANE-PETER BAKER
DURATION: 3 HOURS
Answer one question from each section.
PLEASE USE A SEPARATE ANSWER BOOK FOR EACH QUESTION
Section A
Answer one of the following questions:
1. Critically discuss Kant’s view that there could not be an imperative that commands
us “to do what will make us happy” (pp. 81-82 of the Groundwork).
2. Kant says that it might not be possible to identify a single unambiguous example of
a moral action.
a) Explain how Kant’s theory ends up in this position.
b) Do you think that a theory of morality that ends up in this position is still useful, or
not? Justify your answer.
3. Why does Kant think that we have to act not merely in accordance with the moral
law but rather “for the sake of” it? Do you think he is right or wrong in this? Justify
your answer.
Section B
Answer one of the following questions:
4. Critically explore the debate over the role played by reason and feeling in ethics.
5. Critically contrast the Kantian autonomous agent (as discussed by O’Neill) with
the notion of agency expressed by feminine ethicists.
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UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL
HOWARD COLLEGE CAMPUS
EXAMINATIONS NOVEMBER 2007
PHIL206H2: ETHICS: KNOWLEDGE AND VALUES
Section C
Answer one of the following questions:
6. One might say that a Kantian-type ethics is an ethics of respect and that Gilligan’s
ethics is an ethics of care. Discuss the relative merits of each of these kinds of ethics.
Which do you think is a better way to understand ethics? Justify your choice.
7. Should ethics have a universalist basis and a universal application, as in Kant, or is
a particularist ethics a more effective or useful way of treating ethical questions?
Justify your answer.
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