Final Exam

Christopher was right! The final exam for the Mt. Laurel class is Tuesday, May 6th, at 2:30. NOTE: This is different from our normal starting time of 2:00.

For the Cherokee class, our final is 6:30 (normal time) on Monday, May 12th.

Kwakiutl-Doo

Here are some more links related to our discussion of ethical relativism:

• The Kwakiutl from Northwest America [Google Kwakiutl!]
• The Dobu of Melanesia
• Ruth Benedict and Herodotus
• Cannibalism!
• An argument against the DIVERSITY THESIS: cultures morally agree more than they disagree
• A webcam dialogue on morality, psychology, and religion

(Click on the comic to enlarge it)

Links Worthy of a Swine

Here are some links that are loosely related to the stuff on Utilitarianism that we are studying. Most of these deal with psychology. There's a lot of psychological research on happiness popping up lately. The first link is an overview of the psychology of happiness:

Some Dark Thoughts on Happiness

The second is a slightly optimistic take on our ability to change our baseline level of happiness. This is important to know for an ethical theory that values maximizing happiness:

The Hedonic Set Point Can Go Up

The next link deals with a famous moral thought experiment, the trolley problem. This gets brought up a lot when evaluating Utilitarianism:

Psychology of the Trolley Problem

The last link is an advanced overview of consequentialist ethical theories. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory, since it only looks at the consequences of an action to figure out whether an action is morally good or bad:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Entry: Consequentialism

So what makes you happy? WaWa? Ping pong? Cookies?

Relative to You, But Not to Me

Here are some links on ethical relativism. The first is an interview with a moral psychologist who supports a sophisticated version of ethical relativism.

Interview with Moral Psychologist Jonathan Haidt

The second one is an advanced overview of various versions of moral relativism:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Article on Moral Relativism

Reading Response #4

Reading Response #4 is due May 5th for the Cherokee class, and May 1st for the Mt. Laurel class. The assignment is to write a one- to two-page (250- to 500-word) response on the following:

Explain and critically evaluate the ethical theory of utilitarianism. First, briefly explain the theory in your own words. Then spend most of your response evaluating the theory. Discuss objections to the theory, and tell me your opinion on whether you think it's a good or bad theory. Be sure to defend your opinion with reasons.

Pascal's Wager

Bad Things to Good People

Here are some links on the problem of evil.

The first link is a collection of resources all about the problem of evil, including criticisms of several different responses to the problem. I mean, wow.

The NPR program Fresh Air has an audio interview with Bart Ehrman on the problem of suffering.

Next is a discussion of the "God works in mysterious ways" response: do we have enough evidence to believe that there is a reason for all the suffering in the world, but humans aren't smart enough to understand what that reason is?

Finally, does everything happen for a reason? This cartoon dinosaur has an interesting take on that question. (T-Rex also occasionally wonders why bad things happen to nice people.)

Extra Credit

The extra credit assignment is due at the beginning of class on Monday, April 21st, for the Cherokee class, or Thursday, April 17th, for the Mt. Laurel class. Your assignment is to write a reading response (about 250-500 words) on the following topic:

Explain and evaluate your thoughts on God now that we've gone through the philosophy of religion section of the course. In particular, focus on any changes in your thoughts. Have you changed your beliefs about God? Have you changed your reasons for your beliefs? Why or why not? Ultimately, do you think doing philosophy is a useful method in exploring this topic? Why or why not?

This assignment is potentially worth the value of a reading response (up to 50 points).

Also, just a reminder: the 3rd reading response is a freebie. You don't have to write one, and everyone will get full credit for it.

You're welcome!

Like A Watch, Only More So

Here are some links on the design argument for God's existence. First is a radio interview on Hume's criticisms of the design arg. Second is an article on evolution versus intelligent design.

Third is the article about all the "design flaws" in nature. Fourth, here's an article on the recent research that might show the appendix serves a purpose, and so wouldn't count as a design flaw.

I also have a little music for you. Here's the source of the "more so" phrase:

John Gorka - I'm From New Jersey
"I'm from New Jersey | It's like Ohio | But even more so | Imagine that"

Finally, the National Public Radio show Fresh Air ran a pair of interviews with two scientists talking about whether God exists. The conversations touch on a lot of things we've been discussing in class.

Richard Dawkins pushing atheism

Francis Collins pushing theism

Hey, where's the interview with an agnostic? The media are so biased toward those with opinions.

If you've read a good article on intelligent design, recommend it to us by emailing me or posting the link in the comments section of this post.

Midterm

So the Mt. Laurel class has already taken the midterm. But for the Cherokee class, the midterm is going to be held at the beginning of class on Monday, April 7th. It's worth 25% of your overall grade. You'll have 80 minutes to complete it. It covers everything we've gone over in class so far.

Also, I expect you to stick around after the midterm, because we WILL be learning stuff in class after it's done.

Feel free to insult me in the comments for putting you through the terrible ordeal of learning immediately after a test.