The audience is the same as before: a friend who doesn't know any philosophy. Make sure to clearly explain key terms; give examples wherever possible; offer textual support for your interpretive claims; acknowledge your sources; and consider reasonable objections to your critical claims. The recommended structure is the same as before, except that you must include a thesis statement at the beginning of your paper. Ask your TA what a thesis statement is. 1. Write 4 pages that addresses one of the topics below well.
Briefly explain what Glaucon's challenge is to Socrates at the start of Book II of the Republic, and then briefly explain how Socrates's analogy with bodily health at the end of Book IV of the Republic is supposed to respond to that challenge. Is the response a good one? Why or why not?
Explain Callicles's view of what's good and admirable in a human life. Is his view the right one? Why or why not?
Explain Aristotle's "function argument" from Book I of the Nicomachean Ethics. Is the argument a good one? Why or why not?
Explain why the Dalai Lama thinks that universal compassion is a necessary condition for real happiness for human beings. Is the Dalai Lama right about this? Why or why not?
Explain Mill's criterion for one kind of pleasure being qualitatively superior to another kind. Is Mill right that pleasures of the intellect are qualitatively superior to the kinds of pleasure that a pig could enjoy? Why or why not?
Is pleasure the only intrinsic good? Why or why not? (In writing on this topic, you must explain and critically discuss the views of at least one of the philosophers we have read.)