To complete the take-home exam, answer 4 questions from the 5 listed below, and make sure that the take-home is no more than 5 pages, in a standard font, double-spaced. Each question is worth 25%. On LEARN, there is a specific drop-box for this assignment. There are two further important things to note. First, I need you to submit the take-home exam on the due date, and so, you have a week to complete the assignment. Second, omit your name from the assignment along with any other information that would reveal your identity (*provide your student ID number instead). I grade student work without knowing whose exam or paper it is, since that is a procedure to ensure fair grading. Thank you for your cooperation.
Exam Questions
(*Answer 4 of these Questions)
- At the outset of On Liberty, Mill argues for the harm principle (sometimes called the liberty principle). Use an example to illustrate how Mill’s principle works, and briefly describe the form of tyranny that Mill worries about (a form of tyranny that can arise even in democratic societies).
- What does Aristotle claim is the ultimate good that we are seeking as political animals? Concisely, what are some of the key things we need to develop to move towards Aristotle’s conception of human happiness?
- Berlin holds that the idea of positive liberty has no place in the liberal tradition. Briefly, what is Berlin’s argument for this stance, and what does Taylor find to be wrong with Berlin’s argument?
- Held argues that contractual society tends to be exclusionary and sexist. How does Held arrive at such a conclusion (point out at least one central reason that supports her stance)? In a similar context, how does Nussbaum respond to Held and others who contend that society is too individualistic?
- How does Appiah characterize cosmopolitanism, and in the context of the reading by him, why does he raise the puzzle of the moral status of strangers?
