Preparation Questions for Oral Exam

Questions on the Different Philosophers

i) How does Wittgenstein try to prove that ethical sentence are nonsense? (And what can we learn from Wittgenstein radical approach?)
ii) “A happy life is a virtuous life”. What are and how does Aristotle link happiness and virtue?
iii) What is Aristotle’s account of the good and of the human function?
iv) What is the Categorical Imperative and how does it arrive at a decision? (Where is it able to provide a solution and where is it not able to?)
v) How does Kant discuss the four examples (suicide, promise keeping, developping one’s talent and helping) in his GMM? How can the formula of the end in itself help understanding these cases?
vi) What are the key features of Mill’s principle of utility? (And what might be the problem with his theory?)
vii) How can the different form of utilitarianism (negative, rule, pluralistic, preference) be understood as reactions to criticism?
viii) What are the main aspects of Spinoza’s understanding of a good life?
ix) What is Adorno’s critizism of Kantian and Utilitarian Ethics and what does he suggest?

General Questions about the Course

i) What were the key questions discussed in this course? (Or: What is ethics?)
ii) How does the course title “Foundations of Moral Value” relate to our discussion of the different philosophers?
iii) Is there a commonality between the different philosophers discussed?
iv) How did the fundamental distinction between IS and OUGHT appear in the different texts discussed?
v) What is the understanding and function of the concept of happiness in the different philosophical texts discussed?
vi) Which of the discussed philosopher is the most convincing? Why?