CVSP 203 Final, Spring 2003

oe nao MEK TNIVERS! Civilization Sequence 203 | LIBRARY Spring 2002-2003 OF BEIRUT Sections 5&6 Inanna Hamati-Ataya Final Examination Wednesday, June 11, 2003 Choose § of the following questions (50 points) 1) Explain Bacon's Idols of the Theater, as well as his “metaphor of the insects” 2) What is the difference between a hypothetical and a categorical imperative (Kant)? Give an example of each. Do they both apply to morality? 3) Why is the State a “political” structure according to Marx & Engels? 4) | Why do individuals choose to leave the state of nature, in Locke’s analysis? 5) | What is Hobbes’ conception of morality in the state of nature and in civil society? 6) Explain Descartes’ concept of the dualism between body and mind, as well as the example on the piece of wax. Choose 1 of the following essays (50 points) 1) Three scientists : a physicist, a biologist and a mathematician, decide to conduct a scientific experiment. For several days, they observe, from across the street, the activity of a house. After a week, they observe two persons going into the house; and a few days later, three persons coming out of it. Having to explain this contradiction, the physicist considers that there must have been an error in the measurement and decides to start the observation anew, with more accurate tools of observation. The biologist sees no flaw in the experiment and finds a simple, scientific explanation to the observation: the people inside the house have simply reproduced! As for the mathematician, he states: “well, we still need one person to enter the house, and it will be empty again’... You may use this “scientific joke” to reflect upon the different methods in science, or knowledge in general. What have you learned from the authors you studied, and from the methods of your own major? 2) How can we understand the nature and objective (if any) of the existence of the individual in society? — 3) What are the different systems of thought you studied that have tried to determine the essence of moral values? How can you evaluate them? = ; Good luck!