CVSP 203 Final, Spring 2003

a cenacel EMICAN CNIVERSIT f" IBKLARY OF BEIRUT CIVILIZATION SEQUENCE 203 FINAL EXAM June 11,2003 Time: Two Hours Ms. R.M. Fakhry Part_I: Answer ONE question only. 1. Recalling all that has been said in this course about the scientific method, social contract theory, liberalism, utility, and social reform, explain why Mill argues that the “subordination of women” must necessarily disappear in the modern world. Could the ideas of Marx and Engels be used to defend Mill’s claim? Explain. . It is sometimes claimed that the world is “Faustian.” Recalling the developments in social science, technology, and politics, use some of the principal themes and plots in Goethe’s Faust to explain and evaluate this claim. Part II: Answer ONE of the following questions. 1. Explain how Marx and Engels argue that Capitalism gives rise to a revolutionary class, and that the bourgeoisie produce their own “grave-diggers.” Do you think the course of history in the past 150 years has confirmed this prediction? Explain. . Explain how Mill’s arguments about the importance of liberty can be used either to illustrate or defend the Enlightment ideals found in the writings of Diderot, Kant and Bentham. Part III: Identify ONE of the following quotations, commenting briefly on the context in which each occurs: 1. “Nature has placed man under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do[...]. They govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think: every effort we can make to throw off our subjection, will serve but to demonstrate and confirm it.” . “An action done from duty has its moral worth, not in the purpose that is to be attained by it, but in the maxim according to which the action is determined. The moral worth depends, therefore, not on the realization of the object of the action, but merely on the principle of volition according to which, without regard to any objects of the faculty of desire, the action has been done.” GOoD LUCK!