Study Guide for the 3rd Ethics Quiz
PHL
106-0H1, Spring 2006
The quiz will consist of a number of short answer questions. For each of the
philosophers we have covered, you should be able to give an account of their
basic claims and the arguments that they offer for these claims. You should be
able to apply these ideas to a concrete situation. You should also know some
major criticisms that can be offered against the arguments of each philosopher.
The exam will include at least two quotations for you to identify and explain.
What follows are suggestions that may help with your review.
There will be at least two review questions covering material from the first
two parts of the class. There may also be questions that ask you to compare
the viewpoints of the new philosophers we have studied with the views of the
philosophers we studied in the first part of the semester. The philosophers
from the first part of the class may be the authors of the quotations that you
will need to interpret on the exams.
Understand the philosophical basis of Marxism (two sets of premises: human
beings as self-creating beings and human beings as ensembles of social
relationships, theory of alienation as a description of the situation of
workers under capitalism, six aspects of alienation, why Marx condemns
capitalism, degradation and manipulation of human needs and powers, the values
presupposed by Marx’s analysis, the conception of ideology, the conception of
socialism or communism, the meaning of exploitation). You should also be able
to offer criticisms of this perspective. The essays that I have written on
alienation and ideology may help you. They are linked to the syllabus.
Review the selections by Sarmiento, Mariategui, Vasconcelos, Ramos, Zea, and
Bondy in Latin American Philosophy. Be able to give to give a two or
three sentence summary of the main thesis presented by each of these
theorists.
Review the material from Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Be able
to describe Freire’s critique of traditional education and the philosophical
perspective that informs this critique.
For Boff, be able to describe the main tenets of liberation theology. Also,
review that ways in which deep ecology represents a challenge to European
philosophy. Finally, be able to show how Boff attempts to synthesize
liberation theology and deep ecology.
For Dussel, only those parts of the text that we have covered in class will be
on the exam. You should be able to characterize Dussel’s philosophical
project and how his starting point is different from the starting points of
the European philosophers that we studied.
There will be extra credit questions on current events.
Author: Holllace Graff
Oakton Community College
Updated: April 18, 2006