PHILOSOPHY 100 Fall 2010 Writing Assignment 2 Due Monday, December 6

Write a 4-5 page essay on one of the following topics:

Descartes and the Quest for Certainty Explain why Descartes sets out on a quest for certain knowledge and how this quest led to the starting point of modern philosophy. Explain the epistemological problem that results from Descartes’ quest for certainty and the problem with Descartes’ solution to this problem. Is it important to try and find certainty in knowledge? Can one distinguish between knowledge and opinion without certainty?

The Mind-Body Problem Explain Descartes’ dualism, the motivations that led him to this view, his argument in support of this view, and the mind-body problem that results from this dualism. Why would you agree or disagree with Descartes’ view? What is the relationship between the mind and body?

Empiricism Explain the difference between Rationalism and Empiricism. Explain how David Hume arrived at some very skeptical conclusions from the Empiricist starting point which threatened to undermine the optimism of the Enlightenment. Are the Empiricists right in their insistence that all knowledge concerning matters of fact must be traced to sense experience?

The Grand Inquisitor What is the point of the strange story Ivan Karamazov tells about the Grand Inquisitor’s interrogation of Christ? What does the Inquisitor think that Christ misunderstood about human nature? Who is right about human nature–the Inquisitor or Christ as portrayed in the story?

Nietzsche’s Philosophy of the Future Explain the different ways in which Nietzsche challenges the philosophical tradition by characterizing the philosopher of the future as artist, as lucid dreamer, as seafarer. To what extent would you agree with Nietzsche’s challenge to the traditional conception of philosophy?

The Death of God What did Nietzsche mean by the “death of God”? What is the crisis of modernity that he sees coming in the wake of this event? Why does he find a reason for cheerfulness in this event? To what extent is this an adequate response to the crisis of modernity?

Thus Spoke Zarathustra Explain the basic point of the three main ideas introduced in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, the overman, will to power, and the eternal recurrence. How would you respond to these teachings of Zarathustra?

The Ethics of War and Peace Explain the difference between the three main approaches to the ethics of war and peace: pacifism, war realism, and just war theory. What is the difference between the three branches of just war theory: jus ad bellum, jus in bello, and jus post bellum? According to just war theory when is a war justified? Are the principles of jus ad bellum adequate in determining when going to war is justified? Which of the main positions in the ethics of war and peace would you most agree with?