Bibl 104 Final Exam Questions
Study Guide for Test One (Spring 2014)
Introductory Lecture
1. What is the definition of religion?
Religion is a fundamental way to solve problems of interpretability
2. What are the three problems of interpretability?
Existence and continuing function of the universe
Persistence of suffering and death
Irrational behavior of human beings
3. What is the definition of ethics?
Functional way to solve problems of cooperation
4. What is a moral problem or moral dilemma?
Two moral principles are in conflict
Euthanasia
5. What are the four sources of religious ethics? Be able to say a little bit about each source.
Revelation – something that is revealed by a divinity (sodomy)
Tradition- interpreting things under natural …show more content…
What is the most significant difference between the Pope’s idea of the relationship between religion and ethics and the Dalai Lama’s idea of the relationship between religion and ethics? Pope- religion and ethics aren’t separable lama- inseparable
6. What is the difference between the beatitudes and the commandments?
Commandments- law of right wrong
Beatitudes- state of mind/ how you view life
Louis Jacobs and Elliott Dorff
1. What are the sources of Jewish ethics? Be able to give a brief description of each.
Revelation (Torah)
Talmud (tradition rabbinic commentaries on the torah)
Experience
Reason
2. What is voluntarism?
A particular action is ethical if God commands it
3. What is rationalism?
God commands a particular action because it is good, only commands what is good for you
4. According to Louis Jacobs, what does religion provide for ethics? Judaism helps create a moral community, shared values, rituals, laws
5. What are some of the benefits of Jewish law? (I talked about this in class, but it is also located in Dorff’s article.)
*refer to 9 benefits of jewish …show more content…
Kierkegaard’s thought is in many ways a reaction against the philosophies of thinkers like Immanuel Kant and G.W. F Hegel. What is the primary problem that Kierkegaard has with the philosophies of both men? (Please note: Kant’s philosophy is different from Hegel’s; nevertheless, Kierkegaard thought they were both guilty of the same errors. For refreshers on the thought of Kant and Hegel, refer to the Kierkegaard PowerPoint in the materials section of blackboard.)
2. Be familiar with the biblical story that Kierkegaard uses to develop his thought on the subject of ethics, religion, and faith.
3. What does Kierkegaard mean by a “teleological suspension of the ethical”?
4. What does Kierkegaard mean by the knight of infinite resignation?
5. What does Kierkegaard mean by the knight of faith?
6. What does Kierkegaard mean by a tragic hero and who are some examples of tragic heroes?
7. What is the difference between the knight of faith and the tragic hero?
Friedrich Nietzsche
1. Nietzsche argues that philosophers claim to be expounding the truth, but they are really engaged in something else. What is this something else? (This question is rather complex and has to do with what Nietzsche says about the relationship between a philosopher’s morality and autobiography. It is also connected with what I said about rationalizations in
Introductory Lecture
1. What is the definition of religion?
Religion is a fundamental way to solve problems of interpretability
2. What are the three problems of interpretability?
Existence and continuing function of the universe
Persistence of suffering and death
Irrational behavior of human beings
3. What is the definition of ethics?
Functional way to solve problems of cooperation
4. What is a moral problem or moral dilemma?
Two moral principles are in conflict
Euthanasia
5. What are the four sources of religious ethics? Be able to say a little bit about each source.
Revelation – something that is revealed by a divinity (sodomy)
Tradition- interpreting things under natural …show more content…
What is the most significant difference between the Pope’s idea of the relationship between religion and ethics and the Dalai Lama’s idea of the relationship between religion and ethics? Pope- religion and ethics aren’t separable lama- inseparable
6. What is the difference between the beatitudes and the commandments?
Commandments- law of right wrong
Beatitudes- state of mind/ how you view life
Louis Jacobs and Elliott Dorff
1. What are the sources of Jewish ethics? Be able to give a brief description of each.
Revelation (Torah)
Talmud (tradition rabbinic commentaries on the torah)
Experience
Reason
2. What is voluntarism?
A particular action is ethical if God commands it
3. What is rationalism?
God commands a particular action because it is good, only commands what is good for you
4. According to Louis Jacobs, what does religion provide for ethics? Judaism helps create a moral community, shared values, rituals, laws
5. What are some of the benefits of Jewish law? (I talked about this in class, but it is also located in Dorff’s article.)
*refer to 9 benefits of jewish …show more content…
Kierkegaard’s thought is in many ways a reaction against the philosophies of thinkers like Immanuel Kant and G.W. F Hegel. What is the primary problem that Kierkegaard has with the philosophies of both men? (Please note: Kant’s philosophy is different from Hegel’s; nevertheless, Kierkegaard thought they were both guilty of the same errors. For refreshers on the thought of Kant and Hegel, refer to the Kierkegaard PowerPoint in the materials section of blackboard.)
2. Be familiar with the biblical story that Kierkegaard uses to develop his thought on the subject of ethics, religion, and faith.
3. What does Kierkegaard mean by a “teleological suspension of the ethical”?
4. What does Kierkegaard mean by the knight of infinite resignation?
5. What does Kierkegaard mean by the knight of faith?
6. What does Kierkegaard mean by a tragic hero and who are some examples of tragic heroes?
7. What is the difference between the knight of faith and the tragic hero?
Friedrich Nietzsche
1. Nietzsche argues that philosophers claim to be expounding the truth, but they are really engaged in something else. What is this something else? (This question is rather complex and has to do with what Nietzsche says about the relationship between a philosopher’s morality and autobiography. It is also connected with what I said about rationalizations in