Homer v. Aristotle. When Homer Simpson gets an illegal free cable hookup, Lisa is appalled and announces that she will not watch the offending technology herself. Homer, talking later to Marge, complains, "There's something wrong with that kid. She's so moral. Why can't she be more like ... well, not like Bart... there must be some kind of happy medium." (a) In what sense is Homer's position Aristotelian? (b) Would Aristotle agree that it is possible to be too moral? (c) Can one be too moral?
Is and ought. David Hume observes that there is a gap in much moral reasoning; arguments proceed from factual statements using is to normative statements using ought with barely a mention. How do Aristotle and Aquinas link ought to is? Evaluate their strategy for doing so.
Williams's Puzzle. Bernard Williams poses the following puzzle: You, a tourist in a third world country, enter a town square to find that the police have lined up 20 people, arrested for advocating democracy, and are about to shoot them. The police captain tells you that if you shoot one (any one-- your choice), he'll let the rest go free. The prisoners and their families beg you to accept. Should you? (a) Williams thinks the utilitarian must say yes. Is he correct? (b) Williams finds that objectionable. He thinks you should say no. Do you agree? Why or why not? (c) Does your answer change if there are only 2 people lined up? If there are 200? (d) Does this case pose problems for utilitarianism, in your view?
Kant and Moral Conflict. Kant says that you should tell the truth, even if that results in a death you could have prevented. (a) Does his theory force him to say that? (b) If not, how could he justify telling a lie without giving up his principles? (c) If so, what revisions to the theory would be needed to make telling a lie to save a life permissible?
My Fair Lady. Eliza Doolittle complains about how Henry Higgins treats her, pointing out the contrast with his friend Col. Pickering: "He treats a flower girl as if she were a princess." Higgins replies, "I treat a princess as if she were a flower girl. . . . The question is not whether I treat you rudely but whether you've ever heard me treat anyone else better." Use the contrast between the maxims of Higgins and Pickering to illumine the relationship between the universal law and ends-in-themselves formulations of the categorical imperative.
