Due: December 1, 2000 (in my mailbox in Room 300 Cherry Hall)

Length: 250 words (not counting quoted material) for each extra credit point attempted. PLEASE GIVE ME A WORDCOUNT, on the first or final page.

Format: Typewritten / wordprocessed double spaced.

1. Explain George Berkeley's idealistic view of reality (See Velasquez, Philosophy, pp. 189-93 and 252-56). What can be said in favor of this view? What criticisms might reasonably be raised about it? (See pp. 193-96)

2. Velasquez, Philosophy, Chapter 3, section 7 discusses the debate about determinism and free will. Compare the "determinist view of reality" (p. 232) with libertarian and compatibilist views. Which view is superior? Explain why.

Note that what Velasquez calls the "determinist view of reality" (232) is often called the hard determinist view, with determinism as such being limited to part (1) of the (hard) determinist view of reality which holds that "all events and actions are causally determined by previous events and the laws of nature." If we use this more careful terminology, then compatibilism is also involves determinism (no. 1 on page 236). Compatibilism is sometimes called soft determinism.

3. Review what you have learned about libertarianism. (Check your understanding, if you wish here.) Then read the essay on The Limits of Libertarianism. Write an essay that discusses the strengths and weaknesses of libertarian ethics. The essay should show that you have read and understood significant sections of the "Limits" article.

Review what you have already learned about Plato and Aristotle. Then go on and read the material on Plato and Aristotle in the Appendix to chapter 2 in Velasquez, Philosophy (pp. 145-58), as well as in chapter 9, section 2, "What Is Art?" (pp. 668-72). Now, write an essay on the similarities or differences between these two philosophers. You may also evaluate the two positions, saying which philosopher's views you believe more defensible and why. The essay should show that you have read and understood significant sections of the new material on Plato and Aristotle.