Unit IV Take-Home Exam
REVISED TOPIC: Choose Option A or Option B
Option A. The Soul, the Cosmos, and Human Happiness
Epicurus and the Stoics believe that knowledge of nature is crucial for living well. In each of their views, the soul must be adapted to its overall role within the cosmos. Why, and how?
Compare their various reasons for thinking this. Whose position is more reasonable, in your view? What is the lesson you draw from these Hellenistic debates about the value for human life of a knowledge of our souls' place in nature and the cosmos?
Option B. Negative Goals
Describe the ethical goals of the two Hellenistic philosophical schools we studied (Epicureanism and Stoicism); be sure to illustrate with examples and document your account with references to the text.
In your view, which goal is preferable, and why? Please give reasons, not simply likes or dislikes. Explain the sense in which each school has a goal that could be called "negative." You might try answering this by saying which school's goal is the "most" and the "least" negative. Does this way of speaking make sense to you? Compare these "negative" goals to the "positive" ethical goals of Plato and/or Aristotle.
When: Due May 11, 1998, by 5 p.m.
Where: Please turn your paper in to the Dean's Office, 402 Agnes Arnold Hall. You may turn it in at the front desk or place it directly in my mailbox, which is on a table/stand toward the back of the dean's suite.
Getting your paper back: If you give me a stamped, self-addressed envelope, I will return your paper promptly to you with comments. Otherwise I will not write extensive comments on it, but you may pick up your paper at any point after May 15 from the Dean's Office.