Kant, Exam 1

Instructions

Write well-developed, clearly organized answers to all the questions. 

This is an exam that you complete outside of class. In completing the exam, you are free to refer to the readings and your notes, or to talk with other students about your answers. In fact, you are encouraged to work together with other students on this exam. But whatever you finally turn in MUST be your OWN writing, IN YOUR OWN WORDS, expressing YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING at the time you wrote it.

bulletDO NOT QUOTE OR CLOSELY PARAPHRASE ANYTHING WITHOUT CITING YOUR SOURCE. (Not even the textbook, or course materials.)
bulletDO NOT INCLUDE MORE THAN A FEW very BRIEF QUOTATIONS OF ANYTHING IN YOUR ENTIRE SET OF ANSWERS.
bulletTHE ONLY ALLOWABLE REASON FOR QUOTING ANYTHING IS TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT A POINT YOU HAVE STATED IN YOUR OWN WORDS. THE PENALTY FOR ILLEGITIMATE QUOTING IS "DEATH".

If you work with another student in preparing your answers, don't draft your actual answers together, and don't agree on exactly what examples you will use, or how you will express a particular point.  When you work with someone, talk over the issues and share ideas, but don't do any outlining or writing together.  Don't show your completed answer to someone else in order to "help" them.

Please limit yourself to 4000 words all together (about 10 pages).  Each question counts equally.  Submit answers printed on paper -- not electronically, and not hand-written.  No fancy stuff like plastic covers, binders, elaborate cover sheets, money stuffed between pages, etc.

Advice

The biggest problem with this kind of exam has been that students write answers that are too incomplete or sketchy.  Don't assume that the reader will "just know" what you're getting at; instead, assume the reader is ignorant about this particular subject matter. Do not assume that the reader has been in the class!  Instead, think of your audience as intelligent people who know nothing about this subject.

These questions can all be answered quite well simply by drawing ideas from our class discussions and the assigned readings.  You are not expected to go out and find more sources.  You are not prohibited from finding more sources, but it you decide to use more sources, leave enough time to write your own answers in your own words, and don't get sucked into just paraphrasing something someone else wrote that you don't really understand.  The latter can be a cause of real trouble; you are much better off saying what you really think and understand than trying to sound profound by half-copying from something you don't really "get".

Your answers are graded on how well they answer the question that is asked.  Don't shoot yourself in the foot by going off on a tangent.  Instead, focus on giving an accurate answer to the question.

Questions

  1. For what reasons does Kant claim the world of experience must be completely deterministic, with all parts causally interacting with all other parts, and with a constant amount of "substance"?
  2. How would Kant respond to the criticism that he is just talking about how we as humans conceive the world to be, rather than about how the world really is?
  3. Why does Kant think it is impossible to know anything about God?  Does this mean that he thinks it is irrational to believe in God?
  4. Summarize Kant's ethical theory, leaving out any determinism-based worries over whether people are morally accountable.
  5. How does Kant's philosophy address typical modern worries about whether empirical investigation can yield knowledge, and whether either scientific advances or increasing reliance on rational and logical thinking will naturally lead to atheism and the breakdown of the moral and social fabric that formerly were undergirded by religious authority?