I’m stuck on a Philosophy question and need an explanation.

Textbooks

• (FE) The Fundamentals of Ethics
• • Ch. 12
  • Chs. 14-15

• (EL) The Ethical Life
• • Ch. 10 Hobbes

Assignment Description

Chooseone of the following topics and write a single-spaced essay of at least2000 words. Your introduction and conclusion, if any, should be nomore than two sentences each. I discourage you from doing any researchbeyond extremely careful reading of the assigned texts. The goals ofthe exercise are 1) to demonstrate a precise understanding of the textswe have studied, and 2) to develop your ability to defend philosophicalpositions with arguments of your own. You should make extensive use ofthe texts by citing specific pages and, where appropriate, quoting.Give citations whenever you refer to someone else’s idea. Use anyaccepted citation format, but use it consistently. If you have anyquestions, please contact me via email or visit my virtual office hours.

BEWARE: YOU MUST RAISE AND RESPOND TO OBJECTIONS TOYOUR OWN POSITION OR YOUR GRADE WILL SUFFER SEVERELY. LATE PAPERS WILLBE PENALIZED

1.You’re a person with many talents: a top chemistry student and also agreat basketball player with a shot at the NBA. However, at the age ofeighteen you find that what you most enjoy is watching basketball oncable. So you decide not to develop any of your talents. You just sitaround all day and watch basketball. You do this for the rest of yourlife. (You’ve won a big lottery, so you can afford it.) Are you actingon a universalizable maxim? Explain why or why not.

2.You’ve promised to pick up an out-of-town friend at the train stationat noon so that she can get to a 1pm job interview. You’re driving tothe station when you see a man in distress. He’s having a heart attack,so you pull over, call an ambulance, administer CPR, and wait with himuntil the ambulance arrives. You do this knowing that your friend willnow be late for her interview. Did you act on a universalizable maxim?Explain why or why not.

3.You and your friends see a girl with Down syndrome on the street. Inorder to amuse your friends, you begin to imitate the girl’s speechpattern and stretch your eyelids to resemble hers. Your friends findyour mimickry hilarious, but neither the girl nor anyone else noticeswhat you’re doing. Have you failed to treat her as a Kantianend-in-herself? Explain why or why not.

4.Your boss, a man to whom you are not sexually attracted, offers topromote you in exchange for oral sex. Has he failed to treat you as aKantian end-in-yourself? Explain why or why not.

5.You’ve been diagnosed with a terminal illness. You will fall into acoma in one week and live for no more than three months after that. Itwill be expensive to keep you alive during the final three months ofyour life. You decide that you would rather see those medical resourcesused to help other people—ones who might recover—so you say farewell toyour loved ones and commit suicide, just before you would have lapsedinto the coma. Have you failed to treat yourself as a Kantianend-in-yourself? Explain why or why not.

6.Social contract theorists believe that actions are morally right if andonly if they are permitted by rules that free, equal, and rationalpeople would agree to live by, on the condition that others obey theserules as well. Does social contract theory entail that we have no moralobligations to animals, infants, and individuals with severe mentalhandicaps?

7.State the Doctrine of Doing and Allowing (DDA) and explain what problemit solves for moral absolutists. Defend or criticize the DDA.

Formatting: Compose in 12pt, Arial, single spaced and submit in DOCX, DOC, RTF, or PDF.