3Task: In a 1500-wordessay,respond to ONE of the following:
1.The foundation/authority of morality: Consider one religious account of morality (i.e. Divine Command Theory) and one secular (non-religious) account of morality (i.e. Moral Cultural Relativism, Social Contract Theory, Utilitarianism, or Kantian ethics). According to each account, what is the basis for determining right and wrong?Which provides the most compelling account and why?
2.udging other cultures: Can a moral relativist critically judge the moral practices of people in other cultures, or should she be committed to a principle of uncritical tolerance?Discuss with reference to at least one specific case or example.
3.Moral worth of an action: Is the moral worth of an action determined by the consequences of the action (as the Utilitarians argue), or by the intention that motivates the action (as Kantians argue)? Discuss with reference to examples and defend your answer with reasons.
4.The role of duty: Why did Kant argue that only acts performed out of duty are acts that have moral worth? Explain Kant’s view of the role of duty in morality, using one or two examples to illustrate his view. Do you agree with Kant that the motives we act on ought to be based on a sense of duty, as opposed to affection, passion or other sentiments? Why/why not?Explain and give reasons to defend your answer.
5.Distributive justice: Rawls argues for an account of justice as fairness andgives us two principles of justice. According to Rawls, what approach should we take to determining which distributions of resources and opportunities would be fair for the worst off within our society? Do you agree with Rawls? Evaluate his approach and give reasons to support your evaluation.
6.Social justice: Consider one of the following examples ofalleged injustice:global inequality or closed national borders. Critically discuss your chosen example by applying Rawls’ theory of justice and showingthe implications of his analysis for your chosen problem.
.7.Responsibility and justice: Consider the following statement from the 1991 Beijing Ministerial Declaration on Environment and Development: Ever since the Industrial Revolution, the developed countries have over-exploited the world’s natural resources through unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, causing damage to the global environment, to the detriment of the developing countries. Responsibility for the emissions of greenhouse gases should be viewed both in historical and cumulative terms, and in terms of current emissions. On the basis of the concept of equity, those developed countries who have contaminated most must contribute more. (cited in Gosseries 2004, p.37) What do you think would be the most just approach to determiningstate responsibility for fixing or mitigating the problems caused by climate change?Explain and give reasons to support your view.
