Points to consider:
€¢    You will not be able to adequately respond to the following questions if you have not required text-book readings, audio-listening and video-watching.
€¢    This is a difficult assignment and a close and careful reading of the ideas are necessary. So take your time and read and re-read the views of the thinkers mentioned here that are difficult to understand.
€¢    Your response to the questions will reveal the amount of time, effort and reflection you have put into this assignment.
€¢    The amount of time, effort and reflection that you have spent on this assignment will give a certain value to your writing. In other words, you and you alone will determine what your grade for this assignment will be.
€¢    Write this essay for yourself to gain a better understanding of whom and what you are.
€¢    Do Not Write This Essay For The Instructor.
€¢    These questions have haunted humanity for millennia and do not have easy answers.
€¢    Create your own answers with the tools that have been given by life and this class.
€¢    Remember you have about three weeks to work on this essay. Rushed, ureflective and superficial responses will seriously jeopardize your passing of this class.
€¢    Your essay should be divided into separate parts; each part should respond to the appropriate set of questions. Make sure you specify which section you are writing about?
o    Example
?    Part 1:
First- write the question (copy/paste)
Then- your response

This is your story, your maze and your perplexity! This assignment allows you a glimpse into your own flaws as well as perfections. Take it seriously and, at the same time, have lots of fun with it. It is, after all, about you, your thoughts and your emotions. I hope you have enough interest in yourself to explore and discover your own thoughts and emotions. You are to answer all of the questions.
€¢    Your essay will be going through an internet program that checks for plagiarism. Plagiarized essays will be awarded 0 points and will fail the course.

Part 1 (5 points)
After taking a philosophy class, you, a well-mannered student, began asking some difficult questions from your parents and friends about the meaning of life.
1.    Do you agree that timeless questions are important in a practical way (i.e. who am I? What Am I? Where did I come from? Do I have a soul? Is there a God? What is the meaning of life and purpose of existence?)
2.    When do timeless questions surface and why?
a.    What happens to the human psyche once these questions surface?
b.    Do you think that a person needs to address timeless issues in order to be happy? What is happiness?
c.    Can a good and a full life be obtained without and good understanding of what happiness is?
d.    What is a good life?
e.     Is living a good life same as living a full life? What is a full life?
f.    If you had a choice of being happy and unaware or aware but not always happy, which would you choose and why?
3.    How do you define parenthood?
a.    What are the differences between the following: physical parents, emotional parents, intellectual parents, spiritual parents?
4.    From where did you get you responses to the above inquiries?
a.    How can you be certain that they are right and valid?
5.    Would you be an accident or a work of art without being able to adequately respond to these questions?
6.    What are social and political implications of your responses?

Part 2(5 points)
From childhood on you have been told who you are, how the world works and how you must operate in it if you wish to be successful in it. You were told what to think and feel; what foods to eat, what sort of people to associate with, what music you should listen to, what books to read and what words to use. In short, you have been told the good and the bad, the right and wrongs of things. Failure is pursuing what is bad and success is the result of pursuing the good.
Part 1
1)    List and briefly describe/explain all the sources from which values of good and bad, right and wrong emerge?
2)    Define good and bad, success and failure.
a.    Do good and bad, success and failure have universal definitions or are they subjective?
b.    How did you arrive at those definitions?
c.    How do you know those definition are right and true?
d.    Are your answers to the above questions based on knowledge or opinion?
i.    How do you know?
e.    Is feeling the same as knowing?
3)    Do you need to be told how to behave because your nature is sinful, bad or evil and left to your own device, you would hurt yourself and others because you are inclined to always do and feel wrongly?
4)    What, according to Plato, is the function of education?
5)    Is it true that when you wrong yourself, whether through wrong thinking or feeling, which then manifests itself outwardly through your actions, you would in turn hurt others?
a.    If this is true, do you then believe that your freedom should be taken away because you may seriously hurt yourself and others?

Part 3(5 points)
You have been told that God is all-knowing, all-powerful and perfect.
1)    How can you have knowledge of God?
a.    How can God’s existence be proven?
b.    Describe Cosmological, Ontological and Teleological arguments.
c.    Do any of these arguments bring you closer to God and create in you the feeling that God exists? Explain.
2)    If God is all-knowing, all-powerful and perfect, why does He not remove evil?
a.    Do you think that the presence of Satan is important? Why/why not?

Part 4(5 points)
Meet your trainers, the people who have trained you how to behave, think and live well: your parents, teachers, lawmakers, politicians and religious leaders. These people have inherited their wisdom from their parents, teachers, lawmakers, politicians and religious leaders.  (research required)
1)    Are these trainers trying to mold us in accordance with their conception of what it is to be a good person?
a.    How do you define a good person?
i.    Who determines what good and right are?
b.    Do all cultures have similar view as to what the nature of a human being is?
c.    Briefly describe how each of the following ethical and religious systems defines a human being and the notions of right/moral and happiness: 1) Psychological egoism; 2) Utilitarianism; 3) Deontological Ethics; 4) Buddhism; 5) Hinduism; 6) Confucianism; 7) Taoism; and, 9) Judaism
2)    If human nature is bad, is it then true that these trainers too have bad natures and cannot train us into goodness.
3)    How do social, political, and religious authorities know what is best for you?
4)    Do you think that without them you would behave, think and live wrongly?
a.    How do you know?
b.    Why should you trust their wisdom? What is wisdom?
5)    Do you feel that your trainers have really loved you? How do you define love?
a.    Do you consider it love if their advice has not led you towards success and or happiness?

Part 7(10 points)
You have been told that you are intelligent and have sufficient decision-making power. But upon closer examination you come to realize who and what you are is the product of your trainers: parents, teachers, lawmakers, politicians and religious leaders.
1)    What criteria do you use in making relevant and meaningful ethical decisions; or, who is actually making the ethical decisions?
a.    You or your trainers?
i.    If it is your trainers, who should be rewarded or punished regarding the consequences of your actions?
b.    If you made the decisions, who are you?
c.    What does it mean to be an individual?
2)    If you are the product of your environment, were you free in the creation of your identity?
a.    How do you define freedom?
b.    What is determinism?
3)    If your actions have profound impact those around you, should you be given freedom to act or just a privileged few who know how to use their freedom wisely?
a.     Should power be in the hands of a wealthy few or a few wise?
b.    What is wisdom and do the wise begin with democracy or dictatorship?
4)    What is the best type of society and government that would bring about human creativity, harmony, well-being, goodness, equality, understanding, wisdom and compassion?
5)    Do you think that human beings are equal or unequal in essence?
a.    In what ways are human beings equal and, or unequal?
b.    Is equality or inequality based on who and what we are as human beings or is it based on our actions?
c.    If we are social creatures, what then determines our psychological, economical and spiritual makeup?
d.    What governs our actions?
e.    If equal, then, what sort of a government and society must there be for equality to become part of the social and political fabric?
f.    What does it mean to be psychologically, politically, economically and socially equal?
g.    What happens to the concepts of freedom and free market under the banner of equality?

Part 8(5 points)
You have been moving from one foster home to another for the past twenty years. You are not yet finished with your education, have no financial security and no loving parental community.
1.    What do you think are some of the reasons as to why you were pushed into foster care?
a.    Why do you think your parents were unable or incapable of keeping and loving you?
b.    What are the psychological and emotional impacts of being passed from one home to another?
c.    How do you define love and trust?
2.    How has your life history impacted your self-worth, self-identity and the manner in which you interact with others?
3.    How is the self defined in Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, and Taoism?
Part 9 (10 points)
Exhausted after football practice, you go home and wonder if you should watch pornography or begin writing this essay. You decide to watch porn!
1.    Why do you watch pornography?
a.    What do you think is the difference between pleasure and happiness?
b.    What does Epicurus say about pleasure and what according to Epicurus is required to attain pleasure?
2.    What are the arguments for and against pornography?
a.    In what ways does pornography help and hurt marriage?
b.    What do you think your girl/boy friend would say about you watching pornography?
c.    Would you be okay if your girl/boy friend or your sister/mother desired to become a porn star?
i.    Is it right/ethical to only care for those closest to us (parents, siblings, relatives, friends) and be indifferent towards those with whom we have no relations?
d.    What are the social implications regarding pornography?
e.    What are the benefits and harms of pornography within the context of human relationships?
f.    What happens to self-respect and human dignity when starring in or watching porn?
i.    How do you love and beauty are defined within the context of pornography?
3.    Do you think pornography should be censored?
a.    Under what circumstances can freedom and the pursuit of happiness be healthy and, or unhealthy for the individual and society?

Part 10(5 points)
You have been in a relationship with your boy/girl friend for two years. You are engaged and want to move-in into a one bedroom together! Both of your girl/boy friend’s parents, who are pastors at the church, have objected to this relationship and are adamantly against the two of you moving in together or having sex before marriage. You are the wrong person for their son/daughter, they say.
1.    Do you think you are aware of the psychological impacts that your history has had in you and in what ways it could affect your relationship?
2.    Why do you think your boy/girl friend’s parents object to your relationship and to they have the right to interfere?
a.    Does your boy/girl friend have any obligation to his/her parents?
3.    Do you think it is a good idea to live together before getting married?
a.    Will knowing someone better increase or decrease you desire for that person?
i.    What does Freud say about human beings and self-knowledge?
b.    What are your views about premarital sex?
i.    What are the personal as well as social implications of premarital sex?

Part 11(5 points)
You girlfriend’s monthly cycle is delayed. Concerned, she takes a pregnancy test and the result is positive. She is pregnant! She is, however, unsure whether or not the child is yours as she has been sexually involved with other men.
1.    What are some of the reasons for not being faithful to one’s companion?
a.    What are the impacts of lying, cheating, and breaking promises on oneself and others?
2.    Should your girlfriend be obligated to tell you that she is pregnant, even if the child may not be yours?
3.    Is she obligated to tell you that she has been with other men?
4.    Why do you think she has been sexually intimate with other men?
a.    Could she be considered a prostitute?
b.    What is the meaning of human sexuality?
c.    What is the difference between sex and love?
d.    Is what your girlfriend has done moral?
e.    Is it possible to have one love-partner and many sexual-partners?
i.    Is this moral or immoral?
5.    Do you think that human beings are monogamous or polygamous animals?
a.    If humans are polygamous, do you still believe that what your girlfriend has done is wrong?

Part 12(5 points)
Knowing that both of you are not ready to have a child, you are both contemplating on terminating the pregnancy. Being raised Catholic, however, you both want to know what your religion says about abortion.
1.    Give a brief history about the Catholic doctrine regarding abortion.
a.    Give a brief history on the legal status of abortion in America.
b.    What are the arguments for and against abortion?
c.    Clearly explain the stages after the union of the sperm and the egg.
d.    When does life begin?
e.    What is the difference between potential versus actual life?
2.    Is a fetus a person?
a.    How do you define personhood?
3.    Is abortion the taking of a human life?
4.    Is abortion murder?
5.    Does the fetus have any rights?
6.    The desire to abort should be whose decision and why?
7.    Is the ability to bear children the same as being able to parent?
8.    Should people wait until they are married to have sex in order to prevent an unwanted pregnancy?

Part 13(5 points)
Since there is a chance that you both may keep the child, you are both contemplating getting married.
1.    Is having a child a good reason for you two to get married?
2.    Do you think that marriage a healthy institution?
3.    In what ways does marriage promote as well as hinder growth?
4.    Do you think that being the biological parents a sufficient reason for you to raise the child?
a.    Do children really belong to their biological parents or to society?
i.    If children belong to society, then who should raise them?

Part 14(5 points)
Shelly is told by a physician that she should have the baby and then sell the child’s body parts- kidneys, heart, and lung- to various people for large sums of money.
1.    Is the behavior of the physician moral?
2.    Is selling body parts moral?
a.    What are the arguments for and against selling body parts?
3.    Would it be okay to sell the child’s body parts if she only lived for only a few hours and then died due to heart complications

Part 15(5 points)
The Physician then informs her that if she wants to terminate the pregnancy she should allow the embryo to be used to stem cell research.
1.    What are the arguments for and against stem cell research?

Part 16(5 points)
Shawn’s father was in the first Gulf war. When you ask him why he went to war, he responds by simply saying:  I fought for freedom, I killed for freedom and I obeyed my Commander and Chief for freedom.
1.    Define freedom and under what circumstances people should be given freedom and under what circumstances should freedom be taken away from them?
a.    How is responsibility tied to freedom?
2.    What is the difference between killing and murder?
3.    Since war involves taking lives, then under what circumstances, if any, is killing justified?
4.    What is capital punishment and what are the arguments for and against it?
5.    Do you think abortion warrants capital punishment since abortions could be defined as taking a life and hence murder?

Part 17(5 points)
Your friend is tackled and hit hard. He loses consciousness and enters a vegetative coma and is on life support (kept alive with the help of machines. You are his only family and the doctors await your decision.
1.    What should you do?
a.    What are your thoughts on euthanasia?
b.    Discuss the differences between allowing him to die, mercy death and mercy killing?
c.    What is informed consent?

Part 18 (10 points)

Eric, 45, is married to Joanne, 43, and they have three teenage children. They have been married for 20 years. Generally speaking, they have a pretty good marriage, except for their sex life. Although they both know it is poor, they don’t discuss it very often.

Over a period of several months Joanne notices a change in Eric, and finally asks him if there is anything wrong. Eric blurts out that he has been seeing someone for several months and may even be in love.

Joanne is so angry and hurt that she immediately demands that he leave the house and states that she wants a divorce. They both refuse to seek help such as therapy or marriage counseling. Eventually, divorce ensues at a great emotional cost to Eric, Joanne and their three children.

Questions to reflect on and respond to
Section I.
1.    Eric and Joanna married in their twenties. If human beings, unlike cups, are always changing, does it then suggest that ideas, beliefs, perspectives and hence likes and disliked will undergo change? If so, can anyone be bound by a contract that they signed (in this case marriage) some twenty years ago?
2.    Clearly explain whether or not Eric’s behavior was immoral?
3.    Should he have told Joanne the truth or should he have lied?
4.    Do human beings really have the capacity to hear truth and honesty?
a.    If so how and under what conditions?
5.    If not, are we naturally moved into dishonesty with ourselves sand others simply because we do not have the capacity for honesty?
Section II.
1.    What are various functions of sex?
2.    How is sex related to human felicity or happiness?
3.    How is sex related to human desire for beauty and aliveness?
4.    How is sex related to the worlds of advertisement?
5.    What is the difference between having sex and making love?
Section III.
1.    What is the function of marriage and relationships in general?
2.    What does Conversations with God view relationships?
3.    Discuss how Confucianism would respond to this scenario?

Part 19(5 points)
Here is your final task. Your success or failure in this class is not defined by a letter grade, but rather, how self-reflective and self-aware you have become through the readings, lectures, in-class discussions and the essay you have written. To put your self-awareness to test observe the following:
1.    Give yourself the final grade.
a.    Not the grade you want, but the grade that you have earned.
i.    To come up with the appropriate earned-letter-grade, you need to summon up your emotional, intellectual and spiritual honesty and integrity so that you are not led into mistaking wanting for deserving or having earned.
ii.    This demands courage and sacrifice.
iii.    This is a foundation of ethics that leads to justice giving birth to character and integrity.
2.    In reflecting on what your final grade should be, consider the following points:
i.    Did I do the assigned readings?
ii.    Did I do my best on the final essay?
1.    How much time did I spend on writing the essay?
2.    Did I examine each dilemma from multiple perspectives giving each perspective a decent supporting argument?
3.    Did I give respond to each question adequately?
3.    In other words, imagine you were the instructor and in charge of giving yourself a grade. Be as objective and fair as possible!
4.    Devote at least two-to-three pages to this part of the assignment.
5.    In these pages you will have demonstrated what you have actually learned and whether or not you were educated.
6.    Finally, in case you fail to adequately honor questions 1 and 2, you automatically forfeit your freedom to grade yourself as you mistook €˜I have earned’ for €˜I want’. Consequently your lack of awareness will force the instructor to issue you a grade.

Take advantage of this assignment and use your life experiences to better acquaint yourself with who and what you are and use the tools given to in this class to craft a more inspiring image of yourself.