PH5 Banach

Final Exam Essay Question

Write one well-organized essay in which you argue for your answer to the question:

What are you and what (given what you are) is the meaning of your life?

Your answer to this question should have two parts:

A. What are you as a human being and how do human beings fit into nature as a whole? That is, how does our subjective conception of ourselves, from the inside, fit into the overall objective conception we have of the universe? You should make sure to trace the source of these two different views of a human being in the thinkers we have studied, to explain your way of reconciling them, and to defend your position against the most important objections we have studied.

Your solution must contain answers to the following questions:

1. How is our consciousness related to the physical world?

2. Is there anything that transcends nature?

3. Is human consciousness essentially connected to the rest of the world or are we islands of subjectivity?

B. On the basis of the theory of human nature argued for in Part A, you should explain what the meaning of your life is with special reference to one of the following problems. (Choose one.)

1. What happens when you die and is it a bad thing? Among the issues you should discuss are:

a. Are we immortal, given your answer to Part A?

b. If not, how does this affect the possibility of human happiness?

c. If so, can we exist for an eternity without becoming bored or losing our personal

identity?

2. Is the existence of evil compatible with human happiness? (You may want to explain how the role that God plays in the account of human nature you gave in Part A is related to this issue.)

(You may also want to discuss this in connection with Dostoevsky and Franny and Zooey

3. Is the un-examined life worth living? How important is objective self-examination in human life? How certain are you that the answer you gave in Part A is correct? Is examination valuable because it reveals the truth about ourselves or does it have value even if you cannot be absolutely sure of the answer you gave in Part A?

4. Is it possible to get real value or happiness from love, or are all relationships doomed to failure? Issues to consider include:

a. Are we islands of subjectivity?

b. If so, how can we ever make any connection with another person given the

separateness of our subjective natures? Is all love selfish? Is the Master-Slave relationship inevitable?

c. If not, how do we maintain our individuality while aiming at intimacy?

Give arguments for your assumptions and make sure you consider any objections to your view we have considered in class or in the readings.