exposition and criticism of philosophy

1. State, explain, and assess the Ontological Argument for God’s existence. Is this argument
sound?
2. State, explain, and assess Aquinas’s First Way. Does this argument show that God exists?
3. State, explain, and assess the Problem of Evil, construed as an atheistic argument. Does this
argument show that God does not exist?
4. What is the free-will defence to the Problem of Evil? Does it show that God’s existence is
compatible with the existence of evil?
5. According to Clifford, ‘[I]t is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe
anything upon insufficient evidence.’ Reconstruct Clifford’s argument for this claim. Is it
valid? Sound?
6. What is fideism? Is any variety of fideism defensible?
7. What is the best argument for mind-body dualism? Is this argument sound?
8. What is functionalism? Should we accept this approach to mental states?
9. What is the Turing test for mentality? Is this test a defensible one?
10. What point is Searle trying to make by means of his Chinese Room example? Is he right? In
answering this question, you would do well to structure an argument which develops the
main point of Searle’s example.
II. Note that these questions require you to do two things: exposition and criticism. You are,
that is, expected first to understand and reconstruct an argument given on behalf of some
claim, and then to assess the defensibility of that argument. Your thesis statement, which
you should state clearly and overtly in the first paragraph, will reflect your final critical
assessment. You are advised to: (i) prepare an outline before you write; (ii) write a draft, put
it away for a few days, and then revise it; and (iii) write in a direct and unaffected prose
style.

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