Due:2:30 PM, Wednesday, December 18, electronic submission

The final exam for this class is a cumulative essay-based exam. It requires extensive independent thought on your part, including independent evaluation of the views and arguments we will be discussing. I will expect you to write a clear, well-organized, detailed, and thoughtful response to the exam question.

To help you, I am giving you the question now (see below).This way you will know what to look for when you are doing the reading and working with your class notes, and you will be able to put things together as the semester proceeds.

The exam question requires you to evaluate the views and arguments of several philosophers and to justify your overall assessment.This means that roughly half of the essay should explain the relevant philosopher’s views and arguments, and half should be devoted to providing detailed, specific reasons for thinking that the arguments/views in question succeed or fail (whichever you think is the case).Your essay must develop possible objections to the philosophical arguments under discussion, and you should also consider how someone might argue against your claims.Your essay will be graded on the basis of (1) the extent to which you show an accurate and complete understanding of the relevant views and arguments, (2) the plausibility and thoughtfulness of your critical evaluation.

Be sure to answer every part of the question.Where relevant, you should cite specific passages from the course readings.Do not simply paraphrase course handouts in your essay.Be sure to explain all specialized philosophical terminology.

Your essay should be detailed, clear, concise, and well-organized to defend a specific, clearly-stated thesis.At the beginning of your essay, you should make clear what you will be arguing.

You may not write a final exam essay that is basically a reworking of your term paper.

Your essay must not be longer than 4 double-spaced, typed pages.However, it may be shorter than that.Length is not what matters.What matters are the following:accuracy, depth of comprehension, relevant detail, quality of reasoning, and thoughtful engagement with the course materials.

You are encouraged to talk with the AI’s, myself, friends, and people outside of the course while you are thinking about your final exam essay. However, your essay must be written independently.Substantial similarity in wording or structure will be regarded as an adequate indication that the final exams were not written independently and will be grounds for a failing grade on the exam.Plagiarism will likewise constitute grounds for a failing grade on the exam.

Final Exam Question:

According to the skeptical view that appears in Descartes’ “First Meditation”, we cannot know anything about a mind-independent world.According to Descartes himself, however, the objects that we are aware of in sensory experience (things like tables and trees) are mind-independent physical things, and he claims that we can have knowledge about them.Berkeley claims, against Descartes, that there are no mind-independent things and that an object is “nothing but a congeries of sensible impressions, or ideas perceived by various senses”.He thinks his view is required in order to save us from “skepticism”.Kant says that the objects we are aware of in experience are just “appearances,” not “things in themselves”, and that while we can have knowledge of “appearances”, we can’t know anything positive about “things in themselves.”He thinks that he avoids skepticism.Schlick, by contrast, claims that these philosophers aren’t even debating a real question.Explain and evaluate these views.How are they similar and how are they different?Which of these philosophers offers the most convincing defense of his view?Which (if any) of these views are right?Justify your assessment with particular reference to the strengths and weaknesses of each.

HELLO THERE, I AM EXCITED TO GET WORKING. IT IS CRITICAL THAT ALL DIRECTIONS ARE FOLLOWED.

THIS ASSIGNMENT IS A LARGE PORTION OF MY GRADE, AND IS DUE ON WEDNESDAY, AT 2:30PM.

THANK YOU.