Plato Assignment

Your assignment for this weekend is to make your own quiz on the Euthyphro. Here are the instructions; turn in your quiz on Tuesday, October 6. Have fun!

Email me with questions.

(That's a 19th Century bust of Socrates on the left)

Updated Link to Forum Grades

Here's the link to the updated PDF of your forum grades.

For privacy, you'll need your student ID number to locate your grades.

Don't forget to go to WebAdvisor and correct your email address if you didn't receive the email from me last night.

If you'd like to improve your grade, you can add to what you've already posted for additional points. If you contacted me earlier about difficulties posting, don't worry, you can still post for full credit.

I'll hold the comments open until this coming Sunday at midnight.

Term Paper 1: Moral Relativism

The forum discussion for The Handmaid's Tale is immediately below this post; scroll down if you can't see it.

Here is a link to a pdf of your first term paper, on Moral Relativism. You won't be able to answer the questions until we've covered relativism in class, but if you'd like to look at it now so that you have it in your head while we discuss relativism, please feel free.

Forum Discussion 1: The Handmaid's Tale

Think about the questions below for a few minutes, at least, before answering. Give a thoughtful, detailed answer to one of the questions below. Explain your reasoning in some detail. Give two thoughtful, detailed responses to your colleagues.

Your discussion contributions should all be posted by midnight on Sunday, September 6.

1. One thing that stands out for a lot of people is the fact that the people running the handmaid's program are all women. What motivations do you think those women might have? Why would they work so hard to maintain the program and indoctrinate other women?
2. Imagine that it's ten years later in the world of the film, and the government has succeeded in suppressing the rebels. Their program of re-education has been very successful, so that a very large majority of the population, including the handmaids, accept and even support the program. Would there be anything wrong with it? Why or why not?
3. Kate believes that she has a moral imperative to try to escape and raise her child in freedom, even though attempting escape is extremely risky, with a strong chance that she'll be killed (and the fetus along with her). Why do you think she believes the risk is worth it? Do you agree or disagree? Say why in detail.