Philosophy
Assignment: Please select ONE of the following prompts and write a reflection paper (as described on the assignment/rubric sheets) in response to that prompt.
Format: Each entry is to be approximately 600-900 words in length (2-3 pages); typed; font size 11-12; standard college level grammar, spelling and structure. Handwritten papers will not be graded. Each paper must have a properly formatted bibliography/reference list and citations (the style is of your choosing). See rubric for grading details.
Prompts:
1. Discuss the philosophical problem of evil and Augustine’s solution to it. Why does he think that even though God gave human beings free will, knowing what we will do with it, God has still created the best of all possible worlds? Do you agree; why or why not?
2. Compare Abelard, Augustine, and Hildegard on the nature and role of the will, the understanding, and the desires. What is the connection between these and human actions? In your opinion, whose view most accurately describes the way people really are; why?
3. According to Abelard’s ethics, when is an action right or wrong (i.e. what makes a right action right and what makes a wrong action wrong) and what difference does he see between sin and vice? Discuss two ways his views are different from Augustine’s. Whose view of ethics do you agree with the most; why?
