This exam is due in hard copy by the date given in the course schedule, attached to the syllabus. Please put your name and ticket number at the beginning of your exam. You must answer either question #1 or question #2. You must also answer either question #3 or question #4. Finally, you must answer questions #5.Your answer to each question should be approximately 3-4 double-spaced pages , with no more than one-inch margins all around. You may use either a 12- or 14-point font. The exam should be labeled on the first page with your name, the due date, and the course name (Modern Philosophy).You may study with other students in preparation for this exam. Please be sure, however, that the answers you turn in are substantially your own, and not simply copies or paraphrases of someone elses answers. If you do work with anyone else, you must list their names on your exam. Also, whenever you quote, paraphrase, or rely heavily on some particular source for a portion of your answer, you must insert a footnote, endnote or parenthetical comment citing this source.
Remember to write your answers so that someone who was not in this course would understand what you are explaining. Whenever you refer to one of our authors, please give a paragraph and section or chapter reference. You are encouraged to do outside research for this exam, but only to help you do a better job of answering the questions. (You wont get credit merely because youve cited some outside source.) I would recommend starting with the online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, which may be found at: (Note no www prefix.)

Philosophy

Order Description

“I am, therefore, precisely only a thinking thing, that is, a mind, soul, intellect or reason – words the meaning of which was formerly unknown to me. But I am a genuine thing and I truly exist. But what kind of thing? I just said: a thinking thing” (Descartes, Meditations).
Descartes is often associated with a dualist view in the philosophy of mind, which treats mind as substantially distinct from the body, and which often treats personal identity as a matter of mind rather than the body. What are Descartes’s arguments for the dualist position? Are they sound? Why do they continue to compel the attention of philosophers today?

make sure you append a bibliography to your essay and that you identify any quotations or ideas borrowed from secondary sources. accessible resource for secondary discussion is the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu
Sources you can used (not mandatory): texts from Pascal and Kant

Philosophy

Order Description

“I am, therefore, precisely only a thinking thing, that is, a mind, soul, intellect or reason – words the meaning of which was formerly unknown to me. But I am a genuine thing and I truly exist. But what kind of thing? I just said: a thinking thing” (Descartes, Meditations).
Descartes is often associated with a dualist view in the philosophy of mind, which treats mind as substantially distinct from the body, and which often treats personal identity as a matter of mind rather than the body. What are Descartes’s arguments for the dualist position? Are they sound? Why do they continue to compel the attention of philosophers today?

make sure you append a bibliography to your essay and that you identify any quotations or ideas borrowed from secondary sources. accessible resource for secondary discussion is the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu
Sources you can used (not mandatory): texts from Pascal and Kant