Do we always judge a person’s behavior based on his/her goodwill (or lack thereof)? Are there cases in which we don’t know or don’t particularly about one’s real (deep) moral motive? [200 words limit]
3. Brainwash, Indoctrination, and Blind faith
Watch the film “The Lottery” at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIm93Xuij7k (Part I)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMhV3fwx5Sg (Part II)
(1) Explain how indoctrination or brainwash is conducted in this film. You need to refer to details in the film. Do NOT write a plot summary of the film. Just list the details that show indoctrination or brainwash. [ 150 words limit]
(2) Based on what you’ve learned from Lecture 5, what possible strategies or approaches (please be specific) can be used to break the brainwash and the blind faith of the village people depicted in the film. Explain. [150 words limit]
Note: you may have to watch twice of the film to get all the details.
4. Analysis and evaluation of a text (part of a student’s term paper)
Title: Research Funding and Diseases:
First paragraph: “Human, since the childhood, was threatened by different diseases. This kind of intimidation will be after us until we die. Many diseases are curable, but others are fatal illnesses which have been investigated. Such explorations required enthusiastic researchers and funding. Practically, there have been quite a number of researchers who devoted their time for this search. However, funding is still a problem…”
Give what you have learned in Lecture 4 about language:
(1) Identify some of the problems in the above passage (including the title). [100 words limit]
(2) What does this passage show (betray) about the author’s possible lack of a writer’s virtue(s). [100 words limit]
5. Engaging with an idea
One day, having been robbed, the Bible commentator Matthew Henry (1662-1714) wrote: “I thank Thee [God] first because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth because it was I who was robbed, and not I who robbed.”
Questions:
1. Is there a difference between Henry’s thanking God and Henry’s (let’s imagine) thanking of the robber? [100 words limit]
2. In the above quote, did Henry agree with what the robber did to him? Did Henry condemn the robber? [Just say, YES or NO]
3. Do you agree with the following comments on Henry’s dairy? Why or why not?
Imagine someone writes
Henry writes: “I thank Thee… because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed”, therefore implying that because he is morally just and follows the law, he is better than the one who robbed him. Perhaps this implies that seemingly having goodness in one’s heart makes one better in the eyes of religion, the law, and society. Being morally just, in turn, is highly regarded by society, and will get us further in life. However, if this is how Henry thinks, how do we know that the robber did not commit this act for a larger purpose? Perhaps the robber needed the money to feed his family or to take care of a sick family member. Without knowing the circumstance of the robber, it is unfair to say Henry is morally just and the robber is not. An ethical question then emerges : is it moral to disobey the law if it is for a higher purpose? Is it moral to take from another person for the benefit of one’s own self/community/family?” [200 words limit]
