PHIL 311 Syracuse University Epistemic Inequality Dependence Professional Ethics Essay Content Type

PHIL 311 Professional Ethics Spring 2021 Midterm Exam
Below are the essay prompts for your midterm exam. You should submit one document – three
pages total – that contain all of your answers. Be sure to identify which prompt you are
responding to at the start of each answer.
Essay Prompts: Pick 2 of 3 (100 points total/ 50 points each).
Limit your answers to each prompt to 1.5 pages each. You can offer supporting quotes from
relevant readings, but be sure to provide in-text citations for those quotes. You do not need to
provide a full reference, provided you are using readings assigned for class. Be conscientious of
basic essay writing format (include a basic thesis, along with relevant paragraph breaks).
Prompt 1: Ethical Expertise
Compare and contrast how Hardwig defines the expert/lay person relationship to how
Elliot defines it. What do they agree with and emphasize as important, and where do they
differ in their portrayal of the ethical responsibilities that experts have to those who need
them? Provide evidence for your claims about each author.
Prompt 2: Expert Knowledge – Power and Limits
Explain and defend the idea that expertise is “more reliable, but not necessarily correct”
(Hardwig, 2). Explore both the concept of reliability and the concept of not always right,
drawing from the readings in the first half of the semester. You must refer to Leher and
Tannert, et al., in your answer.
Prompt 3: Approaches to Ethical Theory
Compare and contrast how Kant determines ethical responsibility with how Aristotle
does. First, explain how each theorist defines human nature and how that leads to a
definition of good behavior. Then compare and/or contrast their theories. You MUST
provide evidence for your claims about the theorists from the assigned readings.