Test study questions

Details about the test

• Location: regular classroom (Ellis Auditorium)
• Day & time: regular classroom (Tuesday January 29th, 4:00pm)
  
• Bring minimal books, bags, electronic devices
• Bring your books, bags etc. to the front of the class before the test begins

The following readings ARE covered on this in-class test:

• Walzer, “Nonviolence and the Theory of War”
• Lackey, "Pacifism"
• Jesus of Nazareth, "The Sermon on the Mount/The Good Samaritan"
• Cheyney Ryan, “The Morality of Pacifism”
• Gandhi, “The Practice of Satyagraha”
• Martin Luther King Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
• Kant, "Perpetual Peace”
• Walzer, “Just and Unjust War”

Below are suggestions for your preparation. The first section contains concepts, definitions, etc. The second contains questions to give you practice choosing your words carefully and developing clear and concise arguments. The test has both multiple choice and short-answer questions.

Questions on the test are drawn from course readings and lectures. Some questions on the test are not covered in the suggestions below.

Concepts & definitions

• Mohandas Gandhi
• Douglas Lackey
• Leo Tolstoy
• Jesus of Nazareth
• Michael Walzer
• St. Augustine
• The war convention
• International realism
• Non-combatant immunity
• Just cause
• inter arma silent leges
• Clausewitz
• Universal pacifism
• Anti-killing pacifism
• Anti-coercion pacifism
• Private pacifism
• Anti-war pacifism
• The Biblical prohibition
• The sacredness of life view
• The right to life argument
• Christian pacifism
• Political pacifism
• Institutional pacifism
• The ‘moral exemplar’ argument (e.g. Tolstoy)
• Gandhian pacifism
• St. Augustine’s ‘limited pacifism’
• Pacifism/nonviolence as personal ethic
• Pacifism/nonviolence as political doctrine
• Pacifism/nonviolence as absolute principle
• Pacifism/nonviolence as qualified principle
• The ancient ethic
• The Jewish law
• The new Christian ethic of nonviolence
• Thrasymachus of Chalcedon
• Instrumental value
• Intrinsic value
• Nonviolence as a political strategy
• Nonviolence as a moral argument
• The content of Satyagraha
• Respect for self
• Respect for fellow human beings
• The best of religious traditions
• Universal community of humankind
• Universal human rights
• Militarism
• ‘Perpetual peace’
• Satyagraha
• The Theory of Aggression
• The domestic analogy
• Non-combatant immunity
• Martin Luther King’s principle of non-violent political action
• Civil disobedience
• Fidelity to law

Short answer-type questions

1. Explain in your own words a moral argument found in the “The Sermon on the Mount”.
2. What is ‘the domestic analogy’ and how does it relate to Walzer’s Theory of Aggression?
3. Describe some of the variants of pacifism we’ve examined in class, and explain in your own words which of the variants you consider the most compelling.
4. In your own words, outline Walzer’s argument against non-violence.
5. In your own words, clearly describe your understanding of Walzer’s concept of the “war convention”.
6. Explain in your own words ONE of Lackey’s variants of pacifism, and give your own argument explaining his challenge against this variant is successful.
7. Do you think Satyagraha is an effective method of challenging political injustice?
8. Does Kant support the idea of a “world republic”?
9. Do you think Satyagraha provides a convincing moral argument? What kind of moral argument do you think it establishes?
10. What are the differences between Rawls’s and Martin Luther King’s accounts of ‘civil disobedience’?
11. Is non-violence unique to Christianity?
12. Does Christian non-violence go beyond the “ancient ethic”?
13. Why do we consider fidelity to law an important value?
14. In your own words, explain Martin Luther King’s argument for civil disobedience, including the restrictions MLK places on it and his underlying moral argument.
15. Clearly explain why you think Gandhi’s satyagraha either does or does not establish non-violence as an absolute moral principle.
16. Is it ever justifiable to break the law for political reasons?
17. What is the foundation of Kant’s perpetual peace idea?
18. What are the major problems with Kantian pacifism?