1) Answer any THREE of the questions listed below. You may pick three questions from the same chapter or three questions from two different chapters. It’s entirely up to you. The three question response posts must have a minimum of 200 words each and must directly quote and properly cite (using MLA format) from the assigned textbook readings. I expect substantive and scholarly posts which evince an understanding of the complex chapter readings. Failure to meet the above criteria will result in a point deduction.For the in-text citation, just put the name of the philosopher whose text you are citing in parentheses followed by the publication year of the e-book (2020). Here’s an example: (Plato, 2020).
DO NOT ANSWER MORE THAN ONE QUESTION IN A SINGLE POST.
QUESTIONS:
Chapter 8: Nietzsche
1. If Nietzsche were alive today, would he describe the contemporary United States as being governed by master morality or slave morality? Explain, and be specific.
2. Do you agree with Nietzsche’s claim that “every elevation of the type ‘man’ has hitherto been the work of an aristocratic society and so it will always be”? Why or why not?
Chapter 9: Ortega y Gasset
3. Do you agree with Ortega’s claim that we are (as of 1929, when he wrote The Revolt of the Masses) living in what he calls a hyperdemocracy? Explain.
4. Who exactly is the “mass man” and how does he relate to the “select minority” both now and in the past? Do you agree with Ortega’s division of humanity into these two types? Why or why not?
Chapter 10: Sartre
5. What does Sartre mean when he says “existence precedes essence”? Do you think this is a correct characterization of the human condition? Why or why not?
6. Do you agree that if “God does not exist, everything is permitted?” Why or why not?
7. In what sense is existentialism empowering, and in what sense is it burdensome, or even terrifying? Do you see yourself as an existentialist? Why or why not?
Chapter 11: Theodore Dalrymple:
1) According to Dalrymple, what is the fundamental difference between “depression” and “unhappiness”? Are you persuaded by his argument? Why or why not?
