Due: Friday, September 5.
Write in 500 words or less an answer to one of the following questions:
1. Russell writes: ÒThe free intellect will see as God might see, without a here and now, without hopes and fears, without the trammels of customary beliefs and traditional prejudices, calmly, dispassionately, in the sole and exclusive desire of knowledge Ð knowledge as impersonal, as purely contemplative, as it is possible for man to attain.Ó Which of the characters in Crimes and Misdemeanors comes closest to viewing the world in this way, and which of them is farthest away? Explain your answer.
2. Compare and contrast Jack Rosenthal from Crimes and Misdemeanors with Thrasymachus in Book I of the Republic.
3. Consider SocratesÕ argument that we should not fear death. Does it follow that murder is morally acceptable? Why or why not?
4. Socrates argues that to be unjust is to be irrational. Discuss this argument in connection with the character of Judah Rosenthal.
5. Jack Rosenthal is said to live in the ÒrealÓ world, Judah less so, and (by implication) the rabbi Ben still less so. Is this true? Explain why or why not.