• Question 1

Small edit to make things clearer (“doesn’t work” –> “not satisfactory”). Further hint = Don’t ignore what you’ve been taught in the Webinar. Just noticed something on W02 Slide #25 that, if more explicit, will probably help students. You can edit the last sentence there to “Hausman thinks that this is a serious objection to all Mental-States Theories of well-Being—mental states are only tangentially connected with how things really are.” Think of it this way–mental states are often caused by things happening in reality (e.g., someone punches you–you feel pain), or even reflect reality (e.g., you believe that the E-Lecture is happening because you are seeing and hearing things); but sometimes, they aren’t reflective of reality (e.g., you feel as if you are receiving the  Oscars–you were dreaming….). General advice: A lot of you really need to read the two relevant paragraphs in Hausman (beginning from “But there’s lots of different kinds of pleasures…”) very, very carefully.

  • Question 2

Typo corrected (should be “W02 Slide #21”).

  • Question 3

Small clarification appended to Option B (“i.e., it’s better for me not to plug in”) to make things clearer. If someone asks you whether X might be a Y, the way to proceed is to see if there’s anything about X (in the given information) that makes it not possible for it to be a Y. If so, answer “no”. Further hint = Don’t ignore the setup of the story. General advice: According to the Doctrine of Ethical Hedonism: Pleasure is the only intrinsically good thing–the only thing that is good in itself, rather than derivatively (W02 Slide #21; see also #15).

Update: A student asked me to explain what Claire was saying (“The one thing pleasure is good for is that it causes me to be fulfilled“). Since I did, I thought I should share with the rest of you. Think of a simpler analogy. Imagine someone telling you something like this: “The one [i.e., only] thing these rocks are good for, is that they can be paperweights (i.e., they can cause paper to be weighted down)…”

  • Question 5

General advice: See general advice for Question 3.

  • Question 6

General advice: Read the relevant paragraph in Hausman very carefully. The one quoted in the question itself.

  • Question 7

General advice: Review the material of Slides #29-30 carefully, and as one complete train of thought. If necessary, go replay the recording.

  • Question 8

Small typos corrected (“explanation”–>”explanations”).