Your Quotation Bank:“Our identity over time just involves (a) Relation R – Psychological connectedness and/or psychological continuity – with the right kind of cause, provided (b) that this relation does not take a ‘branching’ form, holding between one person and two different future people.”Parfit, Reasons and Persons, p.216Parfit is arguing in the branch line case that personal identity is not physical.“A Reductionist can admit that, in this sense, a person is what has these experiences, or the subject of experiences.”Parfit, Reasons and Persons, p.223Parfit explains that Reductionists do not think that the person experiencing something is a separate being from mind and body.”A person is an entity that has a brain and body, and has particular thoughts, desires and so on.”Parfit, Reasons and Persons, p.211This is the Reductionist view on a person as a distinct entity.“If personal identity is what matters, I should regard my prospect here as being nearly as bad as ordinary death. But if what matters is Relation R, with any cause, I should regard this way of dying as being about as good as ordinary survival.”Parfit, Reasons and Persons, p.215Parfit is explaining the two different views on the branch-line case.“The Soul is also said to be the subject of mental states (it is your soul, rather than your body, that experiences thoughts, feelings, and so on.)”Huemer, Knowledge, Reality, and Value, p.205Huemer is explaining people’s general idea of what the Soul is.“Identity is a one-to-one relation: Every being is identical with exactly one being; no one is ever identical with two beings.”Huemer, Knowledge, Reality, and Value, p.207This is the first of Humer’s four principles about identity.“Both copies satisfy the criterion for being you, so they are both you. But this cannot be: it violates the basic definition for numerical identity (which, again, is the what we are interested in.)”Huemer, Knowledge, Reality, and Value, p.202Huemer is explaining the issue with the “perfect clone” problem.“Uddyotakara next considers a new Buddhist strategy: when we say the self does not exist, by “self” we only mean something you imagine to exist.”Siderits, Buddhism as Philosophy, p.142The Buddhist explanation to the doctrine of no self.“If it were said that the self is imaginatively projected onto the body, as Santa Claus is projected onto the person who puts the presents under the tree, then there would have to be a self to be projected into the body.”Siderits, Buddhism as Philosophy, p.143-144Siderits further explains that it’s believed that self is just a thing imagined and put onto a body.

During extrusion, hydrated flour is transported through a rotating screw system inside an extruder.

Midterm Exam — Science Fiction & EthicsFormat: This is a multi-day in-class writing assignment. You will write your essay across two class sessions (Monday and Wednesday, 85 minutes each). This exam is administered through Blackboard using Honorlock screen recording and Browser Guard. You may not access any outside materials, devices, or applications during the exam.Between Sessions: After Day 1, you will be able to view your Day 1 writing, but you will not be able to edit it. Use the time between sessions to think about your argument, consider what you want to revise or expand, and plan how to use your Day 2 session. You will not be able to bring notes with you to Day 2.Day 2: You will receive the full text of your Day 1 writing along with a fresh essay box. You may copy and paste from your Day 1 text to restructure, revise, and continue your work. Your Day 2 submission is what will be graded.Quotation Bank: You have access to the quotation bank you prepared and uploaded in advance if you did so.Target Length: 800–1,500 words (but there is no real maximum/minimum word count). Quality matters more than quantity.Requirements:Present a clear thesis and argue for it.Engage substantively with at least two of our primary sources (Parfit, Siderits, Huemer).Consider at least one serious objection to your position and respond to it.Observe the Forbidden Case Constraint (explained below).The Forbidden Case Constraint:For the purposes of this exam, the judiciary has been thoroughly convinced of both Parfitian Reductionism and the Buddhist Doctrine of No-Self. You may not argue that the clones are straightforwardly different persons from Sam Bell whose independent consent is required. The most obvious objection: that the clones are separate people and this is simply slavery,  is not available to you. You must work within the reductionist framework to make your case.Stipulated Facts (unless your scenario modifies them):Sam Bell Prime was aware of the cloning arrangement and consented to it.Sam Bell Prime completed the first authentic three-year contract under the same isolated conditions as the clones.Sam Bell Prime is being compensated for all labor performed by the clones.The clones are designed with a biologically limited lifespan of approximately three years.Each clone experiences only its own three-year stint with no cumulative effects from prior cycles.The clones were never intended to discover the truth. The events of the film represent a malfunction.Robotic or AI-based solutions are not viable alternatives for this operation.The Corporation’s Concession: The corporation concedes that the specific events of the film, where two clones discover the truth, represent a failure and a breach of its duty. It owes Sam Bell compensation for this negligence. However, it maintains that the underlying arrangement, when operating as designed, is morally permissible.Sam Bell Prime Is DeadScenario Modification:Suppose that Sam Bell Prime dies of natural causes five years into the ongoing clone cycles, long after the arrangement began, but while clones are still being activated and performing contracts on the lunar base. His estate, including the ongoing compensation from Lunar Industries, passes to his daughter, Eve. Eve is aware of the arrangement and chooses to continue it. The corporation continues operating exactly as before.Your Task:Does the death of Sam Bell Prime change the moral status of the arrangement? Write an essay in which you argue either that the arrangement can remain morally permissible after Sam Bell Prime’s death, or that his death undermines a crucial element of the corporation’s defense. Your argument must operate within the reductionist framework (observe the Forbidden Case Constraint) and engage substantively with at least two of our primary sources.

What is a downside of computers not being able to store real numbers exactly and with infinite precision?

Match the different methods to store signed integers.

Convert the binary number 1010101 to hexadecimal.

Convert the hexadecimal number 10A to decimal.

What is the “cults” controversy as discussed both by our author Young and by me in this week’s Lecture?After having examined/thought about this controversy yourself, do you feel the term “cult” is still a useful/valuable one? Why or why not (discuss the specific reasons justifying your view)?⚠️ Reminder: This Learning Evaluation is a CLOSED-BOOK, CLOSED-NOTE, CLOSED-INTERNET.The use of any unauthorized aid is strictly prohibited. This includes all generative AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, etc.), AI-enhanced writing/editing tools, or any external person/resource.Like other forms of plagiarism, using AI tools or other unauthorized aid is academic misrepresentation or fraud—because you are submitting work generated by someone or something else as your own (see Syllabus).

Explain the use of fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) to treat recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections. Include the problem, solution, mechanism, and clinical outcome.

List the normal biota of the skin and explain the role of normal flora in preventing pathogenic infections. Include one example of how disruption of normal flora (e.g., antibiotic use) can lead to opportunistic infection.