Download sps103 law and ethics - International University of Sarajevo

SPS103 LAW AND ETHICS
Full Course Title:
Law and Ethics
Pravo i etika
Course Code:
SPS103
st
Course Level/BiH cycle:
ECTS credit value:
I cycle; 1 year
6
Student work-load:
For the whole semester:
Length:
Faculty/School/Department:
Lectures
Tutorial /
Practical training
Project
Individual
learning
TOTAL
45
15
15
75
150
Fall 2013
FASS; Social Sciences
Course leader:
Ahmed Kulanić, Lecturer
Contact details:
Office:
F2.21
e-mail:
[email protected]
Office hours:
Mon 9:00-12:00
AM
Thu 1:00-2:00 PM
and by appt.
Phone:
033 957 303
Site:
Lectures: IUS main campus building – F2.14
Tutorial: F2.14
Host Study Program:
Social and Political Sciences
Course status:
University required course;
Pre-requisites:
None
Access restrictions:
I cycle students only
Assessment:
Homeworks, quizzes, project paper,presentations, exams.
Date validated:
February, 2015
Course aims:
The aims of this course are:

To help students to understand the complexities and “pros and cons” of moral,
ethical and legal decision making, and to coherently present “both sides”
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To emphasize student’s capability to critically assess information, including
perspectives contrary to their own ones
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To assist students to think beyond their geographic, social and religious borders
To ensure that students know the historical and geographic context of morals,
ethics and law as well as the search for moral and ethical universality
To increase students ability to apply ethical theory to practical personal and
professional decision-making
To increase student’s awareness and recognition that ethics is not just a matter of
opinion
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Learning outcomes:
Indicative syllabus content:
Learning delivery:
Assessment Rationale:
On successful completion of this course IUS student will be able:
1. To examine and use basic ethical terms and concepts
2. To relate concepts from ethics to different courses
3. To use historical knowledge in understanding arts, architecture, religion, culture
and science
4. To demonstrate historical, analytical and comparative skills
This is an introductory course in the law and ethics. This course provides an introduction to law,
ethical theory and applied ethics from both Western and Islamic perspectives through discussion,
analysis and critical examination of historic and contemporary thinking and practices about the
law and ethics as a life theory.
This course employs a range of teaching and learning methods (lecturing, written assignments,
presentations, peer presentation analyses, essays, group discussions, article,
presentation/analysis). Students have three hours lectures and one hour practical training a week.
Students are also expected to realise two different projects (to be arranged with professor).
Learning will consist of knowledge acquisition and practical knowledge gained from the class
discussions and debates. Consultations and regular homework assignments will guide students’
individual learning and students’ progression in acquiring required knowledge and practice will be
additionally checked through quizzes and midterm and final exams.
In order to provide solid undergraduate foundation for IUS students and to enable them to
develop a critical and evaluative understanding of legal and ethical issues and dilemmas, students
are expected to demonstrate commitment and diligence at any time whichever module they take,
therefore appropriate assessment methods to help students to stay focused and active, and fully
benefit from the Program include presentations, project paper writing, homeworks, quizzes,
exams.Those methods will check their historical, analytical and comparative skills and acquisition
of ethical terms and concepts, as well as their ability to apply them to other scientific fields.
1. Final Exam 40%
Assessment Weighting:
2.
3.
Midterm Exam 20%
Research Paper 15%
4.
Book summary and review 10%
5.
6.
Presentation of RP 10%
Homework 5%
Essential Reading:
Barbara MacKinnon, Andrew Fial (2014). Ethics – Theory and Contemporary Issues Cengage
Learning.
Recommended readings:
McInerney & Rainbolt. (1994). Ethics. Harper Collins Canada.
Cahn & Markie. (2011). Ethics: History, Theory and Contemporary Issues, Oxford UP, USA
Intranet web reference:
N/A
Important notes:
Expected knowledge of:
1. Writing and communication ability
2. Basic knowledge related to terminology used in philosophy and ethics
Course policies:
Assignments: Each student should complete their assignment on time.
Lateness in Assignments: The due date and time for each homework will be specified on
the assignment handout itself. Late submissions will be penalized by decreasing
homework grades accordingly.
Academic Integrity: Any cheating on examinations or quizzes or offering the work of
another as one's own in an assignment is regarded as a serious offence to the academic
integrity.
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Important dates:
Quality Assurance:
Student surveys, discussion on course, student appeals, e-mails, direct (formal) feedback at the
end of the semester by students, assistants and other colleagues
Course schedule:
3
Week
Topics to be covered
Class activities Readings
1
Ethics and Ethical Reasoning
Lecturing
Learning objectives (After this lesson student will
be able to:)
Chapter 1
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2
Religion and Global Ethics
Lecturing
Chapter 2
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3
Ethical Relativism
Lecturing
Chapter 3
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Differentiate between instrumental and intrinsic values.
Distinguish consequentialist from nonconsequentialist
approaches to ethics.
Use the distinctions among motives, acts, and consequences
to analyze ethical phenomena.
Describe the philosophical study of ethics.
Understand the difference between normative and
descriptive claims.
Define key terms: intuitionism, emotivism, objectivism, and
subjectivism.
Explain the difference between metaethics and normative
ethics.
Decide whether naturalistic explanations of ethics commit
the naturalistic fallacy.
Evaluate the divine command theory of ethics.
Differentiate between humanistic and religious approaches
to ethics.
Understand and apply the argument made in Plato’s
Euthyphro.
Defend your own ideas about ethics, religion, and global
cultural diversity.
Describe the challenge of developing a global ethical
perspective.
Understand the idea of universal human rights.
Explain the meaning of key terms: cosmopolitan, civil
disobedience, pluralism, secularism, humanism,
Eurocentrism.
Describe the difference between descriptive relativism and
metaethical relativism.
Understand criticisms of objectivism, subjectivism,
relativism, and moral realism.
Explain how relativism poses a problem for moral judgment.
Explain the connections between relativism and pluralism.
Evaluate the arguments in favor of and against relativism.
Differentiate between relativism and a commitment to
tolerance.
Understand how relativism might come up in conversations
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4
Egoism, Altruism, and the Social Lecturing
Contract
Chapter 4
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Utilitarianism and John Stuart
Mill
Lecturing
Chapter 5
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Deontological Ethics and
Immanuel Kant
Lecturing
Chapter 6
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about concrete moral issues.
Defend your own ideas about relativism.
Understand how egoism shows up in discussions of laissezfaire capitalism and economics.
Evaluate the challenge that egoism poses for the moral point
of view.
Understand and apply concepts such as ethical egoism and
altruism to real world cases.
Defend your own ideas about egoism, altruism, and the
social contract.
Describe the differences between descriptive (or
psychological) egoism and ethical egoism.
Explain criticisms of altruism and the importance of
reciprocal altruism.
Understand disputes about the sources of morality and
reasons to be moral.
Explain the prisoner’s dilemma and how it relates to the
discussion of egoism and the social contract.
Articulate ways that utilitarianism is connected with
hedonism and Epicureanism.
Apply utilitarian reasoning to a variety of cases in the real
world.
Provide an overview of John Stuart Mill’s defense of
utilitarianism.
Defend your own thesis with regard to the value of
utilitarianism.
Understand the differences between utilitarianism and
egoism as kinds of consequentialism.
Explain the difference between act utilitarianism and rule
utilitarianism.
Explain the trolley problem and how it exemplifies the
challenge of utilitarianism.
Identify key components of the utilitarian assessment of
pleasure: intensity, duration, fruitfulness, likelihood.
Explain the difference between perfect and imperfect duties.
Apply Kantian reasoning to a variety of cases in the real
world.
Provide an overview of Immanuel Kant’s moral philosophy.
Defend your own thesis with regard to the value of
deontological ethics.
Understand the difference between consequentialist and
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MIDTERM EXAM
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Natural Law and Human Rights
Lecturing
Chapter 7
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9
Virtue Ethics
Lecturing
Chapter 8
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nonconsequentialist approaches to ethics.
Describe different deontological approaches to ethics.
Explain the difference between hypothetical and categorical
imperatives.
Describe two formulations of the categorical imperative.
Equality and Discrimination
Lecturing
Chapter 13
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Understand the idea of natural law and how it relates to the
idea of human rights.
Understand the history of natural law ethics and the human
rights tradition.
Explain how natural law theory is related to the law of
peoples and norms of international law.
Identify the contributions to natural law theory made by key
thinkers such as Cicero, Thomas Aquinas, and John Locke.
Explain the importance of teleology for thinking about
natural law.
Explain differences between natural law theory and Kantian
or utilitarian reasoning.
Clarify how natural law arguments are grounded in claims
about the essence of human nature.
Provide an overview of the natural law argument against
relativism.
Defend your own thesis with regard to the value of natural
law theory and the idea of human rights.
Identify some features of the diverse cultural approaches to
virtue.
Explain how the idea of the Golden Mean functions in virtue
ethics.
Provide an overview of Aristotle’s moral philosophy.
Defend your own thesis with regard to the value of virtue
ethics.
Understand how virtue ethics differs from other approaches
to ethics.
Describe some key virtues and how they are manifest in
concrete situations.
Explain how virtues are connected to an account of the
functions or purposes of human life.
Describe how eudaimonia functions in the theory of virtue.
Understand the role of discrimination in contemporary
societies.
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11
Economic Justice
Lecturing
Chapter 14
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12
Environmental Ethics
Lecturing
Chapter 16
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13
Violence and War
Lecturing
Chapter 19
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Think critically about the idea of race and racism.
Explain the idea of institutional racism.
Describe and evaluate the principle of equality.
Analyze how consequentialist and non-consequentialist
reasoning applies in discussions of discrimination and
affirmative action.
Defend a thesis about the ethics of racial profiling and
affirmative action.
Explain libertarian and liberal ideas about distributive
justice.
Describe the difference between procedural and end-state
ideas about justice.
Recount John Rawls’s theory of justice.
Defend a thesis about economic justice.
Understand current facts with regard to economic inequality.
Explain the concept of social justice from both utilitarian
and deontological points of view.
Describe why charity might be considered supererogatory.
Identify differences between capitalism and socialism.
Explain how cost–benefit analysis applies in thinking about
environmental issues.
Understand the idea of environmental justice.
Explain the idea of Leopold’s “land ethic.”
Outline basic differences between ecofeminism and deep
ecology.
Defend a thesis with regard to environmental issues and the
value of nonhuman nature.
Understand current environmental challenges, including
pollution, climate change, and wilderness preservation.
Explain the difference between anthropocentric and
ecocentric or biocentric ideas about environmental ethics.
Clarify the difference between intrinsic value and
instrumental value.
Explain and apply key terms employed in the just war
tradition including just cause, legitimate authority,
discrimination, and noncombatant immunity.
Demonstrate how the doctrine of double effect applies
within the just war theory to deal with the problem of
collateral damage.
Understand the history and concept of war crimes and
crimes against humanity.
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14
Research Projects
Presentations
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Research Projects
Presentations
Defend your own ideas about the ethics of war.
Describe issues arising in the context of the war on terrorism
including the use of drones and targeted assassination, and
the morality of terrorism and torture.
Articulate arguments for pacifism.
Articulate arguments for realism.
Understand basic distinctions made within the just war
theory between jus ad bellum and jus in bello.
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