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ETHICS, SOCIETY AND CHOICES Fall 2015 PHIL 120 Heckman, Fall 2015 TTH 9:20-10:30 Mossman 101 Office: Christy Lower Level Office Hours: MWF 10:11:00, TTH 2:00-3:00 Email: [email protected] Course Description In this course students will develop an understanding of some of the primary moral theories of the western tradition and reflect on the ways these theories may or may not help sort out some of the difficult moral issues that are prominent in contemporary society. Students will develop their skills in critical thinking and ethical reasoning as they strengthen their ability to analyze, evaluate and construct arguments having to do with topics in ethics. Students will enhance their writing skills as they articulate a specific position on a specific ethical issue. Text Doing Ethics, ed. Lewis Vaughn, Third Edition, W.W. Norton & Company, 2008, New York Course Objectives and Student Outcomes By the end of this course, successful students will be able to: 1) Demonstrate a familiarity with some moral theories of the western tradition and an understanding of some specific contemporary ethical issues. 2) Demonstrate in writing the capacity to analyze, evaluate and construct arguments concerning ethical issues. 3) Demonstrate in writing the ability to critique a specific author’s position regarding an ethical issue. 4) Coherently articulate their own perspective on a contemporary social issue. Course Assessment You must complete all of the assignments to pass the course. Late papers will be penalized. I will provide handouts for the paper assignments. If you do not show up for an exam, you will lose those points. There are no make-up exams. If you have a medical excuse, I will require documentation. Exam over Moral Theories Short Paper, A Response to an Author Second Exam Long Paper, Taking a Position Final Exam (100 points) (100 points) (100 points) (100 points) (100 points) 500 points A (470-500), A- (450-469), B+ (440-449), B (420-439), B- (400-419), C+ (390-399), C (370389), C- (350-369), D+ (340-349), D (320-339), D- (300-319), F (299 and lower) Course Schedule Tuesday, August 18 Introduction Thursday, August 20 Elements of Ethics (pp. 6-8) Religion and Morality (pp. 9-13) Euthyphro, Plato (pp. 16-19) Tuesday, August 25 Subjectivism, Relativism, and Emotivism (pp. 22-33) Trying Out One’s New Sword, Midgley (pp. 37-40) Thursday, August 27 Evaluating Moral Arguments (pp. 43-58) Tuesday, September 1 Avoiding Bad Arguments (pp. 58-64) Thursday, September 3 Consequentialist Theories (pp. 78-95 Tuesday, September 8 Utilitarianism, Mill (pp. 96-101) Thursday, September 10 Nonconsequentialist Theories (pp. 102-109) Tuesday, September 15 Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant (pp. 116-124) Thursday, September 17 Natural Law Theory (pp. 109-115) Summa Theologica, Aquinas (pp. 125-135) Tuesday, September 22 Virtue Ethics (pp. 136-143) Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle (pp. 144-152) Thursday, September 24 On Justice, Rawls (pp. 688-694 Tuesday, September 29 Exam over Moral Theories Thursday, October 1 Capital Punishment (pp. 353-355) The Ultimate Punishment, Van Den Haag (pp. 363-367) Justice, Civilization, and the Death Penalty, Reiman (pp. 368-373) Tuesday, October 6 A Life for a Life, Primoratz (pp. 374-380) Against the Death Penalty, Bedau (pp. 380-385) Thursday, October 8 What do Murderers Deserve?, Gelernter (pp. 385-389) In Defense of the Death Penalty, Pojman (pp. 389-397) Tuesday, October 13 Capital Punishment, Amsterdam (pp. 399-406) Thursday, October 15 Short Paper Due, A Response to an Author Tuesday, October 20 Plain Sex, Goldman (pp. 416-424) Thursday, October 22 Sexual Morality, Scruton (pp. 424-431) Tuesday, October 27 No Class: Fall Break Thursday, October 29 All Animals are Equal, Singer (pp. 553-562) Tuesday, November 3 Second Exam Thursday, November 5 Difficulties with the Strong Rights Position, Warren (pp. 570-576) Drawing Lines, Rachels (pp. 576-584) Tuesday, November 10 The Wisdom of Repugnance, Kass (pp. 255-271) Thursday, November 12 Cloning Human Beings, Brock (pp. 272-282) Thursday, November 19 Long Paper Due, Taking a Position on an Issue Tuesday, November 24 Against Realism, Walzer (pp. 622-632) Thursday, November 26 No Class: Thanksgiving Tuesday, December 1 The Case for Iraq War II, Leiser (pp. 633-639) Iraqi War II: A Blatantly Unjust War, Sterba (pp. 640-641) Thursday, December 3 People or Penguins, Baxter (pp. 497-500) The Ethics of Respect for Nature, Taylor (pp. 501-515) Final Exam: Tuesday, December 8 at 1:00 ACADEMIC HONESTY: As in all your classes, you are expected to abide by the Academic Integrity policies outlined in the college catalog (p. 82). Plagiarism, presenting someone else’s work as your own, and other forms of academic dishonesty will result in failure for the assignment and may result in failure of the course. DISABILITIES: Southwestern College seeks to maintain a supportive academic environment for students with disabilities. To ensure their equal access to all educational programs, activities and services, Federal law requires students with disabilities to notify the university, provide documentation and request reasonable accommodations. Students in this course who have a disability that might prevent them from fully demonstrating their academic abilities should contact Steve Kramer, Disability Services Coordinator as soon as possible to initiate disability verification and discuss accommodations. Steve Kramer’s office is located at the north end of Christy Administration building on the lowest level. He can be reached at (620) 229-6307 or at ([email protected]). The web page for Disability Services can be found at http://sckans.edu/student-services/1st-class/sc-access/. ATTENDANCE: Please read the material before class and come to class ready to discuss it. Please bring your textbook to the class. You are allowed to miss three classes during the semester. After this, I will begin lowering your final grade one step for each class missed. Thus if you receive an A for the course, but are absent four times, your grade would be A- for the course. If you are absent five times, your grade would be B+, etc. Attending this class means more than simply being physically present. Thus if you sleep through class, or busy yourself with your cell phone, or do not participate in a small group when placed in one, I will count you absent for that class. CELL PHONES: Please turn off cell phones before entering class. If you forget, and your cell phone rings during class, turn it off; don’t answer it. Texting during class is not allowed. Doing homework in class will make you absent for that day.