Proposal for General Education Program
1. Course/Department/Representative: PHIL 130 Moral Problems/
Philosophy / David Speetzen dspeetzen@winona.edu
2. Proposed WSU GEP Goal Area: Goal 6—Humanities and Fine Arts
This course currently meets Goal 9
3-4. WSU GEP Goal Area 6: Goal and Student Competencies and
Documentation:
Goal: To expand students' knowledge of the human condition and human cultures,
especially in relation to behavior, ideas, and values expressed in works of human
imagination and thought. Through study in disciplines such as literature,
philosophy, and the fine arts, students will engage in critical analysis, form aesthetic
judgments, and develop an appreciation of the arts and humanities as fundamental
to the health and survival of any society. Students should have experiences in both
the arts and humanities.
Student Competencies:
Students will be able to:
a. Demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works in the arts and
humanities;
b. Understand those works as expressions of individual and human values within
an historical and social context;
c. Respond critically to works in the arts and humanities;
d. Engage in the creative process or interpretive performance; and
e. Articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and humanities.
Moral Problems Goal Documentation:
Morality and moral disagreement are a universal and essential aspect of the human
condition. Moral Problems aims to help students confront a range of contemporary
moral dilemmas facing them as individuals and as members of a broader community
by exposing them to the foundational methods and perspectives of philosophical
ethics. Some emphasis will be placed on familiarizing students with basic ideas in
ethical theory, but the focus of the course will be on deepening students'
understanding of common lines of argument surrounding current, pressing moral
problems, developing their ability to analyze and evaluate those arguments, and
prompting them to reflect on and clarify their own ethical commitments.
Moral Problems Student Competencies Documentation:
Students will be able to:
a. Read and compare multiple works on contemporary moral problems from a
range of cultural, historical, and philosophical perspectives.
b. Appreciate course readings as the product of individual authors working
within particular historical contexts and intellectual traditions.
c. Recognize, analyze, evaluate and respond critically to moral arguments.
d. Develop writing, presentation, and debating skills through editing, workshopping, revision, and in-class discussion.
e. Defend their own viewpoints through reasoned argument, and to reflect on
and revise their viewpoints where appropriate.
5. MnSCU Course Outline
1. An introduction to ethics and moral reasoning through the study of
contemporary issues in applied ethics. Subject areas may include: affirmative
action, abortion, animal rights, capital punishment, cloning, commercial
surrogacy, drug legalization, euthanasia, foreign aid, gay marriage, gun control,
humanitarian intervention, prostitution, terrorism, torture, universal health
care, among others.
2. Introduction to Ethical Theories:
a. Divine Command Theory
b. Consequentialism
c. Deontology
d. Virtue Ethics
e. Natural Law Theories
f. Social Contract Theories
g. Feminism and the Ethics of Care
3. Typical Applied Ethics Topics:
a. Affirmative Action
b. Abortion
c. Animal Rights
d. Capital Punishment
e. Cloning, Commercial Surrogacy
f. Drug Legalization
g. Euthanasia
g. Foreign Aid
h. Gay Marriage
i. Gun Control
j. Humanitarian Intervention
k. Prostitution
l Torture, et al.
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6. MnSCU Assessment Plan and Learning Outcomes:
Various means are employed to verify that students have acquired and can
demonstrate the Goal Area 6 Student Competencies, such as homework exercises,
in-class or take-home exams, and position papers, in-class presentations, creating
blog sites, whereby students demonstrate their understanding and application of
the following learning outcomes:
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Identify arguments, premises and conclusions, objections and responses in
philosophical texts.
Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of lines of argument on a variety of
ethical issues.
Understand, evaluate, and apply major theories of ethics to a variety of
ethical issues.
Defend their own positions on a variety of ethical issues, by means of rational
argument.
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