COURSE NUMBER:
PHI 121-02
COURSE TITLE:
Contemporary Moral Problems
LOCATION:
Petty Building 219
CREDITS:
3
PREREQUISITES:
None
FOR WHOM PLANNED:
All students
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION:
Instructor:
Bas van der Vossen
Office:
Curry 243
Office hours:
MW 11:00-12:00
Telephone:
336-334-4313
E-mail:
b_vande2@uncg.edu
CATALOG DESCRIPTION:
Philosophical readings and discussion of such current topics as abortion, euthanasia, same-sex
marriage, drug control, the moral demands of poverty, and the duty to obey the law.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
We will discuss various moral issues that are live topics of debate in our society. The chief purpose
of the course is twofold. First, it aims to enable you to compare and contrast important ethical
traditions that have shaped our society’s thinking about these topics. Second, it aims to enable you
to think coherently about these and other issues, and learn to identify good and bad arguments. The
following more specific goals will be an integral part of all the lectures, readings, and exams. Upon
successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
(a) Demonstrate an understanding of at least two significant philosophical, religious, and/or
ethical theories or traditions by describing, comparing, and analyzing them;
(b) Demonstrate an ability to compare and contrast the assumptions, arguments, modes of
thought, attendant beliefs or practices of two or more theories or traditions or of diverse
voices among those who accept a given theory or tradition;
(c) Demonstrate the ability to apply abstract ideas to specific instances; and evaluate the
credibility of sources of information.
TEACHING METHOD:
I will come to each class with a prepared lecture but I do expect you to participate. To make the
most of the opportunity for discussion, you should come to class having done the assigned readings
before coming to class and having thought about these readings critically and carefully. In class,
please do ask questions, even if you believe yours may not be a good one. If you’ve thought about it,
probably someone else has too. Class is not an exam. Moreover, if you ask a question, do not
hesitate to take your time. This course is a success if you find yourself thinking about these topics.
ACADMIC FREEDOM:
Speak your mind. Academic freedom is for us one of the highest goods. The objective of this class is
not to agree – nor is it to disagree – with anything the authors or I think. It is to come to formulate
ideas of your own. Whatever they are, all I will ask of you is that you can support them with
coherent arguments. Respectful discussion in class is an absolute requirement. We will be
discussing some issues about which people strongly disagree. Some of these issues concern life and
death. I will never make your life difficult based on what you say in class, I may make your life
difficult based on how you say it.
ASSIGNMENTS:
There will be one homework assignment, and three multiple-choice exams during term. There will
also be a final multiple-choice exam during exam week. These will take place on the dates specified
in the course outline below. For each of the multiple-choice exams you will need an answer sheet
(Standard Form NA3100-6), a #2 pencil, and an eraser. To aid you in preparing for the exams,
sample questions will be made available on Blackboard and discussed in class.
EVALUATION AND GRADING:
The homework assignment will consist of five critical thinking questions, each worth 20 points.
Each multiple-choice exam will contain 25 questions. Each exam will concern only the material
covered since the immediately preceding exam, if any. (That is, Exam 1 will concern only the
material covered up until then; Exam 2 will concern only the material covered after Exam 1; and so
on.) The final exam will ask questions about the entire term, but with special focus on the final two
weeks.
The exams will test the extent to which you have managed to master the pertinent material. Such
mastery will require not only learning relevant information but also subjecting various views and
arguments on the issues covered to critical but open-minded evaluation.
The grading scale for the exams and for the course as a whole will be as follows:
A+
97-100%
B+
87-89%
C+
77-79%
D+
67-69%
A
93-96%
B
83-86%
C
73-76%
D
63-66%
A90-92%
B80-82%
C70-72%
D60-62%
F
0-59%
Final grades for the course will be determined by exam scores. Each exam will count the same. I will
not be taking attendance. Do not come for me, come for yourself. If you do not find this class worthy
of your time, I hope you will spend your time better. (If you feel the class can be improved, please
do let me know.) There will be no opportunities for extra credit.
READINGS
We will be using T. Mappes & J. Zembaty, Social Ethics: Morality and Social Policy, 7th edition or
newer (McGraw Hill, 2007). Make sure you get the correct edition of this volume. Other readings
listed will be provided on Blackboard.
COURSE OUTLINE
Instead of giving a week‐by‐week calendar of our reading, I have divided term into a number of
topical units. This is to allow us some flexibility in how quickly we will proceed. For each of these I
have selected reading from the book that we will be using. Throughout term, I will keep up-to-date
reading instructions available on blackboard for particular classes. Those will also be sent out via
email.
COURSE OUTLINE
Unit 1: Introduction & Critical Thinking
Week 1
8/20 David Schmidtz & Jason Brennan, “Psychological Freedom” – available on blackboard
8/22
Donald Abel, “Essentials of Logic and Argumentation” – available on blackboard
8/24
Donald Abel, “Essentials of Logic and Argumentation” – available on blackboard
Week 2
8/27 Donald Abel, “Essentials of Logic and Argumentation” – available on blackboard
8/29
Donald Abel, “Essentials of Logic and Argumentation” – available on blackboard
9/31
“A Brief History of China’s One-Child Policy” – available on blackboard
Clifford Geertz, “The Religion of Java” – available on blackboard
Unit 2: Abortion
Week 3
9/3
Labor Day
9/5
Exam #1
9/7
No Class – read for assignment: Mappes & Zembaty, Introduction to chapter 1
Week 4
9/10 Assignment due
Pope John Paul II, “The Unspeakable Crime of Abortion”
Mary Anne Warren, “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion”
9/12
Don Marquis, “Why Abortion is Immoral”
9/14
Judith Jarvis Thomson, “A Defense of Abortion”
Week 5
9/17 Judith Jarvis Thomson, “A Defense of Abortion”
“Majority Opinion in Roe v. Wade”
Unit 3: Euthanasia & Physician-Assisted Suicide
9/19
Mappes & Zembaty, Introduction to chapter 2
9/21
James Rachels, “Active and Passive Euthanasia”
Week 6
9/24 Daniel Callahan, “Killing and Allowing to Die”
9/26
Dan Brock, “Voluntary Active Euthanasia”
Stephen Potts, “Objections to the Institutionalisation of Euthanasia”
9/28
David Watts & Timothy Howell, “Assisted Suicide Is Not Voluntary Euthanasia”
Week 7
10/1 Exam #2
Unit 4: Same-Sex Marriage
10/3
Mappes & Zembaty, Introduction to chapter 4
10/5
Vincent Punzo, “Morality and Human Sexuality”
Maggie Gallagher, “What Marriage Is For”
Week 8
10/8 Thomas Mappes, “Sexual Morality and the Concept of Using Another Person”
10/10 Thomas Mappes, “Sexual Morality and the Concept of Using Another Person”
10/12 John Corvino, “Why Shouldn’t Tommy and Jim Have Sex?”
Week 9
10/15 Fall Break
Unit 5: Drug Control and Addiction
10/17 Mappes & Zembaty, Introduction to chapter 6
10/19 John Stuart Mill, “On Liberty” (in Mappes & Zembaty, chapter 5)
Thomas Szasz, “The Ethics of Addiction”
Week 10
10/22 Robert Goodin, “Permissible Paternalism”
10/24 James Wilson, “Against the Legalization of Drugs”
10/26 Ethan Nadelmann, “The Case for Legalization”
Daniel Shapiro, “Addiction and Drug Policy”
Week 11
10/29 Exam #3
Unit 6: Social Justice and Redistribution
10/31 Mappes & Zembaty, Introduction to chapter 8
11/2
Kai Nielsen, “A Moral Case for Socialism”
Week 12
11/5 John Hospers, “What Libertarianism Is”
11/7
Iris Young, “Five Faces of Oppression”
11/9
Michael Munger, “They Clapped” – available on blackboard
Week 13
11/12 United Trauma Relief, “A Consensus Statement on Sweatshop Abuse”
Matt Zwolinski, “Sweatshops”
11/14 Peter Singer, “Famine, Affluence, and Morality” – available on blackboard
11/16 No class – read for assignment: Singer
Unit 7: Law and Obedience
Week 14
11/19 Plato, “Crito” – available on blackboard
11/21 Thanksgiving Holiday
11/23 Thanksgiving Holiday
Week 15
11/26 Plato, “Crito” – available on blackboard
11/28 Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” – available on blackboard
11/30 Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail” – available on blackboard
Week 16
12/3 Recap
Final Exam:
TBA
MISSED EXAMS
Only under extraordinary circumstances (i.e. severe medical emergencies) will you be allowed to
make up a quiz if you are a no‐show. Otherwise you will receive a zero on that quiz.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
As a student of the University of North Carolina you are required to know and abide by all of the
university policies concerning academic integrity and academic honesty. Familiarizing yourself
with these policies is your responsibility.
ACCOMMODATIONS
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides
comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this
legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that
provides for reasonable accommodation of the disabilities. If you believe that you have a disability
requiring an accommodation, please talk with me and contact the office of Disability Services: 3345440.