Writing in Applied Ethics (Business Ethics)
Sari Kisilevsky
Sari Kisilevsky
course days and time
office hours: Tues. 3-5, PH 350G
email: through Blackboard
Course Overview:
Ethics isn’t merely an abstract area of study, and ethical reasoning and ethical
writing are not merely a matter of picking a “side” in a debate. Writing in ethics
allows us to explore our most cherished beliefs and question their foundations so
that we can form reasoned and informed positions. In writing, we analyze and
evaluate others’ approaches and develop alternatives in response based on
argument and analysis. By adducing evidence, articulating arguments and engaging
in analyses of our own positions in relation to the views of other writers, we forge
positions of our own.
In this class we will explore writings on key ethical questions, and use them to
analyze real-life difficulties. We will draw on writers’ insights in a variety of moral
disciplines and use these to challenge, complicate, or illuminate real-life problems
from ordinary life; we will research and analyze these scenarios and determine how
these writers’ insights can deepen our understanding of ordinary problems; we will
examine and assess our own views on these matters and scrutinize their strength in
light of the challenges we encounter; and we will review and revise our writings on
these questions in order to develop clear, authoritative and informed voices of our
own.
College Writing 2: Writing in Applied Ethics is a second semester, discipline-based
writing seminar that includes a special focus on writing in philosophy. Students
should come to each class, prepared to write, to revise their own work, and to think
constructively about the work of their peers.
Learning Objectives:
This course aims to use writing to deepen students’ understanding of everyday
moral problems by encouraging them to develop informed, reasoned views on
matters of moral controversy and to engage with to others’ views on the matter. The
writing goals in this class are designed to lead students to question and evaluate
their views on difficult moral issues. These skills take time and practice to develop.
The writing workshops and repeated use of assignments are designed to develop
and reinforce these skills.
Sources:
The primary philosophical readings will be posted on Blackboard.
Writing Sources:
Gordon Harvey, A Brief Guide to the Elements of the Academic Essay
Michael Harvey, The Nuts and Bolds of College Writing
Evaluation:
Assignments: 4 x 10% each, for a total of 40%
Draft Assignments: 5 x 2% each, for a total of 10%
Self-Evaluation of Drafts: 5 x 2% each, for a total of 10%
Peer-Evaluations of Drafts: 5x 2% each, for a total of 10%
Reading Questions: 20 x 1% each, for a total of 20%
Class Participation: 10%
Course Policies:
Submission of Work:
1. All submitted work is formal written scholarship. It must include your name and
class number, and an appropriate title. Your work must be written in full,
grammatically well-formed sentences. Multiple pages must be stapled together.
Footnotes or endnotes must be properly formatted, including full references and
pinpoint citations.
2. All use of materials that do not come directly from your head needs to be
properly cited. Failure to fully cite all material used constitutes an academic
offence and will be treated as such. For more information about citation formats,
consult the Queens College Writing Center, or the Purdue Online Writing Lab
(available online). For information about what constitutes an academic offence,
see the College Bulletin.
3. The only excuses for a late assignment are illness or emergency. You must
provide official documentation for this (a doctor’s note or a letter from the
registrar) specifying that you could not fulfill your work requirements on the
dates that they were due. You do not need to include your reasons for lateness;
you are entitled to your privacy on this. Late assignments submitted without
official documentation will be docked 2% per day.
4. In-class participation: There is a very heavy emphasis on discussion in this
class. You are expected to come to class prepared and participate in class
discussions. I will often call names off the roster.
Classroom and Online Environment:
There is a lot of discussion of controversial issues in this class. The classroom is like
any other professional environment. You should always maintain a professional
attitude towards others. This includes:
1. Making sure that your cell phones are off before you enter class.
2. Paying attention when other people are talking. This means no texting, emailing,
surfing the internet, or playing games during class.
3. Not interrupting other people when they are speaking.
4. Use of respectful language: no slurs, no swearing, and avoiding stereotypes.
5. Treating your fellow students with respect even when you disagree.
Schedule of Classes:
1. Introduction: What is Ethics? What isn’t Ethics? Writing in Applied Ethics.
Section I: Duties to Others
2. Lesson Plan: Identifying An Author’s Conclusion and Locating a Position Within a
Debate
Reading: Singer, “Rich and Poor”
3. Lesson Plan: Identifying an Author’s Argument
Reading: Singer, “Rich and Poor”
Vaughan, Introduction to Arguments
4. Lesson Plan: Evaluating an Author’s Argument
Reading: Singer, “Rich and Poor”
5. Lesson Plan: Writing Workshop: Case Studies: Formulating a Research Question
(simple version)
Reading: Singer, “Rich and Poor”
GivingWhatWeCan.org
6. Lesson Plan: Writing Workshop: Developing a Point of View (Thesis) and
Locating it Within a Debate
Reading: Gordon Harvey, Thesis, Motive
Nuts and Bolts, The Beginning
Toby Ord, “The Moral Imperative Towards Cost Effectiveness”
7. Lesson Plan: Writing Workshop: Essay Structure
Draft of Assignment 1 Due
8. Lesson Plan: Identifying an Author’s Conclusion
Reading: Shue, “Negative and Positive Duties”
Assignment 1 Due
9. Lesson Plan: Evaluating an Author’s Argument
Reading: Shue, “Negative and Positive Duties”
10. Lesson Plan: Writing Workshop: Case Studies & Developing a Point of View
(Thesis)
Reading, Ponting, “Creating the Third World”
11. Lesson Plan: Identifying an Author’s Conclusion
Reading, Hart, “Tracing Consequences”
12. Lesson Plan: Evaluating an Author’s Argument
Reading, Hart, “Tracing Consequences”
13. Lesson Plan: Identifying an Author’s Conclusion
Reading: Schulz, “Trading With Abusive Regimes”
14. Lesson Plan: Case Studies & Introduction to Sources: Formulating and
Researching a Research Question (Library Visit) (Responsibilty)
Reading: Nuts and Bolts: The Beginning & Searches
15. Lesson Plan: Gathering and Using Sources (Library Visit)
16. Lesson Plan: Writing Workshop: Thesis, Motive & Structure
Draft of Assignment 2 Due
Section II: Respect for Persons
17. The Ford Pinto: contrast with Singer
Assignment 2 Due
18. Kant, The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
19. Kant, cont’d: the significance of choice (as compared to forcing)
Section III: Exploitation and Manipulation
20. Frontline, “The Card Game”
21. Lesson Plan: Identifying An Author’s Conclusion and Locating a Position Within a
Debate
Reading: Feinberg, “Non-Coercive Exploitation”
22. Lesson Plan: Evaluating an Author’s Argument
Reading: Feinberg, “Non-Coercive Exploitation”
23. Lesson Plan: Writing Workshop: Case Study: Formulating a Research Question
(Exploitation)
24. Lesson Plan: Writing Workshop (Thesis, Motive & Structure)
Draft of Assignment 3 Due
25. Lesson Plan: Identifying An Author’s Conclusion and Locating a Position Within a
Debate
Reading, Buss, “Valuing Autonomy:” (compare manipulation and deception to
exploitation)
Assignment 3 Due
26. Lesson Plan: Identifying an Author’s Conclusion
Readings: Goldman Sachs
27. Lesson Plan: Writing Workshop: Developing a Point of View (Thesis) and
Locating it Within a Debate
28. Lesson Plan: Writing Workshop (Thesis, Motive, Structure and Evidence)
Draft of Assignment 4 Due
Assignment 4 Due