PHL 250 Philosophical Foundations for Ethical Understanding
Spring 2010
Instructor: Dr. Jinmei Yuan
Office: Humanties Center, Room 114
Phone: 280-3309
Email: jnmei@crighton.edu
Class Meetings: PHL250-A: MWF 12:30am-1:20pm
Office Hours: M W F: 10:30-11:20am.; M, W: 8:30-9:20pm, and by appointment
Required Texts
James Rachels (ed. Stuart Rachels)., The Elements of Moral Philosophy (Fifth Edition),
Mc Graw Hill, 2007 (ISBN 13:978-0-07-312547-3 pbk)
Sterba, James P., Morality in Practice (Seventh edition), Wadsworth
Publishing Company, 2004 (ISBN 0-534-59-8 pbk)
Immanuel Kant Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals ,
Hackett Publishing Company, 1981 (ISBN 0-87220-166-x pbk)
Handouts:
Aristotle’s, John Stuart Mill’s, Confucius’, Daoist and Buddhist original texts
There will also be a course packet.
Course Description
This course is an introduction to moral philosophy. We will survey the traditional ethical theories and selected case studies involving contemporary moral issues. Topics include the nature of ethical philosophy, religion and morality, ethical relativism, and egoism. We will typically exam utilitarianism (e.g. Mill), deontological approaches (e.g.
Kant) and virtue ethics (e.g. Aristotle). We will analyze the basic materials, approaches, and problems that characterize scholarly work in the field to provide students with general knowledge on moral philosophy from theoretical and practical perspectives. The process and principles of ethical decision-making are discussed in class. Through evaluating arguments on the case studies, students learn to apply different ethical systems to understand how these systems determine right and wrong in particular cases. The major goal of the course is to provide the students with philosophical frameworks and help them develop their moral reasoning skills, refine their own moral judgments and learn how to construct persuasive arguments in order to make moral decisions in their real life.
Course Objectives
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1.
Helping students to see the ethical problems from a philosophical point of view.
2. Leading students to exam various moral theories, e.g. ethical egoism, ethical relativism.
3. Encouraging students to develop their own understanding of basic concepts in order to construct their own more philosophically rigorous and coherent moral worldview.
Grading:
Grades will be based on the following factors, weighted on percentage:
1. Class activities and unexpected quizzes (multiple choice and term identifications)
30 points… 10%
You need to attend every class and finish some small assignments in the classes. It is your responsibility to finish each reading assignment on time. The purpose of these activities and unexpected quizzes is for examining whether you read the assigned chapters and how much you understand them.
2.
Two exams (multiple choice, explanation of key concepts and short essays)
200 points…… 60% (100 points/30% for each)
These two exams are not open note, open book tests. You have to take the exams with the group.
3. One oral presentation with detailed outlines (15-20 minutes in the class) 10%
You need to do a case study for your final project at the end of semester (see
“final project”). Before you summit your final project, you need to report your case and your interviews, as well as your own comprehension. This report (your case and interview part) has to be done by Photostory3 (I will teach you how to use the software).
You need to analyze the case based on ethical theories, which we learn in the course.
You are encouraged to lead a discussion on your selected case in the class. For the oral presentation, the instructor’s evaluation will be based on: a. Good preparation b. Specific topic c. Good understanding and personal thinking d. Good skills of leading a discussion e. Good conclusion
The schedule for your presentation will be arranged at the fifth class.
4. One final project (The final project includes filling up four tables and writing one essay.)
20%
For this final project, you can work individually or in a small group (no more than three people) for filling up your four tables for your moral reasoning. But you have to write your essay individually. The title of the project is “
Analyzing Moral Issues–A
Case Study
.” You can decide the titles for your papers by yourselves.
Your paper
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should be 8 pages (double-space and no shorter than 5 and no longer then 8). I will give you a list of topics, which have been widely discussed in the field of contemporary ethics, such as, the distribution of wealth and income, abortion and euthanasia, sex equality, sex harassment, gun control, animal liberation and environmental justice and so on. You have to find at lease one case from one of these topics in your daily life (You can surely use sources, such as, newspapers, TV or broadcasting). For helping you to analyze the case by yourselves, you are required to interview at lease ten people (not among your classmates) and record their responses on the case. The purpose of your interviews is to investigate how different people justify a common issue based on different moral principles in which they believe. You need to categorize these people’s opinions guided by different ethical theories. You also need to discuss the strengths and weakness of each related ethical theory.
Four tables will be provided as to assist your moral reasoning (see attachments).
Fill up the four tables before writing your essay. The essay is to discuss and analyze your case from your own understanding. Your conclusion of your finial project should be a result of a higher level moral reasoning, not merely list different opinions.
You need to summit the four tables and the essay together (Deadlines are listed in
“Tentative Schedule”).
.
Grading Scale
90 above=A,
85—89 =B+,
80—84 =B,
75—79 =C+,
70—74 =C,
61—69 =D, below 60=F
Policy
Exams : Exams must be taken with the group. If you cannot take an exam due to an excused absence, you will not be penalized. You need to take the make-up exam within a week. “Travel Arrangements” are not an acceptable excuse for missing an exam. If you fail to take an exam for an unacceptable reason, you will receive a zero for that exam.
Class Attendance/Participation : The only way to succeed in college is to attend class.
Your attendance and participation are very important in this class, as much of the learning and application of concepts take place in class. No more than two absences are allowed before your grade is affected. Each absence thereafter will result in 0.5 % deducted from your final grade. There may be exceptions at the discretion of the instructor for absences.
Missing a quiz counts as missing two classes. There will be no make-up quiz.
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The instructor needs to be informed as soon as possible if your absence is related to extreme circumstances (family emergencies, hospitalization).
Academic Honesty Policy : You are expected to follow the college’s guidelines for academic honesty. I advise you to consult the undergraduate issue of the Creighton
University Bulletin 2002, pp. 87-88, the Creighton University Handbook for Students , and the statement on academic honesty at the college’s Web site at http://puffin.creighton.edu/ccas/Students/students.html
. If you have any questions concerning these guidelines, please see me. Unless you have specific direction or permission otherwise, I expect your work to be your own and not to be work submitted for any other course. If you are found guilty of a violation of academic honesty, your penalty will be at a minimum a zero on the relevant assignment and quite possibly an F for the course. In a very serious case I may recommend even stiffer penalties to the Dean.
All cases in which a penalty is assessed for academic dishonesty must be reported to the
Chair of the Department and to the Dean, who will put a record of the offense and penalty into the student’s permanent academic file.
Tentative Schedule
Reading Assignment Date Topic
01/13 (W) Introduction to Ethics
01/15 (F) Morality and Religion
Handout & Rachels, Ch. 1, pp. 1-14
Part I Different Moral Theories
01/18 (M)
01/20 (W)
01/22 (F)
Aristotelian Virtue Ethics
Aristotle on Happiness
Aristotle on Virtue
01/25 (M) Aristotle on Virtue
01/27 (W)
Confucius’
Virtue Ethics
01/29 (F)
Confucius’s approach
02/01 (M)
Kant’s Deontological Theories
02/03 (W) Kant, Section one
02/05 (F) Kant, Section two
02/08 (M) Discussion
140
02/10 (W) Utilitarian Ethics
02/12 (F) Utilitarian Approach
116
02/15 (M) Mill’s development
Handout
Rachels, Ch. 12 pp.173-190
Handout
Kant
Kant, pp.7-17
Kant, pp.19-48
Rachels, Ch. 8 & 9, pp. 117-
Mill, p. 137-185
Rachels, Ch. 6 & 7, pp.89-
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02/17 (W) Buddhist Ethics
02/19 (F) Daoist Ethics
02/22 (M) The First Exam
Part II. Other Elements of Moral Philosophy
02/24 (W) Cultural Relativism
02/26 (F)
33-51
Subjectivism and Emotivism
Handout
Rachels, Ch. 2, pp.16-34
Rachels, Ch. 3, pp.
03/01 (M) Sources of Validity
50-72
Handout, Titles, Ch. 3, pp.
03/05 (W) Conflict and the Search for Standards Handout, Titles, Ch. 4, pp.73-
100
03/06-03/14 Spring Break-no class
03/15 (M) The Idea of A Social Contract
Part III. Morality in Practice
03/17 (W)
03/19 (F)
Film Extreme Measures
Film Extreme Measures (Continue)
Rachels, Ch. 10, 141-155
03/22 (M) Film and Discussion
03/24 (W) Near & Distant Peoples
Garrett Hardin:
03/26 (F)
Sterba, pp. 87-93
Lifeboat Ethics: The case against helping the Poor
Peter Singer:
The Solution to World poverty
Sterba, pp.94-87
03/29 (M) Abortion and Euthanasia
Judith Thomason:
A defense of Abortion
03/31 (W) Don Marquis:
Why Abortion is Immoral
04/01-04/05 Easter Break
04/07 (W) James Rachels:
Euthanasia, Killing, and Letting Die
Class Discussion on Abortion and Euthanasia
04/09 (F) Sex Equality
Christina Hoff Sommers:
Philosophers against the Family
04/12 (M) Warren Farrell:
Sterba, pp. 127-134
Sterba, pp.135-139
Sterba, pp. 155-165
Sterba, pp. 234-239
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(4 th
edition)
Is Male Power Really a Myth?
Class Discussion on Sex Equality
Handout, Sterba, pp. 205-213
04/14 (W) Sexual Harassment
Barbara A. Gutek:
Understanding Sexual Harassment at Work Sterba, pp. 332-340
04/16 (F) Homosexual Conduct
John Finnis:
Homosexual Conduct is Wrong
Martha Nussbaum:
Homosexual Conduct is not Wrong
04/19 (M) Class Discussion on Sexual Harassment
& Homosexual Conduct
Sterba, pp.450-451
Sterba, pp. 452-453
Gun Control
04/21 (W) Final Essay Due (Early due date) (No comments will be given for the final papers that are submitted later than 04/21)
Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwing:
Guns in America
438(4 th
edition)
Handout, Sterba, pp.435-
04/23 (F) Class Discussion on Gun Control
04/26 (M) Animal Rights
Peter Singer:
All Animals Are Equal
Class Discussion on Animal Rights
Sterba, pp.485-495
04/28 (W) Punishment and Responsibility
Karl Menninger:
The Crime of Punishment
04/30 (F)
Peace and War
Moral Reasoning Activity 1:
Sterba, pp. 550-556
Sterba, pp. 626-635
Moral Reasoning Activity 2:
Analyzing moral dilemmas
Review
05/03-05/07 Final Exam Week
Your exam is at: 8:00-9:40am, May 5 (W)
The Late Final Paper Due 05/05 (W) (the last due date). You will get a fair grade for your paper but no comments.
(The penalty for the papers submitted later than 05/07 (F) is –5% in your total grade and no comments will be given for the late final paper.)
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