Topics in Texas and American Politics: Ethics
Spring 2011
POL 1213 002
TR 12:30-1:45
Classroom: BB 3.03.02/FS 2.508
Email: daniel.engster@utsa.edu
Dan Engster
Office: MS 4.03.36
Office hrs.: TR 2:00-3:00
Office phone: 458-5645
Aristotle wrote that ethics, or the study of moral behavior and values, is the primary subject
of political science. It helps us to decide what is right and wrong and which goals and actions
we should pursue or avoid in our personal and public lives. The study of ethics can be
divided into two main categories: theoretical ethics and applied ethics. Theoretical ethics
studies general philosophies of morality (What is moral? Why should a person behave in
moral ways?). Applied ethics examines particular moral issues and questions (abortion,
euthanasia, civil liberties). This course provides an introduction to theoretical and practical
ethics focusing especially on theories and issues relevant to American and Texas politics. In
the first part of the course, we study four major systems of ethical thinking: virtue ethics
(Plato), deontological ethics (Kant), utilitarian ethics (Mill), and feminist ethics (Gilligan). In
the second part of the course, we study the application of these theories to practical issues
such as animal rights, abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, and civil freedoms. By the end
of the course, students should be able to identify the major elements of the four major
systems of ethical thinking studied and express moral arguments for and against a number of
particular issues. Above all, it is hoped that students will clarify their own thinking about
philosophical and practical ethical issues.
REQUIRED BOOKS:
The following books are available at the UTSA Bookstore, the Student Bookstore on
Roadrunner Way, and L&M Bookstores. They are also on reserve at the 1604 library.
Gilligan, Carol, In a Different Voice, (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1993).
Kant, Immanuel, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1993).
Mill, John Stuart, Utilitarianism, (New York: Prometheus, 1987).
Plato, The Republic, (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1992).
Satris, Stephen (ed.), Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Moral Issues, Twelfth
Edition, (Dubuque, Iowa: McGraw-Hill, 2006).
Singer, Peter, Practical Ethics, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1) Exams: There are three exams in this class, each of which counts 25% toward your final
grade. All exams will be in class, multiple choice exams. The final exam is comprehensive.
Make-up exams will be given only to students who present a note from the Dean or a doctor
explaining their absence on the day of the exam. In any case, all make-up exams will be
penalized a minimum of 15 percentage points.
2) Participation: Your participation grade will be based upon two factors: your contributions
to small discussion groups within class and periodic reading quizzes. About once a week,
I will ask you to get into small groups in order to discuss some questions relating to the
class readings and to produce a written group assignment. Your group will receive credit
or no credit for your assignment based upon the quality of your answers. About once a
week, I will also begin class with a multiple choice reading quiz to test whether or not
you have completed the assigned reading for the day. You will receive credit or no credit
for each reading quiz. Your participation grade will be based upon your group project and
reading quiz grades. Participation counts 25% toward your final grade.
3) Extra Credit: You may make up missed quiz or group project grades by turning in
summaries of the readings. You may also earn extra credit toward your final grade
through these summaries. I will pass out instructions for the extra credit make-up
summaries during the third week of class.
4) Optional Paper: You may write a 5-6 page paper to replace one of your first two test
scores if you wish. You must talk with me and receive permission from me in order to
write the optional paper for credit. I will provide you with specific instructions/
expectations for the paper when we talk. The paper is due no later than April 28.
Support services, including registration assistance and equipment, are available to
students with disabilities through the Office of Disability Services (DSS), MS 2.03.18.
Students can contact that office at 458-4157 to make arrangements.
Plagiarism: The University Student Code of Conduct defines plagiarism in the following
way: "Plagiarism" includes, but is not limited to, “the appropriation, buying, receiving as
a gift or obtaining by any means another's work and the submission of said work as one’s
own academic work offered for credit.” In other words, if you buy a paper and turn it in
as your own, or copy parts of a friend’s old paper and claim it as your own, or take
passages off the internet and insert them into your paper/summaries as if they were your
own writing, then you have plagiarized. Any student who submits plagiarized work for
any assignment in the class, including summaries and papers, will automatically receive a
F for the class.
COURSE SCHEDULE:
1/11: Introduction
VIRTUE_ETHICS: PLATO
1/13: Plato, Republic, Bk. I, (327a-354c), p 1-31.
1/18: Plato, Republic, Bk. II, III (357a-383c, 412a-417b), p 32-59, 88-93.
1/20: Plato, Republic, Bk. IV, (427d-445e), p 102-121.
1/25: Plato, Republic, Bk. VI-VII, (503b-521c), p 176-193.
1/27: Plato, Republic, Bk. VIII, IX, (543a-563d, 588a-592b), p 213-234, 259-263.
DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS: KANT
2/1: Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, preface, first section, and half of
second section, p 1-30.
2/3: Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, second section, half of third section,
and “On a supposed right to lie,” p 30-55, 63-67.
UTILITARIANISM: MILL
2/8: Mill, Utilitarianism, chapts. 1-3, p 9-48.
2/10: Mill, Utilitarianism, chapts. 4-5, p 49-83.
FEMINIST ETHICS: GILLIGAN
2/15: Gilligan, In a Different Voice, p 1-34.
2/17: Gilligan, In a Different Voice, p 128-174.
2/22: FIRST EXAM.
APPLIED ETHICS I (Singer): ANIMALS, EMBRYOS, AND OTHERS
2/24: Singer, Practical Ethics, p 1-26.
3/1: Singer, Practical Ethics, p 55-82
3/3: Singer, Practical Ethics, p 83-134.
3/8: Satris, Taking Sides, Issue 16: Does Morality Require Vegetarianism?, p 334-354.
3/10: Singer, Practical Ethics, p 135-174.
3/14-18: Spring Break. No class.
3/22: Satris, Taking Sides, Issue 3, Is Abortion Immoral?, p 50-69.
3/24: Singer, Practical Ethics, p 175-217 + video.
3/29: Satris, Taking Sides, Issue 15: Is Physician-Assisted Suicide Wrong?, p 314-330.
3/31: Singer, Practical Ethics, p 218-246 + handout.
4/5: Singer, Practical Ethics, p 264-288.
4/7: SECOND EXAM
APPLIED ETHICS II (Satris): SEX, MARRIAGE, PERSONAL FREEDOMS, AND
PUNISHMENT.
4/12: Satris, Taking Sides, Issue 4: Must Sex Involve Commitment?, p 70-85.
4/14: Satris, Taking Sides, Issue 5: Is It Right to Prohibit Same-Sex Marriage?, p 86-109.
4/19: Satris, Taking Sides, Issue 9: Should Drugs Be Legalized?, p 159-182.
4/21: Satris, Taking Sides, Issue 12: Should Licensing For Handguns Be More Restrictive?, p
233-260.
4/26: Satris, Taking Sides, Issue 13: Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished?, p 261-289.
4/28: Satris, Taking Sides, Issue 14: Is Torture Ever Justified?, p 290-313.
5/4: FINAL EXAM, 10:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.