TRINITY WESTERN UNIVERSITY
COURSE SYLLABUS
Philosophy 210E
Contemporary Ethical Issues
Summer 2012
Instructor: rpdoede (Bobd@twu.ca)
Prerequisite: One year of university or one prior philosophy course.
Required Text:
1.
Rachels, James and Stuart, The Elements of Moral Philosophy, (6th ed) New
York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.
2.
Course-Pack and Mycourses articles.
Late paper policy: The final paper will be due one month subsequent to the conclusion
of the class. No late papers will be accepted.
Course Objectives: The fundamental objectives of this course are (1) to acquaint
students with the basics of moral theory, analyzing critically the concepts, assumptions,
and principles undergirding contemporary moral discourse, (2) to raise students’
consciousness of the forces in our world that are shaping their moral identities and
character, (3) to help students orient themselves morally in the swirl of ethical confusion
currently bewildering civilized society, and (4) to challenge students to begin the hard
work of taking up a morally awakened lifestyle in this world swollen with injustices and
mindless consumption.
We will begin by investigating and questioning traditional moral theory and some
of the more recent revisions of it. As well, we will probe and interrogate our use and
abuse of the natural environment, our responses to world hunger, the moral complexion
of capitalism and globalization, the moral import of technologies of mass media and
human enhancement—all of which are to differing degrees interrelated ethical issues. As
we move through these issues, we will see aspects of ourselves reflected in these moral
issues. Our ultimate goal is not merely to gain a deeper and more honest self-awareness
of our complicity in the moral issues we discuss, but also to cultivate imaginative moral
resources for creatively addressing these issues as they find expression in our own
lifestyles.
Course Preparation: The best way to enter this course is to have read all the required
materials (i.e., Rachels’ book and the articles in the Coursepack and on MyCourses) and
to have typed notes on them all so you can bring these notes to class—this degree of
preparation will greatly increase your likelihood of receiving a passing grade. Your notes
to type up the questions that arise in your mind as you read the article/chapter. These
questions will come in handy for class discussion.
Course Requirements:
1.) Class participation: 20%. This class will involve lots of discussion of the required
readings. Often I will elect individuals to give to the class their thoughts on the issues that
the readings address—so be prepared! You are expected to attend every class.
2.) Examination on Rachels’ book: 10%. This quiz will be objective. The best way to
prepare for this exam is not merely to read the book, but to take notes on your readings
and on the lectures/discussions of the book.
3.) Group Presentation on Documentary: 10%. Each group will work collectively on
a. writing up a statement of the Doc’s thesis
b. formulating a summary of the Doc’s main points, and from this summary
c. creating an outline that will be offered to the class as PP slides.
The PP will include concise statements articulating what each member of your group
found to be the Doc’s most interesting point (please have student’s name beside his or her
statement). Each person in the group will be responsible for taking 4-5 minutes to
elaborate on his or her statement. These presentations will be a total of 30 minutes in
length. The point of these presentations is to give the class a strong and accurate sense of
the ethical issue the Doc covers and to convey to the class how the issue bears on
Christians seeking to live lives of justice and love. Submit a paper copy of PP to teacher
after the presentation.
4.) Six-page Paper—Worth 30%:: In this class, we will need to spend most of our time
getting familiar with moral theory and moral issues. Formulating creative and thoughtful
strategies of response to the moral issues will be the task of your paper. You will need to
have a firm grasp of your issue so do lots of your own research on it—you may us
material from class readings and discussion, but I will expect you to show me that you
have done your own research as well, pursuing particular issues farther than we have
been able to in class.
Your paper will have three sections (two pages each): (1) the first section will
describe the moral issue you are addressing and explain its importance, answering
questions such as what makes the issue morally problematic? who are the key players
behind this issue? and how has this issue become the morally problematic issue it is
today?; (2) the second section will identify ways in which we can respond to the issue
through specifically social/political action, that is, through actions in the public, social,
and political realms aimed at putting counter-pressures on the cultural, political, and
corporate forces that have created and sustain—whether passively or actively—the
problematic dimensions of the moral issue you have chosen; (3) the last section will be a
personal look at your own life; here you will investigate avenues of change for your own
life, identifying what practical lifestyle actions you might take to limit your susceptibility
to, and your participation in, the morally problematic behaviors definitive of this moral
issue.
Here are a few questions to focus your paper:
1. What is the central question you wish to address and what do your propose to
accomplish with this paper
2. Why is the issue you have chosen important? Does it have a special
importance for Christians? —answers to these questions (and to those found
in 1 above) need to be stated clearly and concisely in your introductory
paragraph.
3. What are the historical and factual matters integral to the issue—what
historical, institutional, and political changes have precipitated the rise of the
moral issue’s importance?
4. Are there any exemplary individuals or movements that have shown us a way
of creatively and helpfully responding to the moral issue?
5. How do course readings and discussion help one to think about responding to
this issue?
Before you begin writing your paper, formulate your thesis statement (i.e., what you
propose to accomplish with your paper) and write up an outline showing how you plan to
support your thesis statement (i.e., organize your outline so that each main point on it
represents a step towards making your thesis statement more believable). When you
begin writing your paper, make sure you clearly state in your first paragraph what you
intend to accomplish with your paper and why the moral issue you focus on is important.
I expect these papers to be written in clear and concise prose. Get help if you have
problems with grammar: a necessary condition for a passing grade is that the paper is
written in grammatical prose. Please use APA (in-text) citation format—as in (Smith,
1987, p. 45)—I need page numbers, author, and publication date. Supply a Bibliography
that lists (at least) three different sources (other than the material read for this class) used
for this assignment.
Book Report Option: Permission may be granted students to write a ten-page report on
Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death. The bookstore has copies of this book and a
few are available from the library. This report will have two sections: the first section
will be a five-page summary of the book’s contents; the second section will be a fivepage evaluation of its contents, informed by two scholarly reviews of the book and
research into current affairs that confirm, further elucidate, or call into question some of
the claims made in this book.
Note well: the concision and clarity of your prose will definitely influence your grade.
Please don’t hand in a paper that hasn't been proofed. Read the paper aloud to yourself
and listen to your prose. Consider whether someone other than yourself could understand
what you’ve written? Two common errors to watch out for: (1) the possessive of “it” is
“its” - no apostrophe—“it’s” means “it is”, and (2) don’t connect sentences with a mere
comma—use a semi-colon.
5.) Final exam: 30% (This exam will cover material from all lectures, videos, class
discussions, presentations, and all the required reading.)
Class Schedule:
Day One, Friday Evening – :
1. Introduction to course
2. Begin review of Rachels’ book
Day Two, Saturday – :
1. Continue review of Rachels’ book
2. Questioning traditional ethical theory: Reading: a.) MC: J. Bennett, “… Huck
Finn”
3. “Story of Stuff”
4. Presentation on documentary “The Corporation”
Day Three, Sunday - :
1. World Hunger:
Readings: a.) T. Pogge “Two Reflections on the UN’s Millennium Dev. Goal,” and b.) G.
Hardin “Lifeboat Ethics …”
2. Presentation on documentary “Food, Inc.”
3. Environmentalism
Readings: a.) L. White, Jr., “The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis,” b.) W. Baxter, “A
‘Good’ Environment: Just One of the Set of Human Objectives,” and c.) R. Gordis
“Ecology and the Judaic Traditions”
4. Presentation on “Blue Gold”
______________________________________________________________________
Day Four, Monday – :
1. Consumerism, Society, and Self
Readings: a.) R. Roberts, “Just a Little Bit More ...,” and b.) MC: R. Clapp, “The Devil Takes
Visa”
2. Presentation on documentary “The Future of Food”
3. Technology, Television, and Prozac
Readings: a.) P. Kramer, “Listening to Prozac …”,” and b.) MC: A. Sigman, “Visual Voodoo”
4.
Presentation on documentary “Digital Nation”
_____________________________________________________________________
Day Five, Tuesday - :
1. Transhumanism and Human Nature
Readings: a.) MC: PLF Allhoff, “Nanoethics and Human Enhancement,” and b.) MC: G.
Peterson, “Imaging God: Cyborgs …”
2. Movie: Transcendent Man
3. Social and Cultural Action
Reading: S. Bertman, “Three Keys to Resisting the Power of Now”
Day Six, Wednesday - :
1. Review
2. Final Exam
Students must bring copies of all articles above designated as MC
(i.e., found on MyCourses) to class.
Sample Paper Topics:
 Feminist Ethics: Is Caring Enough?
 Feminist Ethics vs. Traditional Ethical Theory
 Capitalism and Ethics
 Capitalism and World Hunger/Global Justice
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Capitalism and the Environment
Capitalism, Consumerism, and Greed
Capitalism and Technology
World Hunger/Global Justice and Structural Evil
Do Wealthy Nations have a Moral Obligation to help Impoverished Nations?
Is there anything Individuals can do to Assist the Inhabitants of Impoverished Nations?
An Investigation into North American Governments’ Spending Habits: Military
compared to Humanitarian Development
Steps Toward an Ecologically Responsible Lifestyle
The Media, Morality, and Self-Development/Self-Identity
FaceBook, Morality, and Community
Television and Moral Development
Is Television a Health Threat?
The Moral Dimensions of Technology
Cosmetic Psychpharmaceuticals: Is there a Moral Issue here?
Body-image and the Media
Beauty and the Beast: Media and Self-Loathing
Stem-Cell Research: Is there a Moral Issue here?
Designer Babies: Commodifying Offspring
Sports and Technologies of Enhancement
Soldiers and Technologies of Enhancement
Bioengineering and the Patenting of Non-Human Life
Cloning’s Moral Dimensions
Technologies of Enhancement: Is there a Moral Issue here?
Transhumanism: What does it tell us about our Culture?
Consumerism and the Virtue of Frugality
The Health and Wealth Gospel in a World of Hunger
NOTE: Students are reminded that essays written for this course may be subject
to scanning by a plagiary detection service employed by the university.
A+
A
A-
System of Grading
90-100%
85-89%
80-84%
C+
C
C-
67-69%
63-66%
60-62%
B+
77-79%
D+
57-59%
B
B-
73-76%
70-72%
D
D-
53-56%
50-52%
F
Below 50%