TRINITY WESTERN UNIVERSITY
COURSE SYLLABUS
Philosophy 210
Contemporary Ethical Issues
Summer 2013
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 responses to
world hunger, our use and abuse of the natural environment, 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 enhance your learning experience in this course. It is important
that you come to class having carefully read the material because this will typically
involve lots of discussion.
Course Requirements:
1.) Class participation: 20%. You are expected to attend every class. Come prepared.
2.) Examination on Rachels’ book: 10%. This exam will be objective. The best way to
prepare for this exam is not merely to read the book ahead of time, but to take notes on
your readings and on our discussions of the book.
3.) Group Presentation on Documentary: 10%. Each group will work collectively on
Each group will work collectively on
a. writing up a statement of the documentary’s thesis
b. formulating a summary of the documentary’s main points, and from this
summary
c. creating an outline that will be offered to the class as PP slides and
representative selections of the video.
The PP will include concise statements articulating what your group found to be the
documentary’s five most important pointsj. These presentations will be a total of 20
minutes in length. The point of these presentations is to give the class a strong and
accurate sense of the ethical issue the documentary covers and to convey how the issue
bears on living 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 one of the moral issues we cover in this class 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 use 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.
The topic of your paper will be derived from one of the following general topics:
World hunger and global justice, Environment and ecology, consumerism, media,
technology, or human enhancement. For samples of more specific topics see below.
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 your chosen
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
intend to accomplish with your paper). 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 the three different sources
you used for this assignment (note: you may use any of the required reading materials for
this class, but you must use at least three other sources that you have discovered in your
own research for your paper).
Book Report Option: Permission may be granted students to write a eight-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 four-page summary of the book’s contents; the second section will be a
four-page 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) do not 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.) 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 “MissRepresentation”
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 designated as MC (i.e.,
found on MyCourses) to class.
Sample Paper Topics:
 Capitalism and World Hunger/Global Justice
 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
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?
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+
B
B-
77-79%
73-76%
70-72%
D+
D
D-
57-59%
53-56%
50-52%
F
Below 50%