Ethics               Course Outline and Requirements
Objectives: To enable a student to:
  1. Identify and comprehend traditional and current issues in Ethics.

  2. Define the main areas of ethical discourse.

  3. Discuss theories of ethics: teleological and deontological.

  4. Develop skills of critical ethical analysis of contemporary moral problems.

  Class Behavior


The aim of the general education course in ethics is to prepare students to
become responsible moral agents, competent and humane professionals, and
informed and engaged citizens. To achieve this, the courses provide
students with the conceptual tools to make autonomous, informed,
comprehensive and coherent judgments about personal, professional, and
public ethical issues.

The specific goals of general education courses in ethics are:

* to prepare students to make autonomous and informed judgments based on the
ability to think critically and knowledgeably about issues of personal,
professional, and public ethics and morality.

* to provide students with the conceptual tools and analytic skills to
identify and articulate moral principles and then to apply these principles
in their personal, professional, and public lives.

* to encourage students to make coherent and comprehensive judgments which
they are able to justify to others, and to view this challenge as an
opportunity to learn how to establish their own moral integrity in a
multicultural and pluralistic moral milieu.

* to provide students with the opportunity to be exposed to a wide variety
of ethical views, to engage in reflection and discussion in order to gain
confidence in identifying and articulating moral problems and reasons, to
enhance creative vision in imagining moral possibilities, to clarify
students' understanding of their own moral beliefs, and to help students
develop skill in reasonably weighing conflicting moral beliefs.

 

 

OUTLINE

 

Requirements:

This course will consist of a series of lectures followed by discussions of the topics at issue. Students are encouraged to participate in the discussions. With the exception of the group presentation , students will not be graded based upon their participation in the classroom discussion but their understanding of the material and their ability to present reasoned discourse will improve if they do so participate.

Students will be graded based upon their written work. A number of written exercises are required in order to examine how well students have understood the materials, concepts, issues and ideas presented in the texts and in classroom lectures and discussions.


Attendance:

Attendance is required. Attendance is taken by having students sign an attendance sheet. Absences must be explained by the student in writing. Excessive absences may result in a lowered grade or a "W" or "F". The essays and examination questions will cover material presented in the classroom and not found directly in the texts as well as material in the texts.

 

Final Grade:

Grades will be determined as follows:

Group presentation 20 points

Mid Term examination 40 points

Final Examination 40 points          

Total 100 points


GROUP PRESENTATION

Each student is required to participate in one group presentation in the last third of the semester. Each group will be taking a position on some moral problem. They will both analyze the issues involved and defend their position from a particular moral tradition or approach they will be assigned. Each group will submit a type written text of their position , its defense and their responses to their critics. The written materials are due two days after the classroom exercise.

Each group is to determine a team leader and assign responsibilities for both the oral and written presentations. ALL members of each group will receive the same grade unless the group signs a statement attesting to the non-participation of any assigned members. (form to be supplied by instructor)

The group presentation will be evaluated considering the following:

  • 5 timeliness          
  • 5 effective (clear, relevant) oral presentation and response
  • 5 thoroughness
  • position defined
  • positioned defended
  • response to critics
  • 5 ethical theories clearly being enunciated and applied

TOTAL 20 POINTS


FOR EACH PRESENTATION EACH GROUP WILL REPRESENT ONE (1) OF THE FOLLOWING TRADITIONS OR APPROACHES TO ETHICS:

  1. UTILITARIANISM-BENTHAM, MILL
  2. KANTIANISM
  3. RAWLS
  4. EXISTENTIALISM - NIETZSCHE, SARTRE
  5. DEWEY /PRAGMATISM
  6. NATURAL LAW-AQUINAS, AUGUSTINE

ONE GROUP WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INITIAL PRESENTATION AND DEFENSE OF THEIR POSITION. THE OTHER GROUPS WILL PRESENT THEIR VIEWS AND CHALLENGE THE INITIAL PRESENTATION.

EACH GROUP WILL NEED TO READ AND PREPARE THEIR POSITIONS FOR EACH OF THE TOPICS ASSIGNED.

 


 MID TERM EXAMINATION

Instructions:

  1. SELECT FOUR (4) OF THE FOLLOWING TOPICS (EACH WORTH 10 POINTS)

Or

  1. ANSWER NUMBER ONE (20 POINTS) AND ANY TWO OTHERS

ANSWER IN ESSAY FORM.

SUBMIT YOUR ESSAYS IN TYPEWRITTEN FORM.

ESSAYS ARE DUE BY THE DATE ON THE CALENDAR.

YOU MAY USE ANY REFERENCES YOU CHOOSE.

YOU MUST WORK ALONE.  

1.

  1. Define the following terms:

          etiquette      morality       ethics          law

  1. What is the relationship of law to morality? Are they identical? If not, illustrate and explain the relation?
  2. Why is morality necessary?
  3. Why should anyone care to be moral? Why should anyone care about doing the right thing?
  4. What are the two major views of the grounding of morality?
  5. Are they compatible with one another?
  6. Explain the concepts of Reciprocity and Sociability and how they relate to morals and ethical theory.
  7. Define the following terms:
  • cultural relativism
  • descriptive ethical relativism
  • normative ethical relativism
  1. I. What are the difficulties with the theory of normative ethical relativism?
  2. J. Develop an argument against the theory of normative ethical relativism.

 

2. 

  1. Describe Kohlberg's theory of the stages of moral development
  2. Explain how they correspond to the theory of John Dewey on moral Ndevelopment.
  3. What are Kohlberg=s ideasabout stages five and six and how they relate to one another and to ethical theory?
  4. Cite two critiques of Kohlberg=s theory:
  1. i. From the feminist view
  2. ii. Of his ideas about the superiority or greater maturity of stage six

3.    What is the basis for a moral life for the Greeks?

  1. Explain the Greek ideas of eudaimonia and arete.
  2. What was the Epicurian view of pleasure? Were their types of pleasures and which were to be preferred?
  3. What were the views of morality of Plato and Aristotle?

Describe their theories and in what ways they differ.

4.    Virtue Theory

  1. What is the significance of attempts to revive virtue theory as the foundation for ethical thinking? What factors have made such recent developments possible? Inevitable?
  2. What are the problems in the present facing those who would use virtue theory as a basic approach to ethical thinking, i.e. having to do with cultural settings

5. 

  1. Describe the theory of Natural Law as a basis for morality.
  2. What is the principle of the double effect? Why is it needed? What are the conditions for employing the principle?
  3. What are the major problems with the Natural Theory?

6.    EGOISM

  1. Describe Egoism as a moral theory and some problems with this theory.
  2. Describe how Social Contract serves as a basis for moral thinking.
  3. Distinguish the Social Contract Theory of Hobbes from that of Locke.
  4. Distinguish the Social Contract Approach of Nozick from Rawls.

7.    UTILITARIANISM

  1. Describe the fundamental ideas (the principle features and key ideas) for the moral theory known as Utilitarianism.
  2. What is the difference between Act and Rule utilitarianism?
  3. Cite at least four problems with utilizing the Utilitarian Theory as the basis for moral reasoning.

 


FINAL EXAMINATION

Instructions:

SELECT FOUR (4) OF THE FOLLOWING TOPICS (EACH WORTH 10 POINTS)

ANSWER IN ESSAY FORM.

SUBMIT YOUR ESSAYS IN TYPEWRITTEN FORM.

ESSAYS ARE DUE BY THE DATE ON THE CALENDAR.

YOU MAY USE ANY REFERENCES YOU CHOOSE.

YOU MUST WORK ALONE.

 

1.    Rawls-

  1. Describe the Maxi-Min principles
  2. How do the original position and veil of ignorance function in Rawls approach to moral decision making? What problem are they intended to overcome?
  3. How does Rawls overcome a major problem with Utilitarian thinking.       

2.    Libertarianism

  1. What are the key ideas in the Libertarian approach to moral problem solving? What are the main values to be preserved?
  2. Describe the thinking of Robert Nozick

3.    Kant

  1. What is the only thing that merits moral praise for Kant?
  2. What is the Acategorical Imperative@ and what role does it play in Kantian Ethics?
  3. Give two alternative statements of the categorical imperative.
  4. What are the major criticisms of Kantian Ethics? List at least three criticisms and explain each of them?

4.    Pragmatism- Dewey

  1. What is the basic Agood@ for John Dewey? What is the only thing offered as an absolute moral good for Dewey?
  2. How would Dewey approach moral decision making?
  3. What provided the paradigm for moral deliberation for Dewey? Be extensive in your description of the paradigm.

5.    Existentialism

  1. What is the key concept for the moral theorizing of the existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre?
  2. What is meant by Abad faith@?
  3. What is the cause of moral anguish according to Sartre?
  4. What is Nietzsche=s theory of the Awill to power@?
  5. Describe Nietzsche=s inversion of moral values.
  6. What are the moralities of masters and slaves according to Nietzsche? What motivates each of them?

6.    Ethics and Religion

  1. Is it possible to have a secular ethics?
  2. What is the relationship of a secular ethics to a religious ethics?
  3. Describe how a human community can have a moral tradition, a moral order, not founded upon a religious tradition.
  4. Name the secular ethical traditions actually guiding human communities in the twentieth century and their communities and state whether or not you believe they are succeeding.

7.    Relativism Reconsidered

  1. Are morals a matter of what each person feels?
  2. Are each person=s moral principles the equivalent of any other=s ?
  3. Is it possible to offer a moral critique of another person=s behavior?
  4. Is it possible to offer a moral critique of another person=s moral code or principles?
  5. Does one group have the right to criticize another society=s moral codes ? If not, why not? If so, based upon what would such a criticism be offered ?

8.    Application- Contemporary Moral Problems

Select any one of the following issues and state your position on it. Defend your position from a moral point of view. State the moral principles you are using, the tradition they are from and describe how they apply to the particular issue you have chosen and how you would defend your position against a critique offered from another ethical tradition..

  • Death Penalty
  • Physician Assisted Suicide
  • Premarital Sex
  • Parental Approval for Abortion for women under 18 years of age
 


FINAL EXAMINATION