Friday, May 03, 2013

STUDY GUIDE .. posting notes from study session..




EMP – Egoism & Famine/Poverty / “Singer Solution to World Poverty” AND/or “Famine, Affluence and Morality” .. where the pond/fountain case came from
THERE WAS A POWERPOINT ON THIS; YOU HAD A HANDOUT; THE ARGUMENT WAS STATED PRETTY CAREFULLY, SO I’D LIKE  YOU TO RESTATE IT CAREFULLY:
-        What’s the theory called ethical egoism? *OUGHT*
-        What’s psychological egoism? * IS * /
-        How are ethical egoism and psychological egoism different?

Singer’s argument:

What is “absolute poverty”? …
What is Singer’s conclusion?  What are some conclusions that we might reasonable believe Singer argues for, on the basis of what we read?

What conclusion did we consider in this class? That is, what conclusion did we think regarding whether YOU might be obligated to do this action? $10 a month..

What premises did Singer give in favor of that conclusion?

THIS IS CLOSE, BUT NOT EXACTLY what he said.. :
If your needs are met and you have excess resources, then you are obligated to give those extra resources to others in need.
Your needs are met .
You have excess resources.
Therefore, you are obligated to give those extra resources to others in need.
        Conclusions:

Raised and responded to a good bunch of objections, all in logically valid form.
We thought about whether these objections would be sound arguments or whether at least one premise would be false.

What’s a counterexample? What kind of premises can you use a counterexample to try to show it to be false? They really only apply to premises like these:
n  All A’s are B’s.
n  If x is an A, then X is a B.
n  Any A is a B.
H is unnatural.
All unnatural actions are wrong.
Therefore, H is wrong.


Sometimes you can save someone’s life for less than $10.
Meat dishes are more common than non-meat dishes. T? F?


o   EMP Utilitarianism – 2 chapters
§  Euthananasia / mercy killing : argument from James Rachels in “Active and passive euthanasia”
Passive E? Active? Voluntary? Involuntary? Non-voluntary?

§  Drugs .. Michael Huemer’s arguments (RTD and online). .. Michelle Alexander
When would SOME drug use be immoral and should be illegal, according to Huemer?
Why, according to Huemer, is most drug use not immoral and should be legal?
n  Either nobody is harmed.
n  Or anyone harmed is harmed no more than when they are harmed by activities that are legal.
n  AND people have a natural right to their bodies and so a natural right to use drugs.

§  Animals .. Singer’s “All animals are equal,” Animal Liberation
·        Principle of equality .. equal consideration of similar interests..
·        Speciesists ; Species-ism..
§   
§   
§  John Simmon’s “Reasonable Humans and Animals”: WHAT'S HIS ARGUMENT? 

o   EMP  2 chapters on Kant’s ethics and capital punishment: we did not discuss anything from these; thus, fairness suggests that you / ya’ll should not be quizzed on them. Fairness would allow some bonus question(s) from these chapters.

METHODS QUESTION – WHAT HAVE WE BEEN DOING? HOW HAVE WE BEEN DOING IT?

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Remaining Schedule

Below is a schedule of remaining events;
Also, how about we extend the due date for today's paper? If you would like, you can take more time with that. I hope that will lead to a better paper. Feel free to send me drafts!


Optional review session this Friday at 10 AM. 

Graduating seniors:
You can take your final exam EITHER at a regular exam time (see below) OR at Friday at noon, in the classroom at Sale Hall OR at either of these times:

Monday, May 6th, 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Wednesday, May 8th, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Senior grades are due by Thursday May 9 at noon. Therefore, Dr. Nobis must receive any and all remaining assignments from you by Wednesday, May 8 at 5 PM IN HARDCOPY AND BY TURNITIN. NO EXCEPTIONS.

If you are a graduating senior, please clearly mark that on all remaining work and your final exam/quiz.

See blog for remaining assignments, in case you have missed those.


Students who are not Graduating seniors:
You can take the final exam at EITHER of these times:

For the 1:00 PM class:
Monday, May 6th
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

For the 12:00 PM class:
Wednesday, May 8th
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Dr. Nobis must receive any and all remaining assignments from NON-GRADUATING SENIORS [non-graduating seniors = everyone who is not a graduating senior] by THURSDAY MAY 9 at 5 PM IN HARDCOPY AND BY TURNITIN. NO EXCEPTIONS.

See blog for remaining assignments, in case you have missed those.

EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT: TOP TEN LIST: due at due date above.


Make a "Top 10 List of helpful things to do and/or not do when thinking about moral issues and addressing moral problems." Explain what people can do to better think about and address moral issues: these might be things to look out for and avoid, as well as positive techniques or attitudes or skills to use. For each of your suggestion of what to do (or not do), illustrate it with an example (or examples): explain why your suggestion is a good one. The goal of this assignment is for you to critically reflect on what we have done and develop a list of helpful ideas that you can use in the future (and help others use) when thinking about moral issues. This assignment is intended for you to reflect carefully on what we have learned this semester! 3-4 pages.