Catalogue Description: Provides an introduction to philosophical reflection about the nature and function of morality. Readings will include both historical and contemporary materials.
Extended Description: This course provides students with the opportunity to improve their skills at reasoning critically about moral issues. Students will learn some basic logic and critical thinking skills and apply them to theoretical and practical questions about morality. We will practice identifying precise and unambiguous moral conclusions (i.e., exact perspectives taken on moral issues) and the reasons given for and against these conclusions. We will then practice evaluating these reasons to see if they provide rational support for these conclusions or not. We will think about what helps people think more carefully and critically about moral issues and what factors and influences discourage this. We will discuss influential ethical theories and moral principles – answers to the questions ‘What’s the basic difference between a right and wrong action?’ and ‘What makes right actions right and wrong actions wrong?’ – and apply our critical thinking skills to moral issues such as female genital mutilation, homosexuality, abortion, famine and absolute poverty, racism, sexism, and speciesism, vegetarianism and the treatment of animals, euthanasia and assisted suicide, capital punishment, affirmative action, civil disobedience, and environmentalism, among others.
Required course materials:
James and Stuart Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy, 5th Ed.[EMP]
James and Stuart Rachels, eds. The Right Thing to Do, 4th Ed. [RTD]
ANY EDITION OF THESE BOOKS WILL DO: SEE AMAZON.COM OR ABEBOOKS.COM FOR USED COPIES
Lewis Vaughn, Writing Philosophy: A Students Guide to Writing Philosophy Essays [WP].
·The absolute most important thing you can do to succeed in this class is to do the reading and do the reading well. To encourage you do to do, you will be required to write 1-3 page outlines, paraphrases &/or summaries of many of the readings or selections of them. Vaughn’s Writing Philosophy, Ch. 1 provides instruction on how to do this.What most important for these assignments is that you (a) identify the author’s main conclusions, and (b) explain the reasons he or she gives in favor of these conclusions and (c) explain whether these reasons are a valid and sound argument for that conclusion or not. Merely copying the writing’s Introduction by Rachels will result in a zero for the assignment.(3 points each; 12 assignments; 36 points total)
Five 4-6 page Essays (argumentative essays, where a moral conclusion is defended, objections are responded to, etc.): (10 points each; 50 points total)
Two Exams, Midterm and Final:
All of lecture, discussion and reading content is fair game. Study guides will be available online with possible questions for each exam to help focus your studying. Exams will mostly be short answer and short essay questions. (25 points each; 50 points total).
Rules:
Nearly always come to class. Be on time. Do the reading, carefully. Be prepared. Take the time to do a very good job on everything we do. Bring your materials, always. Contribute to class discussion. Ask questions. Do not plagiarize or cheat in any way: if you do, you will fail the course immediately. Have fun, learn a lot, and grow to become a more ethically engaged person!
First assignments:
Readings should be done in advance for the day assigned. Exact readings and assignments will be announced in class and posted on the course blog/webpage at http://philosophy302.blogspot.com. If you come to class, you should know exactly what the current assignments are. Once enrollment settles, I will provide a calendar of assignments as well.
oCh. 1, "What is Morality?" (EMP) OPS Writing Assignment on the arguments in favor of killing Teresa, separating the twins and killing Tracey (!!)
Further reading and writing assignments, and their dates, will be announced in class, on blog, and email group!
Note: A syllabus is not a contract, but rather a guide to course procedures. The instructor reserves the right to alter the course requirements and/or assignments based on new materials, class discussions, or other legitimate pedagogical objectives.
EMP Table of Contents
Preface ix
Aboutthe Sixth Edition xi
1. WHAT IS MORALITY?
1.1. The Problem of Definition 1
1.2. First Example: Baby Theresa 1
1.3. Second Example: Jodie and Mary 5
1.4. Third Example: Tracy Latimer 7
1.5. Reason and Impartiality 10
1.6. The Minimum Conception of Morality 13
2. THE CHALLENGE OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM
2.1. Different Cultures Have Different Moral Codes 14
2.2. Cultural Relativism 16
2.3. The Cultural Differences Argument 17
2.4. What Follows from Cultural Relativism Seriously 19
2.5. Why There Is Less Disagreement Than It Seems 21
2.6. Some Values Are Shared by All Cultures 23
2.7. Judging a Cultural Practice to Be Undesirable 24
2.8. Back to the Five Claims 27
2.9. What We Can Learn from Cultural Relativism 29
3. SUBJECTIVISM IN ETHICS
3.1. The Basic Idea of Ethical Subjectivism 32
3.2. The Evolution of the Theory 33
3.3. The First Stage: Simple Subjectivism 34
3.4. The Second Stage: Emotivism 36
3.5. The Role of Reason in Ethics 39
3.6. Are There Proofs in Ethics? 41
3.7. The Question of Homosexuality 44
4. DOES MORALITY DEPEND ON RELIGION?
4.1. The Presumed Connection Between Morality and Religion 48
4.2. The Divine Command Theory 50
4.3. The Theory of Natural Law 53
4.4. Religion and Particular Moral Issues 57
5. ETHICAL EGOISM
5.1. Is There a Duty to Help Starving People? 62
5.2. Psychological Egoism 63
5.3. Three Arguments for Ethical Egoism 69
5.4. Three Arguments against Ethical Egoism 74
6. THE IDEA OF A SOCIAL CONTRACT
6.1. Hobbes's Argument 80
6.2. The Prisoner's Dilemma 83
6.3. Some Advantages of the Social Contract Theory 87
6.4. The Problem of Civil Disobedience 90
6.5. Difficulties for the Theory 93
7. THE UTILITARIAN APPROACH
7.1. The Revolution in Ethics 97
7.2. First Example: Euthanasia 98
7.3. Second Example: Marijuana 101
7.4. Third Example: Nonhuman Animals 104
8. THE DEBATE OVER UTILITARIANISM
8.1. The Classical Version of the Theory 109
8.2. Is Pleasure the Only Thing That Matters? 109
8.3. Are Consequences All That Matter? 111
8.4. Should We Be Equally Concerned for Everyone? 115
8.5. The Defense of Utilitarianism 116
8.6. Concluding Thoughts 122
9. ARE THERE ABSOLUTE MORAL RULES?
9.1. Harry Truman and Elizabeth Anscombe 124
9.2. The Categorical Imperative 127
9.3. Kant's Arguments on Lying 129
9.4. Conflicts between Rules 132
9.5. Kant's Insight 133
10. KANT AND RESPECT FOR PERSONS
10.1. Kant's Core Ideas 136
10.2. Retribution and Utility in the Theory of Punishment 139
10.3. Kant's Retributivism 141
11. FEMINISM AND THE ETHICS OF CARE
11.1. Do Women and Men Think Differently about Ethics? 146
11.2. Implications for Moral Judgment 152
11.3. Implications for Ethical Theory 156
12. THE ETHICS OF VIRTUE
12.1. The Ethics of Virtue and the Ethics of Right Action 158
12.2. The Virtues 160
12.3. Two Advantages of Virtue Theory 168
12.4. Virtue and Conduct 169
12.5. The Problem of Incompleteness 186
12.6. Conclusion 172
13. WHAT WOULD A SATISFACTORY MORAL THEORY BE LIKE?
13.1. Morality without Hubris 173
13.2. Treating People as They Deserve 175
13.3. A Variety of Motives 176
13.4. Multiple-Strategies Utilitarianism 177
13.5. The Moral Community 180
13.6. Justice and Fairness 181
13.7. Conclusion 183
RTD Table of Contents
Preface v
INTRODUCTION
1. A Short Introduction to Moral Philosophy James Rachels 1
2. Some Basic Points About Arguments James Rachels 20
UTILITARIANISM
3. Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill 29
4. Utilitarianism and Integrity Bernard Williams 40
5. The Experience Machine Robert Nozick 46
OTHER THEORETICAL ESSAYS
6. The Subjectivity of Values J. L. Mackie 49
7. The Categorical Imperative Immanuel Kant 61
8. The Virtues Aristotle 67
9. Master Morality and Slave Morality Friedrich Nietzsche 74
10. Caring Relations and Principles of Justice Virginia Held 78
ABORTION
11. Why Abortion is Immoral Don Marquis 85
12. A Defense of Abortion Judith Jarvis Thomson 92
13. On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion and Postscript on Infanticide Mary Anne Warren 109
ANIMALS
14. All Animals Are Equal Peter Singer 120
15. Torturing Puppies and Eating Meat: It's All in Good Taste Alastair Norcross 130
16. Do Animals Have Rights? Tibor R. Machan 138
STARVATION
17. 9/11 and Starvation Mylan Engel, Jr. 151
18. The Singer Solution to World Poverty Peter Singer 154
WAR, TERRORISM, AND TORTURE
19. The Ethics of War and Peace Douglas P. Lackey 161
20. Fifty Years after HiroshimaJohn Rawls 170
21. What Is Wrong with Terrorism? Thomas Nagel 178
22. The War on Terrorism and the End of Human Rights David Luban 181
23. Liberalism, Torture, and the Ticking Time Bomb David Luban 189
THE DEATH PENALTY
24. A Defense of the Death Penalty Louis P. Pojman 203
25. Why the United States Will Join the Rest of the World in Abandoning Capital PunishmentStephen B. Bright 211
SEX AND DRUGS
26. America's Unjust Drug War Michael Huemer 223
27. Is Homosexuality Unnatural? Burton M. Leiser 237
28. Monogamy: A Critique John McMurtry 246
29. Our Sexual Ethics Bertrand Russell 253
30. Alcohol and Rape Nicholas Dixon 260
RACE
31. Letter from the BirminghamCity Jail Martin Luther King, Jr. 271
32. Is Racial Discrimination Arbitrary? Peter Singer 279
33. In Defense of Quotas James Rachels 291
BIOETHICS
34. The Morality of Euthanasia James Rachels 306
35. Assisted Suicide: Pro-Choice or Anti-Life? Richard Doerflinger 311
36. The New Eugenics Matt Ridley 321
