Focus!

Professor Nobis will be in his office Thursday from 11:30 to 1. 
He will be at class regular time, for review and discussion, Friday as well.  
He will email you your work back to you if you don't stop by. :)

NOTE: for most students, I do not know whether they did the blog assignment. This is because names are not on the blogs and/or print outs of the blogs and so I do not know who did what. If you did the assignment, I encourage you to make sure that I got it!

Remaining work:

1. A final quiz, covering a bit more on abortion (including the Warren article), as well as the new issues of absolute poverty and the treatment of animals (as well as the earlier discussion in EMP of those issues: see "Is there a duty to help the starving" in the chapter on Ethical Egoism and "Third Example: Non-human animals" in the first chapter on utilitiarianism). Study groups are encouraged.

12 noon class - exam is Wed., December 5 from 1-3 PM
1 PM class - exam is Monday, December 3, from 8 AM - 10 AM.


2. Remaining readings and detailed summaries/reactions:

- Mary Anne Warren, "On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion" (RTD and online; due this Monday, November 19 in class and via Turnitin). Relevant issue: what are persons? ABORTION: Abortion argument worksheet.See also my Powerpoint on abortion.

- Peter Singer, "The Singer Solution to World Poverty," NY Times (RTD and online; due Monday after thanksgiving in class and via Turnitin): SEE THIS POWERPOINT.

• Check out THE TEN DOLLAR CLUB http://www.thetendollarclub.org/
• KIVA - MICROFINANCE http://www.kiva.org/
• Check out THE LIFE YOU CAN SAVE: http://www.thelifeyoucansave.com/

- John Simmons, "Reasonable Humans and Animals": http://aphilosopher.googlepages.com/veg.pdf 
due Monday after thanksgiving in class and via Turnitin)
-- some objections are here: http://philosophy302.blogspot.com/2007/04/worksheet-some-responses-to-singers.html

•  Read and study the "Even If You Like Meat" booklet: http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/resources.html  
•  American Dietetic Association's Position Paper on Vegetarian Diets: J Am Diet Assoc. 2009;109:
  1266-1282.: http://www.eatright.org/WorkArea//DownloadAsset.aspx?id=8417

3. Paper: Pick the issue of world poverty or the treatment of animals. Write an essay where you 

• present an argument from Singer and/or Simmons (in logically valid form!) for the conclusion that you are morally obligated to donate something to help people living in absolute poverty (say, by joining the $10 club) or that you are morally obligated to not eat animals and so become a vegetarian. 
• Fully explain that argument, i.e., reasons why the premises should be accepted.
• Explain what either utilitarians OR Kantians should argue about this issue. 
• Consider at least five objections to the argument;
• Explain whether any of these objections are strong or not.

Your paper should have an introduction, a thesis about what YOU are obligated or not obligated to do, be well organized, and have a conclusion.

Due date: or any graduating seniors, this paper is due, in hardcopy (submitted in the philosophy and religion office) and via Turnitin, by Wednesday, December 5 at noon. 

For everyone else, this paper is due, in hardcopy (submitted in the philosophy and religion office) and via Turnitin, by Monday, at noon, December 10. Please feel free to send Dr. Nobis a draft for comments, and to submit early. 

Next semester I am offering (in addition to Introduction to Philosophical Ethics) a course in Philosophy of Education. Some of the main concerns in philosophy of education are these:
- What *is* education?
- What is to be an educated person?
- How are education and (job) training different and similar?
- What is the value in education? What kinds of value are there in education?
- What is learning? What is teaching?
- Ethical and social issues in education: do people have a right to education? What are fair and just educational practices?
And many, many more. Check out the table of contents below!

Our main text is Randall Curren's anthology Philosophy of Education. It is currently available used on Amazon for $10.
http://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Education-Anthology-Blackwell-Anthologies/dp/1405130237

About the book:

Philosophy of Education: An Anthology brings together the essential historical and contemporary readings in the philosophy of education.

• The readings have been selected for their philosophical merit, their focus on important aspects of educational practice and their readability.
• Includes classic pieces by Plato, Aristotle, Isocrates, Locke, Rousseau, Mill, and Dewey.
• Addresses topical issues such as teacher professionalism and accountability, the commercialization of schooling, multicultural education, and parental choice.

Part I: The Nature and Aims of Education.
Introduction..
What is Education?.
1. Turning the Psyche (Plato).
2. Knowing How to Rule and be Ruled as Justice Demands (Plato).
3. An Educated Person Can Speak Well and Persuade (Isocrates).
4. The Exercise of Reason (John Locke).
5. The Education of Nature (Jean-Jacques Rousseau).
6. The Democratic Conception of Education (John Dewey).
7. Education as Initiation (R. S. Peters).
8. Banking v. Problem-solving Models of Education (Paulo Freire).
Liberal Education and the Relationship between Education and Work.
9. Liberal v. "Mechanical" Education (Aristotle).
10. Learning the Value of Work (Jean-Jacques Rousseau).
11. Education for Labor and Leisure (John Dewey).
12. Education and Standards of Living (Amartya Sen).
13. The Liberal Studies in a Global World (Otfried Höffe).
Autonomy and Exit Rights.
14. The Child’s Right to an Open Future (Joel Feinberg).
15. Justice, Autonomy, and the Good (Eamonn Callan).
16. "Mistresses of their Own Destiny": Group Rights, Gender, and Realistic Rights of Exit (Susan Moller Okin).
Part II: Educational Authority.
Introduction..
The Boundaries of Educational Authority.
17. Education and the Limits of Stata Authority (John Stuart Mill).
18. Democracy and Democratic Education (Amy Gutmann).
19. Justice, Inequality, and Home Schooling (Charles L. Howell).
20. Is Teaching a Profession: How Would We Know? (Kenneth A. Strike).
21. The Crisis in Education (Hannah Arendt).
The Commercialization of Schooling.
22. The Role of Government in Education (Milton Friedman).
23. Commercialization or Citizenship: The Case of Education (Colin Crouch).
24. Channel One, the Anti-Commercial Principle, and the Discontinuous Ethos (Harry Brighouse).
Part III: Educational Responsibilities.
Introduction..
Educational Adequacy and Equality.
25. The Law of Zero-correlation (Thomas Green).
26. Interpreting Equal Educational Opportunity (Amy Gutmann).
27. Whom Must We Treat Equally for Educational Opportunity to be Equal?: (Christopher Jencks).
Diversity and Nondiscrimination.
28. Culture, Subculture, Multiculturalism: Educational Options (K. Anthony Appiah).
29. The Promise of Racial Integration in a Multicultural Age (Lawrence Blum).
30. "Getting Religion": Religion, Diversity, and Community in Public and Private Schools (Meira Levinson and Sanford Levinson).
Impairment, Disability, and Excellence.
31. The Myths of Learning Disabilities (G. E. Zuriff).
32. A Capability Perspective on Impairment, Disability, and Special Needs (Lorella Terzi).
33. Educating Gifted Children (Laura Purdy).
34. Perfectionism and Educational Policy (Joel Kupperman).
Part IV: Teaching and Learning.
Teaching.
35. Real Teaching (Philip W. Jackson).
36. The Teacher’s Grasp of Subject-Matter (Israel Scheffler).
37. Understanding Students (David T. Hansen).
38. Beyond the Reflective Teacher (Terence H. McLaughlin).
Discipline and Care.
39. Social Control (John Dewey).
40. The One-Caring as Teacher (Nel Noddings).
41. School Sexual Harassment Policies: The Need for Both Justice and Care (Elizabeth Chamberlain and Barbara Houston).
Inquiry, Understanding, and Constructivism.
42. Learning by Discovery (Jean-Jacques Rousseau).
43. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Many Faces of Constructivism (D.C. Phillips).
44. Constructivisms and Objectivity (Richard E. Grandy).
45. Education and the Advancement of Understanding (Catherine Z. Elgin).
Critical Thinking and Reasoning.
46. Reasoning with Children (John Locke).
47. Against Reasoning with Children (Jean-Jacques Rousseau).
48. Education for Critical Thinking (Matthew Lipman).
49. The Reasons Conception of Critical Thinking (Harvey Siegel).
50. The Value of Reason (Emily Robertson).
Grading and Testing.
51. A Discourse on Grading (Robert Paul Wolff).
52. Coercion and the Ethics of Grading and Testing (Randall Curren).
53. What is at Stake in Knowing the Content and Capabilities of Children’s Minds? A Case for Basing High Stakes Tests on Cognitive Models (Stephen P. Norris, Jacqueline P. Leighton, and Linda M. Phillips).
Part V: Curriculum and the Content of Schooling.
Introduction..
Moral Education.
54. Moral Conventions and Moral Lessons (Robert K. Fullinwider).
55. Cultivating the Moral and Intellectual Virtues (Randall Curren).
56. Motivation by Ideal (J. David Velleman).
Curricular Controversies.
57. Should We Teach Patriotic History? (Harry Brighouse).
58. Should Creationism be taught in the Public Schools? (Robert T. Pennock).
59. Conflicting Philosophies of School Sex Education (Michael J. Reiss).
60. The Artistic–Aesthetic Curriculum (Maxine Greene).
Index.

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1405130229.html

NOTE: for most students, I do not know whether they did the blog assignment. This is because names are not on the blogs and/or print outs of the blogs and so I do not know who did what. If you did the assignment, I encourage you to make sure that I got it!

Remaining work:

1. A final quiz, covering a bit more on abortion, as well as the new issues of absolute poverty and the treatment of animals (as well as the earlier discussion in EMP of those issues: see "Is there a duty to help the starving" in the chapter on Ethical Egoism and "Third Example: Non-human animals" in the first chapter on utilitiarianism). Day and time TBA since the schedule hasn't been revealed.

2. Remaining readings and detailed summaries/reactions:

- Mary Anne Warren, "On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion" (RTD and online; due this Monday, November 19 in class and via Turnitin). Relevant issue: what are persons?

- Peter Singer, "The Singer Solution to World Poverty," NY Times (RTD and online; due Monday after thanksgiving in class and via Turnitin): SEE THIS POWERPOINT.

• Check out THE TEN DOLLAR CLUB http://www.thetendollarclub.org/
• Check out THE LIFE YOU CAN SAVE: http://www.thelifeyoucansave.com/

- John Simmons, "Reasonable Humans and Animals": http://aphilosopher.googlepages.com/veg.pdf 
due Monday after thanksgiving in class and via Turnitin)

•  Read and study the "Even If You Like Meat" booklet: http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/resources.html  
•  This video:

3. Paper: Pick the issue of world poverty or the treatment of animals. Write an essay where you 

• present an argument from Singer and/or Simmons (in logically valid form!) for the conclusion that you are morally obligated to donate something to help people living in absolute poverty (say, by joining the $10 club) or that you are morally obligated to not eat animals and so become a vegetarian. 
• Fully explain that argument, i.e., reasons why the premises should be accepted.
• Explain what either utilitarians OR Kantians should argue about this issue. 
• Consider at least five objections to the argument;
• Explain whether any of these objections are strong or not.

Your paper should have an introduction, a thesis about what YOU are obligated or not obligated to do, be well organized, and have a conclusion.

Due date: as late as possible, TBA.

Posting Links to Blogs

If you would like, please post a link to your "educational teaching tool" blog here as a comment:

Here are links for some handouts we have been using:

Arguments on homosexuality:
http://philosophy302.blogspot.com/2007/02/common-arguments-on-homosexuality-mad.html

Arguments on abortion:
http://aphilosopher.googlepages.com/abortion-worksheet.pdf

Questions about your webpage:

1. Did you produce a teaching tool? That is, could someone look at your webpage and learn how to be better identify and evaluate moral arguments? Does your page have a section where you explain the methods and skills involved in doing this?
2. Do your page have some kind of introduction?
3. Does it have some kind of conclusion?
4. Is the writing grammatically correct? Does the page look elegant and smooth (as opposed to clunky and awkward)?

Did you do everything in the initial assignment?

REVISION DUE THIS WEDNESDAY. :)

Monday, October 29, 2012

A group project assignment:

Create your own group of 3 or 4 students. If you cannot find a group, you will be assigned to one.

Create a webpage or blog (on Blogger, Wordpress, Google Sites, wherever) where you present and evaluate at least five arguments for the view that homosexuality is wrong.

You must also explain the methods that you will use to evaluate these arguments, in terms of finding conclusions, finding premises, making the arguments valid and identifying whether the arguments are sound or not (including using counterexamples to try to argument that general moral premises are false). On your page(s), you must:

Identify what you mean by the claim that 'homosexuality is wrong'; this might be different for different arguments.
Identify at least five arguments for that conclusion: pick arguments that you think are interesting, common and/or influential.
State these arguments in logically valid form.
For each argument, explain whether each premise is true or false and so whether the argument is sound or not.

Your webpage/blog should have an introduction and a conclusion and so forth.

The purpose for this assignment, instead of a paper, is for you to construct a public teaching tool to help people better find and evaluate moral arguments and then apply it to the issue of homosexuality. (Your teaching tool can, and probably will, be used with other issues later in the semester!).

Due in 2 weeks, Monday, Nov. 12. Please email Dr. Nobis the URL and bring a printout of the page to class!

Quiz Friday  (11/16): on EMP Ch. 2, 3, and Ch. 4. 

This includes the moral theories we’ve focused on since the last quiz (cultural relativism, divine command theory; we did not discuss simple subjectivism and emotivism), 
the skills and concepts involved in making arguments logically valid,
female genital mutilation (readings in EMP and "What's culture got to do with it?"); 
homosexuality (readings include EMP, RTD and the arguments worksheet, as well as video by John Corvino);
morality and religion (EMP), i.e., the Bible and morality and God's existence and morality (EMP), 
and a little bit on abortion.

Study guide due Wed 11/14, both online and in hardcopy.

Abortion arguments handout:

https://8e82e549-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/aphilosopher/abortion-worksheet.pdf?attachauth=ANoY7coNmEKCz1y7eXIGLcKaMjCLJGHLlrLJFqveL7MA510XZSS9aABKqZCHyIpSHmsk8gQ-rxc5yZTUQpF4_BFgO22ONWER3MFYOBMNvCpMyfZKKnCJ-YNOSf_41msKLQTUW5E31Z-_2Ecg3GHWl0zZ2HfypTvBp1kg_MLpm3jyey2tcN7zt-BJx7fVXpaX2j11PyyyCqzR9i5uskHUFrLlfNJ_Ten2kF9vXtpscngCsN8frGz4rbs%3D&attredirects=0

extra credit event next Tuesday pm Fwd: "Healthcare as a Right," two November lectures, Agnes Scott College

Lecture Title: “Is There a Right to Health? What is it a Right to?”

 There are strong grounds for a right to health and health care based on the protection of fair equality of opportunity. The right entails fairly general preventive interventions, both at a population and individual level, as well as curative, and rehabilitative services. Exactly what the health care entitlements are, given technological and resource constraints, is best spelled out through a fair, deliberative process. 

Norman Daniels, Ph.D, is Mary B Saltonstall Profesor and Professor of Ethics and Population Health at Harvard School of Public Health. His recent books include Just Health (Cambridge 2008) and a second edition of Setting Limits Fairly (with James Sabin) (Oxford, 2008). His work is on aspects of justice and health policy – e.g., disparities, priority setting, access to care, global health, foundations for a right to health or health care.

 . ..

Two events in the Agnes Scott College ethics program “Healthcare as a Right” speaker series are scheduled for November.  

Norman Daniels will speak on November 13, Ani Satz on November 27. (See attached flyer for details; I’ve also attached a map.)

Please share this flyer with colleagues and students who might be interested.

 

 

EXTRA CREDIT

Sex, Sin & Scripture" will be comprised of three parts:
1) Thursday, November 8th 5:00-6:30 pm - Intolerance Museum: Kilgore South Loung will be turned into a museum full of exhibits which depict the effects of a theology which operates from a sex negative paradigm.

2) Sunday, November 11th 7:30 pm - For The Bible Tells Me So: In Nabrit Mapp Mcbay Lecture Room 2, a documentary will be shown which will help to enrich the discussion regarding the intersection between homosexuality and religion.

3) Tuesday, November 13th 7:00 pm - The Needed Conversation: In Sale Hall Chapel, a panel of seven clergymen from different Christian denominations will discuss the intersection between religion and sexuality from a sex neutral paradigm.
Attached is a Jpeg of the flyer for the program. Feel free to forward this to anyone you think may be interested.

S

Quiz POSTPONED until NEXT Friday  (11/16): on the moral theories we’ve discussed, related readings, homosexuality and maybe a lil’ bit on morality and religion. MORE DETAILS FORTHCOMING. 

Study guide due Wed 11/14, both online and in hardcopy. 

A group project assignment:

Create your own group of 3 or 4 students. If you cannot find a group, you will be assigned to one.

Create a webpage or blog (on Blogger, Wordpress, Google Sites, wherever) where you present and evaluate at least five arguments for the view that homosexuality is wrong.

You must also explain the methods that you will use to evaluate these arguments, in terms of finding conclusions, finding premises, making the arguments valid and identifying whether the arguments are sound or not (including using counterexamples to try to argument that general moral premises are false). On your page(s), you must:

Identify what you mean by the claim that 'homosexuality is wrong'; this might be different for different arguments.
Identify at least five arguments for that conclusion: pick arguments that you think are interesting, common and/or influential.
State these arguments in logically valid form.
For each argument, explain whether each premise is true or false and so whether the argument is sound or not.

Your webpage/blog should have an introduction and a conclusion and so forth.

The purpose for this assignment, instead of a paper, is for you to construct a public teaching tool to help people better find and evaluate moral arguments and then apply it to the issue of homosexuality. (Your teaching tool can, and probably will, be used with other issues later in the semester!).

Due in 2 weeks, Monday, Nov. 12. Please email Dr. Nobis the URL and bring a printout of the page to class!

Richard Feldman on “Simple Moral Arguments”: http://sites.google.com/site/nobisphilosophy/feldman-simple-moral-arguments.pdf 

Argument worksheet: http://sites.google.com/site/nobisphilosophy/homosexuality-arguments.pdf

or
http://aphilosopher.googlepages.com/homosexuality-arguments.doc

http://aphilosopher.googlepages.com/homosexuality-arguments.pdf

Today:
- "Cultural relativism" in Elements of Moral Philosophy
- Female genital mutilation; article: "What's Culture Got to Do with it? Excising the Harmful Tradition of Female Circumcision"  from the Harvard Law Review

Friday:
- please read, in the Right Thing to Do, "Our Sexual Ethics" by Bertrand Russell and
"Monogamy: A Critique". Be prepared to discuss!

Monday: 
TBA: video by John Corvino on homosexuality.


Wednesday:
Read and write a detailed summary or outline of these readings below and reaction to their arguments and main claims:
- Elements of Moral Philosophy, Ch. 3, the sections on "Are there proofs in ethics?" and "The question of homosexuality"
- The Right Thing to Do, A Few Words About Gay Marriage. Andrew Sullivan
- The Right Thing to Do, Same-Sex Marriage and the Argument from Public Disagreement, David Boonin
These should be turned in in class, in hardcopy, and via Turnitin.

As mentioned, a contemporary philosopher named Tom Regan is someone who critiques Kant's ethics yet builds upon it in constructing an arguably better moral theory. So that you might be more familiar with how Regan does this, here is an extra credit reading and writing assignment on an article (that is a short version of a book) called "The Case for Animal Rights." The article is available here:
http://ethicsandanimals.googlepages.com/regancase_for_animal_rights.pdf
and


Also: http://www.ebah.com.br/content/ABAAAenWQAG/the-case-for-animal-rights


Your assignment is this:
1. Read the article carefully, following all of Vaughn's advice on reading.
2. Write an essay (not merely notes or a summary) where you explain (a) Regan's main goals and conclusions of his essay and (b) reviews each moral theory that Regan discusses and explains his objections to the theory and (c) explains how Regan argues that (some) animals have moral rights.

If you do the assignment, do an excellent job!

Due next Friday, Nov. 2 in class and on Turnitin.com

Also, considering checking out Youtube for videos with Tom Regan, Google his name and check out Google scholar for discussion of his work.

68th Annual Family Institute Conference
October 14-17, 2012

Schedule

'

Sunday, October 14
2:30-4:50pm Wheeler Hall Rm. 214F	FACES Advisory Board Meeting
5:00-5:50pm Executive Conference Center Banquet Rooms	Pre Event Meet & Greet / Reception with VIP’s
6:00-8:30pm Executive Conference Center Banquet Rooms	Welcome Banquet and Opening Plenary Hosted by President Dr. Robert Franklin, President of Morehouse College Keynote: Michael Kimmel
Monday, October 15
9:00am-5pm Motorola Lobby	Conference Registration
9:00-10:30am Executive Conference Center Meeting Rooms A-F	Concurrent Sessions Moderators: Critical Thinking Leaders Session I:  The Power of Teaching Entrepreneurship to Black Children. Presenter: Ms. Samora Sobakwe-SoDaye Session II: The Masculinity Project. Presenters: Mr. DeWayne Powell and Mr. Daniel Edwards Session III: Transitions in Manhood: A Global Perspective Presenter: Dr. Mohanty Purna; Lineal Regeneration: Managing the Assets of Masculinity. Presenter: Mr. Charles Williams
11:00-12:30 Bank of America Auditorium	Plenary Session Men and African American Families Panelists: Michael Messner; Jennifer Hammer, Adia Harvey-Winfield, and Armon Perry
12:30-1:30pm	****LUNCH on your OWN ***
1:00-2:50pm Wheeler Hall Rm. 214F	Film Screening “Tough Guise” written by Jackson Katz Open forum discussion to follow Moderator: Dr. Anne Borden and Dr. M. Bilal King
3:00-5:00pm Bank of America Auditorium	Plenary Session Religion and Sexuality: The Role of Religion in Understanding Sexuality Panelists: Dr. Harold Bennett, Rev. Ernest Brooks, Mr. Chavis Jones. Moderator: Dr. Josef Sorett
6:00-8:00pm Bank of America Auditorium	Film Screening of “Hoodwinked”: What Black Men Think. Open forum discussion to follow Moderator: Mr. Janks Morton
Tuesday, October 16
9:00-5:00pm   Motorola Lobby	Registration
10:45-1:00pm African American Hall of Fame	Conference Luncheon Men Stopping Violence against Women Panelists: Dr. Anne Baird; Dr. Cynthia Neal Spence; Dr. Halbrook Polite, and Mr. Ramesh Kathanadhi (Men Stopping Violence)
1:00-2:15pm Executive Conference Center Meeting Rooms A-F	Concurrent Sessions Moderators:Dr. Fred Knight Session IV: Resonant Echoes: From Morehouse Men and Mentors-Benjamin Mays, Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King Jr. -21st Century issues of Personal Identity among Men at Morehouse. Presenters: Professors Dr. Kipton E. Jensen, Dr. Sam Livingston, and Dr. Illya Davis, Kyle Moore (student), Chavis Jones (student), and Katanga Johnson (student) Session V: Black Male Fathers: A Workshop. Presenter: Dr. Narviar Barker
2:25-3:40pm Executive Conference Center Meeting Rooms A-F	Plenary Session Black Masculinity and Health Outcomes Panelists: Dr. William L. Jeffries IV, Dr. Robert Aronson, and Mr. Robert B. Peterson
3:50-5:05 Executive Conference Center Meeting Rooms A-F	Concurrent Sessions Moderators:Dr. Fred Knight Session VI. Faculty interaction with campus diversity: Moderators: Dr. Linda Zatlin and Mr. Tre'vell Anderson; Discussants: FACULTY of Morehouse College (Faculty Session) Session VII. Integrating Masculinities and Sexualities into the Classroom. Presenters: Dr. Nathan Nobis; Dr. Anne Borden Gender Differences in Navigating Guyland. Presenter: Dr. Donald Gregory
6:30-9:00pm Ray Charles Performing Arts Center	Theatrical Presentation: “Emergency” Obie Award Winner Daniel Beaty Performance is 80 minutes and an informed discussion will follow the play.
Wednesday, October 17
10:00-11:50am Bank of America Leadership Auditorium	Anna Harvin Grant Student Paper Competition The First, Second, and Third Place student winners will present their work in a plenary session. Student Presenters TBA
12:00-1:00pm	Lunch on your own
1:00-2:30pm Wheeler Hall Rm. 214F	Word on the Campus: Student Dialogs What does it mean to be a “Man” at Morehouse College in the 21st Century? Moderator: Devon Lambert   Closing Remarks: Dr. Michael Hodge, Chair Department of Sociology, Morehouse College

Note the update below!

For Monday, Oct. 8: detailed summary or outline of Vaughn, Chs. 5 and 6 Due in class in hardcopy and via Turnitin.

Wednesday we will conclude our discussion of Kant's ethics.

For Friday, Oct. 12: PAPER, that should be informed by the guidance from Vaughn. 

Please write a paper where you:
- explain what moral theories are and what they do;
- states and explains the utilitarian moral theory OR states and explains Kant's moral theory;
- presents at least one objection (from class or the book) to the utilitarian moral theory OR  at least one objection to Kant's moral theory: note: an objection is an argument for the conclusion that the view is false.
- explains how utilitarians OR Kantians would respond to these objections
- explains which view YOU think is the better moral theory - utilitarianism, Kantianism (or some combination of them??) and WHY.

* Note: If you would like to do both Utilitarianism and Kant's ethics, as the previous version of this assignment required, you are free to do so!

3-5 pages. This should be clear, well organized, grammatical, with an introduction. And it should conform to all the guidance on writing from Vaughn.

Recommended: read this too: http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/writing.html 

For Wednesday (and Friday) we will discuss the Elements of Moral Philosophy's two chapters on Kant's ethics. Please read those for Wednesday, as was mentioned last Friday.

Stay tuned for more assignments!

For Friday:

- re-read the chapters in Elements on Utilitarianism
- read, in The Right Thing to Do, Bernard Williams' "Utilitarianism and Integrity" and Robert Nozick's "The Experience Machine"

Please read Vaughn Ch 3 and 4 (1 and 2 have already been assigned). A writing assignment -- detailed summary or outline - due next Monday.

Please start reading the chapters on utilitarianism in Rachels Elements of Moral Philosophy.

Here is a reminder of this extra credit assignment that as on the syllabus; click on the link to see the document (with pictures): 

EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS. There likely will be many extra credit opportunities, including this assignment related to finding your “calling” through your career(s): 

https://docs.google.com/open?id=1TKXEcQS1D5AJ_PwKf8T3UWgHdXtOkNcNTrSmlrdQ_U2vP7FXdpXwmTLAHDW0 

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.

Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ― Howard Thurman

First quiz, next Friday, Sept 21, 2012.

Next Wednesday: detailed study guide is due, covering everything we have done up till that day. Due by Turnitin and in hardcopy. Due Wednesday.

Please make sure your submitted work has:
- your class time
- a clear indication of what the assignment is
- is properly stapled (you can also print on the front and back)
- does not have a cover page
- your email
- your name

Library Orientation Sessions

ATTN: ALL PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION MAJORS (AND MINORS) AND ANY OTHER INTERESTED STUDENTS. 

ALL MAJORS AND MINORS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND ONE OF THREE POSSIBLE “LIBRARY RESOURCES ORIENTATION” SESSIONS,

OFFERED IN EARLY SEPTEMBER – BY MR. BRAD OST – AT THE

ROBERT WOODRUFF ATLANTA UNIVERSITY CENTER LIBRARY.

SEPTEMBER 11TH, 18TH, and 25TH in RWAUC LIBRARY, ROOM # 215, @ 11:00-12:00.

SIGN-UP SHEET OUTSIDE DR. BENNETT’S OFFICE!

For more information, contact Dr. Nobis (Sale 110) or Dr. Jensen (Sale 108a).

SEPTEMBER 11:

RWAUC LIBRARY, ROOM 215.

11:00 – 12:00

SEPTEMBER 18:

RWAUC LIBRARY, ROOM 215.

11:00 – 12:00

SEPTEMBER 25:

RWAUC LIBRARY, ROOM 215.

11:00 – 12:00

For Friday:
Develop a moral theory or theories on the basis of these examples/cases below.
Re-read "A Short Introduction to Moral Philosophy," RTD Ch 1.
For Monday, EMP Ch 1.

1 PM class:

Actions or character traits that YOU think  most people would think are obviously wrong or bad: specific, vivid and extreme examples are best! J	?	Actions or character traits that YOU think  most people would think are obviously not wrong/ MP (morally permissible) obligatory or otherwise good: specific, vivid and extreme examples are best! J
1.       Necrophilia 2.       Forceful Rape. .. 3.       Racism .. prejudice .. lynchings.. 4.       Torture for fun.. 5.       Genocide.. 6.       Slave trade .. enslaving people 7.       Human trafficking .. sex slave trade.. 8.       Knowingly infecting someone with a bad disease .. 9.       Bullying. .. 10.    Abuse… 11.   Stealing from the poor.. 12.   Premeditated murder of innocent people .. 13.   Forcing people into certain roles… 14.   False advertising / deception concerning. ..? 15.   Terrorism..	?	1.       Organ donation 2.       Telling the truth .. ? 3.       Compassion and concern… 4.       Saving lives.. 5.       Being considerate 6.       Helping old ladies cross the street … 7.       Helping the environment… planting trees .. recycling… 8.       Cleanliness… 9.       Charity … helping the needy.. 10.   Encouraging people to pursue their dreams.. 11.   Feeding starving children… 12.   Loving your children .. 13.   Empowering others .. giving them a voice, for the voiceless.. 14.   Fighting for civil rights.. 15.   Education …

12 PM class

Actions or character traits that YOU think  most people would think are obviously wrong or bad: specific, vivid and extreme examples are best! J	?	Actions or character traits that YOU think  most people would think are obviously not wrong/ MP (morally permissible) obligatory or otherwise good: specific, vivid and extreme examples are best! J
Killing a healthy baby Unnecessary theft Wasting water just to annoy the “save the water” folks Blowing up a bomb just to kill everyone .. Blackmailing.. Starving a child in a closet Shooting a man just to watch them die… Polluting … Intentional animal abuse.. Forcing people into sex slavery… / child pornography … Insurance fraud. ..  Money laundering.. Genocide… Rwanda .. Holocaust.. (forced, non- consensual) Rape … Getting a small child addicted to drugs.. Drunk driving… ? Bullying .. mental abuse… Invading privacy. Extra marital affairs / adultery.. Lynchings.. torture  for no good reason.. Racism .. prejudice..		Honestly Community service in an impoverished area Being healthy Being encouraging More education .. Self-actualize!! Showing love.. Good manners … Teaching your children well.. Conscensual sex? Protecting the family .. and the innocent!! Donating healthy blood.. Helping the elderly… Philanthropy.. Promoting peace Courage .. integrity.. Sharing…