Study Guide

Incomplete Study guide, to be completed by you! 

Make sure you know all the issues, arguments, objections and responses discussed in these readings below and class discussion regarding these papers and issues; they are posted in order from more recent to less recent:

John Simmons, "Reasonable Humans and Animals" (online)

Peter Singer's "All Animals Are Equal" OR Alastair Norcross's " Torturing Puppies and Eating Meat: It's all in Good Taste!"

Michael Huemer “America’s Unjust Drug War”: he argues in favor of drug legalization. What were his arguments?

Michelle Alexander: what are some of the most important claims she argues for?

What is the moral theory utilitarianism? What are some arguments against it?

What is the trolley problem?

Peter Singer, "The Singer Solution to World Poverty". What is his argument? What is his conclusion? What are his premises, or what reason(s) does he give in favor of those conclusions?

BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN, IN DETAIL WHAT AT LEAST ONE OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS DOES:
Giving What We Can
GiveWell
Against Malaria Foundation (AMF)
GiveDirectly
Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI)
80,000 Hours
The Life You Can Save
Kiva
Effective Animal Activism

Here is a Handout on all the major concepts from this class:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vdeqj70mtma1vff/PHILOSOPHICAL%20ETHICS%20handout.pdf
Be sure you are able to explain all these concepts and the methods of addressing moral issues that we have used over the semester.


What is the moral theory known as Ethical Egoism? What are some arguments against it, i.e., that it is false?

About writing and communicating philosophy / moral ideas:
- how have you been encouraged to organize and structure papers/presentations?
- you have been encouraged to put outlines / section headings in papers. Why?
- What is James Pryor's guidance on how to write philosophy?

WHAT ARE BASIC, MAIN METHODS OR TECHNIQUES THAT WE HAVE USED IN THIS CLASS? What has been the main process or approach? 

Final Exam

Final exam:

Here is the relevant final exam schedule:
12:00 PM MWF Wednesday, December 11th 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
1:00 PM MWF Monday, December 9th 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Your final exam will be then. It will cover everything since the last exam. Details forthcoming!

For this exam, you will be allowed to use a one page (8.5" by 11"; one side) study guide. 

If anyone is interested, we can have a review session Friday at noon. Let Dr. Nobis know! :)

Final writing assignment:

In this course, we have discussed a variety of moral issues. In this final writing assignment, I would like you to reflect on how we thought about these moral issues and develop a "Top 10 List" of helpful things to do and not do when thinking about moral issues: what helps? What hinders? For each tip, please explain and illustrate with at least one paragraph with examples, to show how your suggestion is a useful one. Due at the time of your final exam. Your paper should be around 3-4 pages. This must be submitted by Turnitin also, and your receipt attached, or else it won't be graded. 

For Friday and next week:
WRITING ASSIGNMENT(S) DUE MONDAY
Read about animals and ethics in The Elements of Moral Philosophy.
Readings: John Simmons, "Reasonable Humans and Animals" (online)
Writing assignment: detailed summary of Simmons' arguments and objections and responses to the arguments. 2-3 pages. 
Also, read either Peter Singer's "All Animals Are Equal" or Alastair Norcross's " Torturing Puppies and Eating Meat: It's all in Good Taste!" both in RTD (and online).
Writing assignment for either: write an essay where you explain their arguments.
Extra credit: do both Singer and Norcross!


   

Farm Sanctuary, My Friends at the Farm 

What Came Before: 

NY Times contest on arguments for why vegetarianism is not a moral obligation (link forthcoming)

Are some illegal drugs (e.g., marijuana) morally permissible to use? Or are they wrong to use?

Reading: Michael Huemer ( U Colorado)  “America’s Unjust Drug War” online and in RTD.
Also please read the Rachels chapters on utilitarianism. 

Watch:

Watch Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, on Drug War Racism:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michelle-Alexander/168304409924191?directed_target_id=0 

See  EMLA - Emerging Millennials Leadership Alliance: https://www.facebook.com/EMLAorg 

About

We're a new human rights think tank & political action committee founded by Millennials. We start with the sleeping giant of mass incarceration.#WeCantWait

Mission

Predicated on the American ethic of egalitarianism, our mission is to push America forward to transcend the lines that divide, and embrace the ties that bind, in order to preserve and perfect our union.

Description

Leading up to August 28th's 50th anniversary of the March on Washington (and Dr. King's "Dream"), our immediate objective is to push the issue of mass incarceration to the top of American dialogue. #WeCantWait

As Millennials looking toward the future, we've come to realize that if nothing is done NOW to address mass incarceration (as precipitated and perpetuated by the drug war), by 2043, just 30...See More

General Information

EMLA is a non-profit human rights think tank and political action committee (PAC).

No class Friday

We will not have class Friday so that you can work on your assignment due Monday.

Nov 12 - PAPER : GLOBAL POVERTY: DUE  MONDAY NOVEMBER 18

Are we morally obligated to donate some money to help people living in absolute poverty? Or it morally permissible to not help them?

Read, by philosopher Peter Singer, online "The Singer Solution to World Poverty" from the New York times. Also in the Right Thing to Do. Also read the chapter on ethical egoism in the Elements of Moral Philosophy. 

Optional: try to read Singer's "Famine, Affluence and Morality" essay published in 1972.

Watch:

Look at these webpages mentioned in the videos that we watched; find an organization that you could provide some financial support for:

• Giving What We Can

• GiveWell

• Against Malaria Foundation (AMF)

• GiveDirectly 

• Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI)

• 80,000 Hours

• The Life You Can Save

• Kiva

• Effective Animal Activism

DUE MONDAY NOVEMBER 18 in class.

Read: "Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper," by James Pryor.

Writing assignment: Singer argues that you are morally obligated to pick at least one of these organizations above and donate at least some money to it on a regular basis. What reasons does he give in support of that conclusion? That is, what's his argument? What objections does he consider and respond to? Is his argument sound?

Please write a well organized essay that addresses these questions. To do this, you must pick an organization, explain what it does and use it as an example to discuss of what you COULD do. You need to explain what you could do and discuss Singer's argument that you should do what you could here.

Your essay should have this structure, which you should use in your paper: your paper should have these sections explicitly in your paper:

I. Introduction
- Here you explain what you will be doing in the paper
II. What I Could Do
- here you discuss an organization, what it does, how your donation might help, etc.
III. What Singer Argues I Should Do
- here you explain Singer's arguments for why you are morally obligated to donate some money
IV. Objections and Responses
- here you discuss at least three objections to Singer's arguments and his or your responses to the objections.
V. Conclusions
- here you summarize what you did in this paper and explain what you believe you should or should not do regarding these issues and why.


In class we will discuss a a powerpoint on the topics.

Extra credit: The next event in the Series on Political Philosophy in Atlanta (SOPHIA) will take place this coming Monday, Nov. 11th, at 3pm in the African American Hall of Fame.  Chioke I’Anson, of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Spelman, will speak on “The Neglected Question of Race in International Humanitarian Discourse.”  For more information, please see the attached flyer or visit the series website: www.sophiaatl.org.

A handout with a page of almost all the concepts you'd need to know to do well in this class.

Friday and early next week

Friday we are going to move on to the Elements of Moral Philosophy chapter on the moral theory known as  Ethical Egoism and issues related to absolute poverty. In more recent editions this is Chapter 5: in older versions there are two chapters, one on Psychological Egoism and another on Ethical Egoism.

Please read this EMP chapter and the essay by Peter Singer called "The Singer Solution to World Poverty." This is in The Right Thing to Do and is widely reprinted online. I'll post some other materials related to that topic, including some issues related to career choice.

 A powerpoint on the topics.

Quiz 2

Quiz 2, next Wednesday, November 6.

Study guide due Monday, November 4.

The quiz will cover everything since the last quiz, including EMP Ch. 3 and 4, the topics of abortion and homosexuality, and the skills of formulating arguments in logically valid form (by adding any unstated premises) and evaluating them as sound or not (using counterexamples to try to show that a general moral premise is false).

A short PowerPoint on abortion.

Judith Thompson's famous article "A Defense of Abortion" edited down a bit (also in the Right Thing to Do):

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/87659135/courses/Judith%20Jarvis%20Thomson%20on%20abortion%20-%20shortened.pdf

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9ap7d7htptiicht/Judith%20Jarvis%20Thomson%20on%20abortion%20-%20shortened.doc

A response: 

• Nobis, Nathan and Jarr-Koroma, Abubakarr Sidique (2010) "Abortion and Moral Arguments From Analogy," The American Journal of Bioethics, 10: 12, 59 — 61, First published on: 14 December 2010 ;  The last page version of that article with the final objection.

A flyer for this event, with graphics, is available here: http://goo.gl/altu83 

 Homecoming Philosophy Presentation and Discussion

"The Value of Philosophy and its Application to the African-American Community"

John Torrey, Ph.D candidate in Philosophy, University of Memphis, Morehouse Class of 2009, &

William Allen Ph.D candidate in Philosophy, University of Memphis, BA, Emory, MA, GSU

John Torrey will dispel many common myths about the academic field of philosophy. He will argue that there is value – of many kinds – in studying philosophy, especially at the graduate level. William Allen will discuss how John Rawls’ influential theory of justice is relevant to the African-American community. He argues that African-American philosophy, and African-American philosophers, are needed in academia and to help address pressing social problems.

Thursday October 24

2:25 pm - 3:40 pm

Wheeler 214

A flyer for this event, with graphics, is available here: http://goo.gl/altu83 

Sample Philosophy Paper

Writing Assignments for next Monday, Oct. 21

Writing Assignments for next Monday, Oct. 21:

1. Finish reading the Harvard book on writing: from section 3 to the end. Please turn in a detailed summary.

2. Read EMP Ch. 4 which is entitled "Does Morality Depend on Religion?" Write an essay that clearly addresses the topic of how morality might depend on religion, focusing on the Divine Command Theory of Ethics and the topic of abortion (you do not need to address Natural Law theory). Your essay should have these sections and conform to the guidance given on writing from Pyror and all other sources on writing that you have been asked to read:

I. Introduction 

II. The Divine Command Theory

1. What the theory Is.
2.  Arguments that the Theory is True.
3.  Arguments that the Theory is False
4. Conclusions about the Divine Command Theory

III. Religion and Abortion

Here you will need to discuss arguments about abortion. In addition to any other arguments, you will want to discuss religious arguments, either arguments from the Bible (discussed also in EMP Ch. 3) and arguments from the Divine Command Theory and what God might think about the topic.

IV. Conclusion

Use this outline in your paper. Visit the writing center. Send Dr. Nobis a draft by email if you'd like.

Group Project

Here is an assignment for group project due in 2 weeks, Monday Oct. 28 (note: this was changed in class to Wednesday Oct. 30). Your group can be 3 or 4 students, but no more and no less, unless you receive special permission from Dr. Nobis. And everyone who is part of the group must have his or her name clearly on the project. It must be submitted in hardcopy and via Turnitin: if your project is an online project, you can still submit the text through Turnitin.

You may do this as online project (e.g., a blog or webpage), like a lab report, like a scientific poster, or a conventional paper.

Your task is to create an educational teaching too that will (A) provide general guidance on how to identify and evaluate moral arguments and (B) apply those skills to the topic of homosexuality.

Your project must have these clearly stated sections:

1. An Introduction, where explain what you will try to accomplish in this project.
2. A Methods section, where you explain -- in detail - the general methods and techniques for finding and evaluating moral arguments.
3. At least five moral arguments about the topic of homosexuality stated in logically valid form and evaluated as sound or unsound. You must explain your reasoning and why you evaluate each premise as true or false.
4. A Conclusion, that reviews what you have done.

Your goal, again, is to create a "product" that someone unfamiliar with philosophical ethics would be able to gain some general skills at reasoning about moral issues and see how these general skills can be applied to the particular issue of ethics and homosexuality. You are the teacher, so your job is to teach people how to better reason about this particular issue. And the general concepts, skills and techniques that you use will be useful for addressing other moral issues as well.

Concept Cloud of our Class Concepts

Assignment for Monday, Oct 14

1. Re-read your paper on writing philosophy.
2. Re-read your summary of the assigned chapters on on writing.
3. Redo your redo assignment on cultural relativism, unless you used the template and/or rigorously followed the outline and Dr. Nobis said that you did on your returned paper. Download the template file and use it to provide organization. Keep the headings; keep the introduction. Follow the advice that you summarized in your writings on writing from the Harvard writing book and your paper on writing philosophy.
4. Take your paper to the writing center for feedback.
5. Detailed summaries and reactions to the online video on syllogisms by Nathan Nobis. Link below. 
6.  Detailed summaries and reactions to the video on homosexuality by John Corvino. 
7. Re-read EMP Ch. 3; start reading EMP Ch. 4. Soon there will be some writing assignments about  those.

Using the Template

I have been reading your revisions of your assignment concerning cultural relativism. While many students papers have improved (GREAT!), many students did not use the template, as you were asked to use:

http://philosophy302.blogspot.com/2013/09/redo-of-cultural-relativism-assignment.html

If you did not use the template, I am going to ask you to revise your assignment so that you use the template. Please keep the headings / outline labels in the document. In many cases, this will improve the organization even more. So, again, download that file and use it to structure your paper. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that you should not write anything that would be unclear to the reader (who is lazy, stupid, and mean -- http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/writing.html). So, as one example of this, you should not write, for example, anything like, "In section 2.2 this topic is discussed," and go on from there. You should not do this because your reader will have no idea what you are talking about. So you need to always keep your audience in mind and explain in a manner that your reader will understand.

New revisions that conform to the directions and Pryor's guidance are due Monday. I also strongly encourage everyone to visit Morehouse's Writing Center for this assignment and any other: http://philosophy302.blogspot.com/2013/09/morehouse-writing-center.html

 

An Extra Credit Event

The ethics program at Agnes Scott College presents its 2013-14 lecture series:
"NEUROETHICS: AT THE INTERSECTION OF NEUROSCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND SOCIETY"

October 15: Gillian Hue, "Neuroethics: An Overview"

7:30 pm, Letitia Pate Evans Hall, Rooms ABC 

Gillian Hue is a postdoctoral fellow in Science Education and Ethics in the Program in Science and Society, and a Program Associate in the Neuroethics Program at Emory University. She earned her bachelor's degree in Psychology with a concentration in Behavioral Neuroscience from Washington College in Chestertown, MD. She completed her doctoral research in Neuroscience at Emory University. In her current position, Dr. Hue teaches research ethics for scientists, and develops curricula to promote science literacy and ethical engagement across a range of educational levels.

If you go, you must be on time and take detailed notes and write a reaction which you submit in class after the event. 

Assignments for Monday, Oct 7

1. The redo assignment's due date has been changed; instead of being due this Monday (Sept. 30) it will be due the Monday after, which is Oct 7.

2.  Please read this "Guidelines on Writing Philosophy" by Jim Pryor, as well as the short chapters on writing philosophical essays in The Rulebook for Arguments book. On the basis of what you read, write a short "how to paper" on how to write a philosophy paper: what they are like, what they try to accomplish, how they should be structured, what "parts" they should have, how they should be written, and so on. 2-3 pages. (Note: this reading and writing assignment should help with the redo of your writing on cultural relativism).

3. Watch these videos, carefully (take notes, don't be distracted, etc.):

A little video on syllogisms:

 John Corvino - What's Morally Wrong with Homosexuality? (Full DVD Video)  

4. Next week we will identify and evaluate some arguments about homosexuality. Please read Elements of Moral Philosophy Ch. 3.

Our discussion will proceed at a quicker pace if students are able to quickly state arguments in logically valid form and then be able to evaluate arguments as sound or unsound. The more familiar students are with the assigned readings and videos, the quicker and more fruitful our discussion will be!

5. You may wish to consider checking out this extra credit assignment related to career exploration: http://philosophy302.blogspot.com/p/career-exploration.html