Philosophy 301 -- Ethical Inqu= iry -- Spring Semester 2006 -- Syllabus

Instructor: = = Tom Atchi= son = Phone= : 612-728-9421 (home – T, Th, eve’s, wknds)

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 3734 17th Ave. So. &= nbsp; &nbs= p; 651-523-2604 (Hamline – MWF till 3)<= /span>

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mpls. M= N 55407 &= nbsp; E-mail: tomatchison@earthlink.com

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; tatchison@gw.hamline.edu &= nbsp;

Class website: I maintain my own website (not part= of D2L) where I post course handouts and information at: www.woldww.info/classes =

Course Objectives<= /h1>

To i= ntroduce students to a variety of theories and arguments about the nature of ethical thinking and moral judgment

To p= rovide students with an opportunity to reflect on what it means to lead an ethical life

To l= earn and practice skills and methods that may be helpful in thinking about ethical problems. <= /o:p>

To introduce students to some critiques of traditional ethical theories -- critiques that raise questions about the role of race, class and gende= r in ethical thinking and critiques that challenge the assumption that gene= ral theories are what we want from moral philosophy.

Course Materials

The Elements of Moral Philosophy by James Rachels

Applied Ethics in Ameri= can Society, edited by Wilcox and Wilcox

Other readings will be photocopied and handed out in class or will be made availa= ble on the Internet. Some assignm= ents for this class will require access to the Internet – Metro State prov= ides access in its computer labs and library.

Please ma= ke sure your Metro State Netmail account is working a= nd check regularly for class related emails

Please br= ing the assigned readings to class each week

&nbs= p;

Please ke= ep copies of all the work you hand in.

Course Description

&= nbsp; This course will raise and consider several different kinds of ethical questions:

&= nbsp; First, some questions about ethics: Is there such a thing as truth in ethics? Or is it all just 'a matter of opinion'? Can ethical questio= ns be answered through rational inquiry? Or must they be approached in some other way (through religious fait= h or feeling or intuition)? Is it important to have ethical principles and to stick to them no matter what? How can we know if an ethical prin= ciple is correct? (Is there really = any such thing as a correct ethical principle, or is it just a matter of decidi= ng which principles I am 'comfortable' with?)= Can rational inquiry in ethics lead to the development of an ethical= theory that explains or justifies our ethical judgments, perhaps by showing us how they can be derived from some more basic ethical principle? (We will study several attempts to develop such a theory.) Are t= he ethical theories developed in the 'Western' philosophical tradition really = as universal and objective as they pretend to be, or do they express the parti= cular interests and limited points of view of the people who constructed them? (We will approach this question primarily by studying a feminist perspective according to which traditional ethical theories and discussions express a distinctively male perspective.)=

&= nbsp; Second, we'll examine what we might call ethical issues: Do we have a duty to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves and, if so, to what extent? Is it immoral for two people of the same gender to have sex with one another? When, if ever, is it morally accep= table to have an abortion or to end an ill or injured person's life? And so on. Most of us have opinions about que= stions like these and most of us have had at least some opportunity to think about them and discuss them. Here, = we will try to see if the 'professional thinkers' have anything to offer us th= at can help to settle these contentious issues, and we will explore how they a= re approached from a variety of moral perspectives. In this process, we'll try to shar= pen the skills we need to think carefully about these issues for ourselves.

&nb= sp; I cannot promise we will answer any of these questions to your satisfaction.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> They are, for the most part, very difficult questions. What we = can hope to do is to learn something about how various historical and contempor= ary thinkers have answered them, and to become somewhat more careful and critic= al in our own efforts to answer them.

Conduct of the Course

Class time will be devoted largely to discussion, some in small groups, some all together. I will occasionally lecture, more often I will answer questions as they come up in discussion, = and even more often I will try to help you figure out how to answer your questi= ons yourself. <= /p>

Much of our discussion will focus on understanding and evaluating the texts. This will work well only if you ha= ve done the assigned reading carefully -- often twice or three times -- and gi= ven it some thought. In philosoph= y we are interested not in the information that can be extracted from a text, nor simply in the conclusions or opinions that an author expresses; we are primarily interested in understanding and assessing the reasoning th= at an author uses to try to establish or support those conclusions. This requires a very careful sort = of reading.

&= nbsp; The point of reading these texts is not only to understand what some great minds have produced. A guided tour through the Museum of Great Ideas is a= very good thing, but not the best thing that philosophy has to offer. Better is the opportunity to learn= to think for yourself. The readi= ngs provide models of careful and/or creative thinking (sometimes), challenges = to our prejudices and assumptions, and starting points for our own reflections. But the only way= to learn to philosophize is to enter the conversation yourself. In this way a course in philosophy= is more like a course in drawing or sculpture or dance -- a studio art course = -- than like a course in art history or art appreciation. You can’t learn to draw by j= ust watching other people draw, and you can’t learn to do philosophy by j= ust listening and reading. You ha= ve to express your views and expose them to other people’s critical reactions. <= /o:p>

Assignments and Grading=

Reading assignments=

I expect you to find time (several hours) to do the reading for each class and to come prepared to discuss it. Come to class ready to sa= y what you found interesting, what you found confusing, questionable, or just plain wrong, what seemed to you to be the most important claims made, and what arguments or justifications were offered for those claims. Expect that you will need to read = the assignments more than once to understand them adequately, and plan your time accordingly.

Reading response papers
   &n= bsp;        20 % of your grade will be earned by submitting brief (a page or two, typed, double-spaced ) responses to the readings for each class. These must be turned in at the beg= inning of the class period to be counted. (If you must miss class, send in your response paper by e-mail.) They can contain questions, objections, observations and/or reactions to the rea= ding for that class. Sometimes I will assign topics or questions.   I will not grade these, but = I will reject any that do not seem to be based on a reasonably conscientious readi= ng of the assignment for that week. You can miss one of these and still earn an ‘A’ for this part of the course work, but missing more will be penalized on the following schedule: 85% completed =3D A; 70% =3D B; 60% =3D C; 50% =3D D; less than 5= 0% =3D F. I will also notice and reward particularly perceptive or thoughtful response papers.

Class discussion

            Most weeks we will have guided small group discussion projects. The purpose of these projects is t= o open discussion and to focus it on particular issues. They are also intended to = be "mini-labs" in which to practice the skills of careful reading and evaluation of reasoning. The projects are done in class in groups of 3-5 and take roughly 20-45 minutes to complete. Each gro= up should keep notes on its discussion, sign the notes and hand them in at the= end of each class session. Often = groups will also report orally on their discussions.

            If you miss a discussion project, you should get hold of the instructions, wri= te out responses to the questions on your own, and hand them in as soon as you can.

            10% of your grade will be determined by my evaluation of the quality of your participation in class discussions. Just showing up and paying attention earns a C for this component; occasionally making helpful contributions earns a B; regularly making helpf= ul contributions earns an A. Helpful contribut= ions include: asking pertinent questions, answering questions asked by the instructor or by other students, expressing your views about the texts or topics we are discussing, responding (relevantly and respectfully) to the v= iews expressed by others.

Position Paper

            You will be asked to write a (5-7 page) paper explaining and supporting your position on an ethical issue or question.   The position paper will coun= t for 30% of your grade. You will be required to turn in a topic proposal and a r= ough draft before the final draft. Please keep copies of all the work you hand in.

Exams

   &n= bsp;        We will have two one-hour, in-class exams, one in the middle and one at the en= d of the semester. Each exam will = count for 20% of your grade.

I try hard to base my evaluation of your work on your understanding of the reading, the quality of your reasoning and questioning, and the clarity and effectiveness of your expression of your thoughts, not on whether I agree with your ethical theories, ideas, or opinions.

Time commitment outside of class

        &= nbsp;   In accordance with Metropoli= tan State University guidelines, I've designed this course with the expectation that students wi= ll do 2-3 hours of course-related work outside of class for every hour spent in class. In other words, you sh= ould expect to spend 6-9 hours a week outside of class working on this course.

Needed reading and writing skills

        &= nbsp;   Although there are no prerequisites for this course, it is an ‘upper division’ course and is designed for students who can read and write English at the college level. This means I assume you have the following reading and writing skills, and assignments are made with this expectation in mind:

Ability to read and to summari= ze the main points of college-level texts;

Ability to tolerate and compre= hend the longer and more complex sentence structures found in ‘serious’ writing;

Ability to include appropriate citations of quoted and paraphrased sources in your own writing;<= /o:p>

Ability to edit written work w= ell enough to eliminate most errors in grammar, punctuation and spelling. =

These abilities are = part of what I understand by “able to read and write at the college level.” There is (or sh= ould be) no shame in lacking this set of skills. But this course is not the right place to acquire them (though it certainly is a good place to polish and improve them).

Course Policies

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;

Attendance            =

        &= nbsp;   I do not require attendance per se, but part of your grade is determined by discussion projects and general class discussion. So, when you are in class, contrib= ute to the discussion and please be sure your name is on your small group's discus= sion report and that the report gets turned in.= When you miss a class, get the instructions for the discussion proje= ct, write out answers on your own and turn them in (and send in your response paper). I strongly advise reg= ular attendance (and prompt completion of missed discussion projects), because t= he material in this course is relatively difficult and confusing, and few stud= ents are able to do well on the exams and papers without the explanations and practice provided in class.

Plagiarism

        &= nbsp;   All work submitted for this course must be your own. Plagiarism is the academic ‘sin’ of presenting someone else’s work as your own. It is plagiarism if you copy somet= hing verbatim (word for word) from a published source, from the Internet, or from another student. It is still plagiarism if you rearrange, paraphrase, condense, or summarize someone else’s work without making clear to your reader what is your contribu= tion and what is taken from your source. If the exact wording comes from your source, then use quotation marks. If the idea comes from someone else, give him or her credit for it. = The way to do this is to cite your sources. There is a clear and detailed explanation of various forms of plagiarism and of proper citation practices= at http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/02-1/plagiarism.= html   I will give a grade of ‘F’ to any student who submits plagiarized work for this course= .