Philosophy 160: Introduction to Ethics

Fall 2002

Instructor: Will Heusser

wheu@netzero.net

Office Hours: M-Th 12:30-1:30,

 Fri 12:00-1:00, or by appointment at H-277.

Homepage: http://www.cypresscollege.edu/socialscience/philosophy

 

I can also be reached via Campus Mail in the Social Science Mail Room (2nd Floor H).

 

Prerequisites: None; however, good reading and writing skills are essential. Eligibility for English 100 is a skills advisory. Units: 3

 

Course Description (from Catalog): This course is a systematic examination of the concepts of good/right and evil/wrong in classic, modern and contemporary thought. Description (me): Socrates once said that the unexamined life is not worth living. In this course, we will be making an in-depth examination of ethical theory and ethical decision-making. After an overview and exploration of moral reasoning, we will look into such topics as ethical subjectivism, cultural relativism, the idea that morality is grounded in religion, conscience and moral development, and such theories as egoism, utilitarianism, duty-ethics, rights theory, and virtue ethics. We will take a multi-cultural and interdisciplinary approach to moral philosophy. In addition to Anglo-American and western European traditions we will be exposed to Buddhist ethics, Native American philosophy, eco-feminism, Confucianism, the utilitarian philosophy of Mo Tzu, feminist care ethics, liberation ethics, and the ethics of African philospher Ibn Khaldun.

 

Reading Materials: Required: Ethics for Life: An Interdisciplinary and Multicultural Introduction 1st Ed. By Judith Boss. Note: The 2nd edition is fine but not required. Page numbers will be by the 1st edition. Other supplementary reading will be made available throughout the semester either as a handout in class or placed on reserve at the library.

 

Course Requirements:                                                                                              Points

1. Attendance and Participation                                                               25

2. Analytic Essay (4-5 pages on an announced film)                                                50

3. 3 Quizzes     (2 quizzes count plus lowest or missed is dropped = 45)                        45

4. An in-class Midterm Exam (covering readings, lectures, and discussion).           100

5. Class Mini-Presentation: An Ethical Dilemma of your Choice (done in pairs)  30

6. An in-class Final Exam (non-cumulative and same as mid-term)                                100

                                                                                                                                   350

 

All work will be graded on a standard 10% scale out of 350 points. A = Excellent: 315 points, B = Good: 280, C = Fair: 245, D = Marginal: 193, F = Failing: <193.

 

Exams: Exams are a combination of multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and short analysis essays of excerpts. I will include a study guide, so you will have a good idea before the exam. The quizzes contain about 15 multiple-choice questions.

 

Attendance and Participation: I would like to rely much more heavily than usual upon class discussion and participation rather than formal lecture. Discussion is crucial for your academic success in this course and in others. It is a chance for you to work through the material in more detail than in lecture, and practice what we have covered. You should weigh the considerable burden of participation and attendance when considering whether to take this course. In addition, accurate attendance is your responsibility; make sure to sign the roll sheet after the first week. Attendance is, of course, necessary for success. Each missed unit week (3 hours) will count -3 points. If you miss 5 unit weeks, however, you will receive a fail in the class. Excused absences count for half. Late work including make-ups will be penalized 10% per class session late. No make-up exams or incompletes given without a written medical excuse of appropriate weight. It is virtually impossible to pass the class if the final exam or midterm is missed.

 

It is your responsibility to:

  1. Properly enroll in the course.
  2. Be clear on any announcements are made in class regarding such things as changes in the course outline, scheduling changes, etc.
  3. Get all notes and handouts if you miss a class.
  4. Obtain & bring to class the readings and Study Guides that are distributed in class.
  5. Officially withdraw from the class if you wish to drop the course; students who simply stop attending will receive an F as a final grade in the course.

 

Email: Strongly encouraged. Some supplemental class worksheets may be distributed through e-mail. You will need to email me in order to get on the mailing list. (A note card will not suffice). Just write your name and which course you are taking and email me at the address on the first page of this syllabus. I will email “Ok” to indicate you are on the class list. If you do not check e-mail weekly, stay in touch with a friend who does.

 

Email Difficulties: If you do not have an account with Cypress College or a “free” account through www.hotmail.com, juno.com, or netzero.net, then go to a computer lab to get one set up. Some students without computers have used an email address of a friend, family member, roommate, or another student. I strongly encourage getting your own, but whatever arrangement you work out is fine. As a last option, you may photocopy the handouts after class at a campus copy machine. Many courses are now offered strictly through the Internet, so it is to your benefit to get started driving on this “information superhighway”. Please talk with me if you are having difficulty getting an account or see me if you need special accommodations.

 

Internet Use: If you use an Internet source for your Analytic Essay, you must include the web address. For your Presentations, you are in addition required to provide a hard copy of any web addresses used.

 

Essays:  One essay, 4-5 pages long. Details will follow shortly, but will focus on analysis of a film in conjunction with our readings. Type double-spaced, 10-12 pt type, use 1" margins (top/bottom/sides) and properly document sources. Use a complete bibliography and parenthetical references (name of author, page of reference). You are not required to use any references, so just focus on analyzing the piece yourself, unless further research is necessary. Come to office hours if you need any help or want to talk about a draft of your essay.

 

Documentation & Academic Honesty: Honesty is expected and dishonesty taken seriously. All paper sources must be cited. Give credit. Any time you quote, paraphrase, or use anyone else's ideas, put in a citation to that effect. See the Student Handbook if you do not know what academic integrity involves. If you are still unclear, please see me. Plagiarism, copying, modifying yours or others previous work, buying papers or exams, working with another student in writing a paper is considered Academic Dishonesty. Cheating is unethical and will be penalized in accordance with the Code of Academic Conduct. For your Presentation: When you use an Internet source, you must footnote the web address plus use quotation marks around all cited material.

 

Learning Disabilities: Persons with verified disabilities will be accommodated - discuss your needs as soon as possible. Be sure to confirm this in the Learning Center and ask them to send a letter so the appropriate accommodation is made.

 

Class Etiquette: This (I hope) is obvious, but treat one another with kindness and make any criticisms (e.g. of individual students) constructive. Come to class on time. Being late once is understandable. However, chronic lateness or leaving early will affect your participation score. Being late 3 times equals 1 absence. Do not have pagers or phones on in class and please go to the restroom before class (especially during an exam) so as not to disturb anyone. Do not leave during an exam without first clearing it.

 

Need Help in general? See me! I am happy to tutor and help with material. This can usually take place right after class either in class or during my office hours.

 

Other Help Options: Philosophy is not usually considered an easy subject. Fortunately, our text is very approachable, however, we will still be covering some rather complicated ideas. I strongly recommend keeping up with the reading because of the complexity of some portions of our readings. Waiting until the last weekend to read the material just does not work. In addition to questions you might ask in class, you might also submit a written passage you are unclear on or have questions about. All you must do is: 1) Write the sentence(s) on a piece of paper with the page number listed and 2) Write the question that you have. This can be turned in anytime though out the semester. We will address submissions in class that day or the next.

 

Extra Credit: There will be a 10-point opportunity in the second half of the semester in the form of a short paper topic. There will be an announcement concerning this.

 

Topics and Readings: The following are the topics of the course in the order we will take them up. It is not possible nor, I think, desirable to assign exact dates. I break the schedule up into units that last approximately one week each (but chances are we will go slower). As we go along I will keep you informed when it seems appropriate to go on to a new topic. Our discussions or time limits may suggest either deletions or substitutions, but generally, I recommend staying one unit ahead of the readings.

 

Tentative schedule: All readings should be completed before class meetings. If our discussion of topics takes more time than I have planned for, some later ones may be skipped. If a topic is skipped, there will not be exam questions on it. It is always wise to take careful notes and come to class prepared. Reading more than assigned work is very helpful; consider the assigned reading a minimum. Recommended readings are in parentheses (but not required*).

8/19     M/W Section 11014                           8/20     T/Th Section 11012                           

 

I.                  The Study of Ethics

 

Unit 1 Question: What is Philosophy?

Intro to Issues in f: Metaphysics (including Ethics), & Epistemology.

Read Ch. 1 & pp. 54-59: Methods in f: The Basics of Reasoning        

i. Premises and Conclusions, ii. Validity and Soundness.

 
8/26                                                                 8/27                                                                

Unit 2 Question: What is Ethics?

Chapter 1: Ethics: An Overview

            Continue Ch. 1 & pp. 194-195 & Determinism Handout: Paul Ree

 

9/4 & 9/9 (9/2 is a Holiday)                            9/3                                                                  

Unit 3 Question: How do we avoid errors in reasoning?

Chapter 2: Moral Reasoning

                        Read Ch. 2 & Handouts: Fallacies

                       

II. Ethical Relativism

 

9/11 (Wednesday)                                          9/10                                                    

Quiz 1: (At beginning of class) Contents: Will be announced   

Unit 4 Question: Is morality merely personal feeling?

Chapter 3: Ethical Subjectivism

                        Read Ch. 3. Some topics: Rousseau, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Criticisms

 
9/18                                                                 9/17                                                                
Unit 5 Question: Is morality dependent on culture?
Chapter 4: Cultural Relativism
                        Read Ch. 4. Some topics: Social Darwinism, Ruth Benedict, and Criticisms
 

9/25                                                                 9/24                                                                

Unit 6 Question: Is morality dependent on religion?

Chapter 5: Religion and Ethics

                        Read Ch. 5. Some topics: Divine Command, Aquinas, and Natural Law

 

10/2                                                                 10/1                                                                

Unit 7 Question: How can evil come from a perfect being?

                        Continue Ch. 5: Civil Disobedience, The Problem of Evil + Handouts

 

10/9                                                                 10/8                                                                
Quiz 2: (At beginning of class) Contents: Will be announced     
Unit 8 Question: What is Conscience?
Chapter 6: Conscience and Moral Development (if time otherwise it will be on final)
                        Read Ch. 6. Some topics: Kohlberg and Gilligan

 

III. Morality as Universal

 

10/16                                                               10/15                                                              

In-Class Midterm: M/W 10/16               T/TH 10/15                            

Unit 9  Question: Is acting in our own best interest moral?

Chapter 7: Ethical Egoism

            Read Ch. 7. Some topics: Capitalism, Ayn Rand and her Critics

 

10/23                                                               10/22                                                              

Unit 10            Film for Analysis Paper

                       

10/30                                                               10/29                                                              

Unit 11            Continue Ch. 7

 

11/6 & 11/13 (11/11 is a Holiday)                  11/5                                                                

Unit 12 Question: Is Happiness most important?

Chapter 8: Utilitarianism

                        Read Ch. 8. Some topics: Mo Tzu, Bentham, and Mill.

 
11/18                                                               11/12                                                              
Unit 13 Question: Are there absolute duties?         

Chapter 9: Duty Ethics                   

                        Read Ch. 9. Some topics: Confucius, Kant, Bok, and Ross

 

11/25                                                               11/19                                       1                     

Unit 14 Questions: What rights do we have? Who has them?

Chapter 10: Rights Ethics

                        Read Ch. 10. Some topics: Locke, Marx, Buddhist Rights Ethics

 
12/2                                                                 11/26 & 12/3 (11/28 is a Holiday)                 
Quiz 3: (At beginning of class) Contents: Will be announced     
Unit 15 Question: What is the Good Life?
Chapter 11: Virtue Ethics
                   Read Ch. 11. Some topics: Aristotle and Hume

 

Analysis Paper Due:     W: 12/4      Th: 12/5

12/9                                                                 12/5 & 12/10                                                  

Unit 16            Continue Ch. 11

 

12/16                                                               12/17                                                              

            In-Class Final: (no classes after 12/11)

10:30-12:30pm                                               8:00-10:00am