PHILOSOPHY 102: Contemporary Moral Problems
WINTER 2013
M-F 10:30-11:20
Item #1911
Zoe Aleshire
zoe.aleshire@bellevuecollege.edu
Office Phone: 425-564-2592
Office B100F
Office Hours by appointment
Course
Materials
There are no
required texts for this class. All materials will be provided online or as
class handouts. :)
There are
some recommended texts, if you have the means to acquire them, which will be
presented as we go along. I will not expect you to access these texts but they will likely prove enormously
helpful.
Course
Objectives
We will be
looking at both traditional ethical structures of thought and current events to
further our understanding of:
1)What the disciplines of philosophy and
ethics really are,
2)How to form and identify strong
ethical arguments,
3)How ethical decision making happens on
both an individual and societal level,
4)What ethical theories are currently
considered applicable to current events, and why,
5)How philosophy, and ethics in
particular, relate to both academic contexts as well as “outside world”,
6)The intersections of
gender/race/class/belief as they inform arguments about what to do and why,
7)Finally, how to be proactive in the
world in conversation and in action
Departmental
Outcomes:
After completing this class, students
should be able to:
1) Recognize and use basic philosophic vocabulary
(e.g., “consequentialism,” “virtue,”
etc.)
2) Recognize, assess, and be able to use appropriate
deductive and inductive argument strategies and tactics. For instance, students
should be able to recognize an argument as fallacious or logically successful,
and be able to explain how the truth or falsity of premises impacts a given
argument.
3) Distinguish good evidence for a position from bad
evidence. For example, students should be able to explain in a one page essay
why a philosopher has failed to support his or her position on the issue of
euthanasia.
4) Explain in an essay the arguments for and against a
specified position. For example, students should be able to write a four page
take-home essay explaining the reasons for and against accepting the Pro-Choice
side of an abortion debate.
5) Analyze philosophic concepts in writing. For instance,
students should be able give an analysis of concepts such as Justice,
Personhood, or the Good. Analyses should include an adequate definition and
considerations of potential counterexamples.
6) Accurately and informatively explain the topics
discussed by the philosophers studied. For instance, students studying John Stuart
Mill should be able to write a one-page essay explaining what he means and how
he defends himself when he argues for a maximum amount of personal liberty in
the academic environment.
7) Identify, distinguish, and explain the different
schools of thought in Ethics (e.g., Divine Command Theory, Cultural Relativism,
Ethical Egoism)..
8) Write argumentative essays containing
clear thesis claims, strong arguments for the theses, reasonable consideration of opposing views, and conforming to the
presentation/writing standards set forth in the “BC Philosophy Writing
Guidelines.”
We will begin
the course by learning about the dominant ethical structures in the Western
world: Utilitarianism, Deontology, Virtue Ethics, and Ethics of Care. While we
learn about these, we will also be discussing weekly an article or handout that
relates to some aspect of contemporary American life. These topics could
possibly include media, the environment, law or business. These
articles will usually be provided to you online, and I expect you to bring a
hard copy to class as well.
Expectations
I expect everyone to be familiar with the days
reading, present both in mind and body (as much as can be managed) and in
possession of whatever materials are required that day. Often, this will mean
no more than your active participation, a small pamphlet and possibly a writing
implement. Please do not use your laptop in class. If you need hard copies of
the material and really don't have any access to printing, I can bring some copies
along for you but do not expect me to do
so without prior warning. I know that the temptation to check ebay,
facebook, metafilter etc. is too great, no matter how exciting philosophy can
be. Similarly, please do not text message or make phone calls during class
time. If you have a pending emergency, put your phone on vibrate and leave the
classroom to respond to it. Answering your phone in class will result in me
asking you to put it on speakerphone (yes, really) so we can all say hi.
Though I won't take attendance every
day, I strongly recommend that you attend class. Since this is a
discussion-based course, failure to come every day will not only seriously harm
your ability to engage with the material, but will likely take a bite out of
your discussion grade. If you have someplace else to be, by all means do that!
If you're sleeping, eating your lunch and/or having side conversations
unrelated to the material, I'd much rather that you do that on your own time.
It is your choice to be here, I can't force you (and don't want to). However,
attendance is very strongly encouraged for the best possible experience and
grade.
I will consistently do my best to be
respectful to you as an individual choosing to be here, and I expect the same
from each person in the class. We may be discussing topics or ideas in this
course that make you or your classmates uncomfortable: this is ok (actually,
discomfort is often a great sign of learning!), but we need to be careful of
each other's boundaries and emotional space. I have attached to this syllabus
some guidelines for respectful class discussion that we will also be going over
in class. I expect each one of you to adhere to these guidelines as if they
are a daily graded assignment. Insults, shaming, intolerance or general
rudeness are more than a breach of etiquette, they create an environment where
some people may not be comfortable expressing their views and cannot
participate. Reasoned disagreement is an integral part of doing
philosophy—silencing one another is not. I will not tolerate it in or outside
the classroom, and do not expect that any of you should either. See the Discussion section for more on this.
Students with disabilities
Students
with disabilities who have accommodation needs are required to meet with the
Director of the Disability Resource Center, room B132 (425-564-2498 or TTY
425-603- 4110) to establish their eligibility for accommodation. In addition,
students are encouraged to review their accommodation requirements with the
instructor during the first week of the quarter.
Grades
Your grades
will be based on the following percentages, out of 100 points:
Discussion: 20%
Papers: (2x) 25% each
Weekly Responses: (10x) 3% each
Extra Credit: (up to) 6%
Discussion
You will be
expected to participate 20 times this quarter (this works out to 2x a
week, for those who are counting). When you add something relevant, on topic, important, interesting or insightful (preferably all of these things!), or you ask a question that fulfills this criteria, I
will mark down that you did so and tally them up for the final grade. I
understand that some of you are not comfortable addressing the entire class.
Though I would greatly prefer that you do speak up, for the benefit of your own
education and the classroom environment, I will also accept emailed comments or questions which I
will then present for you. These emails must be sent at least 24 hours before
the start of class. If your emailed questions or comments do not add anything
to the understanding or discussion of the piece, I will not present them and
you will not receive credit. You cannot receive extra credit in this section,
but you also will not receive credit for every throwaway comment or “ditto”, so
it's a good idea to just participate as much as you can and not try to game the
system.
Discussion will be run according to these basic
guidelines, which we will go over more in depth as needed in class:
-Listen respectfully,
without interrupting.
-Respect one another's views.
-Criticize ideas, not individuals.
-Commit to learning, not debating.
-Avoid blame and speculation.
-Avoid inflammatory
language.
Papers
There will be
two papers, each worth 25% of your grade. I will hand out more specific
instructions for them as we approach the due dates, but here are some general
guidelines:
-Double space, 12 pt font, 1” margins.
-
-1000-2000 words. Please do not try to
fill space by just writing anything to get to the word count requirement.
Please also do not give me anything much longer than the maximum. I have chosen
your paper topics to fit this length for both your sanity and my own.
-
-No hard copies. Save the trees! MS
Word *.doc files or Open Office *.odt only. No .*txt or *.rtf will be accepted. Please send from your BC email account
only
-
-Please put your name on the essay, as
well as in the filename like this:
1
Your last name, the topic letter you have chosen, and which assignment, in that order.
-So, if I were submitting Topic B for
the first essay, my document will be named:
Aleshire-B-1.doc
Failure to properly name
your file could result in it being considered late.
-Late papers will be accepted at -2%
per day late, maximum 5 days (I count weekends!) I will absolutely not accept
late papers after I have finished grading the others. You will have until
midnight of the day papers are due for them to be on time.
-
-No
Plagiarized papers will be given credit
Plagiarizing
means using another's words or ideas and representing them as your own. Always
properly cite your sources, as this can sometimes be done accidentally! It also
means having someone write a paper or part of a paper for you and representing
it as your own work. Bellevue College has a contract with a plagiarism
detecting service and any work suspected of plagiarism will be referred to that
service.
Plagiarism
is grounds for failing the course and possible dismissal from school. I don't
want to know what someone else said about the topics we are covering, anyway: I
want your own thoughts. It's usually more obvious to catch than you'd think.
Don't do it. If you have any questions about how to cite something properly,
ask me or the friendly people at the Writing Center (D204).
Weekly Responses
These are
similar to a reading journal. I will be asking you to turn in 300-500 words
every Friday with your thoughts and reactions to that week's work. These are
not just “throwaway” impressions (“I liked it” is not an adequate response),
but reasoned, cited discussions of what we have covered up to that point. The
responses will ideally be the foundations for your essays, so I will expect
them to have some direction, though I will not be so strict about your thesis
being clear or your grammar being perfect as in the more formal assignments.
A good way to
approach these is to pick one concept that we discussed or read about and
expand on that: what did you think? How did it relate to other things we've
talked about or that you've thought about before? What else could have been
said about this idea that wasn't expressed, in either the reading or the class
discussion?
The responses
will be graded on a 0-3 point system.
3 points:
you express your ideas clearly, demonstrate familiarity with the material (1-2 citations if applicable) and provide
some insight into what you thought or how you reacted to the concepts.
2 points: ideas may be expressed
clearly sometimes, but there may be a lack of familiarity with the material or
there may be less insight than for full credit (an insightful summary would be
2 points).
1 point: Either a summary only,
without insight or analysis, or there is a lack of familiarity with the
readings while still being some attempt at engaging the topic.
No credit
will be given if you show no familiarity with the reading or class discussions.
Extra Credit
You will have
the opportunity to present an article to the class in a 6-10 minute
presentation, relating to the ethical theories that we are discussing, for up
to 6% extra credit. You can work with one other person, but you will each need
to to have an article and they must be related in some way (which you will need
to explain!) The idea here is that you will jump start a discussion on some
current event relating to the class, not just presenting something you clipped
from the local paper. More information on extra credit will be provided in the
third week of the quarter.
And Now, A Final Message From Bellevue College Liberal Arts
Department:
Essential
to a liberal arts education is an open-minded tolerance for ideas and modes of
expression that might conflict with one’s personal values. By being exposed to
such ideas or expressions, students are not expected to endorse or adopt them
but rather to understand that they are part of the free flow of information
upon which higher education depends.
To this
end, you may find that class requirements may include engaging certain
materials, such as books, films, and art work, which may, in whole or in part,
offend you. These materials are equivalent to required texts and are essential
to the course content. If you decline to engage the required material by not
reading, viewing, or performing material you consider offensive, you will still
be required to meet class requirements in order to earn credit.
(very tentative) COURSE SCHEDULE
Week One (Jan 2-4)
What is an
ethical theory?
The Trolley
Problem
Week Two (Jan 7-11)
What is
Justice?
Utilitarianism
Week Three (Jan 14-18)
Utilitarianism
Deontology
Week Four (Jan 21-25)
What is the
role of belief?
Deontology
Virtue Ethics
Week Five (Jan 28-Feb 1)
Human
Rights—global and local
Virtue Ethics
Care Ethics
Week Six (Feb 4-8)
Medical
Issues
Care Ethics
Week Seven (Feb 11-15)
The
Environment
Trolley
Problem Revisited
Week Eight (Feb 18-22)
History of
application: social justice then and now.
Week Nine (Feb 25-March
1)
Ethics in the “digital age”--copyright,
wikileaks, electronic communities
Digital age
and the future: Cyborg ethics and new types of pluralism
Week Eleven (March
11-15): TBD
March 18th – Final Paper Due by Midnight (No
late finals will be accepted!)