Course Syllabus

PHILOSOPHY 102 – CONTEMPORARY MORAL PROBLEMS – Winter 2014

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR – Steven M. Duncan, Ph.D. Adjunct Philosophy Faculty, Bellevue College, Office: B100A

E-Mail:sduncan@bellevuecollege.edu        Office Hours: By App't

TEXT – Barbara MacKinnon, Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues, seventh edition, Belmont, CA., Wadsworth Publishing Company, 2011 (M)

COURSE OUTLINE

WEEK ONE - Ethics and Moral Reasoning (M, Chapters 1-3, Hobbes)

WEEK TWO – Moral Theory (M, Chapters 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, as directed)

WEEK THREE - Euthanasia (M, Chapter 10) Gay-Williams, Rachels)

WEEK FOUR - Sexual Morality (M, Chapter 12, Nagel)

WEEK FIVE - Animal Rights (M, Chapter 17, Singer, Steinbock)

WEEK SIX - Equality and Discrimination (M, Chapter 13, Fullinwider, King

WEEK SEVEN - Economic Justice (M, Chapter 13, Rawls, Nozick

WEEK EIGHT – Legal Punishment and Human Rights (M, Chapter 14, Bedau, Ernest van den Haag)

WEEK NINE - Environmental Ethics (M, Chapter 15, Baxter, Devall and Sessions, Supplementary Essay: A Native American Perspective on the Environment)

WEEK TEN - Violence, Terrorism and War (M, Chapter 18, Ehlstain, Walzer, supplementary essay: Frantz Fanon on Revolutionary Violence)

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING- Assignments will be listed weekly in the Assignments area for each week. Grading will be based on the quality of student answers to the review and discussion questions, summaries and on the frequency and quality of student contributions to class discussion via the weekly discussion forum.

Consult the class calendar for information concerning specific dates, etc. In addition, there will be a 3-5 page term paper required of each student. Topics are to be approved no later than the end of week VII; the completed paper is due during week XI. Consult the course calendar for the exact due dates.

The text of the Paper Topic Assignment can be found in the Week II discussion forum.

Each of the weekly assignments will be graded on a 0-5 point scale. 
The term paper will be worth 100 points
the discussion postings will be worth a maximum of 50 points. 
There will also be a midterm and final self-evaluation that each student must submit; consult the course calendar for the exact due dates. 

The total maximum for the course will be about 300 points.

Outcomes:

After completing this class, students should be able to:

• Formulate, clarify and evaluate arguments
• Analyze and assess views that make ethics a matter of convention, including moral relativism and Divine Command Theory
• Explain and evaluate substantive ethical theories including utilitarianism and respect for persons and the ethics of care
• Explain how substantive ethical theories including utilitarianism, respect for persons and the ethics of care incorporate the value of cultural diversity
• Explain the ethical foundations for sustainability
• Apply substantive ethical theories including utilitarianism and respect for persons to a range of specific problem areas like the death penalty, physician assisted suicide, animal rights, poverty, environmental protection and free speech
• 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.”