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.”