Introduction-What is Ethics? | ||||||
Monday | 8/28 | First Day of Class: Introductions | ||||
Wednesday | 8/30 | Shafer-Landau, The Fundamentals of Ethics, Ch.7: Psychological Egoism | A discussion of the view that humans can't act unselfishly. | |||
Friday | 9/1 | Shafer-Landau, The Fundamentals of Ethics, Ch.8: Ethical Egoism | A discussion of the view that it is wrong to act unselfishly. | |||
Monday | 9/4 | NO CLASS: LABOR DAY | ||||
Wednesday | 9/6 | Shafer-Landau, The Fundamentals of Ethics, Ch.19: Ethical Relativism | A discussion of the view that the truths of ethics are relative to cultures or individuals. | |||
Friday | 9/8 | Shafer-Landau, The Fundamentals of Ethics, Ch.20: Moral Nihilism | A discussion of the view that there are no truths of ethics. | |||
Monday | 9/11 | Shafer-Landau, The Fundamentals of Ethics, Ch.21: Eleven Arguments | A discussion of the main arguments against the existence of objective truths about ethics. | |||
Wednesday | 9/13 | Crimes and Misdemeanors (in class movie) | Study guide distributed | |||
Friday | 9/15 | Open Question/Discussion Session | Please look over the study guide before class and come with questions. | |||
Monday | 9/18 | FIRST EXAM | ||||
The Four Main Moral Theories | ||||||
Wednesday | 9/20 | Shafer-Landau, The Fundamentals of Ethics, Ch.9: Consequentialism I | A discussion of the view that right acts are those that maximize the happiness or pleasure of everyone. | |||
Friday | 9/22 | Shafer-Landau, The Fundamentals of Ethics, Ch.10: Consequentialism II | Continued discussion and a critique of the view that right acts are those that maximize the happiness or pleasure of everyone. | |||
Monday | 9/25 | Consequentialism, Cont. | Continued discussion of Consequentialism | |||
Wednesday | 9/27 | Shafer-Landau, The Fundamentals of Ethics, Ch.11: Kant I | A defense of the view that right acts are those that it would be rational for everyone to do. | |||
Friday | 9/29 | NO CLASS: SCP | ||||
Monday | 10/2 | Shafer-Landau, The Fundamentals of Ethics, Ch.12: Kant II | A defense of the view that right acts are those that appropriately recognize people's dignity and autonomy. | |||
Wednesday | 10/4 | Kant, Cont. | ||||
Friday | 10/6 | Aristotelian Virtue Ethics I | A defense of the view that right acts are those that a virtuous person would perform. | |||
Monday | 10/9 | FALL BREAK | ||||
Wednesday | 10/11 | Aristotelian Virtue Ethics II | Cont. | |||
Friday | 10/13 | Natural Law Theory: Read Sections 1.0-2.3 | A defense of the view that right acts are those that respond non-defectively to what is good for beings like us. | |||
Monday | 10/16 | Timmons on Aquinas' Natural Law Theory | A discussion of Natural Law Theory and the Doctrine of Double Effect. Study Guide distributed | |||
Wednesday | 10/18 | Watchmen (in class movie) | ||||
Friday | 10/20 | Open Question/Discussion Session | Please look over the study guide before class and come with questions. | |||
Monday | 10/23 | SECOND EXAM | ||||
MORAL PROBLEMS | ||||||
Wednesday | 10/25 | Thomson, A Defense of Abortion* | An argument that some abortions are permissible even if fetuses have a right to life. | |||
Friday | 10/27 | Reply: Brody* | A critique of Thomson's Growing Child Argument. | |||
Monday | 10/30 | Reply: Beckwith | A critique of Thomson's Violinist Argument. | |||
Wednesday | 11/1 | Debate: Whence Filial Obligations? | ||||
Friday | 11/3 | Tooley, Abortion and Infanticide* | An argument that fetuses and newborns do not have a right to life. | |||
Monday | 11/6 | Reply: Carter** | A critique of Tooley's claim that if someone has a right to something, then that person desires that thing. | |||
Wednesday | 11/8 | Reply: Stevens* | A critique of the Conceptual Possession Requirement: Tooley's claim that if someone has a right to something, then that person has a concept of that thing. | |||
Friday | 11/10 | Debate: Do All Humans Have a Right to Life? | ||||
Monday | 11/13 | Nozick, The Entitlement Theory | An argument that (distributive) justice is historical, not patterned. | |||
Wednesday | 11/15 | Reply: Goldman* | An argument that historical conceptions of distributive justice are fundamentally unfair. (Remind me to email the Michael article) | |||
Friday | 11/18 | Reply: Michael | An argument that we do not own everything we make: that the fruit of our labor is sometimes less than the product of our labor. | |||
Monday | 11/20 | Debate: Is Justice Historical or Patterned? | ||||
Wednesday | 11/22 | NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING BREAK | ||||
Friday | 11/24 | NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING BREAK | ||||
Monday | 11/27 | Singer, Famine, Affluence, and Morality | An Argument that it is grievously wrong to not give large amounts of money to charity. | |||
Wednesday | 11/29 | Replies | Read Arthur's piece for today, arguing against Singer's Greater Moral Harm Principle. | |||
Friday | 12/1 | Read Slote's reply from the above packet. | An virtue ethics argument that proximity is morally relevant. | |||
Monday | 12/4 | Debate: Do We Have a Duty to Give All Luxuries to Charity? | ||||
Wednesday | 12/6 | Open Question/Discussion Session | Please look over the study guide before class and come with questions. PAPER DUE | |||
Friday | 12/8 | FINAL EXAM at 12:10 | Location TBA |