This course has two components.  One concerns an examination of theories of right and wrong action, for which we will explore the moral importance of nature, religion, character, dignity, and outcomes through discussing, among other theories, virtue ethics, Kantian deontology, and utilitarianism.  The second component looks at some interesting and important ethical issues in applied ethics, including famine relief and topics from engineering and nursing.  These issues are mixed in with the discussion of ethical theories, to keep things interesting and to provide an opportunity for immediate application of each theory.

The purposes of this course are to teach students how to discuss contemporary ethical issues in an intelligent manner, how to understand and apply some classical and modern ethical theories to moral debates, how to critically assess and support their opinions on various ethical issues, how to assess and understand the opinions of others, and how to respond when there is a rational stand-off of opinion.  The key idea underlying the course is that difference of moral opinion (at least within the United States) tend to result from different rankings of shared values rather than from conflicts between different sets of values.

Required Prerequisite: None.

Syllabus [PDF]     Textbook [PDF]     Paper [PDF]

Handouts

Find a sample term paper here [PDF].

Find a sample presentation powerpoint (on Famine Relief) here [PDF].

Find a Service Learning Agreement and Project Report Form here [PDF].

Online Readings

Singer, "Famine, Affluence, and Morality"



Kuper, "More than Charity" [PDF]

Paltrow, "Punishment and Prejudice: Judging Drug-Using Pregnant Women" [Group 1 Presentation Paper]

Angell, "The Supreme Court and Physician-Assisted Suicide--The Ultimate Right" [PDF] [Group 2 Presentation Paper]

Sandel, "The Case Against Perfection" [Group 3 Presentation Paper]

Gross, "Bioethics and Armed Conflict: The Moral Dimensions of Medicine and War" [PDF] [Group 4 Presentation Paper]

Larmer, "Whistleblowing and Employee Loyalty" [PDF] [Group 5 Presentation Paper]

Dowie, "Pinto Madness" [Group 6 Presentation Paper]

Singer, "All Animals are Equal" [Group 7 Presentation Paper]

Gladwell, "Offensive Play: How Different are Dogfighting and Football?" [PDF] [Group 8 Presentation Paper]

Links

Further Information about Issues from this Course


Professional Codes of Ethics


Ethics Blogs


The Scientific Basis of Morality