Introduction
to Moral
Philosophy
130-A
|
Class
|
Quizzes
Can Be on Topics From Which Classes?
|
Topic
|
Handouts
and
Class Notes
|
Readings
|
Assignments
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Class 1
1/18 (W)
|
No quizzes today |
Introduction to class |
Syllabus
Participation
rubric
|
No readings |
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Class 2
1/20 (F)
|
No quizzes today |
Survey of ethics
+
Should we be free to do what we want, so long as it doesn't harm anyone
else?
|
Tips on
explaining terms |
"Ethics" by James
Fieser
"Liberty,
Coercion, and the Limits of the State" by Alan Wertheimer
Reading
Questions |
|
Class 3
1/23 (M)
|
1, 2, 3 |
|
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Reading
Questions |
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Class 4
1/25 (W)
|
1, 3, 4 |
|
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Reading
Questions |
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Class 5
1/27 (F)
|
2, 4, 5 |
|
Tips
on explaining how others use terms
The
quizzes I gave last semester |
Reading
Questions
Note: the following are
optional (see Reading Questions for details)
"Applied Ethics"
by Joel Dittmer
"Ethical
Issues in Contemporary Culture" by Adam Blatner
Description
of Contemporary Debates in Applied
Ethics
Description
of What's Wrong
|
Short
writing assignment 1 due |
Class 6
1/30 (M)
|
3, 5, 6 |
Survey of normative ethics |
|
Excerpts
from Jeremy Bentham and J. S. Mill
Reading
Questions
|
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Class 7
2/1 (W)
|
4, 6, 7 |
|
|
Excerpts from Ground-
work for the Metaphysics
of Morals by Immanuel Kant
Reading
Questions |
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Class 8
2/3 (F)
|
5, 7, 8 |
|
Tips on
offering arguments |
Excerpts
from Nicomachean Ethics by
Aristotle
Reading
questions |
Short
writing assignment 2 due |
Class 9
2/6 (M)
|
6, 8, 9 |
Is there a right to parenthood? |
|
"Licensing
Parents" by Hugh LaFollette
Reading
Questions
|
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Class 10
2/8 (W)
|
7, 9, 10 |
|
|
"On
Licentious Licensing: A Reply to Hugh LaFollette'' by Lawrence E. Frisch
Reading
Questions
|
|
Class 11
2/10 (F)
|
8, 10, 11 |
|
Tips on Using Terminology Accurately |
"Judge
Orders Woman to Undergo Sterilization" by the Associated Press
"Father
Owing Child Support
Loses a Right To Procreate" by Tamar Lewin
"Sterilization
of mentally disabled man approved in U.K. London
court deems vasectomy to be in the 36-year-old's 'best interest' '' by
Farida Hussain
Reading
Questions
|
Short
writing assignment 3 due |
Class 12
2/13 (M)
|
9, 11, 12 |
Is abortion morally acceptable? |
|
"A Defense of Abortion" by
Judith Jarvis Thomson
Reading
Questions
|
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Class 13
2/15 (W)
|
1, 10, 12, 13 |
|
|
"On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion'' by Mary Anne Warren
Reading
Questions
|
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Class 14
2/17 (F)
|
2, 11, 13, 14 |
|
Tips
on reconstructing arguments |
"An Argument that Abortion is Wrong'' by Don
Marquis
Reading
Questions
|
Short
writing
assignment 4 due |
Class 15
2/20 (M)
|
3, 12, 14, 15 |
Is euthanasia morally acceptable? |
|
"Active
and Passive Euthanasia" by James Rachels
"Brittany
Maynard, as promised, ends her life at 29" by Lindsey Bever
Reading
Questions |
|
Class 16
2/22 (W)
|
4, 13, 15, 16 |
|
|
"Is
Killing No Worse Than Letting Die?" by Winston Nesbitt
"British
conductor dies with wife at assisted suicide clinic'' by Matthew
Weaver
Reading
Questions
|
|
Class 17
2/24 (F)
|
5, 14, 16, 17 |
|
Tips on using cases to counterexample views |
"Why Killing Is Not Always Worse -- and Is Sometimes Better
-- Than Letting Die."
by Helga Kuhse
Reading
Questions
|
Short
writing assignment 5 due |
Class 18
2/27 (M)
|
6, 15, 17, 18 |
When is killing wrong? |
|
Excerpts
from Confrontations with the Reaper by
Fred Feldman
Reading
Questions
|
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Class 19
3/1 (W)
|
7, 16, 18, 19 |
|
|
Reading
Questions |
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Class 20
3/3 (F)
|
8, 17, 19, 20 |
|
|
Reading
Questions |
Short
writing assignment 6 due |
Class 21
3/6 (M)
|
9, 18, 20, 21 |
Is human experimentation for medical purposes morally
acceptable? |
Here are some cases we talked about in class. Note: you stop reading once you hit the
section titled "Commentary"
Case
1
Case
2
Case
3
|
"Experimentation
on Human Subjects" by Patrick Boleyn-Fitzgerald
Reading
Questions
|
|
Class 22
3/8 (W)
|
10, 19, 21, 22 |
|
|
Reading
Questions |
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Class 23
3/10 (F)
|
11, 20, 22, 23 |
|
Tips
on offering objections |
Reading
Questions |
1-page description of final paper due
Sample
final paper
|
Class 24
3/13 (M)
|
12, 21, 23, 24 |
Do animals have rights? What sort of rights? |
|
"The Basic Argument
for Vegetarianism"
by .James
Rachels
Reading
Questions
|
|
Class 25
3/15 (W)
|
13, 22, 24, 25 |
|
|
"Experimenting
with Animals" by Lori Gruen
Reading
Questions
|
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Class 26
3/17 (F)
|
14, 23, 25, 26 |
|
|
There are no readings or reading questions for class today!
(We are still having class, just no readings or reading questions)
|
Short
writing assignment 7 due |
Class 27
3/27 (M)
|
15, 24, 26, 27 |
What obligations do we have to the environment? |
Tips on
structuring papers |
"Environmental
Ethics'' by Alasdair
Cochrane
Reading
Questions
|
|
Class 28
3/29 (W)
|
No quizzes today
|
Discussion of 1-page descriptions of final paper |
|
Reading
Questions (you'll complete these during class)
Note.
Today we're discussing your 1-page descriptions of your final papers in
small groups (the groups will be assigned in class today). You will be
in groups of 5-6 so you should bring enough copies for your
group-mates. It might be a good idea to brainstorm in advance some
questions for
your group-mates about your paper, but there's no requirement to do so.
|
|
Class 29
3/31 (F)
|
16, 25, 27, 29 |
What obligations do we have to the
environment?
|
|
Interview
about Green Virtues with Dale Jamieson
Listening
Questions
|
Short
writing assignment 8 due |
Class 30
4/3 (M)
|
17, 26, 29, 30 |
Is prostitution morally acceptable? |
|
"Is Prostitution Harmful?" by Ole
Martin Moen
Reading
Questions
|
|
Class 31
4/5 (W)
|
18, 27, 30, 31 |
|
|
No reading questions (we're still having class, there's just
no reading questions for today.)
|
|
Class 32
4/7 (F)
|
19, 29, 31, 32 |
|
|
"Comment on `Is
Prostitution Harmful?' '' by
Scott A Anderson
"Intrinsic Versus Contingent Claims About the Harmfulness of
Prostitution'' by
Rosalind J McDougall
"Prostitution and Harm: A Reply to Anderson and McDougall?''
by Ole
Martin Moen
Reading
Questions
|
Short
writing assignment 9 due |
Class 33
4/10 (M)
|
20, 30, 32, 33 |
What duties do we have to the homeless? |
|
"Homelessness" by G
J M Abbarno
Reading
Questions
|
|
Class 34
4/12 (W)
|
21, 31, 33, 34 |
|
|
"The
Best-Selling, Billion-Dollar
Pills Tested on Homeless People" by Carl Elliot
Reading
Questions
Note: The following is
optional (see reading questions for details)
"Pharmaceutical
Research Involvign the Homeless" By Tom L. Beauchamp et. al.
|
|
Class 35
4/14 (F)
|
22, 32, 34, 35 |
|
|
"Making
an effort to change
homelessness in Manhattan" by Sarah Broddle
Reading
Questions
|
Rough draft of
final paper due |
Class 36
4/17 (M)
|
23, 33, 35, 36 |
What should the legal drinking age be? |
|
Excerpts
from The Legalization of Drugs by
Peter de Marneffe
Reading
Questions
|
|
Class 37
4/19 (W)
|
24, 34, 36, 37 |
|
|
More
excerpts from The Legalization of
Drugs by Peter de Marneffe
Reading
Questions
|
|
Class 38
4/21 (F)
|
25, 35, 37, 38 |
|
|
Essays on the question: Should the Legal Drinking Age Be
Lowered
Reading
Questions
|
|
Class 39
4/24 (M)
|
No quizzes |
Discussion of rough drafts |
|
Reading
Questions (you'll complete these during class)
Note.
Today and Wednesday we're discussing your rough drafts in
small groups (the groups will be assigned in class today). You will be
in groups of 5-6 so you should bring enough copies for your
group-mates. It might be a good idea to brainstorm in advance some
questions for
your group-mates about your paper, but there's no requirement to do so.
|
|
Class 40
4/26 (W)
|
No quizzes |
|
|
See
previous class |
|
Class 41
4/28 (F)
|
26, 36, 38, 41 |
Is polygamy morally acceptable? |
|
"The
Problem with Polygamy" by Thom Brooks
Reading
Questions
|
|
Class 42
5/1 (M)
|
27, 37, 41, 42 |
|
|
"Polygamy,
Privacy, and Equality" by Laurie Shrage
Reading
Questions
|
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Class 43
5/3 (W)
|
29, 38, 42, 43 |
|
|
No reading questions (note: we're still meeting; we're just
doing an activity in small groups) |
|
Class 44
5/5 (F)
|
No quizzes |
Concluding Discussion |
|
No reading questions (note: we're still meeting, it's just
that we're doing concluding discussion) |
|
| 5/11 (Th) |
Note: we will not meet today -- it's
exam week
|
Final draft of
final paper due |
|