 Summer 8WK 2006 Class Schedule Table |
Course Description NAME
OF INSTRUCTOR__________JOHN Q. STILWELL PREREQUISITE INTRODUCTION TO MORAL PHILOSOPHY OR PERMISSION OF INSTRUCTOR DESCRIPTION OF COURSE In this course, students will analyze situations presenting ethical issues in twentieth-century American social, political and economic life in light of works of moral philosophy and ethical ideas expressed by scholars and others who study and write about ethical issues. Included will be problems raised by the conflicting needs and desires of individuals and communities in the context of such issues as abortion; euthanasia and assisted suicide; affirmative action; criminal justice and capital punishment; and distributive justice. Readings in historical accounts of ethical systems and the writings of theorists will furnish the backdrop to contemporary considerations, and emphasis will be placed on applied ethical approaches to life's problems. Students will be asked to consider, analyze and propose resolutions to specific cases. The ethics of rhetoric, as well as the rhetoric of ethics, underlying the formulation of ethical norms will be evaluated for the impact of modern rhetoric on moral attitudes. Critical thinking, employing searching factual inquiry and logical analysis, will be the methodology used to examine the utility of various moral ideas. Systems of casuistry will be studied for their contribution to case analysis and decision making in matters having moral import. REQUIRED TEXTS: Barbara MacKinnon, Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues, Fourth EditionStudents may be furnished with handouts and additional reading materials from time to time as appropriate. Other books and journals will be placed on two-hour library reserve for examination by students for discussion as indicated on the syllabus and class schedule as promulgated from time to time. COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION CRITERIA: Attendance in class is required unless excused in advance, preferably by email or, in an emergency, by telephone at the Instructor's posted numbers. History and theory of principal strands of ethics and morality will be the focus of the first few weeks of class, followed by a Mid-Term Examination which will center upon four or five of the Cases for Study posted on the website. A practice exercise will be held in advance of the Mid-Term to familiarize students with approaches to case analysis and application of moral principles to the facts of difficult situations. The Mid-Term will account for approximately one-third of course evaluation. The Class will be divided into 8 Groups, resulting from preferences indicated by students on their Student Profile which should be completed by the end of the initial class. Each Group will be responsible for developing an approximately one-hour presentation on the Group Topic, to be critiqued using critical thinking methodology by the Classmates attending the presentation. The presentations (26%) and the constructive critiques (14%) will constitute 40% of the final evaluation. The final approximately one-third of evaluative work will be a term paper of not more than 15 pages, in which students will be expected first to select a topic (which may be directly related to the topic of the Group to which the student is assigned) and present an outline to the instructor, including proposed sources. The instructor will assist the student in refining the outline so that a successful paper may result. The Term Paper will be in lieu of a Final Examination and will be due on the same date as the Final Examination scheduled for the class, which presently appears to be 6PM Tuesday, AUGUST 1. The paper is to be submitted by email to the instructor for evaluation. Grades will be posted electronically on line. As stated above, Unless excused in advance by the instructor, students will be expected to attend each class meeting and be prepared on the assigned readings and case studies in order to participate in active class discussions. Approximately two hours of each session will be devoted to class participation on one or more specific cases or situations involving ethical issues under study. The Mid Term Examination will occur approximately 6 weeks after beginning the term; it will be an open book examination in class will be given to test the ability of students to recognize, analyze and discuss in terms of moral theory, the issues raised by a group of hypothetical cases. All evaluative work is aimed at demonstrating the student's command of the theoretical and practical materials studied and their application to the issue selected. For the Term Paper, Barbara MacKinnon's outline of an ethical term paper may be used as a guide. Papers must be prepared in typewritten form, using the MLA stylebook, the Chicago Manual of Style, or Kate Turabian's Handbook. Grammar, diction, spelling and punctuation are part of the evaluation. For illustrative purposes, sample papers and proposals are on file under the name of the course at the reserve desk. They are not necessarily the best papers, but are merely representative of the work product of several classes. |