Community Profile

LAST UPDATED: 8-May-06

INTRODUCTION

Class: Current Moral and Social Issues (730:105:03)
Instructor: Kate Devitt (skdevitt@gmail.com)
Dates: 18-Jan-06 to 1-May-06
Place: Rm.111 Murray Hall
Time: 6.10pm to 7.30pm Mondays and Wednesdays
Office Hours: By appointment Rm.44 Philosophy Department, Davison Hall, 26 Nichol Ave. New Brunswick.

This course will teach critical thinking in relation to contemporary ethical issues such as abortion, animal rights, environmentalism & bioethics. Because critical thinking is the chief aim of the course, you will do well to read about logical fallacies and also the history and discussion of informal logic.

Email is the best way to contact me. I may take up to three days to respond to emails. If you have an emergency, put 'URGENT' in the subject line of your email.

TEXTS

The textbooks for this course are The Elements of Moral Philosophy (4th ed) by James Rachels and Applied Ethics by Peter Singer. Both are available in the Rutgers bookroom, but you can get them cheaper second-hand using either Half.com or Alibris. I will post other readings to the class discussion board, this page or make them available at the Alexander reserve desk. Readings may change as the semester progresses so be sure to regularly check for changes in the syllabus.

ASSESSMENT

Your grade is based on two papers (60%), six quizzes (24%) and comments on the course discussion board (16%)

Papers

There are two papers for the course. Each paper must be between 1,000 and 1,500 words in length. You must submit your papers electronically to the plagerism detection site Turn It In. I will not accept printed copies. Make sure you register on the Turn It In site well in advance of the submission date. I will post topics for the papers on the class discussion board. I will review drafts of papers up to one week before the submission date. Paper I is due at 11.59pm 6-Mar-06 and is worth 25% of your final grade. A one page abstract for Paper II is due at 11.59pm 19-Apr-06 and is worth 5% of your final grade. Paper II is due at 11.59pm 8-May-06 and is worth 30% of your final grade. Late papers will lose 5% per 24 hours after the due date for a maximum of nine days. Over nine days late and you will receive an F for your paper. You will receive an email with your grade and comments on these papers within two weeks of the submission date.

Please submit your paper with the filename: 'fullnamepaper#' E.g., I would submit a paper as katedevittpaper2.doc. You can submit a single draft for me to review as 'katedevittpaper2draft.doc'

Turn It In
Class ID: 1451245
Password: aristotle

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Quizzes

There will be seven quizzes of multiple choice questions based on the readings assigned for each class and information made available only in class. There will be no questions from the additional readings. Each quiz is worth 4% and the best six of seven quizzes will be counted for 24% of your final grade. This means you can miss one quiz without penalty. There will be no make-up quizzes. If you have religious reasons for missing more than one quiz you MUST organize to take the quiz at least two weeks before the quiz date.

Participation

Online participation is a critical part of this course. 16% of your grade is based on comments you make on the class discussion board. 10% comes from original comments and 6% comes from your reponse to other students questions. You MUST finish 20 original comments to qualify for the 6% from responses. You will not get the 6% bonus from responding to others if you fail the original comment component. You can create your username here. In order to get an A in this course you MUST fulfill all the participation requirements.

Original comments - by 1.00pm before each class you must leave either a comment or question on the class discussion board on the readings for that class. These will not be not be individually graded. Each comment MUST be between 100 and 200 words. Do NOT simply summarize the reading. Your comment must show your own thoughts and reflections on the readings because this is a critical thinking class. You MUST leave at least 20 original comments to get 10% participation. Less than 20 comments will mean 0% for your participation score. Because there are 27 classes (excluding the first class) you can miss seven 1.00pm deadlines without penalty.

Responses to fellow students - the final 6% participation credit is for responding to comments and questions made by your peers on the online discussion board. If you reply critically to 12 questions, then you will get 6%. If you leave less than twelve replies you will get 0.5% for each reply that you do make. Replies must be at least 50 words in length. You may respond to fellow students for credit up until midnight 08-May-06.

Your comments on the class discussion board must be either a question or a critical comment. What does that mean?

- A question means that you are requesting clarification about some part of the text. This could be confusion with the argument of the author, or difficulty grasping some point made. It could also be a question that compares something the author says with a contradicting opinion of a different author. There are lots of types of questions. The best way that you know you're asking one is when your sentence ends in a '?'. You are encouraged to ask questions because then we can
discuss them further in class.

- A critical comment is a reflection on the arguments made in the reading. It is not inherently positive or negative. E.g. It might highlight an inconsistency in the author's writing or it could offer more evidence why the theory presented is a very good one. Regardless of whether you are critical or supportive, you must back up your claim with argument and evidence. You will not get participation credit for simply saying 'my beliefs are in accordance with author x', or 'I
disagree with the author'. Claiming that the author is naive, stupid etc... is not an argument. If you think that the author is on the wrong track, then you need to justify that in proper sentences, carefully articulating your thoughts. If you are successful, then people might agree with you that the author's writing is poor or good.

I will not give participation credit if the guidelines above are not followed.


I will use the following scale for your final grade.

A 85-100
B+ 80-84
B 70-79
C+ 65-69
C 55-64
D 50-54
F below 50

RESEARCH HELP

For philosophy articles you should use the Philosophers Index

For reference articles I recommend the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. However, there are some other good links here.

How to write a good philosophy paper

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

I am extremely severe on anyone caught plagiarising in this course. Plagiarism means many things, but primarily means that you must not use other people's words or ideas without correctly referencing them. This means you must cite all your references according to academic standards. Here is a quote from the Rutgers Guidelines for Academic Integrity. You must have read this before submitting any assessment for this course.

Plagiarism is the representation of the words or ideas of another as one's own in any academic exercise. To avoid plagiarism, every direct quotation must be identified by quotation marks or by appropriate indentation and must be properly cited in the text or in a footnote. Acknowledgment is required when material from another source stored in print, electronic or other medium is paraphrased or summarized in whole or in part in one's own words. To acknowledge a paraphrase properly, one might state: "to paraphrase Plato's comment..." and conclude with a footnote identifying the exact reference. A footnote acknowledging only a directly quoted statement does not suffice to notify the reader of any preceding or succeeding paraphrased material. Information which is common knowledge such as names of leaders of prominent nations, basic scientific laws, etc, need not be footnoted; however, all facts or information obtained in reading or research that are not common knowledge among students in the course must be acknowledged.

I encourage anyone who has any questions about how to write an academic paper to come and see me about it. These skills are crucial parts of an undergraduate education, so I am here to help.

SYLLABUS

* Readings from The Elements of Moral Philosophy
** Readings from Applied Ethics

[1] 18-Jan: Introduction to Applied Ethics

Readings - Ch. 1 What is Morality*

[2] 23-Jan: Cultural Relativism & Religion

Readings - Ch.2 The Challenge of Cultural Relativism* & Ch.4 Does Morality Depend on Religion*, The Euthyphro

[3] 25-Jan: Psychological Egoism

Readings Ch.5 Psychological Egoism*

Assessment - Quiz 1 (Choice of Questions from Ch.1, Ch.2 & Ch.4 of Rachels OR The Euthyphro & class notes emailed 21-Jan)

[4] 30-Jan: Utilitarianism Part I

Readings Mill Utilitarianism, Ch.7 The Utilitarian Approach*.

[5] 1-Feb: Utilitarianism Part II

Readings - Ch.8 The Debate over Utilitarianism*

Additional Readings Extreme and Restricted Utilitarianism by Smart

[6] 6-Feb: Kantianism I

Readings - Ch.9 Are There Absolue Moral Rules?*

[7] 8-Feb: Kantianism II

Readings Kant Foundations of The Metaphysics of Morals Ch.2, Ch.10 Kant & Respect for Persons

Assessment - Quiz 2 (Questions from Ch.5, Ch.7, Ch.8, Ch.9 & Mill)

[8] 13-Feb: Ethics of Care

Readings - Ch.12 Feminism and the Ethics of Care*

Additional Readings
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Mary Wollstonecraft A Vindication of the Rights of Women

[9] 15-Feb: Virtue Ethics

Readings - Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics Book II, Ch.13 The Ethics of Virtue

[10] 20-Feb: Euthanasia I

Readings - Of suicide** by David Hume

Additional Readings Euthanasia in the Netherlands

[11] 22-Feb: Euthanasia II

Active & Passive Euthanasia** by James Rachels

Assessment - Quiz 3 (Questions from Ch.10, 12, 13, Kant, Aristotle, Hume)

[12] 27-Feb: Abortion I

Readings - A defense of abortion** Judith Jarvis Thomson

Additional Readings - Bitch Ph.D.

[13] 1-Mar: Abortion II

Readings - In Defense of Abortion and Infanticide** by Michael Tooley,

Additional Readings - Pro-life arguments

[14] 6-Mar: Bioethics I Stem Cells

Readings - LeRoy Walters Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research: An Intercultural Perspective Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal. Mr 04; 14(1): pp. 3-5 [introduction] and pp. 20-28 [Judaism through Roman Catholicism].

Additional ReadingsNational Institute of Health information

Assessment - Paper I due 11.59pm on Turn It In

[15] 8-Mar: Bioethics II Genetics

Readings Genetics and Human Behavior the Ethical Context Nuffield Council on Bioethics, p.99-107

Additional Reading - Bioethics blog

Assessment - Quiz 4 (Rachels, Thomson, Tooley, Walters pp.3-5 & pp.20-28)

SPRING BREAK

[16] 20-Mar: Ethical Egoism

Readings Ch.6 Ethical Egoism*

[17] 22-Mar: Distribution of Wealth & Globalisation

ReadingsDerek Parfit Overpopulation and the Quality of Life** (not sections 3 & 4), Peter Singer 'Rich and Poor' Ch.8 of Practical Ethics

Additional Readings - Causes of Poverty, Overpopulation, Globalisation, Possum Living - How to Live well without a job and with (almost) no money.

[18] 27-Mar Affirmative Action

Readings: Louis P. Pojman The Moral Status of Affirmative Action.

[19] 29-Mar: Animal Rights I

Readings Peter Singer All Animals are Equal**

Additional ResourcesVegetarian/vegan eating options. Do animals suffer?

Assessment - Quiz 5 (Genetics and Human Behavior the Ethical Context, Rachels Ch.6, Parfit (not sections 3 & 4), Singer Rich & Poor, Pojman)

[20] 3-Apr: Animal Rights II

Readings The Case for Animal Rights by Tom Regan

[21] 5-Apr: Environmental Ethics I

Readings - Aldo Leopold The Land Ethic

Additional Readings - New Jersey environmental news

[22] 10-Apr: Environmental Ethics II

Readings - J. Baird Callicott, Review of Tom Regan, The Case for Animal Rights

Additional Readings: Environmental Ethics, American Environmentalism Timeline

[23] 12-Apr: Environmental Ethics & Animal Liberation

Readings J. Baird Callicott Animal Liberation: A Triangular Affair: Environmental Ethics and Animal Liberation

Assessment - Quiz 6 (Singer, Regan, Leopold, Callicott's review of Tom Regan)

[24] 17-Apr: Social Contracts

Readings - Ch.11 The Idea of a Social Contract*

[25] 19-Apr: Business Ethics I

i>Readings</i> Toward a Unified Conception of Business Ethics: Integrative Social Contracts theory by T.Donaldson & T. Dunfee, pp.252-268

Assessment 1 page summary of paper II due 11.59pm on Turn It In

[26] 24-Apr: Business Ethics II

Readings - Balancing Sweatshop Ethics And Economics L.Hartman, B.Shaw & R.Stevenson. pp.6-40

[27] 26-Apr: Ethics of War I

Readings - Michael Walzer Just & Unjust Wars Just War Theory

Assessment - Quiz 7 (Callicott, Rachels Ch.11, Donaldson & Dunfee, Shaw & Stevenson)

[28] 1-May: Ethics of War II

Readings - Is the War in Iraq ethical?

Assessment Paper II due 11.59pm on Turn It In

WEB RESOURCES

Here are some links to ethics webpages that you might find useful or interesting.

Ethics Blog

BBC Ethics Page

OTHER

Please turn off your cell phones during class.

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