Students

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Learning Objectives

  • Compare and contrast morality and self-interest.
  • Discuss Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan and the position it takes on morality.
  • Analyze Baruch Brody’s discussion of whether morality conflicts with self-interest.
  • Consider whether it is rational for a person to follow the dictates of morality rather than self-interest.
  • Determine the connections, if any, between morality and religion.
  • Paraphrase Robert Merrihew Adams’ argument that our deepest obligations are best understood to arise from relationships and, specifically, from a relationship with a loving God.
  • Define morality.
  • Summarize and then assess the ways in which morality has been thought to require religion as its basis.
  • Discuss John Dewey’s suggestion that “morality is social” and what that might imply about moral reflection and about moral education.
  • Analyze the relationships between motives of sympathy for others and moral duty.
  • Relate the examples Jonathan Bennett uses to explore the relations between duty and sympathy as well as the wisdom of relying on feelings when they conflict with duty.
  • Differentiate between the various sources of moral ideas.
  • Define moral isolationism as explained by Mary Midgley.
  • Explain what is meant by ethical relativism and the position that William H. Shaw takes regarding it.
  • Outline the argument of David Hume regarding human motivation.
  • Describe Michael Perry's argument that there are many "moralities."
  • Summarize Steven Pinker's explanation of what it means for human beings to have a moral sense on our best current understanding of evolutionary biology and examine how he believes we should assess the significance of evolutionary explanations of morality.
  • Summarize Aristotles understanding of happiness and the keys to obtaining it.
  • Describe Aristotle’s understanding of the nature of virtue and its connection with habit.
  • Explain Kant's argument that duty is based solely on reason.
  • Distinguish between acting from inclination and acting from duty.
  • Show what John Stuart Mill means when he claims that some pleasures are higher than others.
  • Differentiate between John Stuart Mill’s approach and the social contract theory.
  • Discuss W. D. Ross' essay on the nature of duty and the “intuitions” on which it rests.
  • Summarize Onora O'Neill's perspective on the dispute between utilitarians and the ethics of Immanual Kant.
  • Explain Onora O'Neill's interpretation and defense of Immanual Kant.
  • Outline Richard Brandt's defense of utilitarianism.
  • Identify Virginia Held's criticisms of traditional theory from a feminist perspective.
  • Consider Virginia Held's explanation of the importance of contemporary feminism for developing new directions in ethical theory.
  • Examine questions regarding terrorism, torture, ware, and robotic warfare.
  • Differentiate between the perspectives offered on terrorism.
  • Discuss whether torture can be justified.
  • Contemplate if there is a justification for going to war.
  • Identify the distinctive ethical challenges posed by the growth of robotics in warfare.
  • Summarize the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion on executions and explain why they are not considered unconstitutional violations of the Eighth Amendment.
  • Describe Martin Perlmutter’s defense of capital punishment and explain his justification of executions from a utilitarian and retributivist perspective.
  • Identify Ernest van den Haag’s defense of capital punishment.
  • Explain why Hugo Adam Bedau argues that capital punishment should be abolished in all circumstances.
  • Consider Jeffrey Reiman’s argument against the death penalty.
  • Summarize Peter Singer's argument that equality applies to animals as well as to humans.
  • Differentiate Bonnie Steinbock's view of animal equality from Peter Singer’s.
  • Determine, based on William F. Baxter’s work, what sorts of beings have moral standing and deserve moral consideration.
  • Distinguish between ethical humanists, humane moralists, and defenders of the "land ethic."
  • Describe Jack Turner's transformation from boredom about nature to an experience of wildness that he came to believe should ground an ethic of environmental preservation.
  • Determine the arguments regarding the ethics of cloning to produce children and the conclusions of The President’s Council on Bioethics.
  • Summarize the constitutional case of Roe v. Wade.
  • Detail Judith Jarvis Thomson's argument that, even assuming the fetus is a living person with a right to life, a mother’s right to her body allows her to get an abortion in all but the most extreme circumstances.
  • Differentiate between Judith Jarvis Thomson’s defense of abortion and Mary Anne Warren's conclusion that the status of the fetus is of central importance in assessing abortion.
  • Outline the conclusions of Jane English about the attempt to solve the abortion question by asking if the fetus is a person.
  • Identify Don Marquis' approach to the abortion question, which first looks at the broader question of why it is wrong to kill.
  • Explain the issue of the interests and desires of the father as identified by George Harris.
  • Summarize the legal case of JFK Memorial Hospital v. Heston.
  • Analyze the selection from William Godwin's book on political justice, in which he confronts the question of whether all human lives are of equal value.
  • List Arthur J. Dyck's objections to euthanasia.
  • Describe James Rachels' position on euthanasia.
  • Outline the case of Gonzales v. Oregon which challenged Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act.
  • Explain Daniel Callahan's position on health care for the elderly.
  • Assess John Harris' proposal for a lottery in which people are randomly chosen to donate their healthy organs so that others can live.
  • Relate Immanual Kant’s discussion of the nature of the "sexual impulse."
  • Summarize John Finnis’ argument that certain sorts of sexual activities, whether performed by people of the same or opposite sex, are wrong.
  • Compare and contrast the means-end conception of sex with Alan H. Goldman's alternative "plain fact" understanding of human sexuality.
  • Identify the key points of Richard D. Mohr's essay regarding issues surrounding homosexuality.
  • Consider the issues associated with date rape as discussed in the article by Lois Pineau.
  • Differentiate between the views of Pineau on date rape and those of Camille Paglia.
  • Analyze the key points in Richard Wasserstrom's discussion of the various reasons that adultery is wrong as well as his discussion of the importance of fidelity.
  • Outline the viewpoint of Hugh LaFollette that parenting should be an activity that requires some sort of assurances of minimal competence.
  • Explain why Joseph Kupfer believes that parents and children cannot be friends.
  • Differentiate between the views of Kupfer and Kristján Kristjánsson regarding whether parents and children can be friends.
  • Identify Jane English's view of the parent-child relationship when the children are grown.
  • Identify the costs of the Internet in terms of how it affects human lives as viewed by Nicholas Carr.
  • Summarize the dialogue among five accomplished thinkers who were asked to reflect on the deeper significance of technology in our lives.
  • Assess Laurence Thomas' view of the ways in which our uses of modern technology affect the quality and condition of friendships.
  • Identify the key points in the Pew Internet and American Life Project study regarding participation in social networking sites and its impact on social life.
  • Explain Sherry Turkle's argument that social networking and the prevalence of robotics lead us to feel alone and lonely.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the essential points of John Locke's Second Treatise of Government.
  • Outline Tibor R. Machan’s discussion and defense of the libertarian theory of justice.
  • Analyze John Stuart Mill's answer to the fundamental question of political philosophy: What are the limits of society's power over the individual?
  • Discuss John Stuart Mill's claim that democracy's advantages are not limited to its tendency to secure individual rights, liberty, or economic prosperity.
  • Define the social contract as explained by John Rawls in A Theory of Justice.
  • Summarize the case of Texas v. Johnson.
  • Explain Alasdair MacIntyre's argument that classical "liberal" moral theories such as utilitarianism and Kantianism are deeply mistaken.
  • Describe Simon Keller's argument that patriotism is not a virtue, but is more likely a vice to be avoided.
  • Explore Bernard R. Boxill’s view on the meaning and significance of patriotism and love of country in light of the extraordinary life and convictions of Frederick Douglass.
  • Outline the letter, written by the Rev. Martin Luther King from a Birmingham Jail, which has become one of the most powerful statements of nonviolent civil disobedience.
  • Analyze the Crito dialogue by Plato.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of Lon L. Fuller's view of whether to prosecute people who took advantage of or benefited from a previous, unjust regime.
  • Discuss David Hume's view of why economic justice is necessary given the scarcity of resources, the reasons why property should be protected, and the importance of utility in deciding these issues.
  • Summarize the key points of Robert Nozick's The Entitlement Theory.
  • Compare and contrast the views of Nozick with those of John Rawls as published in Political Liberalism.
  • Analyze the Michael Walzer selection from Spheres of Justice which considers the question of ownership and examines what occurs when market power becomes illegitimately applied to other spheres of life.
  • Outline the ways in which The Communist Manifesto lays down a challenge to any philosophical theory of justice and community that ignores the importance of socioeconomic development and class divisions in understanding human society.
  • Describe the debate of Tom W. Bell and James V. DeLong regarding various justifications for intellectual property.
  • Explain the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Kelo v. City of New London.
  • Describe Michael Walzer’s position that politics and markets identify two distinct spheres of life and the moral principles for determining proper conduct within them.
  • Analyze Thomas Pogge’s argument that the affluent citizens of the world are responsible for the life-threatening poverty that exists globally.
  • Identify the position John McMillan takes regarding the solution to global poverty.
  • Summarize Milton Friedman’s moral argument that corporations ought to be maximizing profits.
  • Compare and contrast the arguments of John Mackey and Milton Friedman regarding corporate social responsibility.
  • Outline Thomas Szasz's discussion of the legalization of drugs.
  • Consider the arguments Robert E. Goodin which claim that tobacco’s addictive nature means people do not voluntarily choose to smoke and therefore do not freely accept its risks.
  • Explain Daniel Shapiro's claim that we should see drug use, not in terms of pharmacology and addictive potency, but rather in terms of how the experience is interpreted.
  • Identify the key points in John Stuart Mill's argument that, along with other liberties, protecting freedom of conscience and speech is of vital social importance as is freedom of opinion.
  • Detail the essay of Susan H. Williams which applies a feminist perspective to reject one common understanding of "truth" and to defend an alternative "relational model of truth."
  • Summarize the situation that lead to the Snyder v. Phelps case and the court's decision.
  • Analyze the central argument of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case.
  • Summarize the case of Brown v. Board of Education and its implications.
  • Describe the key points of The Subjection of Women by John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor and its implications on discussions of sexual equality.
  • Outline the arguments of Will Kymlicka regarding sex discrimination and the problem with the "difference approach."
  • Demonstrate and understanding of Richard A. Wasserstrom's discussion of the problems of racism and sexism.
  • Differentiate between Richard A. Wasserstrom's assimilationists ideal and the views of Iris Marion Young.
  • Compare and contrast the views of Janet Radcliffe Richards regarding freedom and the views of some feminists.
  • Analyze the opinions in the Supreme Court case of Grutter v. Bollinger.
  • Assess the opinions in the Supreme Court case of Gratz v. Bollinger and distinguish this case from Grutter v. Bollinger.
  • Consider the view of James Rachels on affirmative action.
  • Outline Mathias Risse’s position on the immigration debate.
  • Distinguish between the opinions of Risse, Ryan Pevenick, and Philip Cafara regarding immigration.
  • Analyze the essay of Joseph Raz regarding the value of a multicultural society and the three objections that are often made against it.
  • Describe Amartya Sen's views on identity.
  • Summarize the Supreme Court case of Wisconsin v. Yoder.

Weblinks

All links provided below were active on website launch. However, due to the dynamic nature of the Internet, links do occasionally become inactive. If you find a link that has become inactive, please try using a search engine to locate the website in question.

  • Language Tip of the Week
    June Casagrande, author of Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies. This site offers a useful language, usage and style tips on a weekly basis.
  • Dave's ESL Café
    Professor Dave Sperling This site offers a wide range of resources for students and teachers of English as a second language, including language learning resources, job postings, and discussion forums.
  • MLA Style
    This page includes a description of Modern Language Association (MLA) style guidelines for documenting a research paper with a link to frequently asked questions about the style.
  • CMS Style
    This site includes a description of Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) guidelines for documenting with a comprehensive Q&A section.
  • Research and Documenting Sources
    Purdue University Online Writing Lab This section of the Purdue University OWL offers guidelines for finding, evaluating, and documenting sources, as well as advice on writing research papers.
  • Internet Public Library
    University of Michigan School of Information This site offers an interactive tutorial on identifying the argument of an essay.
  • Librarians' Index to the Internet
  • The Library of California Created and maintained by librarians, this site offers a searchable annotated subject directory of Web resources that have been selected and evaluated.
  • American Memory
  • Library of Congress This site offers links to the digital versions of selected holdings relevant to American history and culture, including photographs, manuscripts, rare books, maps, and recorded sound and moving pictures.
  • NYPL Digital Gallery
    New York Public Library This site offers access to more than 275,000 digitized images from the collections of the New York Public Library. You can search collections or browse by topic to find illustrations, photographs, posters, maps, and manuscripts.
  • The New York Times
    This online version of the The New York Times includes searchable archives.

Additional Resources