PHIL 181: Ethics
PHIL 181: Ethics
The Generic Catalog Description
The course examines norms for human action: their nature, possibility; and foundations; alternative theories of morality and value; the role of values and norms in the process of making moral decisions and their application in practice.
PHIL 181: Ethics
Minerva Ahumada
This course will focus on the good life: what is it to be a human being, and as human beings, how should we live our lives? We will examine different theories of the good with special attention paid to the roles played by civilization and community in the good life.
Students will be expected to identify the presuppositions of the arguments examined, define terms and concepts, articulate the argument's structure, compare and contrast the different arguments with respect to their relative strengths and weaknesses, and use the text to examine critically their own opinions and prejudices with respect to contemporary ethical questions.
Typical Readings:
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
Rousseau, The Basic Political Writings
Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
Marx, Selected Writings
PHIL 181: Ethics
Stacy Bautista
Our aim in this class will be to explore the conditions that make possible or impossible ethical relationships.
We will examine the works of several thinkers during the course of this class, each of whom understands the conditions of ethical relationality differently. We will reflect critically on their work and the way in which the thinkers attempt to persuade us of their positions.
This class fulfills the Philosophical Knowledge Core requirement through the readings assigned, which cover a range of philosophical thought, from Platonic thought to Marxist thought, to phenomenological thought, among others. The methodologies, structures, and presuppositions of these thinkers will be examined as part of the course.
Typical Readings:
Kant, Immanuel, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals
Levinas, Emmanuel, Totality and Infinity and Ethics and Infinity
Plato, Symposium
Scarry, Elaine, The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World
Weil, Simone, Iliad or the Poem of Force
PHIL 181: Ethics
Alberto Bertozzi
This course is an attempt at approaching the discipline of ethics through the close reading of some classical texts in the history of western philosophy, namely: Plato’s Phaedo and parts of the Republic; selections from Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Plotinus’ Enneads; portions of Kant’s Groundwork; some interviews with E. Levinas. Sources from other time periods in the history of philosophy may be studied occasionally in connection with these works.
The purpose of the course is threefold. First, it should make us somewhat familiar with the ethical theories of the authors under investigation, thus enabling us to approach philosophical writings about ethics with at least a certain ease. Secondly, the writings of these philosophers will be taken as occasions to discuss such ethical issues as the good, virtue, the relation of ethics to politics, the role of reason and pleasure in the moral life of the individual, freedom, responsibility, and so on. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the study and reflection involved in this class may help us to develop a habit of thought and self-questioning that could be a precious tool for the process of decision-making in which we will inevitably find ourselves throughout life.
PHIL 181: Ethics
Colleen Keating
What is the origin of our obligations to ourselves, other human beings and the world around us? Are ethical norms relative to culture, grounded in our humanity or some transcendental source? This course will examine philosophical theories of value and morality and ethical norms for conduct. We will read several canonical texts in ethical philosophy, including Plato, Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mills, but also consider contemporary philosophers such as A.J. Ayer, Peter Singer and Martha Nussbaum. Special attention will be paid to cross-cultural ethical conflicts and the role of human self-conception in defining ethics.
PHIL 181: Ethics
Mark McCreary
This course is a general introduction to ethics. We will begin by examining ethical theories proposed by Plato and Aristotle. We will also discuss and analyze deontology and utilitarianism, as put forth by Kant and Mill. Finally, we will look at the more existential approaches to ethics in the writings of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard. Throughout the course, we will also inquire into the relationship (or lack thereof) between ethics and God. For instance, we will ask if ethics appears to be dependent upon the existence of God (and if so, what the nature of such a dependence might be), or whether ethics is independent of any questions regarding the reality of God.
PHIL 181: Ethics
Vincent Samar
Ethics is the branch of philosophy concerned with meaning, value, and moral responsibility in human life. Students will examine at least four conflicting theories about what constitutes moral conduct and social justice. Students will also learn to ask various metaethical questions including: are there moral facts, how is moral judgment possible, are there any human rights, if there are such rights, what is their scope and contents? Students will also be taught to engage the various normative theories to aid them in solving individual moral dilemmas, and they will also consider possible criticisms of these theories when applied to contemporary social issues such as women’s rights, animal rights, government or individual responses to terrorist-like threats, and gay and lesbian marriage.
Learning Objectives:
1. Students will develop and understanding of at least four fundamentally different ethical theories and the problems that these theories address.
2. Students will develop their critical thinking skills. They will examine criticisms of all the ethical theories they study and will debate the alternative solutions offered by these theories to enduring moral questions.
3. Students will learn to apply ethical theories to concrete situations on the personal level, on the national level, and on the global level.
4. Students will adopt positions on contemporary social issues and use the ethical theory with which they agree to defend their positions.
PHIL 181: Ethics
Jacqueline Scott
This course is a general introduction to ethics or moral philosophy by way of a comparison of two traditions: western and ancient Chinese. The course examines both ethical norms for conduct (e.g., theories of right and wrong action, theories of justice, and theories of human rights) and ethical norms for judging the goodness or badness of persons and their lives as they have arisen in three general approaches within the two traditions: idealist, realist, and immoralist. The course examines alternative theories of value and morality. Special attention will be given to criteria for chosing between conflicting ethical theories, moral disagreement, the justification of moral judgments, and the application of ethical standards to practical decision-making and ethical questions that arise in everyday life.
Required Texts:
Chuang Tzu, Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings (Columbia University Press; Watson, translator)
Hsün Tzu, Hsün Tzu (Columbia University Press; Watson, translator)
Mencius, Mencius (Penguin; D.C. Lau, translator)
Mill, John Stuart, Utilitarianism (Hackett, 2nd Edition)
Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil (Vintage; Kaufmann, translator)
Plato, The Republic (Hackett; Grube, translator)
PHIL 181: Ethics
David Yandell
This is an introductory course in ethical theory, the philosophical study of morality. As both a philosophy class and a core class, it is designed to serve several purposes. The class has four main sets of objectives: to introduce students to the study of philosophy and the methods used by philosophers; to introduce, and lead students to reflect seriously on, several important philosophical issues about morality; to provide students with an opportunity to understand, compare, and evaluate several competing views about morality (including their own); and to provide students with an opportunity to develop their skills at understanding texts, interpreting arguments, and critically evaluating arguments and positions.
All of these objectives will be pursued by means of the study of philosophical texts. These texts both teach what various theories about morality assert and (frequently) offer critical evaluation of competing views. This is typical of philosophy. Learning philosophy includes essentially not only learning what others take to be true but also considering what reasons favor and/or oppose each of the competing positions. This also requires critical examination of one’s own philosophical beliefs. The Professor will critically discuss these texts as we are studying them, and students will also engage in critical evaluation of the positions taken in these texts and the reasons given in support of them.