Contemporary Ethical Theory

Philosophy 4670

University of South Florida

Fall 2004

Monday/Wednesday 3:30-4:45

Cooper 118

Professor Brook J. Sadler

Faculty Office Building 219

bsadler@chuma1.cas.usf.edu

(813)-974-5518

Office Hours: Tuesdays 2:30-4:30 (or by appointment)

 

 

This course will examine four prominent approaches to ethics: virtue theory, moral sense theory, deontology, and consequentialism. We will look both at the historical sources of these theories and at the works of 20th- and 21st-century writers who have been directly influenced by them. We will be attentive to both normative and meta-ethical questions. Course goals include developing familiarity with the central claims and arguments of each historical writer and with the questions and debates that inspire contemporary ethical theory; gaining an understanding of the technical terminology used in contemporary philosophical ethics; exercising critical thinking in assessing the theoretical and practical merits of the theories; enriching our understanding of moral situations and of moral deliberation; and inspiring both philosophical and personal ethical reflection.

 

Texts

Four books are required for this course. They may be purchased at the USF bookstore. Since we will be making frequent reference to the texts in class, please obtain the same translations and editions listed below.

 

[NE]                Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics. (Martin Ostwald, trans.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. ISBN 0-02-389530-6.

 

[2E]                 David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals. (J. B. Schneewind, ed.) Indianapolis: Hackett, 1983. ISBN: 0-915145-45-6.

 

[FMM]           Immanuel Kant, Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals. 2nd ed. (Lewis White Beck, trans.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997. ISBN 0-02-307825-1.

 

[U]                   J. S. Mill, Utilitarianism. (Roger Crisp, ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.   ISBN: 0-19-875163-X. [U]

 

Additional required readings will be available through JSTOR or electronic course reserve. (Go to http://www.lib.usf.edu/index.html . Under “Catalogs,” select “Reserves.”)

 

 

Readings

Reading assignments will be announced in each class for the next class. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to ascertain the reading assignment by asking another student or e-mailing the professor. The following list of reading assignments is subject to change.

[I.] VIRTUE THEORY

What is a good life for a human being? How can one attain this life? What activities are most important? What kind of character must a good person have? Are these character traits or virtues ahistorical, timeless, or universal?

1.                  Aristotle, [NE]: I; II; III (1-3); IV (selections); V (1-4); VIII (1-4); IX (4, 8, 12); X (6-9)

2.                  Philippa Foot, “Virtues and Vices” (electronic course reserve)

3.                  Alasdair MacIntyre, “The Nature of the Virtues” (electronic course reserve)

4.                  Marcia Homiak, “Feminism and Aristotle’s Rational Ideal” (electronic course reserve)

5.                  Rosalind Hursthouse, “Irresolvable and Tragic Dilemmas” (electronic course reserve)

[II.] MORAL SENSE THEORY

Is there a special moral sense? How important is reason in moral judgment? Are we always motivated, at bottom, by desires or passions? Are humans fundamentally self-interested? What counts as a moral virtue?

1.         Hume, [2E]: Sections (I-VI) & (VII or VIII) & (IX) & (Appendix I & II)

2.         A. J. Ayer, “A Critique of Ethics” (electronic course reserve)

3.         J. L. Mackie, “A Refutation of Morals” (electronic course reserve)

4.         Annette Baier, “Trust and Its Vulnerabilities” (electronic course reserve)

[III.] DEONTOLOGY

How can we know what the right thing to do is? Are there certain acts we must do or refrain from doing? What is the source of duty or moral obligation? Do we have duties to ourselves? What role does luck play in moral responsibility?

1.                  Kant, [FMM]: Preface, I, II

2.         Thomas E. Hill, Jr., “Self-Regarding Suicide: A Modified Kantian View”            (electronic course reserve)

3.         Thomas E. Hill, Jr., “Autonomy and Benevolent Lies” (electronic course reserve)

4.         Onora O’neill, “Between Consenting Adults” (electronic course reserve)

5.         Thomas Nagel, “Moral Luck” (electronic course reserve)

[IV.] CONSEQUENTIALISM (UTILITARIANISM)

What state-of-affairs should I bring about? Are consequences more important than intentions? Should we promote the greatest happiness? Does promoting the greatest happiness permit injustice? Is it desirable or even possible for normal people to deliberate according to moral principles? 

1.         Mill,    [U]: I, General Remarks

                            II, What Utilitarianism Is

                            III, Of the Ultimate Sanction of the Principle of Utility

                            IV, Of What Sort of Proof the Principle of Utility Is Susceptible

2.   John Rawls, “Justice as Fairness” (JSTOR)

3.   Bernard Williams, “A Critique of Utilitarianism” (electronic course reserve)

4.   Susan Wolf, “Moral Saints” (JSTOR)

Assignments and Grades

 

Participation: You are expected to attend class regularly and to contribute to discussions intelligently. Participation will not constitute a percentage of your overall course grade; however, it will contribute to your overall course grade. Poor attendance, tardiness, coming to class unprepared, failing to contribute intelligent questions or comments during discussion, or disrespectful behavior will indicate poor participation. Poor participation will lower your course grade by one-third or two-thirds of a letter grade. For example, if your course grade (prior to factoring in your participation) is an A, but your participation was poor, your final course grade may be an A- or even a B+.

 

Papers: There are three required papers for this course. These are NOT RESEARCH papers. Not only is additional research not recommended, it is prohibited by the terms of the assignments. You may not consult, cite, or otherwise use any sources not assigned for this course in writing your papers. You may not consult or cite Internet resources in preparing or writing your papers.

Your essays must be your own original work. Buying, renting, or copying anyone else’s work is considered academic dishonesty or plagiarism and well be severely penalized. See below on Academic Dishonesty and Disruption.

Paper topics, details about paper assignments, and due dates will be announced in class, typically one-to-two weeks prior to the due date.

First Paper: 25% of course grade. (4-6pages)

Second Paper: 25% of course grade. (4-6 pages)

Third Paper: 25% of course grade.  (Approx. 6-7 pages)

 

Quizzes and Assignments: There will be periodic, difficult quizzes and/or short writing assignments (1 page each) throughout the semester. Quizzes may cover anything from lectures, discussion, or the assigned readings. Quizzes may use a variety of question types including, short answer, multiple choice, true/false, short essay, and identification and explanation of passages of text. Short writing assignments will either be written in class or due in the following class period. Quizzes and assignments will be graded on a point system totaling 100 points. Your combined score on all quizzes and short writing assignments will constitute 25% of your course grade.

 

Grading Scale: Course grades will use the plus/minus scale: A+, A, A-, B+, B, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Course Policies

Attendance:

·        Regular attendance is mandatory. If you must be absent, you should notify me in advance of the missed class whenever possible. Notification does NOT mean that your absence is automatically excused.

·        If you plan to miss class in order to observe a religious holiday, your absence will be excused if and only if you notify me, by the third class meeting, of the name and date of the holiday.

 

Assignments:

·        If you miss class for any reason, it is your responsibility to find out the reading or other assignments by asking another student or e-mailing me.

 

Late Papers:

·        Papers that are turned in between 5 minutes and 24 hours late will be penalized one-third of a letter-grade. For example, if you turn in your paper 6 minutes late, or 6 hours late, or 16 hours late, a grade of A- will be lowered to a grade of B+. PAPERS HANDED IN MORE THAN 24 HOURS AFTER THE DUE DATE AND TIME WILL RECEIVE A FAILING GRADE.

 

Tardiness:

·        BE ON TIME! Recurrent tardiness will lower your overall course grade.

 

Preparedness:

·        You are expected to bring your book or the assigned reading to every class meeting. You are expected to read every assignment.

 

Etiquette:

·        You may consume beverages, but not food in class.

·        You may not talk with other students during lectures or discussion. You are expected to give your undivided and respectful attention to whoever is speaking, whether that is the professor or a student who has been called upon to offer a question or comment.

 

Cell phones and other electronic devices:

·        TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONES, PAGERS, PALM PILOTS, HEADPHONES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES BEFORE ENTERING CLASS.

·        If your cell phone or pager rings or beeps in class, one point will be deducted from your overall course grade at the end of the semester for each occurrence! For example, if on a given Monday, your cell phone rings in class, one point will be deducted from your final course grade; if it rings again on Wednesday, another point will be deducted. If your phone rang only on these two occasions and your course average is a 90, it will drop to an 88.

·        Audio and/or video recordings of lectures are strictly prohibited. You may not record, circulate, sell, lease, or otherwise distribute transcripts of lectures or lecture notes for this course.

 

Email:

·        When you email me with questions regarding this course, please put “Ethical Theory” in the subject line.

 

Learning Disabilities:

·        If you have a learning disability that you believe requires special accommodation in this course, you must SPEAK to me IN PERSON no later than the third lecture. Be prepared to offer the appropriate documentation from the USF Office of Student Disability Services.

 

Academic Dishonesty and Disruption:

·        I have no tolerance for academic dishonesty and disruption. You are expected to observe USF policies regarding academic dishonesty and disruption. There are serious penalties for violating university policies. If you are caught cheating or plagiarizing in this course, the minimum penalty will be an F for your course grade. To read USF policies, go to the USF Undergraduate Catalog at: http://www.ugs.usf.edu/catalogs/0405/adadap.htm

·        Academic dishonesty includes cheating and plagiarism. If you have any doubts about what constitutes cheating on a given assignment or quiz or about what plagiarism is, you should consult the professor before it is too late!

·        The University of South Florida has an account with an automated plagiarism detection service that allows instructors to submit student assignments to be checked for plagiarism.  I reserve the right to 1) request that assignments be submitted to me as electronic files and 2) electronically submit assignments to Turnitin.com.  Assignments are compared automatically with a huge database of journal articles, web articles, and previously submitted papers.  The instructor receives a report showing exactly how a student’s paper was plagiarized.  For more information, go to www.turnitin.com and http://www.ugs.usf.edu/catalogs/0304/adadap.htm#plagiarism.