Moral Issues

Moral Issues

California State University, Fresno

Philosophy 20

Fall 2001

Instructor:	Tim Black
My office:	Music Building, Room 112
My office hours:	MWF, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. TTh, 9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Other hours by appointment
My office phone:	(559) 278-4940
My e-mail address:	tblack@csufresno.edu

I invite you to visit me during my office hours and to talk with me via telephone and e-mail. I always welcome your comments and questions, and I am exceptionally happy to talk with you about the course material or about other philosophical or administrative matters.

Department office:	Music Building, Room 102, M-F, 8:30 a.m. – 12 noon, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Department phone:	(559) 278-2621

Aims of the Course: This course is designed to show you how to use the tools of philosophy when considering the moral issues that face us every day. It is not our aim to consider a great number of these issues. Instead, the issues that we will consider will provide us with a subject matter on which to practice philosophy. And we’ll be more concerned with practicing philosophy than with arriving at any particular conclusion or establishing as right any particular point of view. We are most interested in introducing to you the philosophical tools that can aid you in formulating your own thoughtful opinions and in thoughtfully evaluating the opinions of others. By the end of this course, you should be able to clearly express, both verbally and in writing, persuasive philosophical arguments for your own opinions and points of view. Here, then, are the goals of this course: (1) to examine some important contemporary moral issues as they are presented in philosophical texts, (2) to develop an ability to use the tools of philosophy in evaluating these texts and in considering these issues, (3) to develop an ability to use the tools of philosophy in formulating your own opinions about these issues, (4) to see how these issues are raised, not only in works of philosophy, but also in works of art, such as popular movies, and (5) to develop an ability to clearly and persuasively express both your philosophical opinions and your arguments for those opinions.

General education: This course satisfies the General Education requirement for Breadth in Area C2 (new program) and in Division 6 (old program). To be enrolled in this course you must have completed the General Education requirements for Foundation in Area A2.

Required Text: Olen, Jeffrey and Vincent Barry, eds. Applying Ethics: A Text with Readings, 7^th edition

Attendance and participation: Since you are responsible for any and all material presented in class, regular attendance is essential to doing well in this course. Furthermore, philosophy is akin to, say, chemistry in that it is an activity and not simply a set of purported facts. So just as you cannot develop your abilities as a chemist without doing some work in the lab, you cannot develop your philosophical abilities without practice. And practicing philosophy means, among other things, discussing philosophical issues and arguments both in class and outside of class. Such discussion can benefit you in a number of ways: it will help you to gain a deeper understanding of the sometimes fairly difficult material and will thus help you to perform better on the exams. Both class attendance and participation in the discussion of philosophical issues are therefore quite essential to doing well in this course. I subscribe to and will enforce the University’s policy on student absences as stated on page 44 of the California State University, Fresno 2001-2002 General Catalog.

Students with disabilities: If you have a disability, please identify yourself to me and to the University so that we can reasonably accommodate your learning and the preparation and evaluation of the work that you must do for this course. Please contact Services for Students with Disabilities, Henry Madden Library, Room 1049, (559) 278-2811.

Other concerns: If you think that you might need help with writing, time management, note-taking skills, test anxiety, and the like, please contact either me or the Learning Resource Center, Lab School, Room 137, (559) 278-3052. Visit the LRC online by clicking here. You might also take advantage of the English Writing Center, which is located in the Education Building, Rooms 184 and 186.

Evaluation: Your final grade in the course will be based on the following:

Exam 1	Friday, 5 October 2001	17%
Exam 2	Monday, 12 November 2001	17%
Exam 3	Wednesday, 19 December 2001 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.	18%
Paper	1^st version, due 31 October 2001 2^nd version, due 5 December 2001	19%
Reading questions	Due as indicated on the Schedule (see below)	14%
Group presentation	Group I, 1 October 2001 Group II, 15 October 2001 Group III, 26 October 2001 Group IV, 7 November 2001 Group V, 30 November 2001 Group VI, 10 December 2001	15%

Grades: Letter grades are assigned according to the following system: 100-90% = A; 89-80% = B; 79-70% = C; 69-60% = D; 59-0% = F. If your final grade falls just short of some higher grade, the quality of your verbal participation will be considered as grounds for improving your final grade. I strongly encourage your verbal participation, which can come in lectures, in office hours, by phone, or by e-mail.

Cheating and plagiarism: I consider academic dishonesty a very serious issue. If you are unclear about what constitutes academic dishonesty or about the possible repercussions of and penalties for acts of academic dishonesty, please consult page 36 of the Fall 2001 Schedule of Courses or page 486 of the California State University, Fresno 2001-2002 General Catalog. Moreover, I subscribe to and will enforce the Policies and Regulations of California State University, Fresno as they are stated on pages 483-486 of its 2001-2002 General Catalog.

Exams: The exams are designed to determine whether you understand the material discussed in class and in the readings. Exam 1 will cover the material discussed between 27 August and 28 September. Exam 2 will cover the material discussed between 8 October and 5 November. Exam 3 will cover the material discussed between 14 November and 7 December. Each exam will consist of three parts. The first part of each exam will consist of a list of terms that we have encountered and employed. You will be asked to define – in one or two or three sentences – some of those terms. The second part of each exam will consist of a list of questions to which you must provide a short answer (a.k.a. short-answer questions). You will write about four or five sentences, or approximately one paragraph, in response to some of those questions. The third part of each exam will consist of a list of questions to which you must provide an essay-length answer (a.k.a. essay questions). You will write an essay in response to some of those questions. You may take a make-up exam only if either (a) you have received, prior to the scheduled date of the exam, my permission to do so or (b) you miss the exam due to a documented medical or family emergency. I will grade your responses to the exam questions on the basis of the accuracy of your claims about what the authors say.

Paper: The paper assignment requires you to write an essay of 2500-3000 words (or about 5-7 pages). A Guide to Writing Philosophy Papers should come in handy here. (Click here to see links to other guides to writing.) The 1^st version of the paper is due on 31 October 2001. I will read and comment on your 1^st version, and then return it to you as soon as I can. You will then revise the paper and submit the 2^nd version no later than 5 December 2001. I will not accept late papers. I will grade your paper on the basis of the quality of the arguments you provide in favor of your position. More specifically, your paper (a) must be well organized and readable, (b) must demonstrate your ability to clearly and critically consider a serious philosophical issue, (c) must demonstrate your ability to present and defend your own reasonable and persuasive philosophical argument, and (d) must demonstrate your ability to critically evaluate philosophical arguments.

Paper topic: Assume that you have decisive evidence that fetuses, even those in the earliest stages of development, are in fact innocent persons. Since we tend to think that we ought not kill innocent persons, and since you now have decisive evidence that fetuses are innocent persons, it might seem that we ought not kill fetuses. That is, it might seem that abortion is morally impermissible. Abortion is, however, legal and fairly widely practiced. An interesting question, then, concerns the morality of measures taken to stop the practice of abortion. Write a paper in which you do the following:

Respond to the following question: What forms of protest, or measures taken to stop the practice of abortion, are morally permissible given that abortion is legal and widely practiced and given that fetuses are innocent persons? In answering this question, you must do your best to specify which kinds of protest against the practice of abortion are morally permissible (or morally impermissible).
Respond to the following question: Why are the kinds of protest you’ve specified morally permissible (or morally impermissible)? In answering this question, you must employ a philosophical argument that appeals to a plausible moral theory.
Consider a potential objection to your argument, that is, an objection that someone might raise against the argument you give in responding to the question in 2.
Respond to the potential objection.

Reading questions: At almost every meeting of the class, I will distribute a set of reading questions. You must answer and submit each set of reading questions according to the Schedule (see below). I will not accept late submissions of your reading questions. I will grade your responses to the reading questions on the basis of (a) the accuracy of your claims about what the authors say and (b) whether your responses demonstrate a serious attempt to read and to understand the assigned chapters.

Group presentations: Each member of the class must participate in and actively contribute to one group presentation. I will divide the class into small groups, and assign one of the following six topics to each group:

In The Matrix, the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar, while attempting to achieve certain goals, often kill those who are trapped in the matrix. Is it morally permissible for them to kill those who are trapped in the matrix? Defend your answer with a philosophical argument that appeals to a plausible moral theory. How might someone disagree with your position? How would you respond to someone who disagrees in that way?
In our episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Riker exterminates two clones—clones that are apparently clones of him—that were produced against his will. Is it morally permissible for Riker to exterminate these clones? Defend your answer with a philosophical argument that appeals to a plausible moral theory. How might someone disagree with your position? How would you respond to someone who disagrees in that way?
Characterize the act of euthanasia that the soldiers perform in Saving Private Ryan. (Do they perform an act of active voluntary euthanasia, an act of active nonvoluntary euthanasia, an act of passive voluntary euthanasia, or an act of passive nonvoluntary euthanasia?) Do you think that the soldiers’ act of euthanasia is morally permissible? (a) If you think that it is morally permissible, respond to the following question: Are similar acts of euthanasia that are performed in places other than on the battlefield also morally permissible? Defend your answer with a philosophical argument. How might someone disagree with your position? How would you respond to someone who disagrees in that way? (b) If you think that the soldiers’ act of euthanasia is not morally permissible, respond to the following question: Why is it not morally permissible? Defend your answer with a philosophical argument that appeals to a plausible moral theory. How might someone disagree with your position? How would you respond to someone who disagrees in that way?
In Dead Man Walking, Sister Helen Prejean maintains until the bitter end that Matthew Poncelet should not be executed. Yet the movie suggests that Poncelet is guilty of the crime he is alleged to have committed. Given this, do you think that Prejean ought to have maintained until the end that Poncelet should not be executed? Defend your answer with a philosophical argument. How might someone disagree with your position? How would you respond to someone who disagrees in that way?
Suppose that Lisa is correct in believing that we ought not treat animals as we usually do when we raise them for food. Suppose, for example, that it is in fact morally impermissible for us to treat animals as we do when we keep them in factory farms or in high-density feed lots. Given this, do you think that Lisa should continue protesting against those who eat meat as she does early in the episode, or do you think instead that she should adopt an attitude of tolerance, as she does late in the episode? Defend your answer with a philosophical argument that appeals to a plausible moral theory. How might someone disagree with your position? How would you respond to someone who disagrees in that way?
Suppose that Forrest Taft is correct in believing that we ought not treat the land as we usually do when we extract the resources it houses. Suppose, for example, that it is in fact morally impermissible for us to treat the land as we do when we drill for oil or strip-mine. Given this, do you think that acts of protest such as those performed by Taft are morally permissible? Defend your answer with a philosophical argument that appeals to a plausible moral theory. How might someone disagree with your position? How would you respond to someone who disagrees in that way?

A typewritten version of your group’s presentation, which should be about 1500-2000 words long (or about 3-4 pages long), is due in the class immediately following the class in which your group makes its presentation. I will not accept late submissions of the typewritten version of your group’s presentation, and neither your group nor any members thereof may make a late presentation. I will grade your group’s presentation on the basis of the quality of the arguments you provide in favor of your position. More specifically, your presentation (a) must be well organized and easy to follow, (b) must address each part of the assignment, (c) must demonstrate a serious attempt to tackle complex philosophical issues, (d) must demonstrate your ability to work together as a group in presenting and defending your own reasonable and persuasive philosophical argument, and (e) must demonstrate your ability to work together as a group in critically evaluating philosophical arguments.

Schedule:

	Topic	Readings	Assignment
27 August	Course introduction
29 August	Introduction to logic	Pages 49-70, “Good Reasoning”	Reading questions, set I
31 August	Introduction to logic	Pages 49-70, “Good Reasoning”	Reading questions, set I
3 September	Labor Day recess
5 September	Ethical theory: Introduction	Pages 3-23, “Moral Reasons”	Reading questions, set II
7 September	Ethics and morality: Virtue theory	Pages 24-31, Aristotle, “Moral virtue”	Reading questions, set III
10 September	Ethics and morality: Virtue theory	Pages 24-31, Aristotle, “Moral virtue”	Reading questions, set III
12 September	Work on Group Presentations
14 September	Work on Group Presentations
17 September	Ethics and morality: Utilitarianism	Pages 35-39, John Stuart Mill, “Utilitarianism”	Reading questions, set IV
19 September	Ethics and morality: Deontologism	Pages 31-34, Immanuel Kant, “Respect for Persons”	Reading questions, set V
21 September	Excerpts from The Matrix
24 September	Abortion: Con	Pages 180-184, John T. Noonan, “An Almost Absolute Value in History”	Reading questions, set VI
26 September	Abortion: Pro	Pages 196-206, Mary Ann Warren, “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion”	Reading questions, set VII
28 September	Abortion: Pro		Reading questions, set VII
1 October	Presentation, Group I
3 October	Review for Exam 1
5 October	Exam 1
8 October	Episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation
10 October	Cloning	Pages 275-287, Leon Kass, “The Wisdom of Repugnance”	Reading questions, set VIII
12 October	Cloning	Pages 287-298, Michael Tooley, “Moral Status of Cloning Humans”	Reading questions, set IX
15 October	Presentation, Group II
17 October	Excerpts from Saving Private Ryan
19 October	Euthanasia	Pages 236-240, James Rachels, “Active and Passive Euthanasia”	Reading questions, set X
22 October	Euthanasia	Pages 240-255, Philippa Foot, “Euthanasia”	Reading questions, set XI
24 October	Euthanasia	Pages 240-255, Philippa Foot, “Euthanasia”	Reading questions, set XI
26 October	Presentation, Group III
29 October	Excerpts from Dead Man Walking
31 October	Capital punishment	Pages 339-346, Ernest van den Haag, “On Deterrence and the Death Penalty”	Reading questions, set XII The 1^st version of your paper is due.
2 November	Capital punishment	Pages 347-354, Hugo Adam Bedau, “Capital Punishment and Social Defense”	Reading questions, set XIII
5 November	Capital punishment		Reading questions, set XIII
7 November	Presentation, Group IV
9 November	Review for Exam 2
12 November	Exam 2
14 November	Episode of The Simpsons
16 November	Animal rights	Pages 459-471, Peter Singer, “All Animals Are Equal … or why supporters of liberation for Blacks and Women should support Animal Liberation too”	Reading questions, set XIV
19 November	Animal rights	Pages 486-493, Bonnie Steinbock, “Speciesism and the Idea of Equality”	Reading questions, set XV
21 November	Thanksgiving recess
23 November	Thanksgiving recess
28 November	Excerpts from On Deadly Ground
30 November	Presentation, Group V
3 December	Environmental ethics	Pages 508-517, Aldo Leopold, “The Land Ethic”	Reading questions, set XVI
5 December	Environmental ethics	Pages 517-528, Paul W. Taylor, “The Ethics of Respect for Nature”	Reading questions, set XVII The 2^nd version of your paper is due.
7 December	Environmental ethics	Pages 529-533, William F. Baxter, “People or Penguins”	Reading questions, set XVIII
10 December	Presentation, Group VI
12 December	Review for Exam 3

Note: Everything in this syllabus is subject to revision. I will announce any and all revisions in class and, in general, do my best to make sure that each and every student knows about revisions. If you miss class, you must nevertheless submit assignments according to any revisions that I make to the Schedule. You should either make sure that you don’t miss class or find a sure way of becoming aware of any revisions that I make to the Schedule or to the syllabus.