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Dowling College Spring 2003   Dr. Christian Perring

 

PHL042A Ethics  CRN 24905

 

TR 02:30 pm - 03:50 pm RC 309

 

Textbook: Twenty Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy, Fourth Edition, edited by G. Lee Bowie, Meredith W. Michaels and Robert C. Solomon.  Wadsworth, 2000

 

Office location: RC 330A

Office hours: TWR 4:00-530 PM

Office phone: (631) 244-3349

E-mail: perringc@dowling.edu (please put “PHL042” in the subject line of your email, and make sure your message contains your first and last names)

Home page: http://alien.dowling.edu/~cperring

We will also use some of the services available on Blackboard, at http://webclasses.dowling.edu

 

Resources:

·          Lawrence M. Hinman's Ethics Updates

·          Peter Suber's Guide to Philosophy on the Internet

·          EpistemeLinks.com

·          Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

·          Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (only accessible from Dowling campus; search for individual philosophers)

·          Dowling Philosophy Databases

 

 

This course has two main goals:

 

  1. To introduce you to some important current debates in ethics, and to some of the most historically influential views in ethics.  You should be able to understand the views and arguments of people on both sides of a debate, and to explain them to other people in your own words.
  2. To develop your skills at forming your own moral views and making moral decisions as rationally and carefully as possible.  This requires that you become able to understand arguments on both sides of an issue, and be able to explain why you take the view that you do and what you see as the weaknesses in the arguments for the views you have rejected.

 

Grading

4 Tests

10% each = 40%

Papers (2, 3 and 4 pages)

10%, 15%, 20% = 45%

Attendance

5% (-1% for each class missed without excuse)

Reading questions or reflections

5%

Class participation

5%

 

Reading questions or reflections: At the start of each class, you should hand in one page with either some thoughts on the readings or questions for me on what the authors are arguing.  You should have at least one question or reflection about each assigned piece of writing.

 

All papers should be submitted via Turnitin.com or sent to me by email as an attachment in MS Word or RTF.  The Class ID is 60494 and the class password is "ethics".  I will give you information about how to use Turnitin.com.  Note that I view any form of academic dishonesty very seriously, and if I find that you have engaged in any form of plagiarism or cheating I will fail you in this course and report my action to the Dean of Students.

 

Course Notes

 

Schedule

Date

Topic

Reading

Work

R Jan 30

Introduction

 

 

T Feb 4

Chapter 13: Why Shouldn’t I Be Selfish?

Ntozake Shange: get it & feel good (pp. 579-80);

Study Questions:

·          Is Shange recommending selfishness?

·          Is she recommending that we use other people for our own purposes or is her tone ironic or sarcastic?

·          Is she taking an optimistic and positive view that one should enjoy the opportunities available to enjoy the talents of other people?

Plato: (Link: Plato entry on the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

The Ring of Gyges (pp. 580-3); (In The Republic Book II: read up until Socrates says "Heavens! my dear Glaucon")

Study Questions:

·          Why does Glaucon set out to praise the unjust life?

·          What is Glaucon's explanation for why people decide to have society governed by a legal system?

·          Why is the origin of justice a compromise, and what is it a compromise between?

·          What kind of instincts does Glaucon say we have?

·          Is the story of the Ring of Gyges a good one for Glaucon to use to make his point?

·          In what way is injustice more profitable to an individual than justice, according to Glaucon?

·          How does Glaucon think it helps his argument to consider two cases of the extremes of justice, comparing the just man who is thought unjust with the unjust man who is thought to be just?

[Listen to a radio show about what humans would do with superpowers: This American Life 2/23/01 (requires Real Audio)]

Epicurus: (Link: Epicurus entry on the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

The Pursuit of Pleasure (pp. 583-6) (Available by clicking here)

Study Questions:

·          Why does Epicurus recommend the study of philosophy?

·          Does Epicurus give those who are worried about what will happen to them after their physical deaths any reason not to worry?

·          What does Epicurus mean when he talks about those who counsel the old man to "make a good end"?

·          Is Epricurus' view that "we always act ... to avoid pain and fear" plausible?

·          Can you make sense of his claim that "when we do not feel pain, we no longer need pleasure"?

·          Why does he recommend that we should pass over many pleasures?

·          Under what circumstances does Epicurus say that bread and water can produce the highest pleasure?

·          Why does Epicurus think that the luxuries of the wealthy table cannot produce a pleasant life?

·          What reason does Epicurus give for why we should live honorably?

·          Can you make sense of what Epicurus means by saying that a wise man does not regard chance as a god as most men do?

·          Can you speculate as what connection there is between what Epicurus says about chance and why he thinks it better to be unfortunate in reasonable action than to prosper in unreason?

 

R 6

 

Thomas Hobbes: (Link: Hobbes entry on the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

People Are Selfish (pp. 586-7) (from The Leviathan, from "It may seem strange to some men")

Study Questions:

·          Summarize in your own words Hobbes' evidence that people are selfish and ready to use violence.

·          Why does Hobbes think that where there is no law, there is no justice or injustice?  Is this a plausible view?

James Rachels: (Home Page)

Ethical Egoism (pp. 600-5);

Study Questions:

·          What ethical point is Rachels making with the information that about 15,000 children die from malnutrition every day?

·          What does Rachels mean by "common-sense morality"?

·          What is the difference between Psychological Egoism and Ethical Egoism?

·          Concerning the first argument in favor of Ethical Egoism, can you give an example where someone might make this sort of argument?

·          Can you explain Rachels' objection to the second argument for Ethical Egoism in your own words?

·          What is Rachels' objection to the third argument for Ethical Egoism?

Adam Smith: (Link: Biography of Adam Smith)

Compassion (pp. 609-11) (from The Theory of Moral Sentiments)

Study Questions:

·          Is Smith arguing against egoism, or is he just explaining some of the complications that an egoist faces in setting out his or her theory?

 

T 11

 

Richard Dawkins: (Link: Unofficial Richard Dawkins web page)

The Selfish Gene (pp. 587-90); (Notes and Study Questions on Dawkins)

Ayn Rand: The Virtue of Selfishness (pp. 595-8); (Links: Biography of Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand entry on the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Study Questions:

·       How does Rand define "the ethics of altruism"? 

·       Does her definition of altruism agree with "common-sense morality"?  Is it part of Judeo-Christian morality? 

·       What kinds of bad consequences does Rand say have come from altruism?

·       Rand claims that an industrialist who produces a fortune is regarded as just as evil as a bankrobber.  Is this true today?  Think of some examples.

·       Why does Rand say that people who believe in altruism teach that morality is an individual's enemy and causes mutual resentment between people?

·          Why does Rand claim that altruism permits no concept of a self-respecting, self-supporting man and no concept of justice?

·          Rand says, "Since all values have to be gained and/or kept by man's actions, any breach between actor and beneficiary necessitates an injustice".  Can you explain what she means?

·          How is Rand's Objectivism different from saying "do as you please"?

Mencius: (Link: web page about Mencius)

On Human Nature (pp. 608-9)

 

R 13

Chapter 20: How Should I Make Money?

Adam Smith: Benefits of the Profit Motive (pp. 898-903);

Study Questions:

·          What point is Smith making with his example of pin making?

·          Why does he think that greater efficiency in manufacturing benefits the workers?

·          What does Smith think about the differences between people's natural talents?  How does his view about this help his argument?

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: The Immorality of Capitalism (pp. 903-4);

Study Questions:

·          What do Marx and Engels mean by "class struggles"?

·          What do they mean by bourgeoisie and proletariat?

·          Why does capitalism need a constantly expanding market?

·          What effect does the global expansion of the market have on the societies to which it expands?

Milton Friedman: The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits (pp. 906-9)

Study Questions:

·          What does Friedman mean by "socialism"?

·          What provocative terms does Friedman use to enhance his message?

Paper I topics given

T 18

Class cancelled due to snow.

 

 

R 20

No class

 

 

T 25

 

Ford Motor Company: The Ford Pinto Memo (pp. 909-10);

Christopher D. Stone: Why Shouldn’t Corporations Be Socially Responsible? (pp. 910-2);

Study Questions:

·          How does Stone argue for the social responsibility of corporations?

·          Why does Stone think it is false that management has made a promise to shareholders to maximize the shareholder's profits?

Robert Solomon: Making Money and the Importance of the Virtues (pp. 922-9)

Study Questions:

·          How does Solomon think that the self-justification of business people differs from that of other professions?

·          What does Solomon mean when he refers to Adam Smith's "invisible hand"?

·          What is ethics "from the top"?

·          Why does it seem to some that the idea of business ethics is a self-contradiction?

·          How does Solomon's Parable of the Sadhu relate to business life? 

·          What does Solomon mean when he says that there is no such entity as "Corporate America"?

·          Why does Solomon think that talk of "the market" tends to leave out our own free will and responsibility?

·          Why does Solomon think that ethics is good business?

·          What does Solomon mean when he says "you are what you do"?

·          How does Solomon think that the ethics of Aristotle can be useful in understanding moral issues in business?

Paper I due

R 27

 

The test will consist of short answer and multiple choice questions on 4 of the following 6 readings.  It will be closed book. 

·          Epicurus

·          Ayn Rand

·          James Rachels

·          Adam Smith

·          Milton Friedman

·          Robert Solomon

Test 1

T Mar 4

Chapter 15: What Is the Right Thing for Me to Do?

The Bible: The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount (pp. 671-5);

Study Questions:

·        What is the tone of the Ten Commandments?

·        Are the moral rules of the Ten Commandments enough to base a society on, or do they leave important moral issues unresolved?

·        What does Jesus mean by saying that the poor in spirit are blessed?

·        Why should those that mourn be comforted?

·        Why does Jesus emphasize that those who are persecuted and reviled are blessed?

·        Does Jesus refer to Heaven or Hell in the Sermon on the Mount?

·        What does it mean to say that whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery in his heart?

·        Why does Jesus say that whoever marries a divorced woman is committing adultery?

·        What is Jesus’ response to the saying “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”?

·        Is it possible to reconcile Jesus’ words on how to live with his command “Judge not, that ye be not judged”?

·        What does Jesus mean when he says, “Ask, and it shall be given you”?

·        In what ways does say that the relation between believers and God is like that between children and a father?

·        What are false prophets?

·        Does Jesus give any reason to believe his claims?

·        Does the moral approach of Jesus give a clear picture of how one should live one’s life?

·        Is the moral approach of Jesus compatible with life in the Twenty-First Century?

 Confucius: The Analects (pp. 675-6);

Study Questions:

·        What is the tone of Confucius in his sayings?

·        Why would Confucius recommend that one should behave in a way so as to give one’s parents no anxiety, except concerning one’s health?

·        Is the moral approach of Confucius more compatible with modern life than that of Jesus?

·        What attitude does Confucius recommend one takes to people who are different from oneself?

The Koran: The Unjust (pp. 676-7)

Study Questions:

·        What is the tone of the Koran in referring to the unjust?

·        What does the Koran promise the righteous? 

·        Is the moral approach of the Koran compatible with life in the Twenty-First Century?

 

R 6

Class cancelled due to snow.

 

 

T 11

 

Aristotle: Happiness and the Good Life (pp. 677-685)

Study Questions:

·        What does Aristotle mean by a “faculty”?

·        What does Aristotle mean by an “art”?

·        Why does Aristotle say that there are many ends?

·        Why does Aristotle say that there must be some end that we wish for on its own account?

·        Which is nobler, the good of the individual or the good of the state, according to Aristotle?

·        Why does Aristotle say that the best we should hope for in this inquiry is to arrive at probable conclusions?

·        What makes a person a good judge of practical reason and politics, according to Aristotle?

·        What three groups does Aristotle discuss concerning the different views of what happiness is?

·        What does Aristotle say against a life of money-making?

·        What is a final end?

·        What reasons does Aristotle give for his belief that happiness is the most final end?

·        Why according to Aristotle is the function of man not simply to live?

·        What according to Aristotle makes human life different from that of other animals?

·        Aristotle makes a distinction between exercising one’s faculties in obedience to reason and with reason.  What does he say to explain this distinction?

·        What are external goods, goods of the body, and goods of the soul?

·        What makes it clear from Aristotle’s account that his concept of happiness is not simply that of a feeling or sensation?

·        Aristotle makes a distinction between conceiving the good as a mere habit or trained faculty and as the exercise of that faculty.  What does he say to explain this distinction?

·        Why does Aristotle think that the life of people who exercise their faculties is pleasant?

·        Why does Aristotle say that it is necessary to take pleasure in noble deeds?

·        What external goods are required for a life of happiness, according to Aristotle?

·        What role does chance have in being able to life a good life, according to Aristotle?

·        Does Aristotle think that animals can be happy?

·         Does Aristotle think that children can be happy?

·        What, according to Aristotle, are the two kinds of virtue?

·        How does one acquire the two kinds of virtue?

·        What does Aristotle say about how we should treat children in order so that they can learn to lead good lives?

·        Why does a master of any art avoid excess and defect?  How do we know what the intermediate way is?

 

Paper II topics given

R 13

 

Immanuel Kant: Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals (pp. 685-90)

John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism (pp. 690-694)

 

T 18

 

Friedrich Nietzsche: The Natural History of Morals (pp. 694-8);

Study Questions:

·        What is Nietzsche’s attitude toward the attempts of philosophers to provide a basis to morality?

·        Which philosopher discusses morality as determined by a categorical imperative?

·        Do you think that philosophers would agree that they create their moral systems to make themselves more self-satisfied, to achieve revenge, or to conceal themselves, for example?

·        What does Nietzsche mean by saying that systems of morals are only a sign-language of the emotions?

·        What are the two main kinds of morality according to Nietzsche?

·        What are the attitudes of the noble in master morality?

·        What are the attitudes of the oppressed in slave morality?

·        Is the morality of utility (utilitarianism) closer to master morality or slave morality?

·        What are the attitudes towards a man who arouses fear in master morality and slave morality?

A.J. Ayer: Emotivism (pp. 698-701)

Study Questions:

·        Does Ayer think that statements of value are scientific or emotional?

·        Why does Ayer think that the ethical systems that have been proposed are very varied?

·        What are the four classes that go to make up ethical systems, according to Ayer?

·        What does Ayer think counts as ethical philosophy, strictly speaking?

·        Why does Ayer think that a strictly philosophical treatise on ethics should make no ethical pronouncements?

·        What does Ayer mean by “statements of empirical fact”?

·        Why does Ayer reject subjectivism?

·        Why does Ayer reject utilitarianism?

·        What does it mean to say that normative ethical concepts are not reducible to empirical concepts?

·        What is “absolutist” ethics?

·        Why does absolutism make statements of value unverifiable, according to Ayer?

·        What is a synthetic proposition?

·        What is Ayer’s criterion of meaning?

·        What is Ayer’s explanation for the unanalyzability of ethical concepts?

·        Why does Ayer think that if he says “Stealing money is wrong,” nobody can contradict him?

 

R 20

Chapter 19: What Do I Justly Deserve?

Plato: Does Might Make Right? (pp. 843-6);

Thomas Hobbes: Justice and the Social Contract (pp. 846-51);

Iris Marion Young: The Myth of Merit (pp. 873-6)

 

T 25

 

John Stuart Mill: A Utilitarian Theory of Justice (pp. 851-6);

Joel Feinberg: Economic Income and Social Justice (pp. 867-73)

Paper II due

R 27

 

The test will consist of the following:

There will be some general questions on the Bible, not closely related to the text.

There will be questions on 3 of the following readings:

·          Aristotle: Happiness and the Good Life (pp. 677-685)

·          Immanuel Kant: Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals  (pp. 685-90)

·          John Stuart Mill : Utilitarianism (pp. 690-694)

·          Thomas Hobbes: Justice and the Social Contract (pp. 846-51)

·          Iris Young: The Myth of Merit (pp. 873-6)

Test 2

T Apr 1

Chapter 12: How Does Racism Affect My Life?

Jean-Paul Sartre: Anti-Semite and Jew (pp. 518-20);

Laurence Thomas: What Good Am I? (pp. 520-5);

Shelby Steele: I’m Black, You’re White, Who’s Innocent? (pp. 525-31)

 

R 3

 

Anthony Appiah: “But Would That Still Be Me?” (p. 531-6);

Walter Benn Michaels: Autobiography of an Ex-White Man; (pp. 542-553)

Paper III topics given

T 8

Chapter 14: Can There Be Sexual Equality?

Plato: The Equality of Women (pp. 616-20);

Aristotle: The Inequality of Women (pp. 620-1);

 Immanuel Kant: The Inequality of Women (pp. 621-2)

John Stuart Mill: The Subjection of Women (pp. 627-34)

 

R 10

 

Marilyn Frye: Sexism (pp. 634-41)

 

T 15

 

Test 3 will have short answer, true/false and multiple choice questions on 3 of the following readings:

·          Jean-Paul Sartre: Anti-Semite and Jew (pp. 518-20);

·          Shelby Steele: I’m Black, You’re White, Who’s Innocent? (pp. 525-31)

·          Anthony Appiah: “But Would That Still Be Me?” (p. 531-6);

·          Plato: The Equality of Women (pp. 616-20);

·          John Stuart Mill: The Subjection of Women (pp. 627-34)

Test 3

 

Spring Recess

 

 

T 29

Chapter 10: How Should I Feel About Abortion?

Susan Tracy: The Abortion (pp. 428-9);

Judith Jarvis Thomson: A Defense of Abortion (pp. 429-42)

 

R May 1

 

Sidney Callahan: The Moral Duty to the Unborn and Its Significance (pp. 451-7)

Paper III due

T 6

Chapter 1: Does Religion Give My Life Meaning?

Steven Cahn: Religion Reconsidered (pp. 5-8);

 John Powers: Some Important Buddhist Doctrines (pp. 8-19)

 

R 8

 

Bertrand Russell: Why I Am Not a Christian (pp. 21-30);

Friedrich Nietzsche: God Is Dead & The Anti-Christ (pp. 30-2)

 

 

Exam Week

 

Test 4