Introduction to Ethics

Spring 2014

PHI 180 Dr. Ruth Porritt

rporritt@wcupa.edu Office: Anderson 108-B

Student Learning Outcomes

What should I do? How should we work together? What does it mean to live a good life? This
course will examine the ethical theories which propose to provide a rational basis for justified
ethical decisions. We will explore and develop the self-reflective and deliberative processes
that are necessary for ethical decision-making. In addition to familiarizing ourselves with
traditional and new ethical theories, the course will also provide a critical context for evaluating
current problems presented in the media. We will study how different "priorities of attention"
can sometimes suggest different solutions to the same problem. The issues surrounding
personal responsibility and institutional accountability will also be discussed, for ethics should
move to eradicate oppression and liberate full human potential. You will recognize abuses of
power and patterns of domination so that you can prevent these harmful practices. At the
completion of this course you will have learned the following skills:

You will be able to analyze an argument for its claims, conclusion, assumptions and
implications; you will be able to develop objections to an argument through
counter-arguments.
You will be able to identify and avoid logical fallacies and flaws in reasoning.
You will understand ethical theories which span the African, Asian, Aboriginal,
Native American, Anglo-American, and European intellectual traditions.
You will understand how ethical questions spring from people’s life experiences, scientific
advances, and from people’s effort to work constructively with the daily challenges of
living.
You will analyze historical cases of injustice, unfairness, harm and wrongful death, in order to
recognize the abuses of power and pseudo-reasoning that resulted in these atrocities.
You will discuss the interrelationships between "facts" and "values" as well as the contributions
each makes to a discerning dialogue about what can be done and what should be done.
You will define for yourself the kinds of ethical approaches to community building that
promote genuine problem-solving and enhance human flourishing.
You will practice the processes of self-reflection and ethical deliberation.
You will be familiar with the accepted standards and practices of informed consent.
You will understand how a compassionate yet critical approach to human struggles can support
the co-creation of a better world.

PHI 180 fulfills a General Education requirement and helps you attain four goals:
1) To think critically and analytically
2) To demonstrate the sensibilities, understandings, and perspectives of a person
educated in the liberal arts tradition
3) To make informed decisions and ethical choices
4) To respond thoughtfully to diversity.
PHI 180 also fulfills your Diverse Communities requirement and helps you attain four goals:
1) A critical understanding of how historically marginalized groups (based on gender,
race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, etc.) have undergone injustice
2) A critical understanding of structural inequalities and oppression
3) An informed and reasonable openness to, and understanding of, difference
4) A developed perspective on ways to create a just and equitable society.

Course Outline

Jan. 22 Course Introduction: Opening Discussion

24 Ethical Approaches to Morality
A Self-Reflection on Values: Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
Jai Pausch, Dream New Dreams, on D2L

27 John Bogle, “Introduction” to Enough on D2L

29 The Self and Knowledge Signed Syllabus Page Due
Exploring Disruptions that are Aspects of Growth
Plato’s "Allegory of the Cave”
31 Mental Complexity
Krishnamurti, "The Function of Education"
On Ambition
Learning as Discovery
[Begin reading excerpt from Beautiful Souls on D2L]
Feb. 3 Philosophy and the Problem of Oppression
Marilyn Frye, "Oppression”
5 Courage
The Courage to Do Our Creative Work
7 Excerpt from Beautiful Souls, 2012, about Leyla Wydler, on D2L

10 Peggy McIntosh, "White Privilege and Male Privilege"

Sample Student Paper: A Response to Peggy McIntosh
"What is Heterosexual Privilege?"
12 Sissela Bok, "Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life"
14 Rationalization and Self-Deception
Rationalizing Immoral Behavior
Sandra Bloom, "Characteristics of a Dysfunctional System"

17 Prospering from Bondage

Recommended Film: Traces of the Trade DVD 381.44 T759 2008
The New Slavery
Jean Baker Miller, "Domination and Subordination"
Lugones, “Playfulness, World-Traveling and Loving Perception”
Course Outline (con’t.)
Feb. 19 Kramer, “Rethinking Trust”
“Commitment, Pro-Relationship Behavior and Trust …”
“Self-Trust, Autonomy and Self-Esteem”
Philosophy and the Long Thought
21 The Value of Reconsideration and Self-Reflection: Robert Jensen
Excerpts from Operation Family Secrets on D2L

24 The Ethical Emotions and Deliberations of the Karankawa

Cabaza de Vaca, The Account, Chpt. 12 excerpt
Sadness and Grief: Mourning Loss
Jamison, Distinguishing Grief from Depression
26 The Failure to Respond Fully to an Aggrieved Person
Children Facing Death Student Topic Projects Begin
Possible Relationships Between Religion and Ethics
28 Virtue Ethics

March 3 Buddhist Ethics

Enlightenment
Vietnamese Buddhist Ethics
Hanh, “The Path of Emancipation”
5 Japanese Buddhist Ethics
Tibetan Buddhist Ethics
Declaration of Interdependence
Is Buddhism Truly Pro-Detachment?
7 Midterm Exam

10 Katy Payne, “Silent Thunder”

Natural Law Theory: Aristotle, Aquinas
12 Natural Law Theory: Locke
The Slave Mum Bett Overhears Free Men Reading John Locke
Abolition of Slavery & The Women’s Rights Movement in the U.S.
14 Grisez and Shaw, “Remaining Open …
” The Value of Reconsideration and Self-Reflection: Kesho Scott

17 ***Spring Break***
19 *****************
21 *****************

24 Kantian Ethical Theory: Immanuel Kant

26 Onora O’Neill, "Treating Others as Persons"
Alphonso Lingis, "Awareness of the Other as Different"
Conflicts of Obligation and Moral Dilemmas
28 Involuntary Sterilization. Tuskegee.
The AIDS Study in Uganda
Course Outline (con’t.)

March 31 **No Class**

April 2 Claudia Card, "The Question of Forgiveness"
4 The Ethical Debate on Animal Rights
Animal Rights Timeline
7 Utilitarian Ethical Theory: Mill and Brandt
9 Attempts to Define Happiness: The Lack of Agreement
Attempts to Define Happiness: Optimal Experience
Kay, “Principle of Obliquity”
A Comparison Between Western Ethical Systems and Buddhism
11 Environmental Ethics
At The Center of the Dance
Forbes, “Native Intelligence”
Blue River Declaration

14 Frankl, “Love: One Approach to a Meaningful Life”

Gilbert, “Human Relationships”
Rilke, “Love is Difficult”
Selby, “Solitude”
16 American “Friendship” from the Perspective of International Students
Bauby, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
Grunebaum, “Friendship”
18 *No Class*

21 Theories of Moral Development: Kohlberg and Gilligan

Nel Noddings, "Caring"
23 The Golden Rule
The Global Ethics
Navajo Ways of Knowing
25 Wiredu, "The Moral Foundations of African Culture"
Tangwa, “Some African Reflections”
Lawlor, "Australian Aboriginal Emotional and Ethical Development"
Integrity

28 Distributive Justice
30 Ethical Egoism
May 2 Islamic Code of Ethics
Ethical Perspectives on Abortion
Donagan, Hare, Purdy & Tooley
Sherwin, Callahan, Overall, Harvey, Noddings
Innovative Leadership

5 Reading Day for Final Exam

Required Textbook
PHI 180 Course Pack from Dynamic Bookstore on Linden Street in West Chester.
You also have readings on D2L under the Content tab.

Evaluation Policy

Midterm exam worth 100 points.

Final exam worth 150 points.
One Topic Project, worth 100 points total: 50 points for your in-class presentation and 50 points
for your paper. Your presentation is due on the day you select for your presentation (on a first-
come, first-serve basis) and your paper is due on D2L by 8:00 a.m. on the morning of your
presentation. Use Microsoft Word for your paper. Please bring a hard copy of your paper to
class to give to me. The instructions and grading criteria for the Topic Project are on D2L
under “Content.” For your topic you may select from two different options:
1) Creative Altruism Project: Prepare and present your research into people’s creative
altruism.
2) Ethics Interview Project: Prepare and present the results of your ethics interviews.

Participation in Class Discussions, worth 200 points for the total semester. These points will be
evaluated by attendance, your participation in class, your small group discussion sheets, and
your unannounced in-class writings. Your class participation evaluation will also include the
following points on Classroom Atmosphere.

Classroom Atmosphere

Our interdisciplinary study of ethics will require a classroom atmosphere conducive to genuine
intellectual discussion. The primary purpose of engaging in this discussion is to test, expand
and enrich our current understanding of the ethics. A humble spirit of charitable curiosity
protects the extraordinary human potential of conversations--and makes room for affectionate
playfulness and gentle humor. A good intellectual discussion begins with an honest effort to
read and understand the assigned materials as well as your open-mindedness about the
possibility of learning something from the class materials, your professor and your peers.
According to the philosopher Jonathan Lear, what makes a university great is “conversation.”
At universities

“… [T]here is a shared understanding that if, in this brief time we are alive, we are going to
figure out anything genuinely worthwhile, it will be through conversation. Each of our
individual ideas needs to be tested against the countervailing thoughts of others; but even more
important, it is the imagination of others that sparks our own.” –The Aims of Education, 2009

This course is a conversation between us as well as the authors represented on your syllabus.

To find out ways to protect the classroom space for fully engaged conversation, I polled
students during the Fall Semester of 2011. The poll revealed that the majority of students
would prefer that no one texts in class, either during lectures or small group discussions.
Attendance Policy
This course is designed as a Cooperative Learning Community, which incorporates student
discussions as a central practice for intellectual growth. Students are responsible for attending
class and making constructive contributions to discussions; missed discussions will detract
proportionately from the 200-point class participation grade. On days of scheduled tests, no
absences are permitted, unless you are required to attend a “University-sanctioned” event.
You must follow the policy on pg. 45 of the Undergraduate Catalogue regarding “University-
sanctioned” events.

Office Hours

M-W-F from 12-12:50 p.m. and by appointment.

I do not have access to email during evenings as well as Saturdays and Sundays. On some
Tuesdays and Thursdays I will also not have access to email.

Accommodations

All students with disabilities should contact the Office of Services for Students with
Disabilities; those students should make their needs known to the professors prior to the first
exam. Sufficient notice is needed in order to make ADA 1990 accommodations possible.

Academic Integrity

It is the responsibility of each student to adhere to the university’s standards for academic
integrity. For questions regarding academic integrity, see the Undergraduate Catalogue and the
University website at www.wcupa.edu. For questions regarding Academic Dishonesty, the No-
Grade Policy, Sexual Harassment, or the Student Code of Conduct, students are encouraged to
refer to their major department’s handbook, the Undergraduate Course Catalogue, the Rams
Eye View, or the University Web Site. Please understand that improper conduct in any of these
areas will not be tolerated and may result in the immediate ejection from the class.

Signed Acknowledgement of Receipt of PHI 180 Syllabus: Please print out this last page and sign it below to
indicate that you understand the syllabus. Please turn in your signed page during class on Wednesday, January 29.

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Name (Print) Signature