PHL 221 Section 001: Honors Introduction to Ethics
Fall 2012
3 Credit Hours
Primary Instructor: Dr. Justin Klocksiem
Core Designation: University Honors, Humanities
Syllabus subject to change.
This class provides an introduction to ethics by way of a discussion of doctrines and arguments in three
central areas of moral philosophy—(a) the normative ethics of behavior (the theory of right and wrong
action); (b) value theory (the theory of good and evil); and (c) ethical controversies surrounding
life-and-death situations involving human fetuses, the terminally ill, and non-human animals. Along the
way, other important topics in moral philosophy will be discussed.
In each case, the focus is on careful formulation of doctrines and arguments. The goals are (i) to understand the doctrines and arguments; (ii) to develop the ability to evaluate the doctrines and arguments; and (iii) to begin to develop the ability to extract well-formulated, interesting arguments from philosophical texts.
At the conclusion of the course, students who have mastered the course material should be better able to formulate and evaluate reasoned views regarding several classic problems in ethics, including normative ethics, theory of value, and issues in applied ethics. Additionally, students will develop critical reasoning skills, including the ability to clearly formulate arguments, to understand various types of ?aws in reasoning, and to evaluate arguments for validity and soundness.
What is the Philosophical Study of Ethics?
Logic.
Right and Wrong: The Ethics of Behavior
Sociological Approaches: Relativism.
Theological Approaches: Divine
Command Theory.
Act Utilitarianism.
Problems for Utilitarianism.
Kant’s Categorical Imperative.
Problems for Kantian Views.
Good and Evil: Value Theory
Simple Hedonism.
Objections to Simple Hedonism.
Quali?ed Hedonism.
Objections to Quali?ed Versions of
Hedonism.
Desire Satisfactionism.
Problems for Desire-Satisfaction views.
Value Pluralism.
Applied Ethics
Beginning of life: Proto-Persons.
Middle of life: Non-Persons.
End of life: Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide.
Exams
There will be three written, in-class exams. I will place a study guide for each exam on the website a
minimum of three weeks prior to each exam. All exam questions will be drawn from the study guides, but not all study guide questions will appear on the exam. You will be responsible for providing an exam book for each exam. Exam books can be purchased at the Supe Store. You must use a new, pristine exam book for each exam and complete the exam in ink. Exams written in used exam books, or in books containing mutilated or missing pages, or written using a pencil will receive a grade of zero. Each exam will be graded on a scale of 0 to 100. A grading scale appears on the website. If possible, graded bluebooks will be returned within one week the exam. Pick up your exam book and retain it.
Homework
There will be two written homework assignments, one prior to each of the ?rst two exams. Late homework will not be accepted. Exceptions will be made only in extreme cases. If you will not be able to submit your homework on time and would like to be considered for an exception, you must inform me of the problem before the homework is due. Since you will have much more time to complete homework than you will have to complete an exam, some excuses that legitimately justify missing an exam fail to legitimately justify late homework. If you suspect that you might fail to submit a homework assignment on time or have any questions regarding this policy, please email me.
Your ?nal grade will be calculated in the following manner:
Pop Quizzes: 10%
Exam 1: 20%
Exam 2: 20%
Term Paper: 20%
Exam 3: 30%
If you are unable to attend class on an exam day, and you have a legitimate reason, and you make
arrangements prior to the day of the exam, then you may be permitted to take that exam at some
agreed-upon time. If you do not have a legitimate reason or you do not make arrangements prior to the day of the exam, then, except in extreme circumstances, you will not be permitted to take that exam
Regular attendance is necessary for satisfactory progress through the course. Lectures will contain
information not contained in the readings. Handouts will be distributed and important administrative
information will be provided. There will be unannounced pop quizzes at irregular intervals. There will be
no opportunity to make up missed pop quizzes.
Most assigned readings are in an anthology called Introduction to Ethics. It is available at the Supe Store. I reserve the right to assign readings that do not appear in the anthology. If I do that, I’ll make the reading available to you some other way.Enter text here.
All students in attendance at the University of Alabama are expected to be honorable and to observe standards of conduct appropriate to a community of scholars. The University expects from its students a higher standard of conduct than the minimum required to avoid discipline. Academic misconduct includes all acts of dishonesty in any academically related matter and any knowing or intentional help or attempt to help, or conspiracy to help, another student.
The Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policy will be followed in the event of academic misconduct.
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