Introduction to Ethics Course Number: PHILO 104 Email: [email protected] Time and Location: T/F 8:10–9:25 Hunter West 505 Office Hours: by appointment (after class, W 1:15, or F 11:15) Instructor: Jonathan Kwan Office: Hunter West 1447
Course Description If ethics is construed broadly as the study of how we should act, then ethics is an inescapable feature of human lives. Generally, philosophers divide ethics into three areas: theoretical ethics, applied ethics, and metaethics. Theoretical ethics consists of developing systematic accounts about right action or virtuous character. Applied ethics seeks to offer normative recommendations on specific practical issues. Metaethics concerns higher-order questions about the nature of morality (for example, is morality objective or subjective? what are the origins of morality?). We will consider all three domains of ethics with a focus on theoretical and applied ethics. Our course is also an exercise in comparative or cross-cultural philosophy. Specifically, we will explore theories and writings that have emerged across Europe, Ancient Greece, and Ancient China. Although this leaves out many rich philosophical traditions (African, Indian, Buddhist, Arabic, Islamic, and Native American to name but a few), hopefully such an approach serves to counter the preconception of philosophy as a distinctly Western project. Additionally, this course is intentionally feminist in nature—especially in its intersectional selection of which practical issues to examine—even as it leaves the term “feminism” open for discussion. Toward this end, we will analyze various currently pressing topics regarding oppression, gender, race, class, immigration, gender identity, micro-inequities, and reproductive labor.
Learning Objectives This course aims to: (1) acquaint students with various influential ethical theories that have originated both from the West and China, along with their justifications and objections. (2) explore a range of practical ethical issues regarding oppression, gender, race, class, and gender identity using an intersectional feminist approach. (3) analyze the metaethical topics concerning the objectivity and origins of morality. (4) cultivate the capacity of students to think critically and originally, especially regarding philosophical and ethical problems. (5) develop the skills of students to read, write, and communicate clearly, critically, imaginatively, argumentatively, and persuasively. (6) equip students with theoretical and practical tools for understanding, navigating, and possibly changing their social and political worlds.
Materials All required readings will be available on the course website: https://kwanj.wordpress.com. You will need a notebook and a writing instrument to take notes during class.
Grade Breakdown Grade Percentage Grade Percentage Grade Percentage Grade Percentage A+ 97.5 – 100% B+ 87.5 – 89.9% C+ 77.5 – 79.9% D 60.0 – 69.9% A 92.5 – 97.4% B 82.5 – 87.4% C 70.0 – 77.4% F 00.0 – 59.9% A- 90.0 – 92.4% B- 80.0 – 82.4%
Course Requirements Requirement Percentage of Grade Requirement Percentage of Grade Attendance/Participation 5% Midterm Paper 35% Discussion Board Posts 20% Final Project 40% Attendance/Participation Attendance is mandatory. I will take roll every class. You are late once I am finished calling roll. Students are permitted two unexcused absences and four tardies. After that, 1% will be subtracted from your final grade for each absence and 0.5% for each tardy. For an absence to be excused, you must provide written documentation and notify me (well) in advance. Participation includes raising questions, voicing your thoughts, bringing printed copies of the reading to class, and completing in-class assignments. Participation outside of class (such as communicating with me through email or during office hours) also counts. Your participation is extremely important for everyone’s learning in this class. Voicing your thoughts and questions allows you to test philosophical ideas with each other, clear up confusions, and solidify everyone’s understanding. Since there is no textbook, you need to print out the assigned readings and bring them to class. Each time you do not bring printed copies of readings to class, 0.5% will be subtracted from your grade. Excellent participation may go a long way especially in borderline cases. Your overall grade may be raised at the instructor’s discretion in addition to earning 5% for attendance and participation.
Discussion Board Posts Discussion board posts offer you a means to reflect on and engage critically with the readings. Not only do they help you collect your thoughts on the readings before class, they also enable you to prepare your ideas and writing for the larger assignments (the midterm paper and final project). You should post before class on one of the readings assigned for that day. Posts should consist of two paragraphs. o The first paragraph will summarize in your own words one of the main ideas or arguments in an assigned reading. You should explain the reason(s) given in support of that idea or argument. You may use quotations to supplement (but not substitute for) your own explanation. o The second paragraph consists of your own original thinking about that idea or argument. Comment critically on the reading by raising questions, criticisms, or objections. If you agree with the main idea you summarized, try to support that idea with your own original thinking by defending it from a possible objection. You may also choose to respond (politely and constructively) to the posts of other students. Posts may be selected for sharing or discussion during class. You must complete 5 posts during the Normative Ethics Unit (9/2 – 10/14) and 5 posts afterwards during the Applied Ethics Unit and Meta-ethics Mini-Unit (10/18 – 12/9) for a total of 10 posts. Each post is worth 2% of your final grade. Posts will be graded on a + (2%), (1.75%), – (1.5%) system.
Midterm Paper In the midterm paper, you will argue in favor of one of the ethical theories that we will cover in class. You will explain the main tenets of that theory and defend it from possible objections and other competing ethical theories. The midterm paper will be 5 pages. Its instructions and rubric will be handed out 3 weeks prior to its due date on Friday, September 23. Both the midterm paper and final project must be typed, double-spaced, use 12 pt. Times New Roman font, and have 1-inch margins. Every day the midterm paper or final project is late, there will be a 5% penalty on your grade for that assignment. No extensions for the midterm paper or final project will be granted unless there is a serious emergency and written documentation is provided.
Final Project The final project offers you the opportunity to write about a variety of readings and issues that you found most compelling in the second half of the course. The final project consists of three 2-page papers. In each paper, you will respond to at least one assigned reading in the Applied Ethics Unit or Metaethics Unit by completing the following two tasks: o First, explain in one page the main conclusions and arguments of that assigned reading. o Second, evaluate the main conclusions and arguments by offering your own original critical analysis. You may also choose to connect the ideas of that reading with other ideas covered elsewhere in the course, or with concrete examples of your own. The instructions and rubric for the final project will be handed out at the beginning of the Applied Ethics Unit on Tuesday, October 18. The entire final project is due Wednesday, December 21. However, you may hand in any of the three 2- page papers at any time prior to the deadline. If you hand in papers early enough, you will receive feedback from me that may help you with your remaining papers. You must also bring a complete draft of one paper to class on Tuesday, November 22 since we will peer review each other’s papers that day.
Policies Arrive on time. Being late is highly distracting. No personal computers, tablets, phones, or other electronic devices are permitted for use in class. Please silence your cell phone and refrain from texting or using social media in class. Eating and drinking in class is permitted if done quietly and if you are courteous to those around you. Be professional in email correspondences. Please feel free to email me if you have questions about readings, papers, etc. I will do my absolute best to respond promptly. I’m here to help you do better.
Important Dates Friday, September 2 Last day to drop for without a grade of “WD” Wednesday, September 14 Last day to withdraw with a grade of “WD” Thursday, November 10 Last day to withdraw with a grade of “W” Friday, October 14 Midterm Paper Due Tuesday, November 22 Draft of One Paper for Final Project Due Wednesday, December 21 Final Project Due Course Schedule Class Date Readings/Due Dates 1 August 26 Introduction 2 August 30 Jim Pryor – “Guidelines on Reading Philosophy” Peter Singer – “What Ethics is Not” 3 September 2 THEORETICAL ETHICS UNIT Utilitarianism and Mohism John Stuart Mill – Utilitarianism 4 September 6 Stuart Rachels – “The Debate over Utilitarianism” 5 September 9 Mozi – Mozi (Chapter 16: Impartial Caring) 6 September 13 Peter Singer – “Famine, Affluence, and Morality” 7 September 16 Deontology Immanuel Kant – Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals Onora O’Neill – “A Simplified Account of Kant’s Ethics” 8 September 20 Onora O’Neill – “Kantian Deliberations on Famine Problems” Peter Horban – “Writing a Philosophy Paper” 9 September 23 Virtue Ethics and Confucianism Aristotle – Nicomachean Ethics Julia Annas – “Virtue Ethics” Midterm Paper Instructions and Rubric Will be Handed Out 10 September 27 Kongzi – The Analects JeeLoo Liu - “Confucius (Kongzi) in the Analects” 11 September 30 The Social Contract Theory Thomas Hobbes – Leviathan Mozi – Mozi (Chapter 11: Obeying One’s Superior) October 4 NO CLASS 12 October 7 Charles Mills – The Racial Contract Virginia Held – “Non-Contractual Society: A Feminist View” October 11 NO CLASS 13 October 14 MIDTERM PAPER DUE Feminist Ethics Hilde Lindemann – “What is Feminist Ethics?” 14 October 18 APPLIED ETHICS UNIT Racism George Yancy – “Dear White America” Mariam Thalos – “What’s Problematic About ‘All Lives Matter’?” Final Project Instructions and Rubric Will be Handed Out 15 October 21 Ta-Nehisi Coates – “The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration” 16 October 25 Migrants José Jorge Mendoza – “Juan Crow & The Future Of Immigration Reform” 17 October 28 Serena Parekh – “Moral Obligations To Refugees” 18 November 1 Inequality Martha Nussbaum – “Political Inequality” 19 November 4 Samantha Brennan – “The Moral Status of Micro-Inequities: In Favour of Institutional Solutions” Rebecca Solnit – “Men Explain Things To Me” 20 November 8 Transgender Discrimination Emma Green – “America’s Profound Gender Anxiety” 21 November 11 Women’s Reproductive Issues Rosalind Hursthouse – “Virtue Theory and Abortion” 22 November 15 Carolyn McLeod – “For Dignity or Money: Feminists on the Commodification of Women’s Reproductive Labour” November 18 NO CLASS (Instructor Away for Conference) 23 November 22 PEER REVIEW – DRAFT OF ONE PAPER FOR FINAL PROJECT DUE Richard Straub – “Responding—Really Responding to Other Students’ Writing” November 25 NO CLASS November 29 NO CLASS 24 December 2 METAETHICS UNIT The Objectivity or Subjectivity of Morality J. L. Mackie – “The Subjectivity of Values” Thomas Nagel – “Ethics” 25 December 6 The Origins of Morality Sharon Street – “Does Anything Really Matter or Did We Just Evolve to Think So?” 26 December 9 Mengzi – Mengzi December 21 FINAL PROJECT DUE
Course Maps Theoretical Ethics Unit
Utilitarianism and Virtue Ethics and The Social Deontology Feminist Ethics Mohism Confucianism Contract Theory
Applied Ethics Unit
Transgender Women's Reproductive Racism and Mass Immigration and Inequality and Issues: Abortion, Discrimination: Incarceration Refugees Micro-inequities Oocyte Vending, and Bathroom Bills Contract Pregnancies
Metaethics Unit
Is Morality What Are the Objective or Origins of Subjective? Morality?
Safe Space I’m committed to making this class a safe space in which absolutely no discrimination in any form, explicit or subtle—whether on the basis of race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, income, mental or physical health, ability, personal characteristics, or the like—will be tolerated. This class should be an inclusive space for all students. If you feel uncomfortable in any way during the course please let me know. You are also welcome to email me anonymously regarding your concerns.
The NY State Education Law Provides That: 1. Any student in an institution of higher education who is unable, because of their religious beliefs, to attend classes on a particular day or days shall, because of such absence on the particular day or days, be excused from any examination or any study or work requirements. 2. It shall be the responsibility of the faculty to make available to each student who is absent from school, because of religious beliefs, an equivalent opportunity to make up any examination, study or work requirements which they may have missed because of such absence on any particular day or days. 3. Any student who is aggrieved by the alleged failure of any faculty or administrative officials to comply in good faith shall be entitled to maintain an action or proceeding in the supreme court of the county in which such institution of higher education is located for the enforcement of their rights.
Office of AccessABILITY In compliance with the American Disability Act of 1990 (ADA) and with Section 4 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Hunter College is committed to ensuring educational parity and accommodations for all students with documented disabilities and/or medical conditions. It is recommended that all students with documented disabilities (Emotional, Medical, Physical, and/or Learning) consult the Office of AccessABILITY located in room E1124 to secure necessary academic accommodations. For further information and assistance, please call (212-772-4857)/TTY (212-650-3230).
CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity Plagiarism is the intentional and willful adoption of the ideas, statements, thoughts, or knowledge of another as one’s own without clear and detailed attribution of their source. Hunter College will bring disciplinary action against students who have been caught plagiarizing or engaged in other forms of academic dishonesty such as cheating or obtaining unfair advantage. This includes submitting term papers or other assignments that have been submitted for other classes (or where substantial portions have been submitted for other classes). It also includes unauthorized academic collaboration on an assignment. (See the Hunter College Policy on Academic Integrity here: http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/provost/academic-integrity and the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity here: http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/studentaffairs/student-conduct/academic-integrity/cuny-policy-on- academic-integrity)
Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The College is committed to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedures. In this course, getting caught for academic dishonesty leads automatically to a failing grade on the assignment as well as a notification to the dean of students.
I reserve the right to alter the syllabus as the course progresses if I deem it necessary or advantageous. I will notify you and make available an updated syllabus if this happens.