PHI 115 Course Outline

This really depends upon the method of presentation. During the course a teacher will touch upon many topics such as those mentioned in the catalog description mentioned above, viz., the "good life" or happiness and contemporary moral issues.

1. Historical — an examination of the value systems of ethical theorists in chronological order. Advantages of this method: it helps the student to view and evaluate ethical theorists in their historical context or milieu; it also helps the student to see the development or evolution of ethics from its historical origins. Disadvantages: it lacks the advantages of the systems delineated below, viz., focusing on problems or on types of ethical theories.
2. Main types of Ethical Theories — an examination of the various types of ethical theories or schools of thought, e.g., hedonism, self-realization theories, Christian Ethics, etc., irrespective of the chronological order of position of the ethical theorists in history. Advantages: it helps the student to study and evaluate the various schools of thought rather than just individual theorists (although this difficulty can be alleviated to a certain extent in the historical method). Disadvantages: it loses some of the advantages of the historical method both because it is difficult to place each man in his historical context.
3. Problems of Ethics — an examination of the polarities of opposition between different principles of ethics, e.g., rule vs. end, egoism vs. altruism, absolutism vs. relativism. Advantages: it allows the student to critcally examine the various opposing, often unexpressed, principles upon which ethical theories are based. Disadvantages: there are so many differrent principles, and each philosopher has so many principles, that it is difficult (if not impossible) to group them adequately; also, the student tends to get lost in a maze of opposing (often arbitrarily-grouped) sets of principles and never sees the individual philosophers or ethical schools as a whole.

1. Lecture
2. Class Discussion
3. Other: Small group work, presentations, debates

The student should…

1. identify and articulate multiple normative concepts including at least one from outside the Western philosophical canon.
2. identify ethical issues at stake in individual and collective decisions.
3. apply different ethical perspectives to issues we encounter in our everyday lives.
4. form and evaluate arguments for ethical judgments.
5. critically assess support for their own moral beliefs.
6. demonstrate the use of three primary texts in the service of above outcomes.
7. write a total of at least ten pages (of approximately 300 words each) of college level writing in the service of the above outcomes.
8. engage in philosophical conversations with others.

1. Class participation
2. Final exam
3. Essays/Term papers

1. Quizzes
2. Group participation

1. Written reading responses
2. Debates

• White, James E. Contemporary Moral Problems 10th Edition. Wadsworth, 2011 ISBN: 0840033788
• MacKinnon, Barbara. Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues 8h Edition. Wadsworth, 2014 ISBN: 1285196759