NCTC Phil 2306 0301 – Ethics: Online

 “It is no easy task to be good. For in everything it is no easy task to find the middle…anyone can get angry—that is easy—or give and spend money; but to do this to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, with the right motive, and in the right way, that is not for everyone, nor is it easy; wherefore goodness is both rare and laudable and noble.”  —Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, Bk II, Ch. 9

 

Instructor:  Dr. David Utsler (dutsler@nctc.edu) 

Office Hours: As this is an online course, I will not have regularly scheduled office hours, but if you do need to speak with me, we can schedule a Zoom meeting. During the week, a Zoom meeting can typically be scheduled within 24 hours of the request and often the same day. Of course, there is always email for most questions or concerns and replies will usually be same day.

 

Catalogue Description:  Classical and contemporary theories concerning human conduct in society and moral and ethical standards.

 

Required Texts:  Classics of Moral and Political Theory 5^th ed, Michael Morgan ed.  Hackett Publishing.  ISBN: 978-1-60384-442-0

 

Course Competencies and Learning Outcomes:  Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to identify, understand, and explain important ethical theories as well as demonstrate the ability to apply ethical theories to practical situations:

1. Read, analyze, and critique philosophical texts in ethics
2. Demonstrate knowledge of key concepts, major arguments, problems, and terminology in ethical philosophy
3. Present logically persuasive ethical arguments in written form
4. Demonstrate critical thinking skills in evaluation and application of ethical concepts to various aspects of life.
5. Evaluate the personal ethical and social responsibilities of living in a diverse world.

 

Student Expectations: As this is an online course, the weight of the responsibility to keep up with the course is on you, the student. I have organized the course in such a way it should be easy to go through it, but you have to manage your time to get things done. Things like quizzes and discussion boards will have due dates after which you can no longer access them. So be sure to take note of when things are due and give yourself enough lead time to prepare and get them done. A serious expectation for this course is that you READ the texts and read them from the assigned book. Sure, a lot of things can be found online, such as summaries of the texts and even some full texts themselves. But this is a college course and, even more, a philosophy course. Philosophy is not about simple memorization of facts and information, but about developing understanding and to nurture habits of sound thinking. An equally serious and related expectation is that you complete the assignments with the knowledge and understanding that YOU gained by reading the TEXT. (See my plagiarism policy below). A fundamental point of a philosophy course is that you learn to read and interpret texts, that you are challenged, and your capabilities to understand and to think critically are extended. So make time to read and do the assignments. If you do, you will do well in this course. 

Grading Policy and Procedures: 

This course is largely about understanding texts.  As a result, all of the evaluations will center on your ability to understand the assigned reading. Each week there will be assigned reading, lectures, and Power Points. After completing the assignments there will be a reading quiz to take. Each quiz will be between 5 to 10 questions (multiple choice, true/false, and fill in the blank. There is also a discussion board each week where you will be instructed to post an original philosophical refection of 2 to 3 paragraphs on the reading and to respond to the post of a fellow student. Your original post is worth up to 10 points and your response up to 5 points. Finally, there will be a midterm covering the first half of the semester and the final exam that covers the second half.

Your final grade is based on your cumulative number of points from the weekly assignments and exams. Say, for example, the total possible points from the semester is 400. Ninety percent of 400 is 360, so 360 or above is an “A” for the course. Eighty percent of 400 is 320, so if you score anywhere between 320 to 359, you will have a “B” for the course and so forth and so on.

 

Note on Extra Credit and Sympathy Points:  I do not offer extra credit for those who do not do the assigned work. If you do not get points because you do not do the work, I am not going to create additional work for myself in order for you to get credit or points due to not having done the work that was already there.

 

Attendance Policy:  This is an online course and attendance is up to you. Attendance for an online course means that you sign on weekly and do the assignments. I do need to certify that each student has met the attendance requirements put out by the school, but after that, it is up to you.  It is your duty to attend and I expect you will.

Make-up Policy:  Since this is an online course, and there is flexibility built into the schedule, I cannot allow make ups.  There are simply too many requests to redo things that were missed etc.  Hence, keep in mind that you have chosen to take an online self-paced course, and that you will be required to meet the due dates.  It is important to be abreast of all the deadlines. I suggest that you write them out on a calendar so you do not forget. You can use your email calendar or task list with reminders to keep you on track.

 Academic Integrity:  Keep in mind that this is an Ethics class…

In any class you are expected to do your own work and not plagiarize the work of another. It might seem easy to go online and cut and paste from a website for your discussion posts. Understand that this is typically very easy to spot and when I suspect it, I usually can track down the website where the student stole from in about 30 seconds or less. Nothing is more upsetting to me than plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty. If you want to fail the class, plagiarizing will guarantee it. You can’t receive a passing grade with work that is not yours. If you are struggling in any way in the course, communicate with me. Don’t plagiarize to get by. Plagiarism disrespects the person whose work you stole, it disrespects your classmates who are doing the work, and it disrespects me, the professor. Most of all, to plagiarize is to disrespect education and yourself. Don’t do it. 

  

Reading/Lecture/Assignment Schedule:

 Week 1 (Aug. 24 – 28)      Welcome and Introduction to the course.

1. Lecture: General introduction to philosophy and philosophical thinking.
2. Lecture: What is ethics?
3. Quizzes: Take the syllabus quiz. Due August 28 by midnight.
4. Look at the readings for next week and get started. Do this every week.

 

Week 2 (Aug. 31 – Sept. 4)          Ethics in Plato and Aristotle

READING: Crito (pp. 64 – 71) and Phaedo Death Scene (pp. 72 – 74). Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, Books I & II, chapters 1-6 (pp. 255 – 270).

1. Lecture: Crito and Phaedo.
2. Lecture: Aristotle’s Ethics.
3. Quizzes: Take the reading quiz. Due September 4 by midnight.
4. Discussion: Post on the discussion board per the instructions Due September 4 by midnight.

Week 3 (Sept. 7 – 11)        Hedonist and Stoic Ethics

READING: Letter to Menoeceus and Principle Doctrines by Epicurus (pp. 422 – 427). Encheiridion by Epictetus (pp. 430 – 442).

1. Lecture: Epicurus and the pursuit of pleasure.
2. Lecture: Epictetus and Stoicism.
3. Quizzes: Take the reading quiz. Due September 11 by midnight.
4. Discussion: Post on the discussion board per the instructions. Due September 11 by midnight.

Week 4 (Sept. 14 – 18)      St. Augustine on the Types of the Good

READING: The City of God, Bk XIX by St. Augustine (pp. 445 – 457).

1. Lecture: Augustine on The City of God and arguments from reason.
2. Lecture: Ethical topics in Book XIX.
3. Quizzes: Take the reading quiz. Due September 18 by midnight.
4. Discussion: Post on the discussion board per the instructions. Due September 18.

Week 5 (Sept. 21 – 25)      Thomas Aquinas on virtue

READING: Disputed Questions on Virtue by Thomas Aquinas (pp. 490 – 503).

1. Lecture: Aquinas on virtue.
2. Quizzes: Take the reading quiz. Due September 25 by midnight.
3. Discussion: Post on the discussion board per instructions. Due September 25 by midnight.

Week 6 (Sept. 28 – Oct. 2) David Hume on Morals and Virtue

READING: Selections from the Treatise on Human Nature, Bk II, Book III, & Part II, Section 1 by David Hume (pp.803 – 818).

1. Lecture: Hume’s Treatise on Human Nature.
2. Quizzes: Take the reading quiz. Due October 2 by midnight.
3. Discussion: Post on the discussion board per the instructions. Due October 2 by midnight.

Week 7 (October 5 – 9) Immanuel Kant, Pt. 1 of 3.

READING: Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Preface and First Section (pp. 944 – 954).

1. Lecture: Philosophical Knowledge of Morality.
2. Quizzes: Take the reading quiz. Due October 9 by midnight.
3. Discussion: No discussion post to allow for more time to prepare for and take the midterm exam.

MIDTERM EXAM COVERING WEEKS 1 – 7: ONLINE. DUE BY OCTOBER 12, MIDNIGHT.

Week 8 (Oct. 12 – 16) Immanuel Kant, Pt. 2 of 3.

READING: Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Second Section (pp. 954 – 975).

1. Lecture: A Metaphysics of Morals.
2. Quizzes: Take the reading quiz. Due October 16 by midnight.
3. Discussion: Post on the discussion board per the instructions. Due October 16 by midnight.

Week 9 (Oct. 19 – 23) Immanuel Kant, Pt. 3 of 3.

READING: Immanuel Kant, Grounding for a Metaphysics of Morals, Third Section (pp. 975 - 984).

1. Lecture: Freedom, the Intelligible World, and the Categorical Imperative.
2. Quizzes: Take the reading quiz. Due October 23 by midnight.
3. Discussion: Post on the discussion board per the instructions. Due October 23 by midnight.

Week 10 (October 26 – 30) John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism.

READING: John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism, Chapters 1 – 4 (pp. 1069 – 1089).

1. Lecture: Utilitarian Ethics
2. Quizzes: Take the reading quiz. Due October 30 by midnight.
3. Discussion: Post on the discussion board per the instructions. Due October 30 by midnight.

Week 11 (November 2 – 6) Marx on Labor.

READING: “Alienated Labor” by Karl Marx (pp. 1160 – 1166).

1. Lecture: Marx, Externalization, and Alienation.
2. Quizzes: Take the reading quiz. Due November 6 by midnight.
3. Discussion: Post on the discussion board per the instructions. Due November 6 by midnight.

Week 12 (November 9 – 13) William James and Pragmatist Ethics.

READING: “What Pragmatism Means” by William James: https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/james.htm (Links to an external site.).

1. Lecture: Pragmatism and Ethics.
2. Quizzes: Take the reading quiz. Due November 13 by midnight.
3. Discussion: Post on the discussion board per the instructions. Due November 13 by midnight.

Week 13 (November 17 – 21)      Existentialist Ethics.

READING: “Existentialism is a Humanism” by Jean-Paul Sartre:

http://homepages.wmich.edu/~baldner/existentialism.pdf (Links to an external site.)

1. Lecture: Existentialist Ethics
2. Quizzes: Take the reading quiz. Due November 20 by midnight.
3. Discussion: Post on the discussion board per the instructions. Due November 20 by midnight.

Week 14 (November 23 – 27)

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING BREAK!!!

Week 15 (Nov. 30 – Dec. 4) Environmental Ethics

READING: TBD

1. Lecture: Issues in Environmental Ethics
2. Quizzes: Take the reading quiz. Due December 4 by midnight.
3. Discussion: Post on the discussion board per the instructions. Due December 4 by midnight.

Week 16 (December 7 – 11) Final Exam Week

FINAL EXAM ONLINE COVERING THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEMESTER.

DUE BY THURSDAY DECEMBER 10 BY MIDNIGHT.

 

Other Pertinent Information about Preparing for Philosophy:

 If you are unfamiliar with philosophy, it is going to be different than any other class you’ve taken.  The essence of philosophy is to question things (often things that we simply accept as true because we’ve been habituated to accept things uncritically) and to construct rational and reasoned accounts for the nature of things in question.  As a result, you may find the readings to be rather difficult, for they will lack “factual” quality of other disciplines.  So if you like to have a sense of certainty, you may find yourself confused and frustrated, but don’t despair.  You may also find the readings difficult and have to read them a couple times to understand what’s being argued.  This is to be expected.  Do not worry.  Ask questions. I encourage contacting me, but we can also have discussions on Canvas as a class. Your fellow students can weigh in on what you are struggling with.

            I encourage you to budget out your reading time throughout the week. Although philosophy means a lot of reading, I have tried to make the reading each week very manageable.  It is best to try to do it in small chunks of no more than 45 minutes or so and avoid last minute reading marathons.  If you try to skim through this material you will not make sense of it.  Most of our readings will present and follow out an argument.  You have to follow the argument in order to understand the reading:  that is the point of philosophy.  The conclusions are easier to simply accept, but the point is to understand WHY a conclusion is made.  So, I will be available via email for your questions at any time during the week.  I check my email daily and will get back to you within 24 hours (though maybe not on weekends) if you have a question about what you encounter in your reading.

            Beware of the internet.  There are all kinds of sites that can claim to help you out, but many are run by charlatans, or deal with things beyond our scope.  We will be looking at tiny slices of what a given philosopher has written, so whatever you find on the internet on, say Plato, may have no bearing on what we are focusing on in class.  I encourage you to either email me with questions or to talk to your peers.  Discussing philosophy will help you greatly in your understanding of it.

            Finally, make sure that when you read you are alone and in a quiet place.  Newspapers, magazines and some textbooks can be mulled over in noisy and crowded places.  Our material cannot.  Carve out bits of time to read wherein you are free from the tv, internet, phones, other people etc.  This alone will greatly aid your ability to understand what you read.

     Lastly, remember that philosophy is the art of living.  The point of our encounters is to help you understand yourself and your world!