PL 205 - Introduction to Ethics

1. Develop intellectual tools to be able to make judgments  about the quality of moral positions (GELO 3).
2. Formulate a thesis and support it with evidence (GELO 3).
3. Defend moral positions from the possible objections from others (GELO 3)
4. Conduct research on the relationships among different moral positions (GELO 6).
5. Apply moral theories to understanding how they influence the quality of individual life and society (GELO 6)
6. Learning how to use moral theories to solve social problems such as discrimination and sacrifice for the greater good. 
7. Apply moral theories to understand what morality is and how it can help us lead good lives and live in good societies.  (GELO 7)

A. The problem of definition  

B. First example:  baby Theresa

C. Second example:  Jodie and Mary

D. Third example:  Tracy Latimer

E. Reason and Impartiality   

F. The minimum conception of morality

II. The Challenge of Cultural Relativism

A. Different cultures have different moral codes  

B. Cultural relativism  

C. The cultural differences argument  

D. What follows from cultural relativism  

E. Why there is less disagreement than it seems

F. Some values are shared by all cultures

G. Judging a cultural practice to be undesirable

H. Back to the five claims

I. What we can learn from cultural relativism

III. Subjectivism In Ethics

A. The basic idea of ethical subjectivism

B. The evolution of the theory

C. The first stage: simple subjectivism

D. The second stage: emotivism

E. The role of reason in ethics

F. Are there proofs in ethics

IV. Does morality depend on religion

A. The presumed connection between morality and religion

B. The divine command theory

C. The theory of natural law

D. Religion and particular moral view

V. Ethical Egoism

A. Is there a duty to help the starving?

B. Psychological egoism

C. Three arguments for ethical egoism

D. Three arguments against ethical egoism

VI.  The Social Contract Theory

A. Hobbes’s argument

B. The prisoner’s dilemma

C. Some advantages of the social contract theory

D. The problem of civil disobedience

E. Difficulties for the theory

VII.  The Utilitarian Approach

A. The revolution in ethics

B. First example: euthanasia

C. Second example: marijuana

D. Third example:  nonhuman animals

VIII.  The Debate Over Utilitarianism

A. The classical version of the theory

B. Is pleasure all that matters?

C. Are consequences all that matter?

D. Should we be equally concerned for everyone?

E. The defense of utilitarianism

F. Concluding thoughts

IX.  Are There Absolute Moral Rules?

A. Harry Truman and Elizabeth Anscombe

B. The categorical imperative

C. Kant’s arguments on lying

D. Conflicts between Rules

E. Kant’s insight

X.  Kant And Respect For Persons

A. Kant’s core ideas

B. Retribution and utility in the theory of punishment

C. Kant’s retributivism

XI.  Feminism And The Ethics Of Care

A. Do women and men think differently about ethics?

B. Implications for moral judgment

C. Implications for ethical theory

XII.  Virtue Ethics

A. The ethics of virtue and the ethics of right action

B. The virtues

C. Two advantages of virtue ethics

D. Virtue and conduct

E. The problem of incompletencess

F. Conclusion

XIII.  What Would A Satisfactory Moral Theory Be Like?

A. Morality without Hubris?

B. Treating people as they deserve

C. A variety of motives

D. Multiple- strategies utilitarianism

E. The moral community

F. Justice and Fairness

G. Conclusion