In your writing assignment you will analyze a moral question from the perspectives of the four families of moral values. Your first step is to select a moral question from

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Moral Analysis Writing Assignment PHIL 1103, Ethics In your writing assignment you will analyze a moral question from the perspectives of the four families of moral values. Your first step is to select a moral question from Section 1 (The Personal, pages 1-61), or Section 2 (The Public, pages 62-115), or Section 3 (The Political, pages 116-165) of George’s What Should I Do? Be sure to just choose ONE question total to work on (not one question from each section of George). The questions are those in italics. For example, on page 1 at the top there is the italicized question that begins “My five-year-old daughter…”—that is one question (followed by commentary by a philosopher). On page 3 there is the italicized question that begins “My daughter, who is 14, wants to have a boyfriend…”—that is another question, followed by commentary. That pattern is repeated throughout Sections 1-3 of the book; on page 45 there is the italicized question that begins “If by my death I could save…”—that is another question, and so on. You are to select one italicized question to work on for this writing assignment (but selected only from Section 1 or Section 2 or Section 3—do not select a question from Section 4). Once you have selected a moral question, you must prepare an analysis of that question that consists of six sections. The sections of your analysis must be completed in the following way. Section One In Section One you must first state the moral question you are working with and then give a summary of what the philosopher or philosophers say about that question in George, What Should I Do?. Also include a brief commentary on the philosophers’ response, that is, say what you found to be most important in the philosophers’ response and why, and say what you found most controversial in the philosophers’ response and why. Write at least two pages for Section One (and please do not write more than four pages). Sections Two, Three, Four, and Five In the next four sections you must analyze the question from four different moral points of view: Section Two: Kant’s Categorical Imperative (pp. 137-142 of Weston) Section Three: Utilitarianism (pp. 181-188 of Weston) Section Four: Aristotle’s conception of virtue (pp. 217-221 of Weston; focus on Aristotle’s conception but you also may find other material on virtue in that chapter that will be helpful) Section Five: Ethics of Care (pp. 245-260 of Weston) Your analysis in each case must consist of the following two components. First, you must explain how moral questions are framed and answered from within that perspective. Second, you must say how the moral question you are working with would be answered from that perspective and explain why. Sections Two, Three, Four and Five should each be at least two pages long double-spaced—that is, at least two pages for Section Two, at least two pages for Section Three, and so on (and please do not write more than four pages for each section).

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Section Six Section Six is your conclusion in which you state your own considered answer to the moral question. Be sure to explain in detail why you believe that your answer is the correct answer. Your answer may be that you are not sure what the correct answer to the question is, along with an explanation of why different moral values or perspectives seem to be pulling you in different directions on that question.

Format Requirements

You must use a bold heading for each section (Section One, Section Two, etc.). Your name and the words “Ethics, PHIL 1103” must appear at the top of your submission. You must number the pages and double-space. Your submission must be prepared as an MS Word or pdf file. You must submit your writing assignment to the appropriate folder under Assignments in D2L by the deadline (the deadline is given in the Course Calendar document).

Plagiarism A proper citation is necessary for all direct quotation and for paraphrase from any source used (a paraphrase is when you use your own words to express an idea found in a source). Instructor’s Notes, course texts, as well as any and all outside sources must be properly cited. A proper citation consists of two elements. First there must be an in-text or footnote indication of the source and the page. An in-text indication will be put in parentheses directly following the quote or paraphrase, for example “(Instructor’s Notes Wk 3)” or “(Weston p. 35)”. A Footnote may be formatted as “Weston p. 35”. Second, there must be a list of works cited at the end of your examination; this list must include the author (if known), the title, and a URL if applicable. These are the only requirements for citation formatting; if you want you may use enhanced formatting if you are familiar with APA or MLA citation formatting but neither of those formats is required. Failure to give a proper citation is plagiarism; be sure you understand policy in the Course Syllabus concerning consequences of plagiarism. Your submission will be examined by Normandale’s sophisticated suite of plagiarism detection software platforms and compared with very large databases (which include previous submissions to this and other colleges and universities, material submitted by other students, as well as internet, electronic, and print sources). Use of materials without proper citations is plagiarism, and all instances of plagiarism detected will be permanently documented as part of your course record and will be subject to the penalties described in the Course Syllabus. That permanent documentation may also be forwarded to the Dean of Students.

Tips for good philosophical writing Clarity of expression is of maximum importance in this sort of writing; clarity is the chief stylistic aim. One strategy for writing clearly is to write as simply as possible: write short sentences in the active voice, avoid rhetorical questions, patiently explain each move your thinking is taking, and spend time making your strange or controversial claims sound plausible. Reading your paper aloud to yourself will help to expose places where explanation would be helpful. Remember that the goal is not just to express your ideas, but to express your ideas in a way that can be understood by others. Drawing distinctions is one of the most important tasks of philosophical writing about ethics. There are many different kinds of rights and virtues, many different ways to understand what

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‘happiness’ and ‘care’ mean. Always ask yourself “what are some different senses here” of any concept or notion that plays an important role in your work. I am happy to read a draft of your writing assignment before you submit it. I require at least four days to read and comment on drafts, and drafts are read in the order that I receive them. The deadline for submitting drafts is given on the Course Calendar. Drafts are not required. Drafts are to be submitted as an attachment to an email message to me. I read drafts only for completeness, clarity, detail, and imagination; it is your responsibility to correct grammatical errors and errors of spelling and punctuation. Contact the Writing Center at Normandale to learn about the availability of online help with your writing skills.

Standards of Evaluation In grading your submission, attention will be given to the following: use of English (grammar, spelling, punctuation), whether each of the required tasks in each section was attempted, clarity of expression, the detail in which the ideas are explored, and imagination.

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COURSE SYLLABUS PHIL 1103-00, Ethics First Summer Session 2022 Normandale Community College MnTC goals 6 and 9; 3 credit hours. Instructor Stephen Donaho, Ph.D. email: [email protected] Please reach out by email anytime, using your Normandale student email account. In order for me to reply you must use your Normandale student email account. And check your Normandale student email regularly for messages about our class and from the College. Your Normandale student email is designated as an official means of communication with you. I check email every business day of the semester except course holidays (on the weekends email is checked at least once on Saturdays). Any emails you send are very important to me and I endeavor to get back to you within 24 hours or sooner unless your message is delivered during the weekend or on a holiday, in which cases a reply may take longer (though not necessarily). Office Hours, Meet with me by Zoom Tuesdays 5:30pm-6:30pm and Wednesdays 10am-noon.

https://minnstate.zoom.us/my/stephendonaho.ncc (Password: 849888) Required texts A. Weston, A 21st Century Ethical Toolbox, 4th edition, Oxford University Press. A. George, ed., What Should I Do?: Philosophers on the Good, the Bad, and the Puzzling, Oxford University Press. The Weston and George texts are available from the Normandale bookstore and many online booksellers. Be sure to get exactly the titles and editions that I listed here. Other readings may be assigned in the form of Instructor’s Notes (available under Content) and web pages (available under Links). The weekly instructions will always specify the texts needed and the reading assignment for each week. You will also need to use a good online English dictionary during the term to help you understand the course readings. I can also recommend the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy—available entirely online—as a resource to help you understand the course readings. (And of course, I will always be happy to discuss any of the course materials with you and try to answer any questions that you may have in grappling with the ideas we will be discussing—see the ‘Help’ section below). How to study and complete assignments Under Content in D2L you will find a module called “INSTRUCTIONS”; there you will find Course Instructions, Examination Instructions, Reflection Exercise Instructions, Discussion Instructions, and Moral Analysis Writing Assignment Instructions. Be sure to read each of those documents carefully, and then refer back to them as the course progresses.

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Each week of the term you will be given instructions for that week; follow the instructions for the week in order each week. Do not fall behind—you will learn best and have the best experience if you do each step of the instructions each week every week. You are also less likely to be successful and get the best grade possible if you fall behind and try to cram. Be sure you know how to use D2L. Help using D2L is available from several sources on several platforms, and there is a D2L “demonstration course” you can access from your student D2L homepage. The How to Get Tech Help document lists those options for getting help using D2L. Problems with your hardware, personal software, and internet connection are your personal responsibility. Technical deficiencies do not excuse any student from any course requirements. All assignments must be submitted as MS Word or pdf documents; assignments not submitted as a MS Word or pdf document will not be accepted. All students registered at Normandale have free access to Microsoft Office which includes Microsoft Word; you can access your free account from your student D2L page. Course Schedule Schedules for assignments, topics, and holidays are given in the Course Calendar document found under Content. Expected Work Weekly reading and reflection: Each week of the term a set of Weekly Instructions will be given which will include readings from the course texts. You will be instructed to read the texts in a particular way, and then instructed to work on Reflection Exercises for that week. Although they are not to be submitted for a grade, write answers for all reflection exercises each week—this is a crucial step in learning and creatively engaging with the problems of Ethics. The Weekly Instructions will at times also instruct you to work on upcoming examinations or writing assignments. The Weekly Instructions for each week of the term will be available under Content for each week of the term. Because you will earn three credits for this course offered over the short five-week summer term, the State of Minnesota expects that you will do quite a bit of work each week. Examinations: There will be two examinations during the term. Each examination will consist of four essay questions covering the course material up to that point in the term. Expect to write two pages for each essay question. The examination questions will be available one week before the due date for each examination, and will be available under Content. The examination instructions are given in the Examination Instructions document under Content->Instructions. Examinations must be formatted and submitted in accordance with the examination instructions; examinations that are not so formatted and submitted will not be accepted. The examination due dates are given on the Course Calendar (as well as dates for a grace period beyond the due date for the first examination).

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Moral Analysis Writing Assignment: You will be given a writing assignment to work on beginning in the second week of the term; the assignment will be due at the end of the term (the due date is given in the Course Calendar). The instructions for the writing assignment are given in the Moral Analysis Writing Assignment Instructions document that will be available under Content->Instructions. Your writing assignment must be formatted and submitted in accordance with the writing assignment instructions and this syllabus; papers that are not so formatted and submitted will not be accepted. I am happy to look at a draft of your writing assignment before it is due; requirements for submitting a draft for help are given in the Writing Assignment Instructions and deadlines for the optional draft is on the Course Calendar. The due date for writing assignment is given on the Course Calendar. Discussion: Weekly participation in discussion is required. The Discussion Instructions document is found under Content->Instructions. All participation in course discussion must conform to the discussion policies given in the Discussion Instructions document. Course Learning Objectives

As a result of doing the work for this class, students will be able to: Examine, articulate, and apply one’s own ethical view. Understand and apply core moral concepts (e.g., politics, rights, obligations,

justice, liberty) to specific issues. Analyze and reflect upon the ethical dimensions of legal, social, and scientific

issues. Identify ways to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works in the history of moral

thought. Understand these ethical works as representations of various historical and social

values. Articulate informed personal responses to classical and modern ethical works. Respond critically to works of ethical analysis and their applications. Analyze an ethical claim, understand its assumptions and evaluate the

consequences that may follow. Recognize and articulate the value assumptions that underlie affect decisions,

interpretations, analyses, and evaluations made by oneself and others. Use diverse ethical theories and imaginatively generate alternative moral reasoning that results in alternative solutions. Help

I am happy to answer questions by email and I hope that everyone asks questions whenever they have them, either about the course instructions or about the course material. Be sure to ask any questions that come up. I am also available to meet by Zoom on Tuesdays 5:30pm-6:30pm and Wednesdays 10am-noon.

https://minnstate.zoom.us/my/stephendonaho.ncc (Password: 849888) Submission of examinations and the writing assignment

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• Submissions must be made to the appropriate folder under Assignments in D2L, and must be a file in MS Word or pdf. Submission deadlines are listed in the Course Calendar (under Content).

• Late submissions of the First Examination are accepted during the grace period following the due date and time; the length of the grace period is given in the Course Calendar document (found under Content). There is no point or grade penalty for submissions made during the grace period but they do not qualify for written commentary from the instructor in the First Exam Report. Late submission after the due date of either the Second Examination or the Moral Analysis Writing Assignment is not permitted because they are due on the last day of the course—you must plan ahead. You should aim to have finished the work for the term by the end of the day before the last day of the term, and I have structured your work for the last week so as to give you the space to do that.

• An optional draft of the Moral Analysis Writing Assignment may be submitted— this is not required. The submission requirements and instructions for submitting a draft are given in the Moral Analysis Writing Assignment Instructions document.

• Submissions that do not meet the format requirements are not accepted (any format requirements given here and in the Examination Instructions and Moral Analysis Writing Assignment Instructions documents found under Content- >Instructions).

• It is entirely your personal responsibility to be sure that your hardware, software, internet connection, and knowledge of D2L are sufficient to participate in this online course. Deficiencies in technology or technical knowledge will not excuse any student from course instructions, requirements, or expectations. Again, for help with technology see the How to Get Tech Help document found under Content.

Academic honesty

All students are expected to know the academic honesty policy of the College.

Plagiarism on one assignment will result in the grade F for that writing assignment or examination (or ‘not acceptable’ in the case of a discussion posting), and may result in a final course grade of F and a report to the Dean of Students. The College may impose further penalties. Proper citations must be given for all material from any source used in exam essays and the Moral Analysis writing assignment. This includes both direct quotation and paraphrase, that is, direct quotations as well as putting ideas or information from sources in your own words. Sources include required course texts and Instructor’s Notes in addition to any outside source (print, internet, video, the work of other students, tutors). Formatting and requirements for proper citations are described in the Examination Instructions document and in the Moral Analysis Writing Assignment Instructions document (both found under Content->Instructions).

Your submissions will be examined by Normandale’s sophisticated suite of plagiarism detection software platforms and compared with very large databases (which include previous submissions to this and other colleges and universities, material submitted by other students, material prepared by professional cheaters, as well as

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internet, electronic, and print sources). Use of materials without proper citations is plagiarism, and all instances of plagiarism detected will be permanently documented as part of your course record and will be subject to the penalties described above. That permanent documentation may also be forwarded to the Dean of Students. Grades

Each of the examinations and the writing assignment will be worth 100 course

points. But as an incentive to improve, the lowest score will be dropped from the final course grade calculation. You should aim to do as well as possible on the First Examination and then use the comments you will receive to help you write a stronger Second Examination and a strong Writing Assignment.

I will check participation in Discussion for randomly selected weeks during the term. Following the Discussion Instructions document will result in a grade of “acceptable” for that week, and not following the discussion instructions earns the grade “not acceptable” for that week. Consistently making very detailed and careful posts that are relevant and clear during the semester earns ten bonus points total added to the second-lowest assignment score (ten bonus points total, not ten per post).

The final course grade will be determined in the following way. First, your lowest assignment score is dropped (from the two examinations and the Writing Assignment). Then Discussion participation is checked and the ten-point bonus, if awarded, is added to the lowest of those two scores. Then I add those two scores to determine a raw letter grade calculated as a percentage of 200 course points, where A is 100-90%, B is 89-75%, C is 74-60%, D is 59-50%, and F is below 50%. Finally, participation in discussion is checked again; for each “not acceptable” beyond one, the raw letter grade will be reduced by one-half letter. This adjusted letter grade will be the final course grade.

The grade of Incomplete will be assigned only under extraordinary and documented circumstances as determined by the instructor; requests for Incomplete must be made in writing before the second to last day of the semester; generally speaking, requests for the grade Incomplete will not be granted. Automatic Grade of NW for Nonparticipation: College policy requires that any student that is inactive in a course for more than two weeks must be assigned the semester final course grade of NW. After that grade is assigned there is no further D2L access to the course as NW is the final course grade for the semester. And those who receive that grade will not be permitted to continue in the course past that point even if a request to do so is made (given that too much material has been missed). Important Notices Information in this syllabus and other course documents is subject to alteration and amendment during the term; all alterations and amendments will be announced on the course D2L site. All students enrolled in this course will be held responsible to know the information in this syllabus, the information in all other course instruction and policy documents, and all alterations and amendments announced under Announcements or in updated course documents.

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Normandale Community College is committed to providing equal access for students with disabilities through the services provided by the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD). If you have an educational need because of a disability, please make an appointment for an intake/interview to discuss these needs so that appropriate accommodations can be implemented for your Normandale courses. Appointments can be made by calling the OSD staff at 952-358-8625, emailing [email protected], or stopping by the L2751 office. This syllabus is available in alternate formats upon request. Instructor’s professional biography Stephen Donaho holds the B.A. with honors in Philosophy from the State University of New York, and the M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota. His doctoral research was on applications of logic in the study of the semantics of natural languages. He has taught in the philosophy departments at the University of Minnesota, the University of St. Thomas, Metropolitan State University, Concordia College-New York (where he also held an appointment as Associate Professor of Liberal Studies), and is presently a tenured member of the Department of Philosophy at Normandale Community College. He is also a Resident Fellow of the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Minnesota. He has delivered lectures at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Mankato State University, Loyola-Marymount University, Canisius College, and Brooklyn College-City University of New York, as well as before the Minnesota Philosophical Society and the American Philosophical Association. His papers have appeared in Mind and The Journal of Philosophical Logic.