PHIL 157 Moral Issues
- None.
None
one-way Exclusions
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- The main course text is Meynell and Paron鈥檚 Applied Ethics Primer. Supplementary articles will be available electronically.
Instructor: Jacqueline Davies
Diverse philosophers, traditions of thought and practice respond in different ways to questions about what it means to be moral, ethical, or live 鈥渋n a good way鈥. We explore some frameworks that shape such responses. We compare the utilitarian focus on the positive and negative effects of an action with Immanuel Kant鈥檚 view that there are some things we should never do no matter how beneficial or harmful the consequences are. We also draw on the insights of ahimsa, doctrines of human rights, Aristotle鈥檚 virtue ethics, Buddhism, Mohism, Western feminist ethics of care, African Ubuntu, plus Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee teachings about interdependence and our responsibilities to all our relations. Access to diverse frameworks can heighten awareness of our prejudices and assumptions about how we ought to act. Thoughtful articulation of your own moral intuitions and commitments and how that affects your judgments, decisions and actions is emphasized. You will not be evaluated on the correctness of your beliefs but on the clarity of their expression and the strength of reasoning you provide in their support. Specific moral issues considered may include lying and cheating in the age of AI; consensual sexuality and exploitation; harmful speech; incarceration; homelessness and private property; homicide; indifference and neglect; responsibilities to parents, strangers, future generations and the non-human world; and, whether we have a moral responsibility to challenge (our own) ignorance. The course is suitable for students at any level of any discipline, and for philosophy concentrators keen to reflect on their own values.
Assessments
Assessments
Regular attendance and well-prepared classroom engagement during lecture meetings is very strongly encouraged; tutorial attendance is required.
Learning is enabled and evaluated through weekly online active-reading (Perusall) assignments, a weekly mix of in-person writing exercises and other tutorial activities, one midterm and a final exam.
Skills focus includes active reading and listening, increased awareness of your own prejudices, and assumptions, and improved ability to articulate, interrogate, and evaluate your own responses to specific moral issues, and demonstration of an introductory level understanding of the diverse moral frameworks studied in the course.