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Academic Year 2003/2004

Introduction to Ethics
PHIL 212 FA

The central question of ethics is "How should I live my life?" This question has two basic answers. One is "Make your OWN LIFE as good as you can make it." The other is "Make the WORLD as good as you can make it." Put another way, the first answer is "LIVE WELL" and the second answer is "DO RIGHT." These seem to be equally plausible answers to the central question of ethics. But what does one do in cases where living well conflicts with doing right? A standard way to deal with this problem is to deny it, by arguing that the good life, properly conceived, will always match up with the morally correct life (or vice versa). Plato and Aristotle argued in this way. But others in the philosophical tradition have maintained that the two answers are genuinely in conflict. Our inquiry will include a study of utilitarian, Kantian, and virtue ethical theories, and include readings from Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Mill, and some contemporary authors.

MAJOR READINGS

James Sterba, ed. ETHICS: THE BIG QUESTIONS (Blackwell, 1998)
Immanuel Kant, FOUNDATIONS OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS, trans. Beck (Library of Liberal Arts)
Philip Hallie, TALES OF GOOD AND EVIL, HELP AND HARM (Harper, 1998)
A xerox packet of articles, available at The Mail Center, College St. at Main.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

A two-page exposition paper, two five-page papers, an eight-page take-home final exam.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA PHIL    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2004

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