Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Immanuel Kant (1725-1894)
Introduction to Moral Philosophy
Course Syllabus,
Instructor: P. Fortier, M.A.
(
Please Print This Syllabus
Welcome
to Philosophy 2100 ON-
Below you
will find the information that you need to assist you in the successful
completion of this course. I want you to
know that I am here to assist you in doing your very best in the class. If you have questions at any time, about
anything related to either the format or subject matter, I will be more than
happy to help you in any way possible.
You may contact me privately via e-mail, telephone or in-person. If you wish to meet in-person, you may reach
me using the information below to set up an appointment.
As you can
see on your Ucompass screen, there are SEVEN course content related areas, starting from the top on the left side of
your screen. I will upload the course
content documents into these areas. I
have listed these areas below along with an indication of their respective
course functions:
1) Course Information – COURSE
SYLLABUS
2) Announcements – current class
reminder or important class wide note
3) Course Materials –
·
Weekly
Packets: Lectures, Agendas, Major Papers Info
·
More
Information: Additional Announcements,
Pre-Start Information
·
Glossaries:
Important Philosophy Vocabulary
4) Assignments –
·
Weekly
·
My
Homework Folder: student drop box which allows you to submit weekly assignments
and major class papers
5) Course Assessments – Midterm Exam,
Final Exam and other Assessments
6) Discussion Board – Weekly
Discussion Group Forums, General Course Questions/Format Group Forum, Group
Project Forums
7) External Links – Primary References,
Secondary References
The specific goals of
each area are as follows:
1) The Announcements
area contains the current announcement for that day. I will maintain a folder of all announcements
in the Course Materials section. Please check
for current announcements and please review all postings in the Announcement
Folder in the Course Materials area.
2) The Course
Information contains the syllabus for this course
3) In the Course
Materials area contains the following Sublink Folders:
- Weekly Packets – a folder that
contains Lectures, Agendas and Major Papers Information
- More Information - Additional
Announcements & Pre-Start Information
- Glossaries – a listing of
important philosophical terms for this course.
4) The Assignments
button refers to the area that contains your weekly reading guide
questions. You must read the textbook
and lecture in order to answer these questions.
Herein, you will find your Homework/Student Drop Box Folder.
5) Course
Assessments is the area that contains your midterm and final exams. These will be available only on the date
specified in the course due dates.
6) Discussion
Board contains each week’s group forum discussion board. You will use this area to answer each week’s
discussion questions, to post critiques and engage in our class
discussion. In this area, you will also
locate your smaller groups for the course project.
7) External
Links area contains a list of helpful hyperlinks to assist you in writing
your papers and completing course requirements.
In order
to do well in this class, you will be required contribute on a daily basis, in
written form, your comments to the Discussion Board (DB) in the Group
Forum. That is, you will not only be
REQUIRED to READ and to WRITE but also to demonstrate your proficiency in the
subject matter of the course. As you
read the Lectures, you will notice a few Discussion Questions (DQs) embedded
within each Lecture or listed separately on the weekly agendas. Each student will be required to answer these
DQs individually on one day and react to other students input on different days
in the form of critiques. You will submit all these elements to the DB in the
Group Forum area.
Also,
throughout the course, you will be answering Reading Questions that follow the
course material in the text. In the
Assignments area you will read the relevant questions and transmit your answers
back to me via Homework Folder (the Student Drop Box). Please send all student work files as
documents in Word or Rich Text Format (.rtf) only!
One Required On-Site Visit:
This term
you are required to attend one onsite campus meeting:
Ø
Midterm
Review/Class Meeting – this two hour long class meeting will be convened on a
Friday evening at South Campus one week before the midterm exam. The exact date will be announced during the
first week of class but will most likely take place around the fourth week of
the term.
Ø
Your attendance at
this Onsite Midterm Review/Class Meeting is mandatory for partial credit in
this course. I will announce the date,
time and location for the onsite meeting during the first week of our course
term.
ON-
The
Ucompass Web Site provides its clients with a java chat option. During the term, I may provide students with
the opportunity to discuss course issues.
I may award bonus points to students who attend pre-arranged office
hours chats. The chat feature will not
be available until the middle to late in the term.
ON-
By
appointment only. Messages can be left at
ON-
Department
of Humanities, Philosophy Area
From
Ucompass, my primary E-mail Information is: oldsoul1966@yahoo.com
From
outside Ucompass, my secondary e-mail information is: oldsoul1966@wowway.com
Please do
not carbon copy your assignments to both addresses. The second email should only be used
in the event that Ucompass has a problem.
All course assignments and papers should be submitted via Homework
Folder (Student Drop Box) or posted to the appropriate forum on the Discussion
Board. If you wish to communicate via
email, use the Yahoo email already set up in the Ucompass application. If Ucompass is down, you may use the secondary
email.
All ON-
- Student Work Submissions
(Homework Folder)
- Discussion Board postings in
the Group Forum
- E-mail to my primary or
secondary address.
- U.S. Postal Delivery Service
to me c/o
- In-person submission of course
assignments.
Course
Objective:
Ethics (Gr. ta ethika, from
ethos) refers to that study or discipline which concerns itself with judgments
of approval and disapproval, judgments as to the rightness or wrongness, good
or evil, virtue or vice, desirability or wisdom of actions, dispositions, ends,
objects, or states of affairs. The study
of Ethics may proceed in two main directions: as an explanation, either in
sociological or psychological terms or as a recommendation for action, either
establishing a system of conduct or discovering such system (s).
Moral
philosophers are also largely concerned with the development and role of
virtue, self-examinations, the consistency of moral character and its practical
disposition. In either case, Ethics must
involve consideration into the nature of ethical statements, their meaning and
truth, their objectivity or subjectivity, and the possible relationship to one
objective principle or between associated principles. Ethics also must necessarily involve the
applications of those ethical truth(s) to the lived experience of the
individual and/or community. The format
of this course, while respecting a certain diversity of opinion, will for the
most part progress from a consideration of various perspectives on human
nature/reality (metaphysics) to their possible ethical dimensions (ethics) and
finally, will consider how such ethical beliefs influence the practice of ethics
in everyday life. In particular, we will
emphasize what is relevant to the lived experience of the people; in its
personal, communal and political dimensions.
Course
Catalog Description:
This is a
critical examination of the foundation of various ethical systems. Specific ethical problems are posed
especially those, which relate to the student's situation and possible
solutions are discussed. Students will
be challenged to define and defend their ethical position against alternative
systems.
Course Length:
An
attendance of 5 out of 7 days is required for a total of 8 weeks.
Contact
Hours: 3 contact
hours
Credit Value: 3 Credits
Grading
Scale:
|
A = 92 - 100% = 4.0 |
|
A - = 90 - 91.9 % = 3.7 |
|
B + = 88 – 89.9 % = 3.3 |
|
B = 82 – 87.9 % = 3.0 |
|
B - = 80 - 81.9 % = 2.7 |
|
C+ = 78 - 79.9 % = 2.3 |
|
C = 72 - 77.9 % = 2.0 |
|
C - = 70 - 71.9 % = 1.7 |
|
D+ = 68 - 69.9 % = 1.3 |
|
D = 62 - 67.9 % = 1.0 |
|
D -
= 60 - 61.9 % = 0.7 |
|
E
= Below 60% = 0.0 |
For Technical
Support:
Refer to
Ucompass Manuel or contact the helpdesk at:
I have also
created a Discussion Board Group Forum entitled “Course Format Questions
Forum.” Please use that forum for
Format/Course Requirements Questions only.
I will expect you to have read through the course documents before you
ask your question.
Learning
Outcomes:
Upon
successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:
·
Define
and discuss contemporary moral issues and their relation
to fundamental principles and
philosophical systems.
·
Analyze
case studies and develop resolutions using relevant moral principles.
·
Present
logical and consistent arguments in support of moral positions.
·
Develop
appropriate strategies for conflict resolutions.
·
Discuss
issues of duty and consider the boundaries of philosophical speculation.
·
Examine
the differences between scientific/technological worldviews and the more
classical
understandings of ethical theory.
·
Define
and discuss ethical issues within the business, medical and political arenas.
Course
Prerequisites: None
Employer
Tuition Remissions:
Students
receiving course tuition reimbursement from employers must submit a written
request to the facilitator for any letters verifying attendance and/or earned credits.
Required
Text (Check the
Great Traditions in Ethics by Theodore Denise, Sheldon P. Peterfreund
and Nicholas P. White.
Moral
Philosophy. By Emmett Barcalow.
For
ISBN: 0-534-52648-9
Supplemental
Materials: Internet Access and PC/Mac.
Class
Policies:
I) Special
Attendance Guidelines:
The student
is expected to attend the course via uploading significant contributions to the
Discussion Board. Students are also
expected to read each week’s lecture, relevant text pages and complete all
other necessary assignments as noted in the weekly agendas.
The college
has established an attendance standard for all online courses. A student participant must ‘attend’ class 5
of 7 days per week. This is measured by
the facilitator recording the date & quality of each posting you make to
the system - whether it is a response to one of the assignments, a comment on
the work of another, or a question to the group or to your instructor.
An absence
does not excuse the student from the responsibility of participation, assigned
work, and/or exam. It is virtually
impossible to earn a decent grade in this course without the minimal of the
5-day attendance each week.
·
IMPORTANT:
Attendance will be documented only on the basis of the posted entries on
the Discussion Board. I will have no
record of your attendance unless you post on a daily basis.
On Roll Call:
Since, I do not receive a computer print-out that informs me when
a student logs onto the system; I have no way of knowing whether a student has
signed onto the system if that student does not submit an entry in the
discussion forum area. In order to meet
the criteria of 5 of 7 days contact, I am required to use the dates recorded by
the system at the heading of each of your discussion postings. This will be the method of taking Roll. Attendance will be used as a guideline in
conjunction with the overall participation to determine that portion of the
grade. Please consider this as you schedule your course work.
II)
Plagiarism/Cheating
q Plagiarism is to take and use another’s words or ideas as one’s
own
Plagiarism
of any material is a serious offense, not to mention illegal and may result in
failure of the course. Outside sources
may be used if properly referenced as such. Cheating will not be tolerated.
Fortier Class Policy -
If plagiarism is
detected in a student's work, that student will not receive credit for that
assignment. If plagiarism occurs a second time, the student will be assigned an
‘E/F’ or ‘0’ for the course.
If any instance of plagiarism is
suspected, that paper (without any of its name identifying characteristics)
will be submitted to a third party for plagiarism statistical analysis. Please refer to the
Academic
dishonesty could involve any of the following:
·
Having
a tutor or friend complete a portion of your assignments.
·
Having
a reviewer make extensive revisions to an assignment.
·
Copying
work submitted by another student
·
Using
information from online information services without proper citation
·
Having
someone assist you in answering examination questions or cases, or having
another person see/review/critique your answers prior to submitting those
answers to the classes.
N.B. This
list is not all-inclusive. Please check with me ahead of time if you have any
questions regarding academic integrity. I will post specific guidelines on
referencing methods and paper requirements in the Papers Folder in the Course
Documents area.
Papers
will be returned without a grade if sources are not referenced properly. You are expected to learn and implement the
MLA style of citations for all papers and exam essays in this course.
Ø
MLA citations must appear
within the body of your paper and must correspond to a “Works Cited” page at
the end of your paper. If you fail to
provide both items correctly, your paper is not referenced properly.
For seminar days,
refer to the weekly agenda. Assignments
are due on the day of the seminar specified (by the END OF THE
Class
Discussion/Participation:
Class
discussion/participation is required to keep the class interesting and to
maximize your learning. Students are required to actively participate in forum
discussions. Students are also
encouraged to bring personal experiences to the class forum. However, in the true spirit of philosophical
reflection, discussion will be directed toward the objective and
philosophically relevant. Students are
encouraged to bring into the course any material from current events that are
relevant to the subject matter. Attendance will be recorded solely on the basis of your
postings to the DB. Please setup your discussion forums to a
threaded format.
Techniques to
Facilitate Class Discussion:
You are
encouraged to dialogue with other students regarding the subject matter. In fact, we will discuss the particulars of a
standard in philosophy, the Socratic Dialectic.
Some appropriate contribution to this dialogue might include life, work,
politics and/or social experiences. You are expected to show your understanding
of the readings and their relevance to the subject matter.
It is very
wise for you to keep regular contact with the Discussion Board, Course Documents
and Announcements areas. A key part of
your grade depends in large part on your involvement in the discussion. Please keep your comments focused, to the
point, be polite, and reference the name of the person whose comments you are
referring to if you are commenting on the inputs of others.
Instructor Feedback:
How are you
doing? That's a good question. Here are my tasks as the instructor:
1) Weekly, I
will send some directional comments to the forum indicating important points,
etc. I will mention any major concerns
or strong points the class needs to consider.
After the midterm exam, you will have access to the grade
book and point scores. Throughout the
course, after I grade items, you will be able to view your points for major
assignments. I will calculate attendance
points only at the midterm – not on a week by week basis. In other words, your attendance/participation
points will be indicated shortly after the midterm exam and after the final
exam. Your weekly forum postings and
reading questions submissions average between 3-3.75 points per week.
2) Often, I
will enter comments into the discussion as I review student contributions.
These may include questions, clarifications and/or re-emphasis on important
material.
3) At least
two to three times per week, I will provide feedback (oftentimes via email) to
the class/individual in a more personalized manner on related topics and
lecture material.
4) If anyone
is having a specific problem, I will send a private message. Usually this is done to reflect marginal
attendance, missing assignments or lack of dialogue with others. Detailed explanation of grading weights will
be outlined below.
Transmission
Format:
Please
submit your all files either in Word or Rich Text Format (.rtf). If you do not have Word 97 or 2000, you can
save your work in the Rich Text Format.
Any word processing program can save your work as a Rich Text Format
document. I DO NOT HAVE ANY PROGRAMS THAT READ .
During the
first week, I will post a questionnaire/agreement to you. Each student must complete the
questionnaire/agreement and submit it to me before they may go on in the course
and before I will begin to read anything else that they have submitted. The purpose of the questionnaire/agreement is
not only to make certain you understand the requirements but also to obtain
information about your academic experiences and help resolve any technical
issues.
Assignments:
It is
crucial to label all assignments. When
you submit assignments either via the Drop Box, the forums or e-mail, you must
spell out the assignment title and specific topic in a heading of the message. In the Discussion Board, make certain you are
responding to the appropriate forum by noting its particular topic. It is very difficult to sort through all the
messages at the end of the week to find your assignments for grading if they
are not labeled correctly or uploaded to the proper forum.
The
Assignment Grade is compiled with the Participation Grade. Specifically, it includes the following
components:
1)
Discussion
Questions/Quotes – I will post them in lectures or the agenda and you will
upload them to the DB.
2)
Reading Guide Questions
– I will post in the Assignments area and you will send answers back via the
Drop Box.
3)
Special Impromptu Essays
– I will list them on the weekly Agenda or on a forum and you will respond to
the forum or via the Student Drop Box.
4)
Critiques of Other
Student Responses – You will read them in the DB and upload your responses to
the DB.
Course
Grading Weights:
Ethics Interview Paper
15 Points
Argument/Position Paper 15 Points
Midterm Review (onsite) 5 Points
Midterm Exam (online) 15
Points
Project (group) 10
Points
Assignments/Participation 30
Points
Final Essays (online)
10 Points
Bonus: Movie Review on an Ethical Theme
(specific details TBA)
I will post
paper guidelines and suggestions in a separate folder in the Course Documents
area at later date.
**Due Dates
for All Student Papers/Exams: TBA
Topics of
the Course (Modified if Necessary)
1)
Philosophy
Aims/Divisions
Historical
Framework
Terms
2)
Metaphysics/Science of Being
Metaphysical
Claims
Monism/Dualism
3) Role of
Ethical Systems and Use of Logic
Major
Fallacies
Argument
Construction/Critique
4) Critical
Thinking and Moral Reasoning
Metaethics, Norms
and Applied Ethics
Legal and
Moral Distinctions
Factors in
Moral Decision-making
5)
Relativism vs. Objectivism
Moral
Absolutes, Values and Moral Truth
6) Various
Schools of Thought
Moral
Pluralism? Valid or Invalid
7) Case Studies
8) History
of Moral Philosophy
Greek and
Roman Influences
Early
Christian Ethics
Later
Christian Ethics
Modern Moral
Philosophy
Contemporary
Moral Philosophy
Existentialist
and Feminist Ethics
9) Applied
Ethics
Tentative
Issues:
Voluntary
Artificial Termination of Pregnancy
Euthanasia
and Assisted Suicide
Poverty
Capital
Punishment
Bioethics
and Environmental
Sexual
Morality
Variation on
Topics TBA
A
COURSE SCHEDULE WILL BE POSTED SOMETIME DURING THE FIRST WEEK.
Philip Fortier,
M.A.
Adjunct,
Philosophy/Humanities
"Philosophy, a luxury to the man in prosperity and a refuge
to the man in adversity" -- Aristotle