Professor: Dr. Leonard O’Brian
Scottsdale Community College
Office: SB 120
Office hours: To be determined
Office telephone: 480.423.6212
Email: leonard.obrian@sccmail.maricopa.edu

Introduction to Ethics

Syllabus

Purpose of the Course

The purpose of this course is to help you to think more carefully about your personal moral issues and the moral issues of our time. The purpose is improvement in your moral reasoning. The purpose is not to provide you with solutions to moral issues.

The course should be of value for at least four reasons. First, It raises many of the most important questions of life. Some of these issues human beings have struggled with down through the centuries; others seem to belong uniquely to the 20th and 21st centuries. You probably have already been thinking about some of these questions. The course focuses on essentially moral questions. Nevertheless, moral questions interact with questions in other divisions of philosophy, so we touch on questions in the theory of knowledge, in the theory of art, in philosophy of religion, and other branches of philosophy. Thus, Introduction to Ethics should help you by helping you to think philosophically.

Second, the course assists you in pursuing your personal goals. What are your personal goals? That question is a moral question that only can be addressed by examining your values. In a way, this course is about the purpose or purposes of our lives. Granted, much of the time, in class, we will not be discussing the purpose of our lives directly or explicitly; but we will be doing so implicitly. The questions that we do discuss explicitly will bear, in one way or another, on important, personal matters.

Third, the course contributes to preparing you for life's confusions. The course should develop your own tolerance for doubt and uncertainty. It should develop your resources for dealing with intellectual and emotional difficulty. It should develop your persistence, composure, and care in navigating the complex lives that we all actually live.

Finally, Introduction to Ethics should contribute to locating you among your fellow human beings. It should encourage a sense of humankind's shared experience. The purpose of the course, as stated above, is to help you to think more carefully about (A) your personal moral issues and (B) the moral issues of our time. That statement of purpose mentions two categories of issues, individual issues and societal issues; in fact, however, these two categories tend to overlap. Some of your own moral problems you probably share, in one form or another, with your fellow human beings. Possibly you will find reassurance in knowing that, with respect to your confusions, you are not alone.

Textbook and Encyclopedia

We will proceed roughly in the order of Professor White's discussion, but with modifications. For example, while the first three essays that we examine all come from Chapter One: Ethical Theories, we will examine the essays in the following order.

  1. William Shaw: Ethical Relativism
  2. James Rachels: Egoism and Moral Scepticism
  3. John Arthur: Religion, Morality, and Conscience

In class, I will announce other changes. You are responsible for being aware of these announcements.

You should read the assignments as carefully as possible. Sometimes I call on students randomly, asking for questions or comments regarding the assigned material. If, for some reason, you have not done a particular assignment (or at least most of it), you should inform me of that fact before our class begins.

Note: Having studied the material does not entail that you have understood the material. Introduction to Ethics concerns complex issues. The essays that address these issues, therefore, challenge one's understanding. Inevitably, in reading them, you frequently will be confused. This point requires elaboration within a discussion of course requirements.

Requirements: Embracing Confusion

Philosophical growth requires emotional and intellectual activity. It does not occur passively, as a result of something done to one. We might think of the process by an analogy: Philosophical growth resembles developing the body through exercise more than it resembles repairing the body through surgery. In the former case we are agents, active; in the latter case we are patients, passive. Philosophical development requires intellectual exercise, and participation in class enhances that exercise. Therefore, I expect each person to contribute to the class in his or her own way, asking questions, criticizing arguments, and proposing ideas.

Here we return to the point about confusion. Inevitably, you will be confused in this class. Confusion is good. It signals that questions may be forming.

Confusion provides a reason for speech rather than for silence. Confusion invites you into the process rather than exempting you from it. If you are confused, you thereby have a contribution to make to our discussion: You can indicate that you are confused. You can ask for clarification. Thus, you contribute to our discussion with comments such as the following:

You can address these and similar questions both to me and to your classmates; moreover, you can ask them of the philosophers we will study, e.g., "I don't get Kant's point here. Can you put it a different way?"

In addition to questions, you should have assertions to make, as well.

At the end of the semester, I will consider oral participation in determining your final grade. (See "Grades.") If you have been making a reasonable number of comments and raising a reasonable number of questions, and if you appear to have been abiding by the spirit of principles 1-5 under "Class Sessions," you will receive an A for this component of your grade. If you are already someone who likes to talk a lot in class, please note: The concept, "reasonable number of comments," includes allowing others to comment, too.

In addition to contributing to class discussion, you will write three papers and take four quizzes. The schedule below identifies the dates for the papers and quizzes. The papers will be due at the beginning of class on the dates specified. Papers should be on time. I accept late papers, but—unless you have communicated with me before the due date, and I have granted an exception—I deduct something from the paper grade. True, 'deduct something' is vague, but there is no honest way to be precise, since the decision to deduct something must be made within a particular situation, for which no precise formula can be specified in the abstract.

If my initial encounter with a paper—scanning it—suggests that it may merit a grade of approximately D or lower, I will return it, essentially unread and essentially unmarked. We will discuss the situation to determine what you need to do to improve your work. You may then re-write the paper. I will deduct something from the grade, but, hopefully, the grade will be better than it would have been had you not re-written the paper.

Please do not send papers by email, other than in exceptional circumstances about which we have conferred.

The first paper will be explained thoroughly, and the remaining two summarily, in the first paper assignment, which begins on p. 9 below.

Paper due dates

Quiz dates

I do not give makeup quizzes, except as required by college regulations, but I do drop your lowest quiz score. (See p. 27 of the 2005-2006 SCC catalogue.) Thus, if you miss one quiz, that score will not be figured in your average. If you miss two, one of them will be figured in the average.

Attendance

I require attendance. If you choose to be absent for some reason, you should explain that reason to me. Preferably, you should speak to me about the absence before it occurs, though emergencies can arise that preclude prior consultation. If you accumulate absences greater than the equivalent of three fifty-minute sessions, I may withdraw you from the class. (Again, see p. 27 of the catalogue for possible exceptions.) I will not withdraw you, however, provided that it is clear to me, based on your communications with me, that you are taking your work in the course seriously and are thereby performing adequately. Absences accumulate from the first date that the class meets, not the first date of your enrollment or attendance.

Grades

The three papers will contribute to your course grade about 45%, about 15% each. The three highest quizzes will contribute to your course grade about 30%, about 10% each, the lowest of the four being dropped. Class participation, as I evaluate it, counts for about 25% of your course grade. 'Participation' refers to oral contributions, attendance, and observance of points 1-5 under "Class Sessions."

Class Sessions

I expect your involvement in our class, your presence in mind as well as in body.

Class sessions will conform to the principles of decency and courtesy that are generally observed by the academic community and our larger society, for example, deference toward others when they are speaking, tolerance of viewpoints that differ from our own, and respect for the questions and thinkers under discussion. It is impossible to reduce observance of these principles to formulas: Each of us must exercise a bit of wisdom in determining how to interact with her or his colleagues in an academic setting. Nevertheless, five points will help.

  1. Arrive at class on time.
  2. Before entering the classroom, turn off audible functions of your cell phone.
  3. When someone is speaking publicly, that is, to the class, direct your attention to him or her. Once I have begun class, there will be much public communication, very little, almost no, private communication.
  4. Remain in the room for the entire period.
  5. Maintain a demeanor of attention until I have dismissed class. I expect of my students an attentive demeanor throughout the class period, and that expectation applies to the last few minutes. To illustrate, I ask that, before I adjourn our meeting, you refrain from closing books and notebooks; refrain from opening book bags; refrain from reaching for purses and backpacks; and refrain from pocketing pencils and pens. In other words, please refrain from any behavior that symbolizes psychological withdrawal from the classroom.

These points are guidelines, not dogmas. I can't imagine that there is any principle of etiquette that should never be broken. For example, regarding point 2, a loved one might be at the hospital in critical care, and you want to keep your cell phone on in case there are changes in her condition. It would be thoughtful to put the phone on vibrate mode, and mention to me before class that you might be leaving the room if you get a call.

Regarding point 4, you might be ill and suddenly need to go to the bathroom. The courteous response would be to explain to me later the reason for the departure. This exception to 4 must not be abused: Departures by any individual should either be rare, or discussed with me (You might have a medical condition that involves frequent use of the rest room.). Similarly, departures by multiple members of a class should be correspondingly unusual. Adults normally attend to immanent physiological concerns before assuming their responsibilities as members in a group.

Point 3 does not mean that there must never be secondary communication— some body language, occasional and brief whispering. It does mean, be courteous. Exhibit respect for those who are speaking and for those who are listening to those who are speaking. Once I have begun class, your default attitude should be attention to me. Your secondary attitude should be attention to a member of the class who is speaking to us all. If your real default attitude or real secondary attitude is attention to another member of the class who is not communicating publicly, conceal it.

In other words, use mature judgment.

If you have questions about these guidelines, or if you anticipate having a frequent problem with any of them, please consult with me as soon as possible.

Indeed, regarding any problem that you are experiencing with our work together, you should consult with me as soon as possible. The problem could be academic: For example, the reading assignments or writing assignments or class discussions may confuse you; perhaps the class is not proceeding as you had expected. The problem could be personal: For example, something might be happening in your life that is affecting your academic work. The problem could be interpersonal: For example, you might feel some misunderstanding between you and me, or some conflict between you and another classmate; perhaps some aspect of our class discussions or lectures concerns you. In any case, the sooner you communicate with me, the more effectively we can address the problem. Talk with me in person, phone me, or email me.

Academic Freedom

We abide by the ideal of academic freedom. In general, the ideal of academic freedom entails that essentially any belief or question about any aspect of human experience that bears on the discipline in question may serve as the topic of examination. In particular, with respect to the discipline of philosophy, any belief or question about any aspect of human experience may serve as the topic of examination, because all aspects of human experience pertain to philosophy. Thus, on occasion, we will discuss ideas concerning religion, politics, sex, and possibly other ideas associated with strong feelings and controversy. This course, in principle, excludes no aspect of human experience. It is a course for adults, for people who subscribe to the ideal of academic freedom, for students who seek the truth wherever it may be found.

Intellectual Honesty

Intellectual honesty is a fundamental academic virtue, plagiarism a fundamental academic vice. An act of plagiarism constitutes a serious academic offense. Papers must result from your own work; the ideas must be expressed in your own words, except when you cite the work of others. When you use the language of another author, you must (1) quote the author exactly, (2) set off the quoted material with quotation marks, and (3) identify the author, the publication and page(s) wherein the material appears. If you use the distinctive ideas of another, even though not his or her exact words, the person must be given credit by your identifying the person, the publication wherein his or her ideas appears, including the page(s). For some reason, students often fail to indicate the page(s). Proper citation includes indication of the page(s). See the discussion of "Student Misconduct," in the catalogue, p. 205.

We will discuss footnoting further when I make your second assignment. If you have any doubts about the avoidance of plagiarism, it is your responsibility to ask me. There is nothing wrong in asking for clarification about the nature of plagiarism; indeed, asking for such clarification is commendable. There is much wrong in plagiarizing. Any student who submits work as his or her own that is not his or her own will receive either a failing grade for the course or other appropriate reprimand or penalty.

Regarding use of the Internet, keep in mind that, at various sites , for example, Wikipedia, and many reached through Google—almost anyone, regardless of qualifications, can make claims. Sometimes these sources are fine, sometimes not. We will operate cautiously: If you use the Internet, except for the Routledge Encyclopedia, you must submit, appended to your paper, a printed version of either the complete text from which you have drawn, or, if the text is unduly long, the portion of the material that is relevant.

Remember libraries and bookstores. By examining books and professional journals in libraries, such as the SCC or ASU libraries or public libraries, and good bookstores such as Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Changing Hands, you can reasonably suppose that the materials upon which you are drawing have survived at least some process of expert evaluation. University presses, though not the only dependable sources. are usually highly dependable. If the university press of Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Chicago, Princeton, or Yale, and so on, has published a book, you can count on its having been adequately juried. Whether your sources are electronic, oral, or paper, you must abide by the principle of intellectual honesty.

Withdrawal

Under "Class Sessions," I have asked that, with respect to any problem that you are having with our work together, you discuss it with me as soon as possible. If this process of communication has been occurring, we can (A) minimize the possibility that you will withdraw if, in fact, withdrawal is unnecessary, or (B) expedite withdrawal if, in fact, withdrawal would be appropriate. I will, thus, have been able to try to help you in any way that is feasible.

Conferences

My office is SB 120. Please feel free to drop by. In addition, you may phone me at my office. Leave a message on voice mail if I am not in. You may also email me at the address given at the top of the syllabus.