Course Syllabus

syllabus in .doc form

Philosophy 102: Contemporary Moral Problems

 

Syllabus

 

Item #1906; Summer 2018

 

Instructor: Dr. Greg A. Damico

 

Email: greg.damico@bellevuecollege.edu

Office: B 100 F. But I will not be on campus this term. Please email for extra help!

Text: All readings will be available online via Canvas (or via links to external websites).

 

Course Description: The study of many disciplines proceeds in large part simply by imparting information to the students. Many of the humanities—and especially philosophy—are different in that their students are expected not so much to absorb as much information as they can but rather more to engage with the information with which they are presented. The philosopher is constantly reading, yes, but the good philosopher is constantly stopping while she reads to ask: “Is this right?” or “Do I agree with this?” or “What is the author’s evidence or argument for the claim he is making here?”

This class explores some familiar contemporary issues from a perspective of philosophical ethics. We shall begin with a couple of theoretical issues but the course will be focused primarily on the approach to certain obvious moral topics like free speech, our responsibilities toward the world’s poor and abortion. At the end of the term (time permitting), we shall investigate some issues that arise in medical contexts such as euthanasia and the rights of patients. For a list of BC’s learning outcomes for this course, visit this page.

 

Requirements and Grading:

Two exams                                                               20% ea.
Five quizzes                                                              3% ea.
One final exam                                                         30%
Participation (on discussion boards[1])                   15%

 

I will use a standard transformation from percentages to letter-grades:

A 93+
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
etc.

I round to the nearest whole unit percent.

Course Policies:
1. Late work will not be accepted without prior permission from me. I am sometimes 
amenable

to granting extensions, so if you need one, talk to me beforehand. 


2. Students are expected to know what plagiarism is—and then to avoid it! Unofficially, any time someone A uses the ideas of someone else B (whether quoting B verbatim or 
not), A is expected to cite B as a source. Such citations typically go either in a parenthesis inside the text or in a footnote. Having full citations in the body of a paper can be cumbersome; thus it is also highly recommended that students include, at the end of the paper, a list of works cited in the paper. Here full citations can be given in a less intrusive way. Suspected cases of plagiarism will not be tolerated, and will be referred to the appropriate authorities. 


 

Affirmation of Inclusion:

“Bellevue College is committed to maintaining an environment in which every member of the campus community feels welcome to participate in the life of the college, free from harassment and discrimination.

We value our different backgrounds at Bellevue College, and students, faculty, staff members, and administrators are to treat one another with dignity and respect.” For more, visit this page.

 

Important Links: A&H Information

For information on the policies of Arts & Humanities, please go here. Bellevue College

 

E-mail and access to MyBC

All students registered for classes at Bellevue College are entitled to a network and e- mail account. Your student network account can be used to access your student e-mail, log in to computers in labs and classrooms, connect to the BC wireless network and log in to MyBC. To create your account, visit this page.

BC offers a wide variety of computer and learning labs to enhance learning and student success. Find current campus locations for all student labs by visiting this page.

 

Disability Resource Center (DRC)

The Disability Resource Center serves students with a wide array of learning challenges and disabilities. If you are a student who has a disability or learning challenge for which you have documentation or have seen someone for treatment and if you feel you may need accommodations in order to be successful in college, please contact us as soon as possible.

If you are a person who requires assistance in case of an emergency situation, such as a fire, earthquake, etc, please meet with your individual instructors to develop a safety plan within the first week of the quarter.

If you are a student with a documented autism spectrum disorder, there is an additional access program available to you. Contact asn@bellevuecollege.edu or 425.564.2764. ASN is located in the Library Media Center in D125. You may also be interested in this page.

The DRC office is located in B132 or you can call our reception desk at 425.564.2498. Deaf students can reach us by video phone at 425-440-2025 or by TTY at 425-564-4110. Please visit our website for application information into our program and other helpful links here.

 

Public Safety and Emergencies

Public Safety is located in D 171 and can be reached at 425-564-2400 (easy to remember because it’s the only office on campus open 24 hours a day—2400). Among other things, Public Safety serves as our Parking Permits, Lost and Found, and Emergency Notification center. Please ensure you are signed up to receive alerts through our campus alerting system by registering here.

If you work late and are uneasy about going to your car, Public Safety will escort you to your vehicle. To coordinate this, please phone ahead and let Public Safety know when and where you will need an escort.

Please familiarize yourself with the emergency postings by the door of every classroom and know where to go in the event of an evacuation. Your instructor will be asked if anyone might still be in the building, so check in before you do anything else. Emergency responders will search for anyone unaccounted for.

If a major emergency occurs, please follow these two rules:

1) Take directions from those in charge of the response -We all need to be working together.

2) Do not get in your car and leave campus (unless directed to) - Doing so will clog streets and prevent emergency vehicles from entering the scene. Instead, follow directions from those in charge.

Please do not hesitate to call Public Safety if you feel safety questions or concerns at any time.

 

Course Schedule (subject to change):

As this is an online course, the pacing will be largely up to individual decision by the students.

 

But the following notes should be borne in mind:

1. The class has seven modules in addition to “Getting Started”. Plan on spending about 1 week on each. 

2. It will not be possible to skip ahead in the modules. So start early and pace yourself! Here is an illustration of my suggested pace through the course:

 

Week 1: Jul 2-6

HOLIDAY: JUL 4

What is Ethics?

Reading: Feinberg & Shafer-Landau, “SL:FChap5Intro”

READ THROUGH THE “GETTING STARTED” MODULE

WATCH LECTURES 8-1, 8-2, 8-3

 

 

 

Week 2: Jul 9-13

Realism

Readings: (1) Nussbaum, “Judging Other Cultures”; (2) Damico, “A Conversation about Moral Realism”

READ ALSO THE NY TIMES ARTICLE ON MORAL REALISM
JUL 11: FIRST DISCUSSION POST DUE
JUL 12: QUIZ 1 DUE (covers Week 1’s material)

 

Week 3: Jul 16-20

Two Stories

Readings: (1) Plato, excerpt from Crito; (2) Harris, “The Survival Lottery”

JUL 16: SECOND DISCUSSION POST DUE
JUL 17: QUIZ 2 DUE (covers Week 2’s material)

 

Week 4: Jul 23-27

Theory, Part 1: Mill

Reading: Mill, Chapters 1-2 of Utilitarianism
WATCH MY LECTURES ON MILL.
WATCH “TROLLEYOLOGY” VIDEOS.
JUL 23: THIRD DISCUSSION POST DUE
JUL 24: QUIZ 3 DUE (covers Week 3’s material)
JUL 25: EXAM 1 DUE (covers material of Weeks 1-3)

 

Week 5: Jul 30-Aug 3

Theory, Part 2: Kant

Reading: Kant, Section 1 of Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals

WATCH MY LECTURES ON KANT
WATCH SANDEL’S LECTURE(S) ON KANT
JULY 30: FOURTH DISCUSSION POST DUE

 

Week 6: Aug 6-10

Abortion

Readings: (1) Thomson, “A Defense of Abortion”; (2) Marquis, “Why Abortion Is Immoral”

AUG 6: FIFTH DISCUSSION POST DUE
AUG 7: QUIZ 4 DUE (covers material of Weeks 4-5)

AUG 8: EXAM 2 DUE (covers material of Weeks 4-5)

 

Week 7: Aug 13-17

Racial Equality

Reading: Coates, “The Case for Reparations”

AUG 13: SIXTH DISCUSSION POST DUE
AUG 15: QUIZ 5 DUE (covers material of Weeks 6-7)
AUG 16: FINAL EXAM DUE (covers material of Weeks 6-7)

 

 

[1] At least twice per module! See Canvas site for details.