PHILO 104:Introduction to Ethics

Jonathan Kwan

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Agenda

1. What is Philosophy?

2. What is Ethics?

3. What Kind of Class Should and Will This Be?

4. Three Units: Theoretical Ethics, Applied Ethics, Metaethics

5. How to Do Well in This Class

6. Course Requirements, Policies, and Conduct

7. Academic Honesty

8. Reading Philosophy

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What is Philosophy?

• Philo | sophia = love of wisdom

• Method• Conceptual vs. empirical

• Abstract and fundamental

• Self-reflexive

• Clear, rigorous, critical, argumentative thinking

• Subject Matter• Metaphysics: the fundamental nature of reality

• Epistemology: study of knowledge

• Ethics: how ought we live?

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Why Should We Do Philosophy?

• Intrinsic Value – valuable in itself• Philosophical inquiry is interesting in its own right. It

touches upon some of the deepest and most perennial questions regarding the world and human existence.

• Doing philosophy allows us to live a more reflective life, free from dogmatic assumptions. It helps us guard against taking on prejudicial beliefs and assumptions that are merely products of our culture or time.

• Instrumental Value – valuable for the sake of another end• Doing philosophy cultivates your ability to think

clearly, critically, and creatively. It enhances your ability to express yourself rationally and persuasively through speaking and writing.

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What is Ethics?

• Theoretical Ethics (Normative or First Order Ethics)• Provides systematic accounts of what makes an action right or wrong or what makes

someone virtuous or vicious

• Applied Ethics (Practical Ethics)• Considers what should be done on specific practical issues

• Metaethics (Second Order Ethics)• Studies the nature of morality (for example, is morality objective or subjective? or

what are the origins of morality?)

What Kind of Class Should and Will This Be?

• Comparative or Cross-Cultural Philosophy• What is it?

• Why classical Chinese philosophy?

• Intersectional selection of practical issues regarding oppression, gender, race, class, and gender identity

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What Kind of Class Should and Will This Be?

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Paulo Freire (1921—1997)

• Brazilian educator and advocate of critical pedagogy

• Wrote Pedagogy of the Oppressed

A metaphor of education to reject:

• The banking concept of education turns students “into ‘containers,’ into ‘receptacles’ to be ‘filled’ by the teacher. The more completely she fills the receptacles, the better a teacher she is. The more meekly the receptacles permit themselves to be filled, the better students they are. Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor.”

What Kind of Class Should and Will This Be?

• “Those truly committed to liberation must reject the banking concept in its entirety… They must abandon the education goal of deposit-making and replace it with the posing of the problems of human beings in their relation with the world… Liberating education consists in acts of cognition, not transferrals of information.”

• “Through dialogue, the teacher-of-the-students and the students-of-the-teacher cease to exist and a new term emerges: teacher-student with students-teachers. The teacher is no longer merely the-one-who-teaches, but one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach. They become jointly responsible for a process in which all grow.”

• The course is a jointly constituted project by students and teacher.• Isn’t education itself an ethical enterprise?

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Theoretical Ethics

1. Utilitarianism

2. Mohism (A Kind of Utilitarianism?)

3. Deontology

4. Virtue Ethics

5. Confucianism (A Kind of Virtue Ethics?)

6. The Social Contract Theory

7. Feminist Ethics

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Applied Ethics

1. Racism, Black Lives Matter, and Mass Incarceration

2. Immigration and Refugees

3. Inequality and Micro-inequities

4. Transgender Discrimination

5. Women’s Reproductive Issues: Abortion, Oocyte Vending, Contract Pregnancies

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Meta-Ethics

1. Is Morality Objective or Subjective?

2. What Are the Origins of Morality?

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How to Do Well in this Class?

• Do all the readings (multiple times). Actively and critically think about the ideas in them.

• Come to class ready to ask questions and to share your own thoughts.

• Take detailed notes during class. Review lecture slides and resources on the course website.

• Communicate with me about your learning.

• Begin assignments early. Diligently work on the craft of writing philosophy.

• Set specific actionable goals.

• Metacognition: think about your own learning.

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Learning Philosophy

• A stereotype about philosophy is that you need to have innate skill and talent in order to succeed at philosophy.

• This is simply not true.

• Like anything else, doing philosophy well requires time, practice, and hard work. It involves a broad array of skills (reading, writing, imagination, analytic and critical thinking) that can be developed conscientiously.

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Course Requirements

• Attendance/Participation (5%)

• Discussion Board Posts (15%)

• Assignments (15%)

• Midterm Outline (5%)

• Midterm Paper (30%)

• Final Project (30%)

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Attendance/Participation

5% Discussion Board Posts

15%

Assignments15%

Midterm Outline

5%

Midterm Paper30%

Final Project 30%

Attendance/Participation (5%)

• Students are permitted two unexcused absences and four tardies. After that, 1% will be subtracted from your final grade for each absence and 0.5% for each tardy.

• Participation includes raising questions, voicing your thoughts, bringing printed copies of the reading to class, and completing in-class assignments. Participation outside of class (such as communicating with me through email or during office hours) also counts.

• Your participation is extremely important for everyone’s learning in this class. Voicing your thoughts and questions allows you to test philosophical ideas with each other, clear up confusions, and solidify everyone’s understanding.

• See David Chalmer’s “Guidelines for respectful, constructive, and inclusive philosophical discussion” for norms and expectations: consc.net/norms.html

• Since there is no textbook, you need to print out the assigned readings and bring them to class. Each time you do not bring printed copies of readings to class, 0.5% will be subtracted from your grade.

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Discussion Board Posts (15%)

• Discussion board posts offer you a means to reflect on and engage critically with the readings. Not only do they help you collect your thoughts on the readings before class, they also enable you to prepare your ideas and writing for the larger assignments (the midterm paper and final project).

• You should post before class on one of the readings assigned for that day.• Posts should consist of two paragraphs.

• The first paragraph will summarize in your own words one of the main ideas or arguments in an assigned reading. You should explain the reason(s) given in support of that idea or argument. You may use quotations to supplement (but not substitute for) your own explanation.

• The second paragraph consists of your own original thinking about that idea or argument. Comment critically on the reading by raising questions, criticisms, or objections. If you agree with the main idea you summarized, try to support that idea with your own original thinking by defending it from a possible objection.

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Discussion Board Posts (15%)

• You must complete 5 posts during the Normative Ethics Unit (2/6 –3/22) and 5 posts afterwards during the Applied Ethics Unit and Meta-ethics Mini-Unit (3/27 – 5/17) for a total of 10 posts.

• Each post is worth 1.5% of your final grade. Posts will be graded on a + (1.5%), (1.25%), – (1%) system.

• You may also choose to respond (politely and constructively) to the posts of other students.

• Posts may be selected for sharing or discussion during class.

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Assignments (15%)

• There will be five assignments throughout the semester designed to develop your reading and writing skills, which you will need in order to complete the larger assignments.

• Each assignment will be worth 1.5% of your final grade. Assignments will be graded on a + (1.5%), (1.25%), – (1%) system.

• Examples of assignments include: identifying key terms in readings, translating passages into your own words, presenting an objection to an argument, designing an advertisement or cartoon illustrating a philosophical view or debate, applying an ethical theory to a concrete practical issue, and comparing and contrasting different readings.

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Midterm Outline and Paper (5% + 30%)

• In the midterm paper, you will argue in favor of one of the ethical theories that we will cover in class. You will explain the main tenets of that theory and defend it from possible objections and other competing ethical theories.

• The midterm paper is 4-5 pages and is due Wednesday, March 29. You will also need to complete an outline for the midterm paper two weeks prior on Wednesday, March 15. You will receive feedback from me on your outline, which will help you write your paper.

• Every day the midterm paper or final project is late, there will be a 5% penalty on your grade for that assignment. No extensions for the midterm paper or final project will be granted unless there is a serious emergency and written documentation is provided.

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Final Project (30%)

• The final project offers you the opportunity to write about a variety of readings and issues that you found most compelling in the second half of the course.

• The final project consists of three 2-page papers. In each paper, you will respond to at least one assigned reading in the Applied Ethics Unit or Metaethics Unit by completing the following two tasks:• First, explain in one page the main conclusions and arguments of that

assigned reading. • Second, evaluate the main conclusions and arguments by offering your own

original critical analysis. You may also choose to connect the ideas of that reading with other ideas covered elsewhere in the course, or with concrete examples of your own.

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Final Project (30%)

• The instructions and rubric for the final project will be handed out at the beginning of the Applied Ethics Unit on Monday, March 27.

• The entire final project is due Sunday, May 28. However, you may hand in any of the three 2-page papers at any time prior to the deadline. If you hand in papers early enough, you will receive feedback from me that may help you with your remaining papers.

• You must also bring a complete draft of one paper to class on Monday, May 8 for peer review.

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Course Policies

• No personal computers, tablets, phones, or other electronics permitted.

• There is strong evidence that in-class use of devices such as laptops are not generally conducive to learning. See the following summary in The New Yorker: www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-case-for-banning-laptops-in-the-classroom

• Print out readings.

• Be on time.

• Be professional. See this Inside Higher Ed piece for a guide: www.insidehighered.com/views/2015/04/16/advice-students-so-they-dont-sound-silly-emails-essay

• Eating and drinking is allowed if done quietly and courteously.

• Check the syllabus and ask your classmates about your concern before you email me.

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Course Conduct

• Respect each other’s voices and opinions.

• Everyone has a unique perspective and viewpoint that is valuable.

• Some of the topics in this class will be controversial.

• Everyone should feel comfortable speaking in class. It is everyone’s responsibility to make sure their speech and behavior creates a space where this is possible.

• Successful participation includes not only respectfully contributing your own questions and thoughts, but also not taking up too much space and dominating the conversation.

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Academic Honesty

• There is zero tolerance for cheating and plagiarism.

• It is your responsibility to make sure you are familiar with CUNY’s Academic Integrity Policy and Hunter College’s procedure for implementing this policy.

• http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/provost/academic-integrity

• http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/studentaffairs/student-conduct/academic-integrity/cuny-policy-on-academic-integrity

• Ignorance is not an excuse.

• Instances of cheating and plagiarism will result in a failure of the assignment or possibly for the entire course. A report will be submitted to the Academic Integrity Officer who is responsible for maintaining records regarding such violations.

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Academic Honesty

Cheating is the attempted or unauthorized use of materials, information, notes, study aids, devices or communication during an academic exercise. Examples of cheating include:

• Copying from another student during an examination or allowing another to copy your work.

• Unauthorized collaborating on a take home assignment or examination.

• Using notes during a closed book examination.

• Taking an examination for another student, or asking or allowing another student to take an examination for you.

• Changing a corrected exam and returning it for more credit.

• Submitting substantial portions of the same paper to more than one course without consulting with each instructor.

• Preparing answers or writing notes in a blue book (exam booklet) before an examination.

• Allowing others to research and write assigned papers or do assigned projects, including using commercial term paper services.

• Unauthorized use during an examination of any electronic devices such as cell phones, computers, or other technologies to retrieve or send information.

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Academic Honesty

Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s ideas, research or writing as your own. Examples of plagiarism include:• Copying another person’s actual words or images without the use of

quotation marks and footnotes attributing the words to their source.• Presenting another person’s ideas or theories in your own words without

acknowledging the source.• Failing to acknowledge collaborators on homework and laboratory

assignments.• Internet plagiarism, including submitting downloaded term papers or parts

of term papers, paraphrasing or copying information from the internet without citing the source, or “cutting & pasting” from various sources without proper attribution.

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Reading Philosophy

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Every time you read, make sure you get PAED.

Preview the text• Skim the text to find its organizational structure.• Try to find its main conclusion.

Active reading• Annotate and highlight.• Circle key terms or definitions.• Write questions and objections in the margins.• Diagram or outline the article’s main argumentative pieces.• Identify reasons and premises offered in favor of an argument.

Evaluate• Do you agree or disagree with article’s main argument and why?• What flaws might there be in an author’s reasoning?• Is the author making assumptions that you think should be challenged?

Do it again!• Reread, reread, reread!