PHIL 122
Philosophical Approaches to Contemporary Moral Issues Spring 2022 (also offered Fall 2021)
Division II Writing Skills
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

In this tutorial we will examine a number of prominent and controversial social issues, using our study of them both as an opportunity to better understand the moral dimensions of those issues in and of themselves, and to consider the ways in which selected classical and contemporary moral theories characterize and address those moral dimensions. Topics will depend to some extent on student interest, but are likely to include concerns that fall under such headings as euthanasia, conscientious eating, abortion, the ethics of protest, and Covid-19. The course will use a case-based approach to examine these issues, and so in most weeks we will (1) read philosophical articles focused on a key concept or set of arguments central to the issue, and (2) consider in detail one morally complex case in which the concept or arguments have special application or relevance. In addition, we will devote several class meetings interspersed throughout the semester to reading foundational sources in ethical theory. Students will meet in trios with the instructor, rather than in pairs.
The Class: Format: tutorial; Groups of three students (rather than the more conventional two students) will meet weekly with the professor.
Limit: 15
Expected: 15
Class#: 3544
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: tri-weekly tutorial papers, oral commentaries, and tutorial discussion
Prerequisites: none; this course is suitable for first-year students
Enrollment Preferences: first-year students, then sophomores, then Philosophy majors
Distributions: Division II Writing Skills
WS Notes: Students will write four tutorial papers of 5-7 pages in length, one of which they will revise and submit at the end of the term. In each of the tutorial papers students will describe and evaluate arguments that appear in the assigned readings, and will develop arguments in support of their own ethical positions. Students will receive written and oral feedback, concentrated particularly in the first half of the semester, to improve their ability to present clear and effective written arguments.
Attributes: JLST Interdepartmental Electives

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