Ethics is the study of right or good action. How do we know what is right, what is morally good, what is just? What is happiness? How do we attain it? How can we deserve it? Many different answers have been given to these questions. This course will take a broad historical survey of some of the more challenging answers to these questions. Prerequisite: PHIL 110 GE: Introduction to Philosophy. (This course may also be offered as a Home Study. See PHIL 231 HS).

This course is taught differently in different sections, depending on the instructor. See each instructor's course content below.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS FOR PROFESSOR HETER'S SECTIONS:

Course Description

This course surveys four canonical Western approaches to ethics. Virtue Ethics, Social Contract Theory, Kantianism and Utilitarianism provide answers to fundamental questions concerning the right, the good, happiness, virtues and vices, and the nature of a life lived well. Students will read (in translation) original texts from Aristotle, Rousseau, Kant, and Mill. Lecture is devoted to clarifying, synthesizing and analyzing these texts. One purpose of the course is to understand what past thinkers have said about Ethics; another equally important goal is to determine the merits and faults of what past philosophers have said about Ethics.

Required Texts

• Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
• Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals
• Bentham and Mill, The Classical Utilitarians: Bentham and Mill
• Rousseau, The Basic Political Writings
• de Waal, Primates and Philosophers

Requirements & Grading

• Comprehensive Final Exam. (100 pts)
• Midterm Exam. (100 pts)
• Five-page Essay. (100 pts)
• Two-page Essay. (20 points)
• Mandatory Attendance.

Policy on Plagiarism

"Plagiarism is the act of using another person's ideas or expressions in your writing without acknowledging the source" (Joseph Gibaldi and Walter S. Achtert, Modern Language Association Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. [New York: MLA Association, 1988] 21). Punishments for plagiarism include failure for the course and dismissal from the university. I have a zero-tolerance plagiarism policy.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS FOR PROFESSOR WEATHERSTON'S SECTIONS:

TEXTS:

• Plato, Gorgias, trans. Walter Hamilton & Chris Emlyn-Jones, Penguin Books.
• Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, trans. Terence Irwin, Hackett Publishers.
• Thomas Aquinas, St. Thomas Aquinas on Ethics and Politics, ed. Paul E. Sigmund, W. W. Norton & Co.
• Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, trans. James Ellington, Hackett Publishers.
• John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism, Hackett Publishers.
• Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, trans. R. J. Hollingdale, Penguin Books.

ATTENDANCE POLICY:

Students are expected to attend all classes. Students who have 4 absences without documented excuses will have 10% deducted from their final grade, and 10% for every 3 absences thereafter.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

• 1 mid-term test 15%
• 1 1250-1700 word essay 25%
• 1 1700-2500 essay 30%
• 1 exam 30%

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

East Stroudsburg University demands academic integrity from its students. Any form of academic dishonesty, including (but not limited to) plagiarism or cheating at tests or exams, is a sufficient ground for failure in this course and for further academic discipline.