Professor: Dr. Leonard O’Brian
Scottsdale Community College
Office: SB 120
Office hours: To be determined
Office: 480.423.6212
Cell: 480.231.4471
Email: leonard.obrian@sccmail.maricopa.edu
Website: leonardobrian.com

Introduction to Ethics

Syllabus

Course Purposes

Ethics is the branch of philosophy that focuses on questions about morality. This course, Introduction to Ethics, introduces some important moral problems. The course provides practice in working on such problems carefully and effectively.

We all confront moral problems. Daily, we face decisions that we can only make through a combination of factual information and moral principles. We confront questions such as, which career should I pursue? Why? What is success, whether in a career or life itself?

Should I have a life partner? What kind of partner? Should that person and I get married?

When should I kill? (One way or other, we all kill.) When should I lie? Should I tell the truth even if doing so may cost me acceptance in a particular group of friends or among work associates? To what extent am I responsible for the actions of my work associates? The actions of my family? The actions of my government?

For that matter, to what extent am I responsible for my own actions? Isn’t my behavior caused by my heredity and environment? If so, how can I be blamed for what I do?

Why do I do want to do anything? Why do I want to do one thing rather than another? What is the purpose of life? Is it to maximize my own pleasurable experiences? Should I love my family above all other people. . . or should I love all of humankind? Do I have obligations even to non-humans?

This course does not provide answers to such questions; it provides practice in thinking through them for you.

Main Resources

  1. James E. White, Contemporary Moral Problems (Thomson, 9th edition, but the 8th should do)
  2. Routledge On-line Encyclopedia (SCC library homepage)

We will proceed roughly in the order of Professor White’s discussion, but with modifications. For example, we will begin with the following three readings, the first being a handout rather than from the text.
1. W. T. Stace: Ethical Relativism (Handout)
2. James Rachels:  Egoism and Moral Scepticism
3. John Arthur: Religion, Morality, and Conscience

You must bring the anthology by White to class each time we meet.

Approach the Internet cautiously. Merely Googling a topic will not guarantee that you have found a dependable source. By contrast, the Routledge electronic encyclopedia is excellent. Also outstanding is the electronic philosophical encyclopedia administered by Stanford University. Wikipedia can help for quick information, but the quality of articles varies. Regardless of the sources that you use, please see the note below under “Intellectual Honesty.” Plagiarism—itself a moral concern—is impermissible.

Scottsdale is unusual among community colleges: The Routledge is expensive, and the SCC library pays for our access to this superb resource. Stanford University subsidizes their encyclopedia; so, again, we are privileged to have access. Stanford University does invite donations, which are tax-deductible.

Remember the philosophy sections in 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 some process of expert evaluation. University presses—for example, Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Chicago, Princeton, or Yale--are consistently dependable.

Using libraries and bookstores may take more time than the Internet, but the journals and books will have been juried and, so, can be counted on. Further, bookstores serve coffee. Bookstores facilitate encounter with that old source of human pleasure and stimulation: other people.

Requirements: Oral Participation

Philosophical growth is not a passive process. It is not something done to one. It requires emotional and intellectual activity. It requires participation. I want each person to contribute to the class. True, we do differ one from another with respect to our readiness to express ourselves orally; some of us are more inclined to ask questions and make comments than are others. If you are one who is less inclined, this class gives you the opportunity to begin to learn to ask questions.

One reason the class provides this opportunity is that everyone taking it will be confused. Confusion is good. It signals that questions may be forming, like disturbing clouds that precede a clarifying, nurturing rain.

Confusion provides a reason not for silence but for speech. If you are confused, you thereby have an important contribution to make to our discussion: You can indicate that you are confused; you can ask for clarification. Did Micah say, “Beat your swords into plowshares, and your spears into pruning hooks?” I say, “Beat your confusions into questions, and your problems into hypotheses, for doubt becomes conscious before peace of mind becomes honest.”

At the end of the semester, I consider class participation in determining your final grade. ‘Participation’ refers to attendance; to your oral contributions to the class; and to your observance of a spirit of class decorum, discussed immediately below. Reading the assignments carefully before class, thereby having questions to ask or comments to make, will improve the participation component of your grade, and can affect your final grade significantly. If you are already someone who likes to talk a lot in class, please note: The concept of participation implies allowing others to speak, as well.

Class sessions will conform to standard principles of decency and courtesy, e.g., deference toward others when they are speaking, tolerance of viewpoints that differ from your own, and respect for the questions and thinkers under discussion. These principles cannot be reduced 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. (Flat tires happen: It is better to arrive late than not to arrive, but tardiness should not be habitual.)

  2. Your generation of students bears its own distinctive burden: You may need to learn that courtesy toward those people who occupy your immediate physical environment consists, partly, in not using electronic devices to communicate with other people who occupy another physical environment. So, upon entering the classroom, turn off communications devices. Put them away, out of sight, out of hearing, and beyond touch. Remove earplugs. (If you have urgent reason for leaving a device on but switching it to vibrating mode, see point 4 below. Otherwise, turn it off.) During class, do not send or read text messages. Do not make or take phone calls. Moreover, do not leave the room to text or phone. If you would like to use a laptop for note taking, consult with me first.

  3. When someone is speaking publicly, that is, speaking to the class, direct your attention to him or her. Once I have begun class, there will be much public communication, virtually noprivate communication.

  4. Remain in the room for the entire period. Normally, adults go to the bathroom before coming to class. Yes, time between classes is short, but it is better to arrive a moment after class has begun than to leave in the middle and then return. (If you have a medical or psychological condition that makes remaining in class for the entire period difficult, please discuss that condition with me as soon as possible.) Further, normally, a vibrating cell phone does not constitute reason to leave the room. (If a family member is in critical condition, say, because of a car accident or heart attack, you are worried about her condition and may be receiving a call from an emergency room, please mention the situation to me before class.)

  5. Maintain a demeanor of attention until I have dismissed class. I expect of my students an attentive demeanor throughout the 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 short, refrain from any behavior that symbolizes psychological withdrawal from the classroom.

The student who appears to me to be violating any specific point above will receive one free warning. A second apparent violation will be accompanied not only by a warning but also by the possibility of my lowering the student’s final grade by one letter. A third apparent violation will be accompanied by the possibility of my withdrawing the student from the course.

If you have questions about these guidelines, or if you anticipate having a 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 sooner you communicate with me, the more effectively we can address the problem. Talk with me in person, phone me, or email me.

Requirements: Papers

In addition to participating in class discussion, you will write four, one-page, typed, double-spaced papers. You must write only on topics that we have discussed, unless you have cleared the topic with me beforehand.

Each of these papers will express a thesis statement early in the paper, say, in the first or second—possibly third—sentence. The remainder of the paper will argue for that thesis. In other words, the paper presents your position on an issue, and presents your reasons in support of that position. The paper tries to resolve an issue, answer a question, or settle a controversy. The one-page requirement limits what you can accomplish. I understand that it does. I grade the paper from the perspective of how effectively it argues given the space constraint. (See more on grading, 10, below.)

Papers:
Method of Submission

Each paper will be submitted in your personal folder, and will remain in the folder as you submit further papers. Your personal folder expresses who you are--and who you are becoming--philosophically. The entire contents of the folder are confidential between you and me.

Submit papers only in your folder. After I have read papers for a particular assignment, I will bring the folders to class and return them. If, for some reason, you are not present when I return the folders, you are responsible for coming to my office and picking up your folder. I do not accept papers that are not contained in the author’s folder.

The folder itself I will provide.

  1. On the outside of the front cover, a label indicates the day or days that our class meets, and the time that it meets. Please legibly print your name on that label.

    On the inside, another label asks for your telephone number and email address. Your phone number and email address are confidential.  If you have any concerns about privacy, please talk with me personally. I take the confidentiality of our relationship and your right to privacy seriously.

    Also on the inside, beside your phone number and email address, would you kindly attach a photograph of yourself? I hope that this request does not constitute too much of an inconvenience. A photocopy of your driver’s license would do. (You may white out or black out any information that you want to keep private.) If you’re reasonably artistic, maybe you could give a sketch of yourself? I just would like some likeness that will help me remember your name. Thank you for your help in this regard.

  2. When you submit a paper, submit it in the folder—together with all previous papers and their respective comment sheets.

You are responsible for the maintenance and preservation of your personal folder and its contents. What if you lose your folder? What if someone steals your book bag, which contains the folder? What if someone steals your car, which contains your folder? You are still responsible. Thus, it would be a good idea to keep a secondary folder with photocopies of all papers (and any spontaneous writings) that you have submitted. Merely running off computer copies of your papers would not fully do the job, since these copies would not carry my comments. I want to see how you are progressing with respect to my comments. Moreover, the folder helps you to know how you are progressing.

If my initial scanning of a paper, before reading it, suggests that it may receive a grade of approximately D or lower, I will return it, essentially unread and unmarked. We will discuss the situation to determine what you need to do to improve your work. You may then re-write the paper, and turn it in with the original that I had returned to you. 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 essays by email (other than under exceptional circumstances, which, presumably, you would have discussed with me).

Papers:
Mechanical Requirements

All papers must be typed and double-spaced. They should be printed in a standard, simple font, preferably a 12. (This syllabus is printed in Geneva 12.) Use standard margins, about an inch all the way around.

A one-page limit applies to all papers throughout the semester. This limit concerns the text of the paper only.  (Please do not confuse the one-page requirement for this class with a one-page requirement for any of my other classes, since there may be differences; follow this syllabus for this class.) The title of the paper, your name, my name, and the date of submission should be on a separate sheet.

Footnotes constitute another exception: A paper may run beyond one page to the extent of the length of the footnotes. How many footnotes should you have? You should have any that are needed to satisfy the requirements of integrity—see “Intellectual Honesty,” below—and, if helpful, up to several more to add precision to your argument. Think of the notes as supplementing a one-page paper, not making a three-page paper look like a one-page paper.

Please observe the following principles.

1. Your name, my name, the number of the assignment (Assignment 2, Assignment 4), and a title for the paper should be typed or printed legibly on a separate page, giving you a full page for text.

2. To the extent possible, organize your thoughts before beginning the first draft; refine the organization as you write revisions.

3. The first sentence should state your thesis. The thesis is the single point that the paper seeks to establish; the paper argues for the presumed truth of the thesis. You cannot write a good paper if you cannot identify your thesis. In the interest of clarity, the paper should probably begin with the thesis. If you want to express the thesis in the second (or third?) sentence, you may do so, but express it early, not the in the middle or at the end of the paper. Usually, for a short, argumentative essay, the best sentence for the thesis is the first sentence.

4. Omit everything but thesis and argument. Assume that your reader understands the problem that you are addressing. Instead of explaining the problem, then following with your thesis and argument, begin with your thesis, following with your argument. If you refer to a particular philosopher, avoid biographical information.

5. Footnotes and a title page require at least two sheets of paper. Please connect the sheets with a paper clip or staple.

6. Proofread for conciseness, clarity, grammar, and spelling.

7. Keep a copy of the paper.

Papers:
Ethical Requirements

Intellectual Honesty
Intellectual honesty constitutes a fundamental academic virtue, intellectual dishonesty a fundamental academic vice. Plagiarism is dishonest. Plagiarism consists in an author’s representing himself or herself as the source of words or ideas for which he or she is not, in fact, the source. Thus does an author misrepresent himself or herself, at the same time that he or she withholds credit from a person or persons to whom credit is due. Scottsdale Community College does not tolerate plagiarism or any other form of intellectual dishonesty, nor do I.

Papers must result from your own research, reflection, and intellectual creativity. The ideas submitted under your name must be expressed in your own words, except when you quote the words of another author, properly citing her or him. Results from all aspects of this process must credit others’ distinctive words and ideas. Copying others’ words—basically, anything from a distinctive phrase to longer passages--without proper citation, or using others’ distinctive ideas without proper citation, fails to satisfy this standard. When you use the language of another person, you must (1) quote the person exactly, (2) set off the quoted material with quotation marks, and (3) identify the author, the publication and page(s) wherein the material appears. Moreover, if you use the distinctive ideas of another person, 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 appear, including the page(s). Students often fail to indicate the specific page(s). Proper citation includes indication of the specific page(s).

Regarding the Internet, please note: The accessibility of another person’s original material on the Internet does not constitute permission for you to use that material without attribution. You must cite the author or authors, whether he, she, or they have published the material on paper or on the Internet or expressed the material orally. So far as morality is concerned, the author’s medium doesn’t matter.

Nor does the author’s purpose for writing matter. Specifically, suppose that Jones writes something with the intention of selling it to another person (who, from Jones’s perspective, may do as she wishes with it); suppose, further, that Jones sells it to Smith. Smith may not now submit it as if it were Smith’s own work, even though the actions of Smith and Jones constitute consensual commerce. Should you have doubts about this prohibition, please ask me.

If you use material from the Internet, other than from SCC’s Routledge on-line encyclopedia or the Stanford on-line encyclopedia, you must append to your paper a printed version of either the complete text from which you have drawn or, if the text is unduly long, a substantial portion of the relevant material that includes the material from which you have drawn. The author and address must be fully and accurately indicated. Articles in the Routledge and Stanford encyclopedias specify how they should be cited. Follow those specifications.

Whether your sources are electronic, oral, or paper, you must abide by the principle of intellectual honesty. If you have any doubts about the avoidance of plagiarism, it is your responsibility to ask. There is nothing wrong in asking for clarification about the nature of plagiarism; indeed, asking for such clarification is commendable. There is much wrong, however, 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. See the discussion of “Student Misconduct,” from the 2008 Student Handbook.

Papers: Grading

I will grade all papers primarily according to (A) their reflection of an accurate understanding of the philosopher or problem in question; (B) their judicious focus;  (C) their creative synthesis and analysis of ideas; (D) their careful reasoning in support of the position taken; and (E) their concise, clear, precise, grammatical expression. The one-page limit places premiums on focus, judicious selection of support, and conciseness of expression. Whether with respect to the topic itself, reasons, or words, eliminate whatever is least important until the one-page requirement is satisfied.

In addition to applying criteria (A)-(E), I will note whether you cite the Routledge On-line Encyclopedia at least once per paper. (The citation may be quotation, paraphrase, or illustrative documentation.) I do not require that you cite the Routledge; but I will take your doing so as some indication that you are reading on your own, going beyond minimal requirements.

If my initial scanning of a paper, before reading it, suggests that it may receive a grade in the range of D, I may return it, essentially unread and unmarked. We will discuss the situation to determine what you need to do to improve your work. You may then re-write the paper, and turn it in with the original that I had returned to you and my comments. 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.

Papers:
Due Dates

Papers should be submitted at the beginning of class on the date on which they are due. In most of my classes, I basically do not accept late papers (though I build some flexibility into this principle). Since this particular section is a night class—with the logistical problems that a night class brings—and since you will only be writing four papers, I will accept a paper that is up to one week late. Depending on circumstances, however, I may deduct something from the grade.

Dates

First paper: T, 23 February
Spring break: Begins M, 15 March
Second paper: T, 23 March
Midterm: T, 30 March
Third paper: T, 13 April
Fourth paper, final exam: R, 1 May
(The exam is scheduled for 6:00.)

Requirements: Tests

There will be two tests, a midterm and final. Plan so that no other event conflicts with these tests. Of course, I expect you always to be in class, but I particularly expect you to be present for examinations. There will be no makeup examinations.  Should you miss an exam, you may request that I provide an alternative activity for demonstrating your understanding of the material. Depending on the context of your request, I may grant it. I will determine the nature of the activity and its date and time. The possibility of an alternative activity applies only to one of the two examinations.

The dates of those tests, while referred to above, are subject to my revision. Again, you are responsible for being aware of any announcements that I might make in this regard.

Requirements: Attendance

I require attendance. If you choose to be absent for some reason, please 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 150 minutes, I may withdraw you from the class. I will not withdraw you from the class, 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.

Course Grades

Papers comprise about 60% of your course grade. You will write four one-page papers. Each contributes something like 15%. The tests are worth about 20% total, about 10% each. Class participation, as I evaluate it, counts for about 20% of your course grade. ‘Participation’ refers to attendance, questions you ask and comments you make in class, and observance of points 1-5 under “Oral Participation.”

Academic Freedom


We will 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 consideration. In particular, with respect to the discipline of ethics, any belief or question about any aspect of human experience may serve as the topic of consideration, because all aspects of human experience have moral implications. Thus, on occasion, we will discuss ideas concerning religion, politics, sex, and possibly other ideas that elicit strong feelings and can provoke controversy. We will speak directly and precisely but courteously and decorously. 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

Scottsdale Community College does not tolerate plagiarism or any other form of intellectual dishonesty, nor do I. Before beginning to write a paper, consult the discussion of intellectual honesty under, “Requirements: Ethical,” 7-9, above.

Withdrawal

Under “Class Sessions,” I have asked that you discuss with me as soon as possible any problem that you are having with our work together. 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. Thus, I will 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, whether during my (to be) announced) office hours, or otherwise. You may email me at the address given at the top of the syllabus. In addition, you may phone me at my office, or call me on my cell; leave a message on voice mail if I am not available.