Aaron Hebble                 afhebble@u.washington.edu
            Fareed Awan                 awanf@u.washington.edu
            Benjamin Hole                bvhole@u.washington.edu
           Andrea Sullivan-Clark      weebs@u.washington.edu

Overview: This course is an introduction to the basic issues, disputes, and methods of traditional and contemporary moral philosophy. As we move through different issues in applied ethics we will learn about normative ethical theory – Utilitarianism, Kantianism, Virtue Ethics, etc. Issues that will be covered include: animal rights, helping the poor, euthanasia, abortion, cloning and genetic enhancement, and the environment. Socrates once said that "the unexamined life is not worth living." What we will be doing in this class is examining philosophical views, theories, ideas, arguments, and beliefs. My hope is that by engaging in this process students will sharpen their reasoning and critical thinking skills, become better speakers and writers, and most importantly, critically evaluate their own beliefs and views.

Goals and Objectives:

• Students are expected to master the various philosophical theories, problems, or issues presented. For example, what is consequentialism?
• Students are expected to develop and display a facility to do original constructive or critical work on the topics covered.
• Emphasis on critical thinking and correct reasoning. Students are expected to know what an argument is and how to evaluate arguments.

Text: Mark Timmons, Disputed Moral Issues: A Reader (Oxford University Press, 2007)
A few articles will be posted on E-course reserves: http://www.lib.washington.edu/services/course/

Requirements:    

            4  Quizzes                   75 pts each, see calendar                                 60%     300 points
            Critical essay               Due, Friday, May 8th                                       5%      25 points
            Section Work              Discussion questions, etc                                10%      50 points
            Term paper                  Due, Friday, May 29th                                   25%     125 points
                                                                                                                      100%   Total 500