PHL 210-03 & 210-04, Moral Philosophy, Spring, 2020, MWF	Office Hours in RH-228 (445-4489) MWF 9am-9:45am, and by appointment.
Prof. Michael Kagan, email: kagan@lemoyne.edu Updated Tuesday, March 17, 2020	Le Moyne College website: http://web.lemoyne.edu/~kagan/index.html

This course aims at an understanding of the activity of making moral judgments or affirming one value or set of values over another. At issue are, typically, the meaning of the words spoken when people make ethical assertions, the possibility of justifying or proving the truth of such assertions and the implications of discovering situations in which the ethical dimension is problematic. Integral to this course is a study of these questions in the light of the great traditions of ethical thinking as they have come to light in the various wisdom literatures.  (Le Moyne College Catalog)

Philosophy department outcomes this course serves:

Students will be able to articulate a philosophical understanding of the world through the eyes of others.

Students will be able to articulate philosophically significant issues in their own life-experiences.

Students will be able to summarize a philosophical argument with appropriate detail.

REQUIRED READING LIST

Plato - Five Dialogues (Grube translation, with Cooper revisions)

Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics (David Ross’s translation)
Confucius - Analects (D.C. Lau’s translation)

Lau Tzu - Tao Te Ching ((D.C. Lau’s translation))

Martin Buber - The Way of Man

Kathryn J. Norlock - “Feminist Ethics” (SEP), http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-ethics/

SPECIAL NEEDS

 In coordination with the Academic Support Center (ASC), reasonable accommodations are provided for qualified students with disabilities. Please register with the ASC Office for disability verification and determination of reasonable accommodations. After receiving your accommodation form from the ASC, you will need to make an appointment with me to review the form and discuss your needs. Please make every attempt to meet with me within the first week of class so your accommodations can be provided in a timely manner. You can either stop by the ASC, Library, 1st floor, or call (445-4118-voice or 445-4104-TDD) to make an appointment.

IMPORTANT DATES:

No classes on the following dates: Mar. 9-22 (Spring Break, extended to March 22, due to Corona Virus), Apr. 9-13 (Easter Weekend break).

Optional paper proposals due Mon., 3/2. Mon., 3/16 - 1st take-home quiz given (due 3/30). Wed., 4/8, 2nd take home (due 4/20). Optional written projects due:  Wed., Apr. 15.  Optional written projects optional revisions due Mon., 4/27.

LAST DAY OF CLASS – Monday, May 4.

CLOSINGS/CANCELLATIONS

 If campus/dorms are closed due to flu or other circumstances, my intent is that the course continue.    Assignments continue to be due by email. Presentations will be replaced by papers, virtual presentations, or extended descriptions of presentations.  In addition to notes and group work already available there on-line, I will post updates, lecture notes, etc., to my Le Moyne College web site at http://web.lemoyne.edu/~kagan/index.html.

 As at other times, if your situation results in your needing an extension or a make-up quiz, please let me know.  Also, if internet service is down or there are other infrastructure problems, please complete the assignments and turn them in when services are restored.

REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING

Your grade will be based on the average of the following:

1.  (50%) You will have an opportunity to take two take-home quizzes. These will be handed out at least 4 days before they are due.  Late quizzes will receive a 15% grading penalty for each day they are late.  [If you cannot get a quiz in on time, please let me know you need to take a make-up quiz with a different deadline.] Unless otherwise indicated, please complete the quiz in less than 500 words.  All work, except in-class writings, is to be typed.  Quizzes are to be turned in on the date due with a copy emailed to me at kagan@lemoyne.edu.  In addition to the file attachment, please paste the text of your answers into your message.  
2.  (50%) Work in class, which may include the following: group work/in-class writings/optional quizzes (optional quizzes can be used to replace take-home quizzes and vice-versa)/optional final paper.  (See http:/web.lemoyne.edu/~kagan/PAPHOW.html.)

Grades are based on a 10 point scale as follows:

90-100 - 'A' range (97-100 = A+; 94-96=A; 90-93=A-); 80-89 - 'B' range (87-89 = B+; 84-86=B; 80-83=B-);

70-79 - 'C' range (77-79 = C+; 74-76=C; 70-73=C-); 60-69 - 'D' range (67-69 = D+; 64-66=D; 60-63=D-).

Below 60 - 'F'.

THE OPTIONAL FINAL PAPER
 The paper gives you an opportunity to explore some aspect of a particular traditional ethical theory, at the theoretical and/or applied level.   

  If you decide to write a paper, please confirm your topic with me in advance by submitting a paper proposal by Wed., Oct. 17. Whatever your topic, please feel free to consult me regarding bibliography, style, or as a devil's advocate. The paper is to be a defense of one claim or proposal related to the issue in question. Students should explicitly state the claim they are defending, make a brief case for its importance, develop their arguments carefully, consider objections, and show awareness of alternatives and criticisms of their own position. The paper should be structured in form and content as if it were being addressed to an audience consisting of the undecided and the reasonable opposition.  If you are looking for organizational suggestions, the people at the writing center can be quite helpful.  The paper should be approximately 5-7 pages in length. The paper is to be turned in TWICE, on the dates indicated below. The 1st draft will be graded and given comments that I hope will aid you in the revision. If you are satisfied with the first grade or decide to accept it for some other reason, you have the option of returning the paper "as-is" with its comments by Wed., Nov. 28.   If you do so, your grade on the paper will be the grade you received on the first draft. If you opt to revise, you will receive the grade of the revision, if higher (and the grade on the draft, if not).   Please feel free to drop by during office hours to make an appointment to discuss your project.  If you do not find me on campus, you can always leave a voice mail message at 445-4489.

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE AND SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS

Week #1 (of Jan. 22) Introduce course.  Discussion of nomos, phusis, logos, & reading.  Brief survey of ethical theories.  Start reading Plato’s Euthyphro (the Plato assignments are in the Five Dialogues text).

Week #2 (Jan. 27) Plato’s Euthyphro.

Week #3 (Feb. 3) Plato’s Apology.  
Week #4 (Mon, Feb.10) Plato’s Crito.

Week #5 (Mon., Feb.17) Plato’s Meno.  

Week #6 (Mon., Feb. 24)  Plato’s Phaedo. 

Week #7 (Mon., Mar. 2) Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Books 1-1. Optional paper proposals due Mon., Mar. 2.
Mar. 9-13 (Spring Break, extended to March 22, due to Corona Virus).

Week #8 (Mon., Mar. 23) Nicomachean Ethics, Books 2-7.  First take-home quiz (originally due 3/23, now due 3/30) will be given 3/16. Kathryn J. Norlock’s “Feminist Ethics” http:/plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-ethics/

Week #9 (Mon., Mar. 30) Nicomachean Ethics, Books 8-9. First take-home quiz due Mon., 3/30.

Week #10 (Mon. Apr. 6) Confucius’ Analects, Books I-X.  2nd take-home quiz (due 4/20) will be given Wed., 4/8.
Apr. 9-13 (Easter Weekend break).

Week #11 (Mon. Apr. 13) Analects, Books X-XX.  Optional written projects due:  Wed., Apr. 15.

Week #12 (Mon. Apr. 20)  Lau Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, Book One. 2nd take-home quiz due Mon., 4/20.

Week #13 (Mon., Apr. 27) Lau Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, Book Two. Optional written projects optional revisions due Mon., Apr 27.
Week #14. (Mon., May 4) Martin Buber’s Way of Man, (Final evaluations last day of class, if they have not taken place, and depending on the implementation of the new evaluation system.)

Some of this page's links:

Philosophy 210 syllabus, Moral Philosophy, Spring, 2020, http://web.lemoyne.edu/~kagan/ethics-Spring2020MWF.html

Materials for Ethics    http:/web.lemoyne.edu/~kagan/ethicsindex.html

Norlock, Kathryn, "Feminist Ethics", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/feminism-ethics/>.

Back to Kagan's homepage - http:/web.lemoyne.edu/~kagan/index.html