Instructor: Lindsay Rettler Time and Location: Tues/Thurs 6:00-7:15 pm; Brown Hall 4035 Contact: lindsayrettler[at]gmail.com Office Hours: Tues 1:00-3:00 pm, and by appointment; Moore Hall 3035
IMPORTANT DATES: Presentations: topics chosen in class onMon 2/4 Midterm Exam: in class on Wed 2/25 Paper #1 Proposal: due at the beginning of class on Mon 3/9 Paper #1 Final Draft: due at the beginning of class on Mon 3/25 Paper #2: Proposal: due at the beginning of class on Mon 4/13 Paper #2 Final Draft: due at the beginning of class on Wed 4/29
COURSE SCHEDULE: Please complete the readings before class on the days for which they are listed. All page numbers are from What’s Wrong? Applied Ethicists and Their Critics, edited by David Boonin and Graham Oddie, 2nd edition, 2005.
INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC AND ETHICAL THEORIES M 1/11 Introduction W 1/13 What’s Wrong with Arguing? (1-24)
M 1/18 No Class – Martin Luther King Jr. Day W 1/20 Ethical Theories (24-30)
THE ETHICS OF KILLING M 1/25 Is Killing in War Wrong? (33-39)
Robert Fullinwider – War and Innocence
W 1/27 Response to Fullinwider
Lawrence Alexander – Self-Defense and the Killing of Noncombatants: A Reply to Fullinwider
M 2/2 Is Euthanasia Wrong? (44-49)
James Rachels – Active and Passive Euthanasia
W 2/4 Responses to Rachels (50-57)
Winston Nesbitt – Is Killing No Worse Than Letting Die?
Roy Perrett – Killing, Letting Die, and the Bare Difference Argument
PRESENTATION SIGN-UPS
M 2/9 Is Abortion Wrong? Part 1 (58-69)
Don Marquis: Why Abortion is Immoral
W 2/11 Responses to Marquis (70-84)
Gerald Paske – Abortion and the Neo-Natal Right to Life
Alastair Norcross – Killing, Abortion, and Contraception: A Reply to Marquis
Peter McInerney – Does a Fetus Have a Future-Like-Ours?
M 2/16 Is Abortion Wrong? Part 2 (85-98)
Judith Jarvis Thomson – A Defense of Abortion
W 2/18 Responses to Thomson (99-107)
Baruch Brody – Thomson on Abortion
M 2/23 Responses to Thomson, continued (99-107)
Francis Beckwith – Arguments from Bodily Rights: A Critical Analysis
Review for the Midterm W 2/25 MID-TERM EXAM
M 3/2 No Class – Spring Break W 3/4 No Class – Spring Break
M 3/9 Is Killing Non-Human Animals Wrong? (108-117)
Tom Regan – The Case for Animal Rights
PAPER PROPOSAL #1 DUE W 3/11 Responses to Regan (118-130)
Jan Narveson – On a Case for Animal Rights
R.G. Frey – Why Animals Lack Beliefs and Desires; and The Case Against Animal Rights
Alan White – Rights
M 3/16 Is Failing to Contribute to Famine Relief Wrong? (131-134)
Peter Singer – Famine, Affluence, and Morality
W 3/18 Responses to Singer (142-154)
John Arthur – World Hunger and Moral Obligation: The Case Against Singer
Michael Slote – Famine, Affluence, and Empathy
Presentations on student-chosen topics begin:
THE ETHICS OF SEX AND MARRIAGE M 3/23 Is Adultery Wrong? (194-204)
Richard Wasserstrom – Is Adultery Immoral?
W 3/25 Responses to Wasserstrom (205-216)
Bonnie Steinbock – Adultery
Don Marquis – What’s Wrong with Adultery?
PAPER #1 DUE
M 3/30 Is Same-Sex Marriage Wrong? (297-306)
Jeff Jordan – Is It Wrong to Discriminate on the Basis of Homosexuality?
W 4/1 Responses to Jordan (307-311)
David Boonin – Same-Sex Marriage and the Argument from Public Agreement
Andrew Sullivan – Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality
THE ETHICS OF STATE POLICIES M 4/6 Is a Government Ban on Tobacco Wrong? (497-511)
Robert Goodin – No Smoking
W 4/8 Responses to Goodin (512-536)
Daniel Shapiro – Smoking Tobacco – Irrationality, Addiction, and Paternalism
Graham Oddie – Addiction and the Value of Freedom
M 4/13 Is Issuing Warrants to Torture Wrong? (560-571)
Alan Dershowitz – Tortured Reasoning
PAPER PROPOSAL #2 DUE W 4/15 Responses to Dershowitz (572-579)
Elaine Scarry – Five Errors in the Reasoning of Alan Dershowitz
Alan Dershowitz – Reply to Scarry
ETHICAL THEORIES REVISITED M 4/20 Ethical Theories in Review W 4/22 Paper Discussion and Reflections on the Course