Coordinates

You will be expected to look for any class assignments either here or on our blackboard site.

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Materials

Required:

Readings will be made available as links from the Web site.

Course Description

Content

This course focuses on the philosophical grounding of various positions on moral issues in the public forum. After studying two principal approaches to moral questions, we will apply them to specific current issues.  The course will also examine the limits of law in enforcing moral standards and the tensions between liberty and control.  You will be encouraged to develop and argue for your own position on these issues.  

Skills

. It is assumed, however, that you will have had some exposure to conceptual and normative (that is to say ethical) reasoning. The course also assumes that you have the capacity to synthesize information and present your own ideas orally and in writing. This course will help develop further your analytical skills particularly as they apply to legal and moral reasoning. This course is designed not only to teach you the ideas of others but also to help you develop the capacity to engage in original thinking and research to advance those ideas further. Hence, it is absolutely essential to have completed each reading assignment and to be prepared to speak in each class.

 Requirements

*          Active class participation : all students are expected to attend class regularly and to be prepared to discuss the reading. Students may be called upon to participate in class and no passing is permitted. Each student will be allowed 1 un-excused absences. Any additional un-excused absence will reduce your final grade by one whole grade per absence. Study the class calendar carefully to make sure you don't have any prior commitments that would preclude you from meeting these requirements.

*          There will be one analytical paper.

*         There will be one quiz a mid term and a final exam.

Grading (subject to qualification described below)

Class Participation: 20%

Quiz: 15%

Mid Term : 20%

Analytical Paper : 20%

Final : 25%

Standards: Grading standards are in part subjective and excellence in one area may compensate for deficiencies in another. No curve will be used to calculate the grades in this class. Hence, it is theoretically possible for every student to receive an A if he or she meets the standards for that grade. My primary goals are for each student to develop the critical thinking skills and to understand the ideas covered in this course by the time it is completed. If later exams and papers illustrate this proficiency, earlier grades which do not will be discounted. The following will give you a general guide to the typical performance associated with each letter grade.

A: all course requirements met, work shows full understanding of course material and an original perspective on the subject

B: all course requirements met, work shows full understanding of course material (or satisfactory understanding of course material and an original perspective on the subject)

C: all course requirements met, work shows satisfactory understanding of course material

D: work fails to meet minimum course requirements, either in full and timely completion of requirements or in satisfactory understanding of course material

F: work falls far below minimum course requirements either in full and timely completion of requirements or in satisfactory understanding of course material.

University and Classroom Standards

The American University's "Academic Integrity Code" governing standards for academic conduct apply. Students may discuss the subject matter of their essays with anyone. All students, however, must compose their own essays and may not show or read their essays to any other persons, except for proofreading or typing assistance by a person not enrolled or previously enrolled in the course. The use of another person's words or ideas without proper attribution constitutes plagiarism or false authorship. Both are serious academic offenses. By turning in an essay, a student is certifying that the essay is entirely his/her own work. If there are any questions about this matter, consult the Academic Integrity code or see the instructor.

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Introduction

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The Idea of Law

Weeks 2-3

The Idea of Justice

Nozick

Distributive Justice pp 45-87

Walzer

Communitarian Critique of Liberalism

Weeks 7 -9

Mid Term Returned And Paper Assigned
End of Week 8

Neitzsche

Human Rights And International Justice

Bowers v. Hardwick
Lawrence v. Texas

Mohr
Pakaluk, Homosexuality and the Common Good

George, 'Same-Sex Marriage'
Bolte, Do Wedding Dresses Come in Lavender?

Robertson, Rights, Symbolism, and Public Policy
Rae, Spare Parts from the Unborn

Kass, Wisdom of Repugnance
Smith, Ignorance is Not Bliss

FINAL EXAM