Revised Schedule of Assignments, Philosophy 101, Spring 2011

1.          Jan 12: Introduction

The Nature of Morality

2.          Jan 14: CH 1, What is Morality? James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy, 6^th edition, (hereafter, EMP), pp. 1-13

Objectivity, Subjectivity, and Relativism in Ethics and Aesthetics

3.          Jan 19: Six readings all on class webpage

             a.          “Battle Over Patriotism Curriculum”

             b.          “Men Stoned to Death for Adultery”

             c.          “The Ritual: Disfiguring, Hurtful, Wildly Festive” and “Village by Village, Circumcising a Ritual”

             d.          “Do Korean Men Still Beat Their Wives? Definitely”

             e.          Benatar, “Cultural Value Can’t Justify Cruel Slaughter”

4.          Jan 21: CH 2, Cultural Relativism, EMP 14-31

5.          Jan 24: Class webpage: Holmes Rolston, “Does the Aesthetic Appreciation of Landscapes Need to be Science-Based?”

6.          Jan 26: Same as above

7.          Jan 28: CH 3, Subjectivism, EMP 32-47             

Philosophy of Religion

8.          Jan 31: Class webpage: Richard Taylor "God,"

9.          Feb 2: Class webpage: Bertrand Russell "Why I Am Not A Christian"

10.        Feb 4: Three readings on class webpage

             a.           “Can Nonbelievers Be Saved?”

             b.           “More Atheists Shout from the Rooftops”

             c.          Gary Cutting, “Philosophy and Faith”

11.        Feb 7: Class webpage: William James, “The Will to Believe,”

12.        Feb 9: Class webpage: Louis Pojman, “Faith, Hope, and Doubt”

13.        Feb 11: Class webpage: Fyodor Dostoevsky, "The Sufferings of Little Children"

14.        Feb 14: Two readings on class webpage

             a.          John Hick,"The Problem of Evil"

             b.          John Hick, "Evil and the Infinite Future Good"

15.        Feb 16: CH 4, Does Morality Depend on Religion? EMP 48-61

Egoism

16.        Feb 18: CH 5, Psychological Egoism, EMP 62-69

17.        Feb 21: CH 5, Ethical Egoism, EMP 69-79

18.        Feb 23: MIDTERM EXAM

Social and Political Philosophy

19.        Feb 25: CH 6, The Idea of a Social Contract, EMP 80-96

20.        Feb 28: Same as above

21.        Mar 2: Class webpage: Joel Feinberg, “Hard Cases for the Harm Principle”

22.        Mar 4: Class webpage: Feinberg, “A Ride on the Bus”

SPRING BREAK

Utilitarianism

23.        Mar 14: CH 7, The Utilitarian Approach, EMP 97-108

24.        Mar 16: CH 8, Debate over Utilitarianism, EMP 109-123

25.        Mar 18: Same as above

             PAPER PROPOSAL DUE (Friday, Mar 18, send by email to: hettingern@cofc.edu)

Punishment and the Ethics of Respect

26.        Mar 21: CH 9, Are There Absolute Moral Rules, EMP 124-135

27.        Mar 23: CH 10, Kant and Respect for Persons, EMP 136-139

28.        Mar 25: Retributivism and Utilitarian Views of Punishment, EMP 139-145

Metaphysics: Mind and Body, Personal Identity, and Free Will

29.        Mar 28: Class web page: Thomas Nagel, “The Mind-Body Problem”

30.        Mar 30: Same as above

31.        Apr 1: Class web page: Daniel Dennett, “Where Am I?”

32.        Apr 4: Class web page: Thomas Nagel, “Free Will”

33.        Apr 6: Same as above

Feminism and Feminist Ethics

34.        Apr 8: CH 11, Feminism and the Ethics of Care EMP 146-157

             PAPER DUE (Friday, April 8^th, hard copy--not email)

35.        Apr 11: Class web page: John Stuart Mill, “The Subjection of Women”

36.        Apr 13: Same as above

Conclusions about Moral Theory 

37.        Apr 15: CH 12, The Ethics of Virtue, EMP 158-172

38.        Apr 18: Class web page: Philip Cafaro, “Gluttony, Arrogance, Greed, and Apathy: An Exploration of Environmental Vice”

39.        Apr 20: Same as above

40.        Apr 22: CH 13, What Would a Satisfactory Moral Theory Be Like? EMP 173-183

41.        Apr 25: Catch up day

FINAL EXAM (For date, see syllabus)