Syllabus

I. Description

Practically all of us face moral decisions. In such cases, we typically ask ourselves, “What’s the right thing to do?” It often happens that answering this question, and ones related to it, is a complicated and confusing endeavor. Various factors—self-interest, family, country, and religion; respect for individual freedom and a concern for social order; and others—pull on us from many sides. Balancing these disparate influences is difficult, and we are often left feeling that our answers to moral questions are somewhat arbitrary and ill-reasoned. Ethics is concerned—at least in part—with helping us to answer moral questions more reasonably by providing us with some procedure that generates answers to moral questions: some theory (or system, or set of principles) that we can consult in order to come up with answers to moral questions. In this course, we will examine three of these ethical theories—natural-law theory, Kantianism, and utilitarianism—and conclude by considering how a Darwinian view of evolution influences the way we think about morality.

II. Aims

This course’s aims include (1) introducing you to the field of ethical theory, (2) familiarizing you with some works with important implications for ethical theory, and (3) developing your abilities to assess, both in conversation and in writing, the merits of rival ethical theories.

To advance these aims, you will be required to read certain texts, to attend class and to participate in class discussions, and to complete some written assignments.

III. Books

The following five books are sold by the Pitt Book Center. Although each of these books contains required reading, other suitable editions of the same texts, or other books containing suitable editions of the required reading, may be used instead. For a list of the required reading, see the schedule, below.

IV. Schedule

We will meet fifteen times from September 3 to December 17, on Thursdays in room 142 of the Cathedral of Learning. Due to a university holiday, we will not meet on Thursday, November 26. Class will start at 5:45 p.m and finish by 8:10 p.m. Following is a list of the reading assignments, each of which must be done before the class on the day on which it is listed.

V. Requirements

In addition to reading the assigned texts on time, you will be required to take quizzes, a midterm test, and a final exam; to write papers; and to attend class and to participate in class discussions.

1. Four quizzes will be given in class.
• The quizzes will be given on the dates indicated above.
• All of the possible quiz questions will be provided, as study questions designed to aid you in your reading, at least a week in advance of the dates when they may be asked on quizzes.
• On days when quizzes will be given, quizzes will be available starting at 5:45 p.m. and must be completed—without the aid of texts, notes, or other people—by 6 p.m. On these days, students who arrrive late or who want to study before looking at the quiz may do so without penalty, though of course they must still finish by 6 p.m.
• If you miss a quiz, you may take a make-up quiz on the following Tuesday during my office hours. This is the only time when make-up quizzes will be given.
2. A midterm test will be given in class on October 15 and a comprehensive final exam will be given in class on December 17.
3. You will be required to write two papers. The first one, about 4 pages long, will be due on October 1. The second, about 6 pages long, will be due on November 19.
• Papers submitted later than their due dates but not later than December 17 will be accepted, but will be assessed a penalty of one letter grade per business day late. For example, a B paper due on a Thursday but turned in on the following Monday would receive a grade of D. Exceptions to this penalty rule may be made when a paper is late because of factors which a student could not reasonably be expected to anticipate or control, such as an illness or a family emergency. A paper submitted on a day when class does not meet should be marked with the date on which it is being submitted and placed in the mailbox marked EGGLESTON in room 1001 of the Cathedral of Learning between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
• If you anticipate that meeting any of these deadlines will be a problem, then you should contact me and request an extension at least a week before the deadline(s) in question; reasonable advance requests will be accommodated. Last-minute requests for extensions will not be granted, except in cases in which you would be exempt from the late-paper penalty anyway.
• Paper assignments, including suggested topics, will be provided at least a week before their due dates.
4. Attendance will be taken, and discussions will be held, in every class.

Final grades will be determined by these factors, weighted as follows: 5 percent for each of the four quizzes, 10 percent for the midterm test, 20 percent for the final exam, 15 percent for the first paper, 25 percent for the second paper, and 10 percent for attendance and class participation. Also, failure to take the midterm test or the final exam, or to turn in two papers earning passing grades (on their merits, not counting the penalty for lateness), will result in failing the course.

It is possible that these requirements will change, as may other plans reported on this syllabus. Revisions will be stated on the World Wide Web site at the address given above. For more about the Web site, see “VI. Additional Resources,” below.

VI. Additional Resources

I’ll have office hours in area E of room 1428 in the Cathedral of Learning on Tuesdays from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. and on Thursdays from 4:40 to 5:40 p.m. and will be available at other times by appointment.

To contact me outside of class and office hours, use e-mail if possible (jbest3+@pitt.edu). Otherwise, call me at home, at (412) 521-5534, between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Furthermore, the World Wide Web site at the address given above includes links to several useful documents, including

• this syllabus
• revisions to the requirements and other plans reported on this syllabus
• study notes for each author, including
• background information about the author and reading assignment(s)
• study questions from which the quiz questions will be drawn
• suggestions for further reading
• an outline of topics to be covered in class
• paper assignments
• guidelines for writing a philosophy paper