Phil/GLST 210: Values Analysis
Dr. Charles Ess - Philosophy and Religion Department - Drury University
The following documents are available in conjunction with specific units
of Values Analysis:
NOTE: We will meet during the final period - Thursday,
May 7, 8:00-10:00 - to wrap up the discussion of virtue ethics and
environmental ethics, your response to the Assignment,
and course assessment.
-
Syllabus - Dr. Ess's section, Spring, 1998
(includes assignment for Jan.
19, 20, 1998)
Evaluation Criteria: specific writing
requirements used by all instructors in grading formal writing
Assignments, class notes:
-
Notes on "The Letter from the Birmingham Jail,"
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Notes, questions - Dr. Battle's lecture (January
19, 1998)
Outline, discussion notes, assignment - January
20, 1998.
For January 22/27, 1998:
-
Excerpts from first informal writing assignment
Outline, Boss, ch. 1
Please also read Boss, ch. 2, pp. 37-53;
respond in writing to questions 1, 2, and 4, pp. 53f.
-
January 27, 1998: Outline of comments,
in-class exercises, assignment for Thursday, January 29, 1998 (including
links to web materials on informal
fallacies).
January 29, 1998: Outline of discussion on metaphysics
and epistemology in the natural and social sciences, and the shift
in these as the result of quantum mechanics, relativity theory, and Bell's
theorem (including links to web materials on history
and philosophy of science, including Bell's
theorem) - and assignment for Tuesday, Feb. 4, 1998.
February 10, 1998: Outline, questions, and assignment
for February 12, 1998 .
February 12, 1998: Outline, questions, and assignment
for February 17, 1998.
February 17, 1998: In-class discussion questions,
notes, outline, and assignment for February 19, 1998.
February 19, 1998: In-class outline, assignment
for February 24, 1998.
-
February 24, 26, 1998: Outline of readings, discussion
questions, additional web resources, and assignment for March 3, 1998.
Additional Reserve Readings, Discussion
Questions for Tuesday, March 3, 1998
March 3, 5, 1998: Discussion Outline,
Informal Writing Assignment for Thursday, March 5, 1998
March 5, 1998: Discussion Outline, Informal
Writing Assignment for Tuesday, March 17, 1998
March 17, 1998: Discussion Outline, Informal
Writing Assignment for Thursday, March 19, 1998
March 19, 1998: Assignment for Tuesday, March
24, 1998
March 24, 1998: Discussion Outline, Informal
Writing Assignment for Thursday, March 26, 1998
March 26, 1998: Discussion Outline, Informal
Writing Assignment for Tuesday, March 31, 1998
March 31, 1998: Discussion Outline, Informal
Writing Assignment for Thursday, April 2, 1998
April 7, 1998: Discussion Outline, Web and Writing
Assignment for Thursday, April 9, 1998
April 9, 1998: Discussion Outline
April 14, 1998: Discussion Outline and Reading/Web
Assignment for Thursday, April 16, 1998 (applying Rawls to the particular
cases of teenage pregnancy as presented on the CD-ROM The Issue of Abortion
in America
Included here is the outline for the (first possible) "Informal-formal"
final writing assignment due: April 30, 1998
April 21, 1998: Lecture, Discussion Outline;
Assignment for Thursday, April 23, 1998
See also: Notes on Mary Midgley, "Trying Out
One's New Sword" (on culture, "moral isolationism" [in the name of
cultural relativism], and whether or not one culture can legitimately make
moral judgements about the values and practices of another culture)
Assignment for Tuesday, April 28, 1998
Outline for Tuesday, April 28 - Assignment for
Thursday, April 30
Outline for Thursday,
April 30 - Assignment for Final
Period
NOTE: We will meet during the final period - Thursday,
May 7, 8:00-10:00 - for wrap-up discussion and course assessment.
Discussion Guide: Utilitarianism (and MetaEthics): reading/discussion
questions for Mill's utilitarianism, followed by a first discussion of
metaethics (including the positions of ethical relativism, cultural relativism,
pluralism/rationalism, and dogmatism/absolutism)
Discussion Guide/Writing Assignment: Hobbes,
Locke, Mill: summarizes the philosophical contrasts (i.e., in terms
of ontology, epistemology, conceptions of the world, human nature, human
freedom, and the state of nature) between Hobbes and Locke as a way of
taking up Hobbesian ethical egoism and Mill's utilitarianism (both as forms
of ethical consequentialism)
Three Approaches to Kant: an introductory overview
of central concepts; a "genetic" or common-sense approach; and an advanced
approached based on a larger understanding of Kant's philosophical system
Abortion essays summary, writing assignment:
summarizes the essays by Judith Jarvis Thomson, Baruch Brody, and
Mary Anne Warren, followed by a formal writing assignment
Logicians' Notebook: summarizes the fallacies
of slippery slope, affirming the consequent, ad hominem, circularity/begging
the question, and equivocation, as well as discussion of how to analyse
analogical arguments
Assessment
Questions: Sample questions and case study from final assessment exam
(used to determine how well Values Analysis meets its stated goals and
outcomes)