3 classes matched your search criteria.

Fall 2021  |  PHIL 3311W Section 001: Introduction to Ethical Theory (22546)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Discussion
Credits:
4 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
09/07/2021 - 12/15/2021
Mon, Wed 09:20AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 155
Enrollment Status:
Open (55 of 60 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Nature and justification of moral judgments and moral principles; analysis of representative moral views.
Class Description:

Is an action good or bad because of its anticipated results or regardless of these results? Is it ever right to kill one person to save five? Is relativism true?
Is abortion wrong?

This course is an introduction to philosophical ethics, the part of philosophy that is concerned with right and wrong, good and bad, virtue and vice. We will focus on those historical philosophical theories of these topics that have been most influential in contemporary Anglo-American philosophy, as well as consider their relevance to practical ethical problems in contemporary life.

The major portion of the course will examine three influential historical traditions in normative ethical theory and their implications for applied ethical problems:

(1) Aristotle and contemporary neo-Aristotelian ethics;

(2) Immanuel Kant and contemporary Kantian ethics; and

(3) John Stuart Mill and contemporary utilitarian consequentialism.

Finally we will touch on some topics in meta-ethics.

Who Should Take This Class?:
Undergraduates interested in philosophy and motivated to think and write critically about questions of right and wrong, good and bad, virtue and vice.
Learning Objectives:

The goals of the course are to provide students with an introduction to philosophical ethics and to equip them to critically read, evaluate, discuss, and write philosophical prose, as well as to engage in the activity of philosophy themselves. Within the context of these goals, our specific objectives will be to:


  1. Understand the historical sources and main features of three traditions of ethical theory:
    Aristotelian, Kantian, and Utilitarian

  2. Think, discuss, and write critically about the contributions of each of these traditions to our understanding of ourselves as moral beings

  3. Think, discuss, and write critically about the application of each of the traditions to some specific ethical problems

  4. Familiarize ourselves with some key meta-ethical questions, as they pertain to the theories we study
Grading:

Paper 1 draft and revision (approx 1250 words)



1/3*


Midterm exam



1/3*



Paper 2 (approx 1250 words)




1/3*


The primary criteria for grading the papers include general clarity of expression, demonstrated understanding of the significance of the relevant text, ability to articulate a philosophical topic, and quality of the arguments for one's own conclusions regarding the topic at hand. These qualities, in addition to creativity and insight, characterize the best philosophical prose.

* Because this course employs the Socratic method, class attendance and participation are not included as a separate grading component but are mandatory. Students with unexcused absences will be asked to drop the course. Those students who decline will see their subsequent paper grade reduced by one full letter grade (e.g., A to B) for each unexcused class absence.

I will assign final grades understanding the quality grades as follows:

A 4.000 - Represents achievement that is outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course requirements
A- 3.667
B+ 3.333
B 3.000 - Represents achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements
B- 2.667
C+ 2.333
C 2.000 - Represents achievement that meets the course requirements in every respect
C- 1.667
D+ 1.333
D 1.000 - Represents achievement that is worthy of credit even though it fails to meet fully the course requirements
S Represents achievement that is satisfactory, which is equivalent to a C- or better.
Exam Format:
This is a Writing Designated Course. You will write two essays (of approximately 1250 words each), each of which counts for 1/3 of your final grade. You will turn in drafts for the first essay and receive written comments back before you submit a revised version. The grade for the first essay will be the average of the grade on the draft and the grade on the revision. You will submit just a final version of the third essay.
Class Format:
50% Lecture
50% Discussion*
* Because this course employs the Socratic method, class attendance and participation are mandatory.
Workload:
According to University policy:

"one credit represents, for the average University undergraduate student, three hours of academic work per week (including lectures, laboratories, recitations, discussion groups, field work, study, and so on), averaged over the semester, in order to complete the work of the course to achieve an average grade. One credit equals 42 to 45 hours of work over the course of the semester (1 credit x 3 hours of work per week x 14 or 15 weeks in a semester equals 42 to 45 hours of academic work). Thus, enrollment for 15 credits in a semester represents approximately 45 hours of work per week, on average, over the course of the semester."

Formally, therefore, this 4-credit course should require an average of 12 hours of work per week to achieve an average grade: 3.3 classroom hours and 8.7 hours of out-of-class hours each week in a fifteen week term. This makes for a total of 180 hours of work for this class over the course of the semester.


In-class hours


Approx. 49.5



Reading/viewing hours



Approx. 94.5

(avg. 6.3/week)



Paper 1 hours (review, writing, revision)



Approx. 12 (8 draft; 4
rev)



Midterm exam hours (review)



Approx. 12



Paper 2 hours (review, writing)



Approx. 12



Total hours



Approx. 180

You should not take this course if you cannot make this workload commitment. I understand that we all have commitments and responsibilities that compete for our time outside the classroom. However, as your professor, my priority is to help you achieve course goals and objectives; I likewise expect you to make your education your priority.

Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/22546/1219
Past Syllabi:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/syllabi/mason043_PHIL3311W_Spring2018.pdf (Spring 2018)
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
31 December 2018

Fall 2021  |  PHIL 4321W Section 001: Theories of Justice (35460)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Meets With:
PHIL 5321 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
09/07/2021 - 12/15/2021
Mon, Wed 01:00PM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 110
Enrollment Status:
Open (14 of 25 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
What is justice, understood as a central virtue of our social (e.g., political and legal) institutions? What does justice require in the political realm and what kind of state is best suited to achieve it? Ideally, what image of the just state should regulate our behavior? How do the requirements of justice change, if they do, in non-ideal circumstances, such as in cases of noncompliance with the law or in the context of violent conflict (e.g., in war)? This course is intended to provide upper-level undergraduates and philosophy graduate students with a selective survey of important work in contemporary theory of justice that addresses such questions. prereq: 1003 or 1004 or instr consent
Class Description:
What is justice, understood as a central virtue of our political institutions? Does justice enjoy some kind of priority as a virtue of political institutions? Are citizens justified in expecting their institutions to manifest other virtues, as well (such as decency)? What problems arise for such political ideals when the institutions in question are charged with governing citizens in multicultural societies, citizens who do not always share common values? This course will take up such questions in the context of domestic politics in multicultural, pluralistic societies such as the United States. (That is, for reasons having solely to do with time constraints, we will largely omit consideration of problems of justice that cross national boundaries.) In taking up these questions, we will pay special attention to philosophical justifications of liberal democracy and criticisms of the conception of political liberalism that aims at remaining neutral on substantive moral, religious, and philosophical questions. We will take John Rawls' work as our exemplar of political liberalism. Of the many and various critiques of Rawls, we will focus on two: Avishai Margalit's development of the idea that our political institutions must attend not only to justice but to decency (so as to avoid humiliating citizens) and George Sher's defense of a form of perfectionism that abandons liberal neutrality in favor of the promotion of a certain substantive conception of the good human life.
Grading:
90% Reports/Papers
10% Class Participation
Exam Format:
essay and short answer
Class Format:
70% Lecture
30% Discussion
Workload:
30-50 Pages Reading Per Week
15-20 Pages Writing Per Term
3 Paper(s)
Other Workload: Requirements will include three short (five-to-seven page papers).
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/35460/1219
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
21 May 2007

Fall 2021  |  PHIL 5321 Section 001: Theories of Justice (34974)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Meets With:
PHIL 4321W Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
09/07/2021 - 12/15/2021
Mon, Wed 01:00PM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 110
Enrollment Status:
Open (2 of 5 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
What is justice, understood as a central virtue of our social (e.g., political and legal) institutions? What does justice require in the political realm and what kind of state is best suited to achieve it? Ideally, what image of the just state should regulate our behavior? How do the requirements of justice change, if they do, in non-ideal circumstances, such as in cases of noncompliance with the law or in the context of violent conflict (e.g., in war)? This course is intended to provide upper-level undergraduates and philosophy graduate students with a selective survey of important work in contemporary theory of justice that addresses such questions. prereq: 1003 or 1004 or grad student or instr consent
Class Description:
Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/34974/1219

ClassInfo Links - Fall 2021 Philosophy Classes Taught by Michelle Mason Bizri

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