Spring 2021 | PHIL 3302W Section 001: Moral Problems of Contemporary Society (65867)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- Completely Online
- Class Attributes:
- UMNTC Liberal Education RequirementFreshman Full Year RegistrationOnline Course
- Times and Locations:
- Regular Academic Session01/19/2021 - 05/03/2021Off CampusVirtual Rooms ONLINEONLY
- Enrollment Status:
- Closed (60 of 60 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- How do we determine what is right and wrong? How should we live our lives? What do we owe others? Moral/ethical thought applied to problems and public disputes (e.g., capital punishment, abortion, affirmative action, animal rights, same-sex marriage, environmental protection).
- Class Notes:
- This lecture is completely online in an asynchronous format. There are no scheduled meeting times. Among the moral questions that confront us over the course of a lifetime, some have broad social significance. The answers to many of these moral questions, moreover, are a source of often intense public debate. Should public higher education be treated as a public good or a private commodity? Should people be free to express any idea without censure or are there limits to the speech we should, morally speaking, tolerate? Is race-based affirmative action a requirement of justice or unfair? Does mass incarceration of African Americans perpetuate racial injustice? What is my responsibility, if any, to help alleviate income inequality or climate catastrophe? What moral consideration, if any, do we owe to fetuses? Is assisted suicide a permissible aid to a terminally ill person's autonomy or a morally forbidden collaboration in a killing? Is the conduct of a just war compatible with holding enemies captive without charge or trial, potentially indefinitely? What immigration policies of a democratic state are morally defensible, and which not? Given the significance of such questions and the lack of agreement on their answers, it is especially important that we think clearly and argue cogently for solutions to the moral problems that prompt them. In this course, we will do so.
- Class Description:
Among the moral questions that confront us over the course of a lifetime, some have broad social significance. The answers to many of these moral questions, moreover, are a source of often intense public debate. Should public higher education be treated as a public good or a private commodity? Is race-based affirmative action a requirement of justice or unfair? Does mass incarceration of African Americans perpetuate racial injustice? What is my responsibility, if any, to help alleviate income inequality or climate catastrophe? What moral consideration, if any, do we owe to fetuses? Is assisted suicide a permissible aid to a terminally ill person's autonomy or a morally forbidden collaboration in a killing? Is the conduct of a just war compatible with holding enemies captive without charge or trial, potentially indefinitely? What immigration policies of a democratic state are morally defensible, and which not?
Given the significance of such questions and the lack of agreement on their answers, it is especially important that we think clearly and argue cogently for solutions to the moral problems that prompt them.
Both philosophy majors and non-majors are welcome.
- Who Should Take This Class?:
- Any student -- philosophy major or not -- who wants to spend a semester as part of a community committed not only to articulating, researching, thinking about, and respectfully debating pressing contemporary moral problems, but also to making creative progress toward solutions.
- Learning Objectives:
- The liberal arts are called the liberal arts because they represent what our intellectual predecessors regarded as the body of knowledge and skills necessary for a person to be a "liberal" person - by which they meant a "free" person.
>Identify, define, and solve problems
>Locate and critically evaluate information
>Master a body of knowledge and a mode of inquiry
>Communicate effectively
>Exercise skills required for effective citizenship and life-long learning
Finally, the course is designated Writing Intensive.
- Grading:
- Two papers -- 30% of the grade each -- and one final exam -- 40% of the grade.
- Exam Format:
- Short answer
- Class Format:
- 60% Lecture
30% Discussion
10% Web Based - Workload:
- approximately 30 pages of reading per class; two papers, one final exam
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65867/1213
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 21 July 2019
Spring 2021 | PHIL 3302W Section 002: Moral Problems of Contemporary Society (65868)
- Instructor(s)
- Michelle Hirschboeck (TA)
- Class Component:
- Discussion
- Class Attributes:
- UMNTC Liberal Education RequirementFreshman Full Year RegistrationOnline Course
- Times and Locations:
- Regular Academic Session01/19/2021 - 05/03/2021Mon 11:15AM - 12:05PMOff CampusUMN REMOTE
- Auto Enrolls With:
- Section 001
- Enrollment Status:
- Closed (30 of 30 seats filled)
- Course Catalog Description:
- How do we determine what is right and wrong? How should we live our lives? What do we owe others? Moral/ethical thought applied to problems and public disputes (e.g., capital punishment, abortion, affirmative action, animal rights, same-sex marriage, environmental protection).
- Class Notes:
- This discussion section is completely online in a synchronous format. The section will meet online at the scheduled times.
- Class Description:
- The course will begin with an overview of general problems of moral philosophy. Most of the course, however, will be given to controversial issues in moral philosophy, like abortion, affirmative action, cloning, the death penalty, environmental ethics, and suicide.
- Grading:
- Two papers -- 30% of the grade each -- and one final exam -- 40% of the grade.
- Exam Format:
- in-class exam, essay questions
- Class Format:
- Lecture/In-class discussion
- Workload:
- approximately 30 pages of reading per class; two papers, one final exam
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65868/1213
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 7 November 2016
Spring 2021 | PHIL 3302W Section 003: Moral Problems of Contemporary Society (65869)
- Instructor(s)
- Michelle Hirschboeck (TA)
- Class Component:
- Discussion
- Class Attributes:
- UMNTC Liberal Education RequirementFreshman Full Year RegistrationOnline Course
- Times and Locations:
- Regular Academic Session01/19/2021 - 05/03/2021Mon 12:20PM - 01:10PMOff CampusUMN REMOTE
- Auto Enrolls With:
- Section 001
- Enrollment Status:
- Closed (30 of 30 seats filled)
- Course Catalog Description:
- How do we determine what is right and wrong? How should we live our lives? What do we owe others? Moral/ethical thought applied to problems and public disputes (e.g., capital punishment, abortion, affirmative action, animal rights, same-sex marriage, environmental protection).
- Class Notes:
- This discussion section is completely online in a synchronous format. The section will meet online at the scheduled times.
- Class Description:
- The course will begin with an overview of general problems of moral philosophy. Most of the course, however, will be given to controversial issues in moral philosophy, like abortion, affirmative action, cloning, the death penalty, environmental ethics, and suicide.
- Grading:
- Two papers -- 30% of the grade each -- and one final exam -- 40% of the grade.
- Exam Format:
- in-class exam, essay questions
- Class Format:
- Lecture/In-class discussion
- Workload:
- approximately 30 pages of reading per class; two papers, one final exam
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65869/1213
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 7 November 2016
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