Dr. Carol Bigwood

cbigwood@yorku.ca

Office Location:  TBA

Office Phone:  TBA

Office Hours:  By appointment only via e-mail

In this course we will study good thinking practices, tools of moral reasoning, and different traditional philosophical approaches to a number of controversial moral issues.  The moral issues we will consider are Euthanasia, Capital Punishment, Pornography, Wealth and Poverty, Discrimination, Indigenous Rights, Environmental Ethics, and Abortion.  We will consider the use of facts, of laws, of moral principles, consequences, and values as well as the difficulties associated with them.   Along the way students will be introduced to philosophical ideas from Locke, Mills, Kant and Rawls that are often used in considering moral issues, as well as from interpretations by contemporary scholars, sometimes including feminist and indigenous perspectives.  Students will be introduced to ideas of societal freedoms, rights and responsibilities; to different views on justice, on punishment, on harms, on normativity; and to the problems involved in stances such as moral relativism and ethical subjectivism. Students will be encouraged to be open minded, to look at issues from different perspectives, and to engage in discussions and debates on the issues in live tutorial sessions.

None. All required readings will be links provided on Moodle to various e-resources.

Response 1                                                    15%

Quiz 1                                                           15%

Response2                                                     15%

Quiz 2                                                           15%

Quiz 3                                                           15%

Essay (1500-2000 words)                                 25%

Note this course is set up on a weekly basis and is a double time course (!), so do make sure you are ready to take on this double time load.  The course involves asynchronous prerecorded lectures that students can access at their convenience each week through Moodle, as well as weekly synchronous (live) zoom tutorial sessions also accessed through Moodle, which you would sign up for as a two hour session on Mondays or Wednesdays, but will be two tutorial sessions of 40 minutes with a break in between.   You will be required to submit weekly assignments to Moodle in the form of either a Response paper or a timed one hour quiz on that weeks course material.   The three quizzes will replace the mid term exam.  Your final exam will be a substitute essay due during the exam period.

• To understand and develop basic comprehension and argumentation skills in order to understand and critically evaluate positions of authors in scholarly articles and of classmates
• To introduce students to some basic theories, key concepts, and debates in practical ethics and encourage students to think critically about them.
• To introduce students to the importance of social, political and cultural contexts to the understanding of power and difference
• To give students ample opportunity through writing assignments and discussion to wonder, think, ask questions, and generally attempt to critically confront moral issues in their myriad forms
• To encourage students to communicate clearly and effectively through writing
• assignments, and class discussion;
• To develop an ability to write a well researched, well argued, and grammatically correct essay

Make sure you check on Student computer and other requirements for accessing Moodle, submitting assignments, and accessing zoom meetings on Moodle.  I think students are being advised to attach their yorku.ca email account to Moodle when you sign up for the course in order to access our zoom meetings within the Moodle shell.  Watch for my “Heads Up” Course Announcement in your email about one week before the course begins.