PHIL 105 – Intro to Ethics (8 week course)

CRN: 39132

COURSE DESCRIPTION: It matters how we live our lives, and how we treat other people.  It is important that we treat other people in the right way, and avoid treating other people in the wrong way.  But what is “rightness” and “wrongness” anyway? The course is designed as an introduction to normative ethics. We will spend most of our time discussing three of the major traditions in ethical theory—Consequentialism, Deontology, and Virtue Ethics.  Along the way, we will discuss some “applied” ethical questions concerning the morality of abortion, poverty, pornography, and the treatment of non-human animals.  We will also explore some questions of moral motivation. An effort will be made to read primary (historical) texts, and to criticize the views of some authors in light of the views of others.