Instructor: Prof. Shane Drefcinski
Office: 339 Gardner Hall
Office Hours: MWF 9-10, 11-1; TR 1-2.
Office Phone: 342-1828
FAX: 608-342-1427
E-Mail: Drefcins@uwplatt.edu

Required Text:
    Approaches to Ethics, ed. W.T. Jones, Frederick Sontag, Morton Beckner, and Robert Fogelin, (New York: McGraw-Hill Co), 1969.  This book is in the Textbook Center.

Other readings will be provided.

Grading:
     Grades will be based on four factors: (1) exams, (2) quizzes, (3) a paper and (4) class participation.  There are two “take-home” unit exams, each worth 50 points, and a cumulative “take-home” final exam worth 100 points.  The five quizzes, which are not announced in advance, are worth 50 points total.  The paper, which is to be 4-5 pages in length, is worth 100 points. Finally, class participation is worth 50 points.   The grade based on participation is determined in the following manner.  Regular and attentive attendance earns approximately 35 points.  Regular attendance plus occasional participation earns approximately 40 points.  Regular attendance plus frequent participation earns approximately 50 points.

    My rationale for a grade based upon participation is as  follows.  A person must be actively wrestling with the subject matter in order to philosophize well.  Hence, a student of philosophy must regularly and attentively attend class in order to develop some command of the difficult material we shall be considering. I expect each student to come to each class prepared to discuss the readings assigned for that day.  Since the readings are difficult, I also expect each student to have some questions about the material.  Please feel encouraged to raise questions during class, no matter how basic the question may seem to be.

Policy on Missed Quizzes, Late Papers, Exams and Incompletes:  Students who miss a quiz will not be allowed to take it later. Late papers and late exams will be penalized.  Incompletes will not be routinely assigned for unfinished course work.  In order to receive an incomplete the student must consult the instructor before the week of final exams and provide an acceptable reason why the course work cannot be completed.
 

Week of September 5-8

Week of October 9-13
    •   Monday, October 9: Exam #1

Classical Materialism

Modern Materialism

 

Empiricism/Utilitarianism

Week of October 23-27
    •   David Hume: selections Treatise on Human Nature and Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals.
Read: Approaches to Ethics, pp. 198-218.
 

   

Pragmatism

 

Week of November 6-10
    •   William James, “The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life”
    •   John Dewey: selections from Reconstruction in Philosophy, The Quest for Certainty, and Theory of Valuation.
    •   Friday, November 10: Exam #2
Read: James (handout); Approaches to Ethics, pp. 360-377.

Deontology

Existentialism

Week of November 27-December 1
    •   Søren Kierkegaard: selections from Journal, Either/Or, Fear and Trembling, Concluding Unscientific Postscript, Sickness Unto Death.
    •   Friedrich Nietzsche: selections from Twilight of the Idols, The Birth of Tragedy, Genealogy of Morals, and
The Antichrist.
Read: Approaches to Ethics, pp. 295-312; 323-330, and handouts from Thus Spake Zarathustra and Joyful Wisdom.

Week of December 4-8
    •   Nietzsche, continued.
    •   Jean-Paul Sartre: selections from "Existentialism is a Humanism" and Being and Nothingness.
    •   Albert Camus: selections from Myth of Sisyphus.
Read: Approaches to Ethics, pp. 401-417, and handout from  Myth of Sisyphus.
 

Feminist Ethical Theories

                                    

Take-Home Final Exam Due on Wednesday, December 20, 12:00pm.