Philosophy

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COURSE SYLLABUS PHIL 1103-00, Ethics First Summer Session 2022 Normandale Community College MnTC goals 6 and 9; 3 credit hours. Instructor Stephen Donaho, Ph.D. email: [email protected] Please reach out by email anytime, using your Normandale student email account. In order for me to reply you must use your Normandale student email account. And check your Normandale student email regularly for messages about our class and from the College. Your Normandale student email is designated as an official means of communication with you. I check email every business day of the semester except course holidays (on the weekends email is checked at least once on Saturdays). Any emails you send are very important to me and I endeavor to get back to you within 24 hours or sooner unless your message is delivered during the weekend or on a holiday, in which cases a reply may take longer (though not necessarily). Office Hours, Meet with me by Zoom Tuesdays 5:30pm-6:30pm and Wednesdays 10am-noon.

https://minnstate.zoom.us/my/stephendonaho.ncc (Password: 849888) Required texts A. Weston, A 21st Century Ethical Toolbox, 4th edition, Oxford University Press. A. George, ed., What Should I Do?: Philosophers on the Good, the Bad, and the Puzzling, Oxford University Press. The Weston and George texts are available from the Normandale bookstore and many online booksellers. Be sure to get exactly the titles and editions that I listed here. Other readings may be assigned in the form of Instructor’s Notes (available under Content) and web pages (available under Links). The weekly instructions will always specify the texts needed and the reading assignment for each week. You will also need to use a good online English dictionary during the term to help you understand the course readings. I can also recommend the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy—available entirely online—as a resource to help you understand the course readings. (And of course, I will always be happy to discuss any of the course materials with you and try to answer any questions that you may have in grappling with the ideas we will be discussing—see the ‘Help’ section below). How to study and complete assignments Under Content in D2L you will find a module called “INSTRUCTIONS”; there you will find Course Instructions, Examination Instructions, Reflection Exercise Instructions, Discussion Instructions, and Moral Analysis Writing Assignment Instructions. Be sure to read each of those documents carefully, and then refer back to them as the course progresses.

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Each week of the term you will be given instructions for that week; follow the instructions for the week in order each week. Do not fall behind—you will learn best and have the best experience if you do each step of the instructions each week every week. You are also less likely to be successful and get the best grade possible if you fall behind and try to cram. Be sure you know how to use D2L. Help using D2L is available from several sources on several platforms, and there is a D2L “demonstration course” you can access from your student D2L homepage. The How to Get Tech Help document lists those options for getting help using D2L. Problems with your hardware, personal software, and internet connection are your personal responsibility. Technical deficiencies do not excuse any student from any course requirements. All assignments must be submitted as MS Word or pdf documents; assignments not submitted as a MS Word or pdf document will not be accepted. All students registered at Normandale have free access to Microsoft Office which includes Microsoft Word; you can access your free account from your student D2L page. Course Schedule Schedules for assignments, topics, and holidays are given in the Course Calendar document found under Content. Expected Work Weekly reading and reflection: Each week of the term a set of Weekly Instructions will be given which will include readings from the course texts. You will be instructed to read the texts in a particular way, and then instructed to work on Reflection Exercises for that week. Although they are not to be submitted for a grade, write answers for all reflection exercises each week—this is a crucial step in learning and creatively engaging with the problems of Ethics. The Weekly Instructions will at times also instruct you to work on upcoming examinations or writing assignments. The Weekly Instructions for each week of the term will be available under Content for each week of the term. Because you will earn three credits for this course offered over the short five-week summer term, the State of Minnesota expects that you will do quite a bit of work each week. Examinations: There will be two examinations during the term. Each examination will consist of four essay questions covering the course material up to that point in the term. Expect to write two pages for each essay question. The examination questions will be available one week before the due date for each examination, and will be available under Content. The examination instructions are given in the Examination Instructions document under Content->Instructions. Examinations must be formatted and submitted in accordance with the examination instructions; examinations that are not so formatted and submitted will not be accepted. The examination due dates are given on the Course Calendar (as well as dates for a grace period beyond the due date for the first examination).

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Moral Analysis Writing Assignment: You will be given a writing assignment to work on beginning in the second week of the term; the assignment will be due at the end of the term (the due date is given in the Course Calendar). The instructions for the writing assignment are given in the Moral Analysis Writing Assignment Instructions document that will be available under Content->Instructions. Your writing assignment must be formatted and submitted in accordance with the writing assignment instructions and this syllabus; papers that are not so formatted and submitted will not be accepted. I am happy to look at a draft of your writing assignment before it is due; requirements for submitting a draft for help are given in the Writing Assignment Instructions and deadlines for the optional draft is on the Course Calendar. The due date for writing assignment is given on the Course Calendar. Discussion: Weekly participation in discussion is required. The Discussion Instructions document is found under Content->Instructions. All participation in course discussion must conform to the discussion policies given in the Discussion Instructions document. Course Learning Objectives

As a result of doing the work for this class, students will be able to: Examine, articulate, and apply one’s own ethical view. Understand and apply core moral concepts (e.g., politics, rights, obligations,

justice, liberty) to specific issues. Analyze and reflect upon the ethical dimensions of legal, social, and scientific

issues. Identify ways to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works in the history of moral

thought. Understand these ethical works as representations of various historical and social

values. Articulate informed personal responses to classical and modern ethical works. Respond critically to works of ethical analysis and their applications. Analyze an ethical claim, understand its assumptions and evaluate the

consequences that may follow. Recognize and articulate the value assumptions that underlie affect decisions,

interpretations, analyses, and evaluations made by oneself and others. Use diverse ethical theories and imaginatively generate alternative moral reasoning that results in alternative solutions. Help

I am happy to answer questions by email and I hope that everyone asks questions whenever they have them, either about the course instructions or about the course material. Be sure to ask any questions that come up. I am also available to meet by Zoom on Tuesdays 5:30pm-6:30pm and Wednesdays 10am-noon.

https://minnstate.zoom.us/my/stephendonaho.ncc (Password: 849888) Submission of examinations and the writing assignment

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• Submissions must be made to the appropriate folder under Assignments in D2L, and must be a file in MS Word or pdf. Submission deadlines are listed in the Course Calendar (under Content).

• Late submissions of the First Examination are accepted during the grace period following the due date and time; the length of the grace period is given in the Course Calendar document (found under Content). There is no point or grade penalty for submissions made during the grace period but they do not qualify for written commentary from the instructor in the First Exam Report. Late submission after the due date of either the Second Examination or the Moral Analysis Writing Assignment is not permitted because they are due on the last day of the course—you must plan ahead. You should aim to have finished the work for the term by the end of the day before the last day of the term, and I have structured your work for the last week so as to give you the space to do that.

• An optional draft of the Moral Analysis Writing Assignment may be submitted— this is not required. The submission requirements and instructions for submitting a draft are given in the Moral Analysis Writing Assignment Instructions document.

• Submissions that do not meet the format requirements are not accepted (any format requirements given here and in the Examination Instructions and Moral Analysis Writing Assignment Instructions documents found under Content- >Instructions).

• It is entirely your personal responsibility to be sure that your hardware, software, internet connection, and knowledge of D2L are sufficient to participate in this online course. Deficiencies in technology or technical knowledge will not excuse any student from course instructions, requirements, or expectations. Again, for help with technology see the How to Get Tech Help document found under Content.

Academic honesty

All students are expected to know the academic honesty policy of the College.

Plagiarism on one assignment will result in the grade F for that writing assignment or examination (or ‘not acceptable’ in the case of a discussion posting), and may result in a final course grade of F and a report to the Dean of Students. The College may impose further penalties. Proper citations must be given for all material from any source used in exam essays and the Moral Analysis writing assignment. This includes both direct quotation and paraphrase, that is, direct quotations as well as putting ideas or information from sources in your own words. Sources include required course texts and Instructor’s Notes in addition to any outside source (print, internet, video, the work of other students, tutors). Formatting and requirements for proper citations are described in the Examination Instructions document and in the Moral Analysis Writing Assignment Instructions document (both found under Content->Instructions).

Your submissions will be examined by Normandale’s sophisticated suite of plagiarism detection software platforms and compared with very large databases (which include previous submissions to this and other colleges and universities, material submitted by other students, material prepared by professional cheaters, as well as

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internet, electronic, and print sources). Use of materials without proper citations is plagiarism, and all instances of plagiarism detected will be permanently documented as part of your course record and will be subject to the penalties described above. That permanent documentation may also be forwarded to the Dean of Students. Grades

Each of the examinations and the writing assignment will be worth 100 course

points. But as an incentive to improve, the lowest score will be dropped from the final course grade calculation. You should aim to do as well as possible on the First Examination and then use the comments you will receive to help you write a stronger Second Examination and a strong Writing Assignment.

I will check participation in Discussion for randomly selected weeks during the term. Following the Discussion Instructions document will result in a grade of “acceptable” for that week, and not following the discussion instructions earns the grade “not acceptable” for that week. Consistently making very detailed and careful posts that are relevant and clear during the semester earns ten bonus points total added to the second-lowest assignment score (ten bonus points total, not ten per post).

The final course grade will be determined in the following way. First, your lowest assignment score is dropped (from the two examinations and the Writing Assignment). Then Discussion participation is checked and the ten-point bonus, if awarded, is added to the lowest of those two scores. Then I add those two scores to determine a raw letter grade calculated as a percentage of 200 course points, where A is 100-90%, B is 89-75%, C is 74-60%, D is 59-50%, and F is below 50%. Finally, participation in discussion is checked again; for each “not acceptable” beyond one, the raw letter grade will be reduced by one-half letter. This adjusted letter grade will be the final course grade.

The grade of Incomplete will be assigned only under extraordinary and documented circumstances as determined by the instructor; requests for Incomplete must be made in writing before the second to last day of the semester; generally speaking, requests for the grade Incomplete will not be granted. Automatic Grade of NW for Nonparticipation: College policy requires that any student that is inactive in a course for more than two weeks must be assigned the semester final course grade of NW. After that grade is assigned there is no further D2L access to the course as NW is the final course grade for the semester. And those who receive that grade will not be permitted to continue in the course past that point even if a request to do so is made (given that too much material has been missed). Important Notices Information in this syllabus and other course documents is subject to alteration and amendment during the term; all alterations and amendments will be announced on the course D2L site. All students enrolled in this course will be held responsible to know the information in this syllabus, the information in all other course instruction and policy documents, and all alterations and amendments announced under Announcements or in updated course documents.

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Normandale Community College is committed to providing equal access for students with disabilities through the services provided by the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD). If you have an educational need because of a disability, please make an appointment for an intake/interview to discuss these needs so that appropriate accommodations can be implemented for your Normandale courses. Appointments can be made by calling the OSD staff at 952-358-8625, emailing [email protected], or stopping by the L2751 office. This syllabus is available in alternate formats upon request. Instructor’s professional biography Stephen Donaho holds the B.A. with honors in Philosophy from the State University of New York, and the M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota. His doctoral research was on applications of logic in the study of the semantics of natural languages. He has taught in the philosophy departments at the University of Minnesota, the University of St. Thomas, Metropolitan State University, Concordia College-New York (where he also held an appointment as Associate Professor of Liberal Studies), and is presently a tenured member of the Department of Philosophy at Normandale Community College. He is also a Resident Fellow of the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Minnesota. He has delivered lectures at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Mankato State University, Loyola-Marymount University, Canisius College, and Brooklyn College-City University of New York, as well as before the Minnesota Philosophical Society and the American Philosophical Association. His papers have appeared in Mind and The Journal of Philosophical Logic.