Ethics

Name:

Ethics – Final Test Take-Home Portion

Show off your moral reasoning and critical thinking skills!!!

15% of your overall course grade

Instructions & Details :

· Complete this assignment. Apply your best philosophical and critical thinking.

· Submit on D2L (“Assignments Folder”) before the start of class on the due date (on the course outline). IF you fill it out by hand, you can just bring the hard copy and you don’t have to submit on D2L.

· AND bring a hard copy of your completed responses to class to use for the in-class final.

· Score for final: 65 points total:

· Short Answer 20pts

· Moral Reasoning 20pts

· Application Sheet (HW-for-Your-Future-Self) 10pts

· In-class final discussion/application 15pts

Short Answer – answer all of them (20 points total: 5 points each)

1. When you make ethical decisions, should you take other people/things into account, or think only of yourself? Explain. Apply at least two concepts (or discuss at least two thinkers) from our class in your explanation.

2. Describe Immanuel Kant’s moral theory (which is called deontology or duty ethics), and its core principle, the categorical imperative. THEN write out the two main ways the categorical imperative is stated. THEN elaborate on each statement by restating each in your own words. AND then show that you can apply deontology by explaining HOW Kant would treat another person at the post office and WHY he would treat them that way (hint: make reference to the categorical imperative in your explanation).

3. Explain what you have learned about morality and religion by responding to this prompt: Your friend says, “Without religion, there would be no morality.” How would you respond to your friend?

4. What have you learned about the relationship between morality and civil law (or government and society in general)?

Very Important!

Moral Reasoning & Critical Thinking Application Section: (20 points)

Use the prompts below and your BEST critical thinking and moral reasoning to respond to the following scenario. Here’s the scenario:

Sam works at the local grocery store and pays for food for the family using money from that job. Sam’s brother and sister depend on Sam’s money to have regular access to food. Sam takes a private test and tests positive for Covid 19, but is not experiencing any symptoms. Sam’s manager calls and says, “Can you come to work today?” What should Sam do (or not do)? (Use the prompts below to answer.)

Provide thorough responses to EACH prompt below. This will require a total of 1-2 pages all together. (Apply your understanding of moral development, justifications, ethical relativism, utilitarianism, deontology, and critical thinking in your response.) Prompts:

1. Clearly state the main moral question, problem, or issue. Explain what makes this the main moral question in this case. (Note: Use at least one universal moral principle in your response, and underline it.)

2. Analyze and interpret relevant information. (Note: you can fill in some of the unknown facts in this case on your own to enhance your exploration.) Do this by writing a list of questions that Sam should consider. For each question, explain WHY Sam should consider that question (use class concepts in your explanation).

3. Evaluate this scenario using (at the very least) utilitarianism AND deontology AND Rawls’ Veil of Ignorance to identify strengths and weaknesses of different possible conclusions/choices. (Example: “A utilitarian would likely conclude… because…”):

a. Utilitarianism:

b. Deontology:

c. Rawls’ Veil of Ignorance/Impartiality:

4. Generate a conclusion that is best supported by your analysis and evaluation. (Note: Your conclusion should be in response to the main moral question you identified.)

( Note : Your responses here will be used to assess your level of achievement with specific critical thinking “learning outcomes.” The rubric for that assessment is at the end of this file. Review it, score yourself, & then edit your responses.)

Last Part:

Create Your Own Ethics Application Sheet (HW-for-Your-Future-Self) (10 points)

1. Create a HW assignment/information sheet for your future self (you in 6 months or a year from now) that will help you apply good ethical questioning, analysis, and evaluation before reaching a conclusion when you are confronted with real-world ethical issues or problems.

Tips :

a. You can be creative with this and make a flowchart, a rubric, a list of questions, an outline, a table, a checklist, or whatever you think would help you apply the most important concepts you have learned in our class.

b. When you have created your first draft of this sheet, stop and reflect on what you’ve learned about critical thinking this term as you reflected on Plato’s cave, your group project, your writing assignment, etc. Apply critical thinking concepts and terms to enhance your sheet.

Extra Credit:

What was your favorite experience in our class?

Rubric for Critical Thinking (use this while editing your responses to the Sam scenario)

Critical Thinking Scoring Guide

Broward College’s QEP: Question Every Possibility—Think Critically

Broward College defines critical thinking as a process of evaluating information by questioning and testing assumptions, accepting or rejecting arguments and/or perspectives, and applying reasoning to make informed decisions.

Learning Outcomes	Exceeds Standard 4	Demonstrates Standard 3	Approaches Standard 2	Below Standard 1
Explain questions, problems, and/or issues	Clearly states and describes the hypothesis, question, problem, or issue in a way that demonstrates a comprehensive understanding and provides all relevant information necessary for full understanding of the hypothesis, question, problem, or issue	States and describes hypothesis, question, problem, or issue in a way that demonstrates a fundamental understanding and provides relevant information necessary for a general understanding of the hypothesis, question, problem, or issue	States but does not describe the hypothesis, question, problem, or issue in a way that demonstrates a fundamental understanding, nor provides relevant information necessary for understanding the hypothesis, question, problem, or issue	Does not state and/or describe the hypothesis, question, problem, or issue
Analyze and interpret relevant information	Clearly identifies and systematically breaks down the purpose, argument, information, or key idea/concept/term, using relevant factors to offer in-depth insights	Identifies and breaks down the purpose, argument, information, or key idea/concept/term, using relevant factors to offer insights	Identifies, but does not break down the purpose, argument, information, or key idea/concept/term, using relevant factors to offer insights	Does not identify or break down the purpose, argument, information, or key idea/concept/term
Evaluate information to determine potential conclusions	Thoroughly assesses and questions the credibility or significance of the purpose, argument, information or key idea/concept/term to determine potential conclusions	Assesses and questions the credibility or significance of the purpose, argument, information or key idea/concept/term to determine potential conclusions	Assesses and questions the credibility or significance of the purpose, argument, information, or key idea/concept/term, but not enough to determine potential conclusions	Does not assess or question the credibility or significance of the purpose, argument, information, or key idea/concept/term to determine potential conclusions
Generate a well-reasoned conclusion	Conclusion is comprehensive, logical and reflects the ability to thoroughly integrate thoughts relevant to the stated hypothesis, question, problem, or issue	Conclusion is sufficient, logical and reflects the ability to integrate thoughts relevant to the stated hypothesis, question, problem, or issue	Conclusion is somewhat logical and partially reflects the ability to integrate thoughts relevant to the stated hypothesis, question, problem, or issue	Conclusion is inconsistent and does not reflect the ability to integrate thoughts relevant to the stated hypothesis, question, problem, or issue