One of the biggest criticisms of any ideal is that, while it’s nice in theory, it would never work in practice. My question to you about the ethical theories we will study this semester is this: will it work in real life? In YOUR life? To find out, you will choose one principle from each philosopher, and for three days you will attempt to Live the Theory. You will write up your experiment as an assignment you submit, noting both your successes and your failures, using at least two incidents for each entry.

There’s no winning or losing involved in this exercise. Success is marked by how well you understand the principle and attempted to put it into practice. Your work will be judged on three points:

1. Accuracy. Is your description of the principle accurate? This is crucial! Discuss the principles on our Discussions. Get feedback from your classmates and me. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES JUST CUT-AND-PASTE your submission for credit.

2. Relevance. Do the two incidents you chose fit the theory? Your selections must exemplify the principle. This is where you show that you truly grasp the point.

3. Originality. Your thoughts must be your own, and the incidents you describe must be unique to you. There can be no plagiarism or copying from ANY other source. Beyond that, I’m interested to see how creative you can be with the assignment. Are you taking the assignment seriously?

4. Format. Did you follow the directions? Does your work exhibit a high level of professionalism - good structure, grammar, punctuation and spelling? Does your essay include the 3 parts described below?

Parts of the assignment:

Each of your Live the Theory submission must have these three parts:

1. At least one full paragraph will describe the principle you are choosing (Kant’s categorical imperative, for example, or Aristotle’s mean between extremes), where you will explain what that principle is. Although you can consult other sources, this MUST be in your own words. Get clear on the principle by participating on the Discussions. (Tip: don’t try to use "elevated" language. Plain talk is fine. Aim for clarity.)

2. You will describe in detail at least two incidents from the days you lived the way you think Sartre (or whichever philosopher we're on) would, for example. Each incident should illustrate the SAME principle; don’t try to use a different principle for each incident. Each incident should be about a paragraph.

3. At the end, you will give a summary: how workable is this ethical theory? Is it something real people can actually live by? How would your life be different if you lived this way all the time? Do you recommend the theory or not?

The length should be 6-10 paragraphs, about two pages long. (Tip: when you write an essay, give more than a list of short sentences. Try to give deep descriptions.) Write out your submission BEFORE you attempt to submit it online. Prepare your document first, then cut and paste your document into the test form. Be sure to adjust any spaces or margins before you submit it for credit.

Here's an example, using a philosopher of ethics whom we will not be studying this semester, Mahatma Gandhi.

The ethical principle I have chosen to live by for three days is Gandhi's principle of ahimsa. Often called his principle of non-violence, the word really means "non-harm" or "compassion." Gandhi even translates it as "love." His idea is that we should never cause injury to another being (not just humans!) by anything we do or say or even think. [Here I would give a more in-depth description of ahimsa, maybe some examples from Gandhi's writings or his life. Several more sentences, maybe even another paragraph.]

For three days I tried to live according to ahimsa, and it was harder than I thought. It was easy for me not to be physically violent. I didn't punch anybody, slap anybody or do anything crazy like that. What was a lot harder was seeing how I often lack compassion in my heart. Even though I wasn't committing any violence with my body, I was committing violence with my thoughts and my words. [Here I'm showing that I really understand the principle. I might write a little more here, too.]

The first incident happened on Saturday when I wanted to go over to my friend's house. My mom said she didn't want me to go. She needed me to stay home and watch my little brother because she had to go in to work. I was so mad. I hate getting stuck watching him. I work hard at my job and in my classes, and I don't think it's fair that the only time I could go do something fun, she won't let me. I realized I was pouting. I was stomping around the house and slamming doors. I even said something mean to my brother.

He looked really hurt, and I realized it wasn't his fault, so I told him I was sorry. I realized I was being violent with my words and I wasn't showing anyone else any compassion. I realize it's tough on my mom to have to work weekends, but she's trying really hard to make a good life for us. Instead of trying to support her, I was making it harder, causing her stress, and that's a kind of harm. So I told her I'd be happy to do my part. You should have seen how relieved she was! So when I saw my own lack of ahimsa, I stopped it. Gandhi says that the moral person takes harm on himself before letting it happen to another, so I could suffer not going out if it helped my mom and brother feel better. It made my mood better and everybody in the house, too.

The second incident was Monday. I had two classes and a lab that day and then work. I just got off work when my friend called. I knew she'd been having panic attacks lately, and I'd talked to her a lot, trying to help. Honestly, I was just tired, and I was sick of her problems. I just wasn't feeling it. So I ducked her call. I felt kind of bad about it, but I was just too tired and went to bed. The next day I thought about it. I didn't injure her or harm her. I just didn't help her out. But that's lack of compassion. It wouldn't have killed me to talk to her for 15 minutes while I got ready for bed. But I didn't. So I failed on that one. I hope if she calls again I can just suck it up and talk to her a while. Ahimsa is something I still need to work on.

Yes, I think ahimsa is something people could actually do. I don't think they will. And I see that I won't do it all the time either. I think we're more lazy and probably more selfish than that. Maybe it takes a saint to do it all the time, but I think my life would actually be better if I practiced it more.

See how this submission matches all the required parts? That's what you need to do. The draft is due two weeks before the final submission, and no late submissions can be accepted because of the workload at the end of the semester.