ETHC445 Principles of Ethics
Week 1 Assignment
Ethical Memoir
Early Ethics
Children solve life's dilemmas all of the time, but until they reach a certain point developmentally, their solutions tend to be desire-based rather than ethics-based. As we grow and learn, our systems of ethics become as unique as we are. Just as most dilemmas are not laid out for us with obvious solutions, most systems of ethics don't solve any dilemma perfectly. The study of ethics is most interesting in its grey areas.
What is your first memory of solving a dilemma specifically from the perspective of right versus wrong? This memory might be from your early childhood or even your teens. It might be something simple, such as whether to step on a caterpillar, or something complex, such as whether to lie about someone else having stolen money. What was your dilemma, and what was your "right" (or even knowingly "wrong") solution? (You do not need to choose a situation that worked out perfectly or was a disaster, though you may; most solutions are somewhere in the middle.)
Who and what in your life up to that point informed your sense of right-versus-wrong for-better-or-for-worse? How were those influences evident in your solution?
Please compose visual slides. This prepares you for our fresh approach which we will use in collaborations weeks 2-7. Choose illustrations that enhance your verbal responses. This is not a voiceover but a narrative in written words and images.
Describe your dilemma (sensory detail will help your story feel real).
Explain the solution (you don't need to go into the why, just the what).
Reflect on one or more ethical influences or approaches as evident in your solution.
This isn't meant to be a life history, though it definitely will encapsulate some of who you are. This is simply a way to begin thinking about how our sense of ethics might be shaped by our first decade or so on Earth.
This is an exploratory narrative: it should have a beginning, middle, and end created by your storytelling. No need to open with a history of your ancestors or wrap everything up with a statement of your philosophy of life. Make this your story—give your reader a clear, detailed picture (and add appropriate illustrations) of your dilemma; a clear explanation of your solution; and a description of the influences that informed you. (If you feel uncomfortable opening up yourself, you can use the example of a friend or family member, or use "creative license.")
N.B. See my personal example. Ethical Memoir tell teacher or stay silent (1).pdf download downloaddown Simply answer questions, provide apt images, and try a creative alternative to the same-old word-count paper. Aim for personal relevance, not research, here, to make this reflection worthwhile.
P.S. This is not an MP3/4 or voiceover PPTX file, please note. It's 5-7 "silent" slides in written format and as a visual composition; no internal title slides. You may consider how to integrate illustrations or images to enhance your message. An additional slide not counting under the 5-7 range for a title is needed; no resources need be appended as this is not a research project, but rather a graceful reflection regarding a difficult ethical dilemma you faced. It will also help you all prepare for the collaborative case study set format that we will adapt weeks 2-7. Strive to be inventive, to make this relevant. You may revisit this assignment in week 8 for your individualized narrative as a course reflection. Blending your two personal articulations of moral insights will prove memorable.
ETHC445 Principles of Ethics
Week 2 Assignment
Ethical Dilemma Analysis
Ethics and Religion
There's no religion without ethics; for most of the world's people, there's no ethics without religion.
Religious principles are the basics upon which a religion is founded. The Jewish and Christian Ten Commandments' "Thou shalt not kill"-or is it instead "murder"? (Links to an external site.) is a religious principle, as is the Five Pillars of Islam's Shahadah. So is the Buddhist and Hindu non-violence "ahimsa," or the Wiccan-pagan if "it harm none, do what you will." There are many sets of religious principles across history. Find one such precept that inspires, intrigues, surprises, or even annoys you. Maybe Google first, but you should end up narrowing your search in our online library. Your collaborative set for the case study will cohere more in assignments to come, but you will benefit from meeting with classmates, to brainstorm and perhaps find a common theme.
That "kill or murder?" (Links to an external site.) distinction above exemplifies a sample case study of how ethics and religion may or may not match when it comes to the taking of life.
This may interest you: "An Oxford Researcher Says There Are Seven Moral Rules That Unite Humanity (Links to an external site.)." All of these can be found in religious precepts.
Think about this as you browse: how has this principle been applied in past or present ethical situations? Take notes—both for informational and for citations.
After you've gotten the lay of the land, please choose and summarize, simply and in your own words, one religious principle that either supports or conflicts with an ethical imperative, an order or mandate that must be enacted for moral results.
The imperative=a command or order: e.g., people must always respect the elderly, or people must never not tell the truth. It applies to everyone in a group or community or tribe. It may or may not apply to "others"! Religions codify and express moral principles, so this week you are looking for an instance of when the precept preached by the religion comes into effect in an example you choose, maybe from history, maybe now, maybe your own experiences. You'll narrate how that religious rule agrees or differs from an ethical principle applied to real life.
Your four slides--everyone uploads only his/her own version, and his/her particular choice of principles, applications, and examples-- will follow in this order.
A one-sentence thesis laying out the presentation's guiding idea and the main points supporting it (the main points occur in items 2 and 3, below). No separate title slide is needed, as this part segues into:
Two main slides, one that explains your chosen religious principle, and one that explains the ethical situation you apply it to using a practical example. These slides should have in-text citations for all quotes, paraphrases, and outside information that you use as support for your explanation.
A third body slide that explores why you think this principle is so important to human interaction that it takes in both religious and ethical dimensions.
A conclusion that reflects upon your thesis and how you've supported it. Add who and what you benefited from your "set" of classmates you're assigned to. Be sure to integrate an explanation of how the religious or spiritual precept differs from or is similar to the ethical rule or precept with a real-life example.
You should use quality sources from our library and other judiciously chosen research. Wikipedia, "About" sites, and the like are for getting a quick picture of a topic, not for citing in college-level papers. Do not use big chunks of outside information to share someone else's argument; rather, reflect on well-chosen nuggets of outside information that define, clarify, and support your argument. If you use illustrations, they aren't casual clipart, but related to the topic precisely.
Ensure legible fonts, viewable backgrounds, and proofreading going beyond spellchecks. It's four slides with APA format in-text citations and a bibliography if needed. (I select an ancient Irish custom, which is a legend that connects to Celtic deities and duties.) While my sample has five for a title yours does not need a separate slide unless you want one. Ethical Dilemma 2 geas.pdf download
ETHC445 Principles of Ethics
Week 3 Assignment
Social Contract Analysis
The Social Contract in Action
This week, we study the concept of the social contract (the agreement between a given group of people about how they will function in relation to one another). Although few media explicitly mention a social contract, much coverage of ethical issues, public policy, and political or social debates do include some form of one.
So, consider headlines past or present, examples from your observations and experiences as a consumer of media, an educated reader, and an active citizen.
Choose a situation and examine, how the social contract's expressed therein. See if you can state the social contract in a topic sentence that relates the individual to the group, the "invisible" agreement, or the "unspoken" bond. What does this situation offer you to learn or remember (through laughter, horror, tears, or introspection) about the human condition via this intangible social contract?
Your collaborative set will benefit from your meeting with classmates, to brainstorm, and perhaps find a common theme or topic to narrow in on.
You MUST USE evidence from John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and/or Jean-Jacques Rosseau, whom we are covering this week (see our lesson and/or use outside sources), to support your ideas about the social contract in your chosen example. Their ideas may or may not dovetail with the social contract as expressed in the instance you're covering. You can use them as a comparison, contrast, or both. You MUST CITE their works where you refer to them.
Your four slides--everyone uploads only his/her own version, and his/her particular choice of principles, applications, and examples-- will follow in this order.
A one-sentence thesis laying out the presentation's guiding idea and the main points supporting it (the main points occur in items 2 and 3, below). No separate title slide is needed, as this part segues into:
Two main slides, one that explains your chosen situation, and one that explains how the social contract applies, using practical examples. These slides should have in-text citations for all quotes, paraphrases, and outside information that you use as support for your explanation. Address specific concepts about how individuals do or should interact in a given group.
A third body slide that explores why you back Locke, Hobbes, and/or Rousseau in explaining how the social contract is so important to human interaction that it underlies the situation you're presenting. Include citations.
A conclusion that reflects upon your thesis and how you've supported it. Add who and what you benefited from your "set" of classmates you're assigned to. Do not forget that explicit citing or interpretation of your choice among the three thinkers is mandatory. This does not mean copy + paste of long quotes.
You should use quality sources from our library and other judiciously chosen research. Wikipedia, "About" sites, and the like are for getting a quick picture of a topic, not for citing in college-level papers. Do not use big chunks of outside information to share someone else's argument; rather, reflect on well-chosen nuggets of outside information that define, clarify, and support your argument. If you use illustrations, they aren't casual clipart, but related to the topic precisely.
ETHC445 Principles of Ethics
Week 4 Assignment
Academic Scholarship
The Ethics of Duty
Deontological ethics concerns itself primarily with duty. We hear a lot about duty today, from duty to family to duty to country. Most of us feel a sense of duty when we see human destruction in the natural world, from condos on wetlands to plastic in the oceans. What is an environmental issue (an issue having to do with human impact, large or small, on the natural world) about which you feel a sense of duty?
Using the scholarly research tools in our library, find a post-2000 academic article (i.e., not from a popular magazine or website) that addresses your chosen issue involving a "universal" code or "absolute" rule about ethics in a way that interests you. Your article probably will be peer-reviewed; our library shows you whether or not a given article has been vetted by experts.
You will need to experiment with narrowing your topic, because "pollution" could be a 3,487-page paper. This article could be an explanation of the issue involving the demand for duty put into action, a recommendation regarding a solution for the issue, or even an argument against others' understanding of the issue. Up to you. Check out for inspiration: "An Oxford Researcher Says There Are Seven Moral Rules That Unite Humanity (Links to an external site"
As you read and reread your chosen article, take notes. What are the article's main points? What key terms, concepts, or arguments does the article's author use to make those points? How can you use some of the article's main points to underline and develop your own sense of duty about the issue? Perhaps most important: Why should you, or anyone, have this sense of duty about this issue, that is, what's at stake, and why are we obliged to do anything about it?
Let's explore how this plays out in cases where a universal rule or mandate must apply. Those beyond barriers, borders, or even human boundaries (i.e, including natural life, the earth, maybe the universe!) are ideal investigations. Collaborating with your classmates will enrich your imagination and expand your interpretations of this "rule-based approach." After meeting peers, each of you'll contribute this...
Your four slides--everyone uploads only his/her own version, and his/her particular choice of principles, applications, and examples--will follow in this order.
This presentation should do the following.
Open with a slide that contains a brief overview of the issue, a brief indication of how the article relates to that issue, and a thesis sentence that connects your sense of duty to the issue and the article. Please provide the full title, author, and publication in your first mention of the article. (Example: In his article "X Marks the Spot" from The Economist, Jack Black argues that....)
Contain at least two content slides that explore the main points and key terms, concepts, and arguments you've chosen from the article. Use selected bits of information from the article (cite them, please) to support your own ideas about the article, the issue, and your sense of duty. This is not a book report. You're not simply restating the article. You're interpreting it.
Close with a slide that echoes the opening paragraph but also adds new value via the idea of duty. You might consider looking to the future, creating a call to action for others, or warning of what could happen if things do not change. Add who and what you benefited from your "set" of classmates you're assigned to. Be sure in this assignment to connect it to Kant explicitly.
You should use quality sources from our library and other judiciously chosen research. Wikipedia, "About" sites, and the like are for getting a quick picture of a topic, not for citing in college-level papers. Do not use big chunks of outside information to share someone else's argument; rather, reflect on well-chosen nuggets of outside information that define, clarify, and support your argument. If you use illustrations, they aren't casual clipart, but related to the topic precisely.
ETHC445 Principles of Ethics
Week 5 Assignment
Utilitarian Case Study
Philanthropist for a day~
If you have not read our lesson this week about utilitarianism and its main proponent, John Stuart Mill, you should do so before beginning this assignment. You'll play a starring role: you act as a philanthropist, with part of your endowment to distribute, using ends-based ethics, a share of your resources. It need not be a direct money payment; it can be practical assistance with employment, housing, amenities, debt, education, or any other desired positive consequence. The amount is up to you, and the way you utilize the greater good. There are twelve applicants. How will you decide?
This week's assignment follows this article about twelve Americans interviewed by the N.Y. Times in the autumn of 2020. (Links to an external site.) All had fallen on hard times. Imagine your philanthropic charity's board of trustees as your audience. Use two or three quotes or paraphrases from Mill's work (this requires library research) to support your decision, but you're not writing primarily as a philosopher. Rather, you're a benefactor who has grown to trust this philosophy in your profession. Now you're applying it to assist recipients from among the twelve individuals--imagine they each applied for assistance from your charity. This assistance will draw from the endowment you've set aside for your enterprise to support good works. How many you choose to reward--that's where Mill guides your utilitarian calculation. All? Some? One? None? Whether you award a financial or a practical form of assistance is up to you--this is an option you adapt to the ends desired.
You should walk your trustees through your decision from beginning to end. If this were a math assignment, you'd show your work. It's not a math assignment, though, so the only wrong answer is one that you don't effectively support.
Note: You may find that the real you does not actually agree with the utilitarian choice, or even that the utilitarian choice is not one a charity would ultimately support. That's okay! You're an imaginary zillionaire. You're simply practicing arguing from this perspective. The funds and the method are what you'll explain.
Each of you uploads only his/her own version, and his/her particular choice of principles, applications, and examples--these are up to you, individually.
A one-sentence thesis laying out the presentation's guiding idea and the main points supporting it (the main points occur in items 2 and 3, below). No separate title slide is needed, as this part segues into:
Two main slides, one that explains your chosen situation, and one that explains how utilitarianism applies, to select from among the twelve "recipient candidates" we imagine from your assigned NYT article. How many you reward is your decision, as you use Mill's concepts to justify your judgment. These slides should have in-text citations for all quotes, paraphrases, and outside information that you use as support for your ends-based explanation. Address specifics about how you support your distribution of assistance.
A third body slide that explores why you rely on Mill's consequentialism in explaining how the "greatest good" is so important to "long-term happiness" that it underlies the aid you're awarding. Include citations if applicable.
A conclusion that reflects upon your thesis and how you've supported it. Add what insights you benefited from and from whom in your "set" classmates. Be sure in this assignment to connect it to Mill explicitly.
Your collaborative set will benefit from your meeting with classmates, to brainstorm, and perhaps find a common problem or predicament to narrow in on. If you use illustrations, they aren't casual clipart, but related to the topic precisely.
ETHC445 Principles of Ethics
Week 7 Assignment
Case Study Analysis
Case Study and Your System of Ethics
This case study is due end of Week 7. Please plan to begin your research and writing this week. This assignment has three main sections, as follows.
+ Select an organization that has dealt with significant internal or external ethical issues recently. Examples are listed below. This will be the foundation of your case study. To complete your case study, you will need to conduct research on your selected organization and consider the ethical issues you find to be involved with it. You will also need to locate the organization's own code of ethics, if it has one. Most publish their codes online. There are examples of codes of ethics in our modules this week. If your organization doesn't have an explicit code of ethics, research general codes of ethics for your organization's type (e.g., business, legal, journalistic, political, environmental, religious, charitable, or medical). Be prepared not only to describe your organization's ethical issues and to furnish specific evidence of them but also to note whether and how these ethical issues have violated the organization's own code. You're going to use the ethics concepts from this course, coupled with your own system of ethics, to analyze these ethical issues by following this outline...
+ Make your own personal system of ethics explicit in order to prepare your reader for your analysis of your selected case (organization and ethical issues). You don't need to write a manifesto; rather, you should lay out your system as simply as you can, with support from our course concepts (lessons and readings) where it's useful. For example, you could say that you believe in moderation, but it's much more interesting to note that like Aristotle, you see virtue in it (good place for a citation!). Find your own balance of the personal and the academic. This is a chance for you to show off who you are and what you've learned here.
+ Use your own personal system of ethics to analyze your selected case. Provide your own analysis based on your own personal system of ethics of how the organization and its issues are problematic and how a solution, if there is one, might be reached.
Your collaborative set will benefit from your meeting with classmates, to brainstorm, and perhaps find a common problem, case study, theme, or predicament to narrow in on. If you use illustrations, they aren't casual clipart, but related to the topic precisely.
Ensure legible fonts, viewable backgrounds, and proofreading going beyond spellchecks. It's six content slides in APA format in-text citations plus a bibliography slide separately beyond the six content ones. Remember URL's alone aren't accepted. See my sample slideset for a model (pdf below)
Note: This is an APA project that uses and cites course material (textbook and lessons) and includes at least three additional high-quality sources as support. For these additional three sources, you might choose further work by philosophers or conflict resolution providers we've covered, work by philosophers or thinkers from outside this course, work by scholars who are thinking about the same issues you are, or commentary from media experts who are looking at the organization and its issues in the press. Whatever you do, do not rely on Google; use the library to find high-quality sources and make sure you understand who and what they are so that you're aware of things like authority and bias. Also, as many topics emerged recently or may be ongoing as to their coverage, use flexibility to find legitimate research. This may include print or broadcast journalism, podcasts, and social media.
Each of you uploads only his/her own case, and his/her particular choice of principles, applications, and examples--these are up to you, individually. The "silent slideshow" project will include the following sections. I expanded #3 below into one "personal" and one "philosophical" as paired slides. See my sample pdf slideset further down.
Introduction/thesis: Provide a strong introductory paragraph with a guiding sentence that lets your reader know what your paper will cover and why.
Facts: Describe the organization, any important events, and the related ethical issues. What has happened, and what is happening now? Has the organization violated its own professional code of ethics? How can you tell?
Personal Ethical Philosophy: You're taking a break from the organization and its ethical issues. Here, you'll explain your own personal system of ethics, both what it was before you took this class and how it has developed via our course concepts and your own research.
Analysis: Use your own personal system of ethics to analyze the organization and its ethical issues. Make sure always to relate your statements about the organization and its ethical issues back to your own standards of behavior as outlined in number 3, above.
Resolution and/or Conclusion: If you see a possible resolution of this organization's ethical issues, present it clearly. Again, relate it back to your own standards of behavior as outlined in number 3, above. If there is no resolution that you can see, that's perfectly fine. You can use a more standard conclusion that restates and adds value. Credit whomever of your case study classmates assisted you in investigating this example.
As for examples, here's mine. I lacked space for all image credits, but they came mainly from the hyperlink on the title slide. Ecuador's "ethical chocolate with a conscience," Pacari.
CaseStudyFinal_ 7 Pacari-1.pdf download
Organizations With Recent Ethical Issues (examples, and you may find your own)
AICP " Ethics Case of the Year (Links to an external site.)"
U. Texas " Ethics Unwrapped 50+ Cases (Links to an external site.)"
Yale " Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies (Links to an external site.)"
Santa Clara " Applied Cases (Links to an external site.)" in many fields, business + beyond}
Sweet/Sour 16:
Tech firms + "ethical guard rails around AI (Links to an external site.)"
Orlando PD using Amazon facial Rekognition (Links to an external site.)tech (Links to an external site.)
"Veterans speak out about the militarization (Links to an external site.) of {professional} sports."
Social media ("callout (Links to an external site.) or cancel culture (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)" bans a professor (Links to an external site.) or celebrities (Links to an external site.) or journalists (Links to an external site.); see those whose careers ended.) (Links to an external site.) Or, de-platforming (Links to an external site.) download (Links to an external site.) of right-wing provocateurs (Links to an external site.) download (Links to an external site.) cheered by the left (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.) download (Links to an external site.) and challenged by libertarians (Links to an external site.) download (Links to an external site.).
(Links to
Payday Loans (Links to an external site.) or Bail Bonds (Links to an external site.) (lenders thwart state legal reforms)
U.S. military (see Army training for "mentoring stewardship" (Links to an external site.))
Tesla (reversing for environmental reasons its policy of accepting Bitcoin) (Links to an external site.)
Black Lives Matter CEO Patrisse Cullors (Links to an external site.) resigns ( purchased luxury real-estate (Links to an external site.) allegations vs internal power struggles and lack of transparency (Links to an external site.) and demands by victims of police for funds from $90 million in 2020 BLM donations) (Links to an external site.)
Cadbury's (global-chain chocolate contractors and child-labor laws)
Robotic "automatic management" as our boss (Links to an external site.)
downloadHoney bees (Links to an external site.) vs neonic pesticides
HIPAA: vaccination status (Links to an external site.) vs. right to privacy
Alvarez v. US Supreme Court (Links to an external site.) download (Links to an external site.)(free speech vs. " stolen valor (Links to an external site.) download (Links to an external site.)" false claims of military honors)
Oportun (Links to an external site.) (uses debt collection lawsuits (Links to an external site.) to intimidate Latino immigrants (Links to an external site.) to pay high-interest personal loans (Links to an external site.) download (Links to an external site.))
Big Pharma: Richard Gonzalez (Links to an external site.)AbbVie CEO vs. Rep. Katie Porter (Links to an external site.) (D-Calif.): cancer drug "profits before patients"?
LAPD predictive policing algorithms by Palantir (Links to an external site.) data-mining to monitor "hot spots" + "chronic offenders"
ETHC445 Principles of Ethics
Week 8 Assignment
Reflection
This assignment was locked Jun 26 at 11:59pm.
Letter to Me
In his song by this name (Links to an external site.), country singer and songwriter Brad Paisley writes his childhood self a letter, giving the little guy some pieces of advice based on experience.
Remember the assignment you completed during the first week of this course? You were asked to explore the first time you remember resolving a dilemma in terms of right versus wrong. This week, as we wrap up the session, please revisit that assignment. You are now an adult speaking with the child you were, with the benefit of all of your hard-won wisdom between then and now.
In a short (500 words or you can use slides), informal letter using your Week 1 Assignment's childhood dilemma as a starting point, please tell the child you were what would've helped you then that you know now. Maybe it's a lot. Maybe it's not much at all. This is not a research-based essay, as you've already spent the past 7 weeks using philosophers and course concepts as support. This one is all you. Be the adult you wish you'd had on your side (or if all went well, maybe be like the one you did have on your side), and take your offering of advice about right and wrong as seriously as you would if you were offering it to an actual living child. It would be a good idea to consult the personal system of ethics you worked on for the discussion last week as you go, to make sure you haven't missed anything from your own heart and mind that would help.
There's an old saying that you know you really know something when you can teach it. Congratulations!
