Applied Topics

1. Applied Topics Vote for FOUR AND ONLY FOUR topics to cover over the last five weeks of this course. Here are your list of options: 1) Abortion: What is the moral status of an unborn fetus? Is abortion permissible or impermissible? How does a woman�s right to control her body compare with the rights of the fetus? 2) Capital Punishment: Are there some crimes so egregious that death is the only proper punishment? Does the death penalty have a �deterrent effect� on crime? Does that justify the practice? Does the application of the death penalty make it immoral?

2. Applied Topics 3) Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide: Is it morally permissible to end your own life, if the alternative is unbearable pain and degradation? Is it proper for doctors to assist patients who want to die? Is there a difference between �passive� and �active� euthanasia? 4) Animals and Eating Meat: Do animals matter morally? If so, does our desire to eat meat justify the treatment of animals in factory farms? If not, how can we justify eating meat and other animal products? 5) Just War Theory: What are the principles that make a war justified or unjustified? What rules govern entry into war? Conduct in war? Conduct after war?

3. Applied Topics 6) Global Poverty: Do we have any obligations to people in foreign countries who are living in �absolute poverty�? Are we morally required to make any sacrifices to help these human beings? 7) Liberty, Government and Drugs Are there justifiable reasons for making drugs illegal? Does the government have a right to tell you what you can do with your body? Do the same principles that apply to narcotics also apply to cigarettes?

4. Utilitarianism What is the basic utilitarian moral standard? What is �hedonistic utilitarianism?� How does it lead to the charge that pigs are happier than humans? How does John Stuart Mill reply to this charge? What is �preference utilitarianism?� What is the problem of �sinister preferences?� What is �act utilitarianism?� What does it mean to describe utilitarianism as �consequentialst?�

5. Animals, Voting and Thought Experiments What do utilitarian generally think about the moral status of animals ? What is Peter Singer�s term for the refusal to accord animals moral status? What is �the voting paradox?� What would act utilitarians generally say about: Telling a white lie? The Sheriff and the Drifter? The Unwilling Organ Donor? The Burn Victim�s Desire to Die?

6. Problems of Justice, Rule Utilitarianism and Acts vs. Omissions What are some of the �problems of justice� that we considered? Why do they conflict with utilitarianism? What is �rule utilitarianism?� How does it mitigate the problems of justice? What are some of the problems with rule utilitarianism? What is the act/omission distinction? What does utilitarianism think of this distinction?

7. On Liberty What sort of �duties to the self� does utilitarianism think I have? What is the title of J.S. Mill�s book on the proper relationship between citizen and government? What does J.S. Mill mean by the phrase �the tyranny of the masses?� What is the only legitimate reason a government can interfere with a citizens� liberty, according to Mill? Why is liberty so important to Mill? What do utilitarians think about the welfare state? Is there a tension here between liberty and welfare?

8. Justification and Problems with Utilitarianism How could one try to justify utilitarianism? What weight does utilitarianism give to motives? What is �the demandingness objection?� How is this an objection to utilitarianism? What is �calculation paralysis� How is this an objection to utilitarianism? What is �the problem of unintended consequences?� How is this an objection to utilitarianism?

9. The Ethics of Respect for Persons: Deontology and The Categorical Imperative What does it mean to describe a moral theory as �deontological?� What is the primary contrast to this type of moral theory? What philosopher is most associated with this kind of theory? What is the name of this philosopher�s primary moral standard? What does that name mean? What are the two moral principles we considered with regard to the Ethics of Respect for Persons?

10. The Universalization Principle What is the �universalization principle?� What are the two tests to keep in mind when apply the universalization principle? What would the universalization principle say about: Making a false promise? Telling a white lie? The Sheriff and the Drifter? The Unwilling Organ Donor? The Nazi at your door case? What are some advantages of this approach? What are some of the problems with this approach?

11. The Means-End Principle What is the �means-end principle�? What, exactly, does it say we can�t do? What does it mean to �use� somebody? Exactly why is that wrong, according to Kant? How does this principle apply to lies and coercion? What are the �conditions of moral agency?� Why do they matter?

12. Forfeiture and Duties What is a �principle of forfeiture?� Why does the Ethics of Respect for Persons need such a principle? What are �duties of justice?� Why are they called �perfect duties?� Why are they insufficient by themselves? What are �duties of benevolence?� Why are they called �imperfect duties?� Why do we need them to truly follow the categorical imperative?

13. Paternalism and Duties to the Self What is �paternalism?� What is �strong paternalism?� What is �weak paternalism?� What kind of �duties to myself� do I have, according to Kant? Why do I have such duties?

14. Virtue Ethics What is a virtue? What is virtue ethics? What is the Moral Standard (MS) of virtue ethics? What sort of question does virtue ethics ask when trying do decide whether or not to act? What are some of the strengths of virtue ethics? What are some of the considerations that it makes room for that the other theories didn�t? What are some of the weaknesses of virtue ethics? Why is virtue ethics �both old and new?� What does it mean to describe virtue ethics as �fuzzy?�

15. The Doctrine of the Mean and Thought Experiments Who is most responsible for developing virtue ethics? What did he think the meaning of life was? What is the �doctrine of the mean?� What role do the emotions play for virtue ethics? What was the point of the �funeral� thought experiment? What was the �lost wallet� thought experiment about? What would Kant have said about that case? What would Aristotle have said about that case?

16. The �Courageous Thief,� Wisdom and Relativism Why was the idea of a �courageous thief� an objection to virtue theory? What was Aristotle�s response to this objection? What was the problem with this response? What was mine? Why is �practical wisdom� so important in virtue ethics? Why does virtue ethics seem to commit us to moral relativism? How might virtue ethics avoid this charge?

17. The Ethics of Care, Tragic Dilemmas and Psychology What is �the ethics of care?� What group of people are closely associated with it? What is a �tragic dilemma?� Give an example How do some situational psychology experiments purport to prove that we have no character?